How many times have you been told to take a deep breath? I used to say it to my clients when they were in distress until I learned about the physiology of breathing and the risks of overbreathing. We hear so much more about the importance of oxygen, but we hear very little about how important Carbon dioxide is for our ability to move the oxygen from the circulatory system into the organs and tissues that need it. Being told to take a deep breath, while intended to get you to invite the breath deeper into the body, often results in people taking in more oxygen than needed. When the balance between oxygen and carbon dioxide is disrupted, it compromises delivery of oxygen, blood flow, electrolyte balance, and our pH levels. This internal dysregulation can manifest itself in the following ways:

Muscle spasms, weakness or fatigue
Raynaud’s attacks
Asthma
Irritable bowel syndrome
Anxiety or panic
Hypertension
Emotion dysregulation
Heart arrythmias
Tension headaches or migraines
Chronic fatigue
Sleep apnea
Chronic pain
Attention & learning deficits.

If you suffer from any of the above symptoms and wonder if you are overbreathing, you can access the Nijmegen Dysfunctional Breathing Questionnaire online. It’s also safe to assume overbreathing if you mouth breathe, run out of breath while talking, tend to abort your exhalations, frequently sigh or yawn, if you have fast shallow breaths, if you hold your breath, or if you reverse breathe – which is when your belly moves in on the inhale instead of moving outward.

If you are overbreathing a lot of the time, especially if you have been doing so a long time, you may find it difficult to change the way you breathe. Given that effort can worsen overbreathing, it is important to begin with mindfulness of your breath. In mindfulness, we learn how to be in the present moment without judgment. Learning to breath mindfully will increase your awareness and acceptance of your breath patterns without struggling to change them. For people who have a history of asthma or panic attacks, it is important to begin slowly and to incrementally increase practice gradually.

Mindful Low and Slow breathing: Once mindful breathing is comfortably established, then we can introduce changes to the breath without exacerbating the problem. This involves bringing the breath lower in the abdomen, slowing down the rate of the breath, not emphasizing the depth or volume of the inhalation, and breathing out slowly and fully such that the exhale is slightly longer than the inhale. For any of you who find the exhale difficult, you may find it helpful to slow down the beginning of the exhale and to breathe out through pursed lips. If you are unsure how slow to go, 6 breaths per minute is a generally recommended. There are several free breathing apps available to guide you. Start slowly and gradually build the duration of your practice daily. Twenty minutes a day practice is the sweet spot to aim for.

So, when you hear someone tell you to take a deep breath, you can make the translation to low and slow breathing instead. We hope this and other blogs we write help you integrate practices to support your physical and mental health. If you need more support, our therapists are available. You can reach us on the contact page of our website www.wellnessinmind.ca or by phone 514 223 5327 or by email info@wellnessinmind.ca.
Wishing you wellness!
Written by Shawna Atkins, Ph.D., OPQ., Psychologist.