Information & Facts About Breathing Retraining

Conditions helped & information

Conditions helped

How breathing retraining may bring relief from the symptoms of many common breathing-related conditions.

Snoring and Sleep Apnoea

It is important to know that snoring and sleep apnoea are unlikely to occur in people with a normal breathing pattern.

Asthma, Nasal Problems, Mouth Breathing, Chronic Cough

Research shows that chronic overbreathing and low baseline carbon dioxide levels are characteristic in people with asthma. CO2 is a bronchodilator, is critically important for the oxygenation process (Bohr effect) and facilitates the nervous system relaxation response. Mouth breathing is one form of overbreathing.

Anxiety, Panic Attacks, Insomnia

Chronic overbreathing perpetuates anxiety, panic disorders and insomnia. Breathing retraining brings relief by reducing the hyper-arousal state at its core.

Low oxygen, dizzy, tired, poor memory

Ever wondered why your brain feels so foggy at times, or you feel dizzy or panicky at the gym or yoga? Or wake up feeling exhausted, like you haven't slept at all?

What is correct breathing?

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Correct Breathing

CORRECT BREATHING | WHY IT MATTERS, WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE

Your breathing matters

What is poor breathing costing you?

Nights disturbed by snoring and sleep apnoea?
Waking tired, headache, low energy, brain fog?
Shortness of breath, struggle to exercise?
Persistent anxiety, panic attacks, insomnia?
Medical and hospital expenses?
Getting breathless, dizzy or panicky doing breathing exercises at yoga, Pilates or gym?

Breathing is the first thing we do in life and the last. It directly or indirectly affects the function of all body systems.
Yet many people get it wrong around 20,000 times a day.

Have you ever had your breathing pattern checked?

This is not the commonly performed “lung function tests” but is a check of the characteristics of your baseline or your ‘everyday’ breathing pattern.

It is a check of the rate, volume, and rhythm of your breathing, the use of your mouth vs nose, of whether your breathing is more with your diaphragm vs your upper chest. It also looks at your baseline level of carbon dioxide (CO2) and your CO2 sensitivity. Breathing pattern check considers your daytime as well as your night-time breathing, and how you breathe during exercise.

In fact less than 30% of people have ‘functional’ i.e. physiologically normal breathing. When your breathing pattern is not right, it is said to be ‘dysfunctional’.

Research shows that faulty or dysfunctional breathing habits are characteristic in the daytime breathing as well as the night-time breathing of people with sleep disorders; asthma, nasal and sinus problems; and chronic cough, breathlessness, anxiety and panic attacks.

However, as checking a person’s baseline (awake) breathing pattern is not a routine assessment, a core cause of many symptoms and illnesses may be overlooked.

Did you know that the most common breathing fault is OVER-BREATHING – breathing too much air through the lungs per breath and/or per minute, that is – too fast or too deeply/fully?

Take the Breathing Assessment Quiz

Who has faulty day-to-day breathing?

Research shows that chronic overbreathing is characteristic in people with:
Asthma | COPD | Snoring | Sleep Apnea / Apnoea | Nasal Problems | Chronic Mouth Breathing | Anxiety and Panic Attacks.

People with asthma, for example, breathe on average 14 litres of air per minute when they are well. People with sleep apnoea, have been shown to breathe on average 15 L of air per minute when they are awake. The ‘physiological norm’ is 4-6 litres per minute. That is, their default breathing pattern is 'overbreathing'. They are usually not aware of this.

Correct Breathing | Functional Healthy Breathing

The defining characteristics of physiological normal breathing are:

Nose breathing – day and night, and with moderate+ exercise
Diaphragmatic – gentle movement at solar plexus level
Silent, regular, comfortable, almost invisible breathing – day and night
At rest (adults): 8-12 breaths/min; av 500 mls/breath; 4-6 litres/min (Minute Volume)
Normal breathing at rest uses less than 1/8th of your full lung capacity.
That is, healthy breathing IS NOT “deep, fill your lungs; empty your air out” breathing!

We breathe, not only to deliver oxygen throughout our body, but also to maintain the correct levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) and oxygen (O2) in the lungs and blood.

Red, yellow and pale blue areas (right-hand side of the scale) correspond to higher oxygen saturation.

The MRI scan above shows a 40% reduction in oxygen in the brain after one minute of overbreathing/hyperventilation. (Litchfield 1999)

Overbreathing may induce spasm of the smooth muscles lining the bronchial tubes, blood vessels and digestive tract. Overbreathing also affects the central nervous system, stimulating the sympathetic “fight/flight” response and inhibiting the parasympathetic “rest/digest”.

The correct level of CO2 is essential for optimal oxygenation of all organs, tissues and cells of the body, and the optimal functioning of all body systems, including respiratory, cardiovascular, endocrine, immune and digestive systems, the brain and nervous system, and energy production.

What’s wrong with overbreathing?

Overbreathing is known to dehydrate, irritate and inflame the tissues of the nose, throat, and lungs, cause excessive mucus production, the release of histamine and inhalation of irritant and infective particles. Overbreathing also puts abnormal mechanical and constrictive forces on the tissues and structures of the nose, mouth, and throat.

When you overbreathe, CO2 becomes deficient, oxygen delivery and uptake reduces (the Bohr effect) and there is widespread disturbance in body chemistry.

So when your breathing is not quite right, you can’t be completely alright.

If the much-promoted “deep breathing” is so good for you, why do so many people get anxious/dizzy/short of breath from blowing up balloons or the deep breathing exercises in Pilates/yoga/fitness classes?

Why isn’t faulty breathing diagnosed?

Unfortunately, observation and assessment of a patient’s habitual (baseline) breathing pattern is not a routine assessment. The extent of ‘dysfunctional’ breathing in the population is grossly underestimated.

“People simply don’t understand that the way they breathe throughout the day, between attacks, can be what sets them up for chronic anxiety, a heightened stress response or panic attack.” Dr Antoinette Harmer, Clinical Psychologist, Canberra

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Frequently Asked Questions

View a list of common questions about breathing, snoring, sleep apnoea and anxiety and information about how breathing retraining can help.

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Relief from Anxiety and Panic

A 9-day program to take control of your physiology and regain calm, focus and ease – by learning to breathe the way calm people do.
Easy-to-follow | Step-by-step guidance. Includes info on ALL common breathing-related conditions.

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Snoring and Sleep Apnoea

A step-by-step guide to restful sleep and better health through changing the way you breathe. The aim is to establish quiet, gentle, slow breathing - awake and asleep.
Easy-to-follow | Step-by-step guidance. Includes info on ALL common breathing-related conditions.

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