How you breathe has a powerful effect on your feelings and health. Shockingly, about 90% of the population breathes incorrectly. Doctor Buteyko has proven that incorrect breathing is one of the leading causes of 150 different modern-day illnesses.

The correct way to breathe is through the nose and into your belly. Almost everybody does the opposite, taking shallow breaths into the chest; some even breathe through the mouth.

The nose is for breathing, and the mouth is for eating.

If you consistently breathe through your mouth, you will disrupt the bacteria, increasing your chance of infection. Furthermore, it will impair your sleep and even make your chin grow further back, thereby changing the structure of your face!

The good news is this is reversible by starting to breathable through your nose.

Breathing through the nose improves oxygen filtration by about 40% compared to the mouth. The nasal cavity produces nitric oxide, which enhances natural immunity, tissue repair, pain relief, and energy levels.

Your Breathing Rate Determines Your State

Become aware of how you breathe during the day. Most people must focus on taking fewer, slower, and deeper breaths. At rest, this should equate to about 6 to 11 breaths a minute. Most people are between 18 and 25 breaths. This is because, in our modern-day environment, we are overstimulated and chronically stressed. You can quickly decrease your stress by the way you breathe.

A simple rule of thumb is when you breathe out more extended than you breathe in, you will relax. Applying the reverse and breathing in longer and harder than you exhale will increase alertness.

Tool 1: Breathing Focused Meditation

You can practice taking slower, deeper breaths into the stomach by doing a simple form of mindfulness meditation. This meditation involves simply sitting down and focusing purely on your breathing. Many spiritual practices involve breathing, which speaks to how powerful it is regarding how you feel.

Breathing to Improve Performance

We all know about athletes preparing high up in the mountains for so-called “altitude training.” This is so well known as it offers powerful benefits. The great news is that these benefits can be enjoyed anywhere in the world, even at sea level, with short-term hypoxia breathing.

Short-term hyperventilation is characterized by rapid breathing, leading to decreased carbon dioxide levels in the blood and subsequent respiratory alkalosis. This temporarily increases oxygen delivery to tissues, enhancing alertness and performance.

Tool 2: Fast Breathing Hypoxia

You can do this sitting up or laying down. The most important thing is you don’t do this near water or driving.

Take 30 breaths with equal lengths in and out. You can use the chest and mouth as you are aiming to trigger hypoxia.

On the last exhale, hold your breath for as long as possible. The amount of time doesn’t matter as much as the discomfort you feel. You should push yourself.

When you need to, inhale what automatically starts the next set.

This time, go for twenty breaths and hold your exhalation. In the last set, you take ten breaths and exhale hold.

Tool 3: Bag Breathing

Take a bag with a size of 6 liters. Breathe in and out into the bag for about 3 minutes. Inhaling the CO2, you’ve exhaled makes you stack up the CO2 pressure in your blood. If this feels unpleasant, it’s a clear signal that your body needs to learn to adapt to stressful situations.

This physiological response improves oxygenation, increases heart rate, and induces vasoconstriction, offering benefits in specific contexts such as athletic performance or stress management. It even enhances insulin sensitivity by repairing pancreatic cells. When you breathe in, you are truly charging yourself with an overflow of what your body wants.

These last two tools are intense, but they offer many benefits. Like most tools I recommend, they are free and time-efficient.

All the best,
Philippe