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1. Start with slow inhalation while lying on your back, side or abdomen. With your hands/fingers on different parts of your abdomen, attempt to gradually send the pressure from your inhalation to all four sections on each side of the body. Focus on one area at a time. No need to have a full deep inhalation, especially if you find the abdominal wall muscles tightening. When the abdominal walls tighten when you are in a supported position when lying down, it generally means you don't have permission/control to lengthen the muscles further. For some people they may have training that has conditioned them to tighten muscles, others may hold stress in their abdominal wall, some may have had surgeries (even with clean surgical scars), and some may have had physical trauma (accident, impact, abuse).  

Take note of anywhere that feels pain with inhalation and/or external pressure/touch and if there is any connected pain (sometimes it can be on the opposite side of the body or more distant). A number of people will have a tendency to breathe by mainly expanding their rib cage and elevating the rib cage. This is certainly part of normal breathing, however it should not only move the rib cage. Also watch if you use your neck muscles to help lift your rib cage, as this should only occur when you are excessively out of breath. Activating these muscles excessively may cause local fatigue and resulting tightness.  

2. After you have created pressure in the abdomen try to slowly activate/brace the entire abdominal wall, all the way around between the ribs and pelvis. You can image wind filling up a set of sails and the sails becoming tight, or imagine that your abdominal wall is transforming into a sturdy tree trunk, or you are a caregiver about to lift up a child. As with the inhalation, start slow and do not go to full activation. You are in a supported position, and there is no need to be bracing for a blow or trying to lift a cinderblock.  

3. Next attempt to keep the pressurization between the activation of the diaphragm and abdominal wall muscles while continuing to inhale and exhale. You are only using a portion of the diaphragm capacity to maintain pressurization, and additional inhalation can further increase the pressurization as well as create a vacuum in the lungs to draw air in. You can "stack" pressurization by keeping a little more pressure after several breath cycles. 

4. Consider practicing different methods of activating the diaphragm. For example instead of bearing down as you may have for a bowel movement, try "bearing out" such that you are abdominal wall expands out. Watch out for the abdominal wall tightening in, as this reflects creating pressurization with the abdominal wall muscles and not with the diaphragm. Some people also find they can tune into diaphragm pressurization by panting, and then slowing down the pants while focusing on the inhalation noticing how the abdominal wall expands. 

5. Try applying the diaphragm activation and abdominal wall activation in different postures (i.e. sitting, standing) and movements (i.e. getting up from bed, getting up from a chair, walking) and noticed how this pressurization creates a brace for different muscles such as the vertical muscles along the spine or the muscles in the rib cage (ie latismus dorsi, pectoralis) and pelvis (glutes, illiacus, psoas) 

You are trying to create enough pressurization to create a sturdy frame so muscles in the limbs and thorax can be more efficient and effective. As you go forward applying this in different positions, movements and later exercises the amount of inhalation and activation will be proportional to the task at hand. No need to expend more energy causing fatigue or compression of other nerve/vascular structures, nor insufficient pressurization resulting in other muscles/tissues overworking.