The deep breath myth

Is Deep Breathing the real answer?

The Deep Breath Myth

You've probably received this familiar advice “Just take a deep breath.” All with the purpose to calm you down, or suggest you’re in a heightened state. But how much is this actually regulating our nervous system or just commencing a cascade of events leading you to feel more out of breath than when you began?

The Physiology Behind Deep Breathing

The perfect harmony of our respiratory system has to do with two elements: carbon dioxide and oxygen. The constant dance they play creates harmony to allow the exchange of gases to occur in your lungs. When you take a deep breath you inhale oxygen into the respiratory system, this encourages oxygenation of the cells, movement of the ribcage and improved organ function, and when you exhale you blow off carbon dioxide which has been rebranded as a “waste product”. However, I am here to remind you that carbon dioxide plays a massive part in this process and is not to be discarded.

Why Carbon Dioxide Is Your Friend

Carbon dioxide, once rebranded a “waste product” is essentially the byproduct of your body's metabolism. Carbon dioxide has a vital role in regulating the body's drive to breathe. “Overbreathing” or blowing off too much carbon dioxide can also change your nervous system regulation and move into Fight and Flight response. Fight and flight is the concept that the body is responding to a trigger and preparing you to respond accordingly ~ Either fight or flight. But how is it, that you are in a fight or flight response with as little an anxious thought or sitting in a stressful meeting at work?

The Better Way to Breathe

Deep breathing exercises have become a staple of traditional exercise therapy, “breath in, breathe out”, but how many of us are simply overbreathing causing us to blow off more carbon dioxide that is necessary for the body's task at hand. Instead, I offer an alternative. Nasal Breathing, a slow rhythmical alternative that takes you back to baseline. What is that? A state of harmony, a state of equilibrium, a state where you are allocating the appropriate oxygen/carbon dioxide dance to occur for the task at hand. I see you here now starting to breathe in and out through your nose and feeling uncomfortable, is that you ? That may be a sign of breathing pattern disorder that can be regulated with assistance.

Call to Awareness and Action

I would encourage you to notice how you breathe during stress at rest, how you breathe during intense exercise. “Have you ever felt worse after taking deep breaths?” “Is this amount of breathing appropriate for the task I am completing”. A 5 kilometre run vs an uncomfortable meeting with your boss are going to request different amounts of oxygen requirements from you. Let's start allocating the appropriate amount of breath for the task at hand, have a go at nasal breathing (yes, that's both inhale and exhale) and share your experiences in the comments.

A gentle reminder that calming the body starts with awareness, not effort.