Did you know the way you breathe may be affecting your health?

Ever wondered how breathing affects your body?

Breathing is usually an unconscious process, controlled by our autonomic nervous system - this involves balancing the sympathetic (fight or flight) system and the parasympathetic (rest and digest)

How we breathe is influenced by our environment and activity - exercise, stress, sleep and even diet can affect our breathing patterns

The trigger for us to breath isn't actually our oxygen levels as many people believe - breathing is instead controlled by carbon dioxide levels in our blood (byproduct of cell metabolism), which controls our blood pH levels.

When we breathe out we release carbon dioxide, which alters our pH level- we breathe faster if more co2 is produced (ie running or illness) and slower if metabolism slows down.

Normally pH levels are tightly controlled as a change in these can be lethal (ie acidosis) . 

Ideally, our breathing should be slow and regular, and come from deep in our tummy (belly breathing or diaphragmatic breathing), as this is a far more effective way to breathe.

Yet stress can also make us breathe fast and shallow, and from higher up in our chest (chest breathing) ,  in response to stimulation from our sympathetic nervous system .

This can create a feedback loop where we habitually start to breathe this way, in turn creating more stress.

It's particularly common in issues such as burnout, chronic stress, long covid, POTS syndrome, chronic pain syndromes, and anxiety - yet often we aren't even aware it's occurring, we just get the physical effects!

Over time dysfunctional breathing (fast shallow chest breathing) can cause muscle tension, headaches, back and neck issues, high blood pressure, palpitations and anxiety

The symptoms from panic attacks are also partly due to dysfunctional breathing (tingling fingers and lips and dizziness are signs of low co2) which creates further hyperventilation due to worsening anxiety

Learning to breathe slowly and deeply using conscious control can be highly effective at reducing stress and improving health- as it intentionally activates the parasympathetic (rest and digest) system, which slows down breathing, tells our body we are safe and can relax, and switches off our stress response

In addition to this, there are several strategies that can have extra benefits. These imclude:

✔️having a longer exhale than our inhale, as this stimulates our vagus nerve

✔️breathing through our nose rather than our mouth (this creates a deeper breath, it also increases nitrous oxide levels - a beneficial chemical that lowers blood pressure, protects the heart and improves circulation

Pranayama is the term for breath in yoga, and is a key focus of this practice - its thought to be behind many of the health benefits seen with yoga.

Tai chi, chanting, and meditation all also use breathwork

Learning to pay attention to our breathing and breathe correctly can be an incredibly powerful, simple and free strategy to reduce stress and improve health - what's your favourite?