You’ve been breathing since birth, so you’d think you’d be a pro by now. Probably not. You’re probably making key breathing mistakes.
You’ve probably been making some or all of these breathing mistakes since you left your diapers behind.
It’s darn impressive how much we can mess up something so basic. And boy, do we pay the price for messing up this one.
Sucking at breathing can make you sick and wreaks havoc on your body. But, on the other hand, breathing like you were meant to breathe means better health and, drumroll, adding years to your life.
Your brain uses a whopping 20% of the oxygen you breathe. So I bet you want to keep that organ happily cranking out its best work.
But it doesn’t stop there. Every cell needs oxygen, and something will suffer somewhere without it. A well-oxygenated body runs like an effective machine. Good oxygen = good health.
Breathing Mistakes Lead To Problems In These Areas
- energy
- sleep
- digestion
- mood & anxiety
- adrenal glands
- pelvic floor
- teeth & face structure
- heart & cardiovascular system
- nervous system
- muscles & joints
- immune system
- and your noggin
Here’s the crux of the problem—wrong breathing technique ignites your sympathetic nervous system. That means a fast track to stress mode. As a result, your worry system is on full alert even if there is nothing for it to get all riled up about.
Stress is a killer. Literally. Chronic, unnecessary, unmanaged stress is nasty, awful stuff.
Some stress is natural and normal. Like the kind that makes you get stuff done, challenges your body or mind for growth, or keeps you from being a bear snack in Yellowstone. But stress because you don’t know how to breathe? A waste of your sympathetic nervous response and a whole lot of wear and tear on the body.
Here are five breathing mistakes that are shortening your life:
Breathing Mistake #1 – Holding Your Breath
You’re not free-diving here!
If you’re holding your breath, you’re tensing your airways, and your body is working its tail off to get oxygen to all the places sending an SOS. If your cells aren’t getting what they need to do their essential work, they’ll go into survival mode and only concentrate on making it through the crisis.
I like my cells to do the happy dance [1] and get their jobs done with a kick in their step. So, I wanted to teach myself to breathe better. I know you want this too.
Breathing Mistake #2 – Rhythm is Out of Whack
Breathing with a rhythm connects your breath with the rhythm of your entire body, creates balance, and puts your whole body in tune with itself and functioning as the miraculous machine it is. My favorite way to think of this rhythm is by comparing it to the waves on the ocean.
Balance the rhythm with the inhale and the exhale at roughly the same length. Or, if you are trying to calm yourself down using your breath, it may help to make the exhale longer than the inhale. You can also try to hold at the inhale with a full breath for a few counts and then hold at the exhale with an empty set of lungs for a few counts.
Because our bodies are so freaking incredible, your body and your mind are a tangled, dependent, but beautiful synchronized marvel. Like ballroom dancers. If one of your ballroom dancers is choppy, noisy, harsh, or erratic, it looks like a hot mess with lots of makeup. But if one of your dancers can calm down and find their flow and grace, it’s mesmerizing.
Dropping my corny metaphor for a moment, if your breathing sucks, your emotions suck. If your emotions suck, your breathing sucks. But, if you can control one, they both settle into a little more bliss.
Try not to make too much sound when you breathe. If you do, you may be making a mistake from above. Or you may have a condition requiring a visit with your doctor.
Breathing Mistake #3 – Breathing Through Your Mouth
I know the jokes about mouth breathers. And while these jokes punch fun at people’s smarts, the plain truth is that breathing through your mouth hurts your health.
When you breathe through your nose, all those nasty little nose hairs and all the tissue in there warm the air preparing it for your lungs, adding the correct amount of moisture, and helping filter out nasties (you know, like viruses and pollens). But, breathing through your mouth means the air doesn’t get filtered or warmed. Yuck.
For some folks, though, this is not so easy. It wasn’t for me.
Yeah, I was a mouth breather.
Sinus congestion led me to get into the habit of breathing through my mouth. I mostly don’t anymore, although I sometimes catch myself. And the ironic thing is, my congestion is better for it. It turns out, the more you use your nose, the better it gets at doing its job. Awesome!
Learning to breathe through your nose may take effort especially when you exercise. But the more you can practice (we kind of get a lot of opportunity for breathing practice, like 25,000 times a day), the better you’ll get.
Breathing Through Your Mouth While Exercising
When you exercise, it’s best if you can breathe through your nose. If you aren’t used to this, but since you now know it’s essential, you can train yourself to perform this way.
Start by only exercising as hard as you can while breathing through your nose. Back off a bit when you need to start breathing through your mouth. You’ll build a tolerance for how hard you can exercise breathing through your nose this way.
But, it’s not always necessary to breathe through your nose while exercising. At some point, you’ll need to increase your exercise for fitness gains, which will require you to breathe through your mouth. That’s cool, just try to push it a bit and get more benefits for your entire health.
One more thing about nose breathing vs. mouth breathing is your tongue posture. Yep, there’s such a thing.
Gently rest your tongue on the back of your front teeth, where they meet the roof of your mouth. (Why does it always feel like our tongues are too big for our mouths?)
Breathing Mistake #4 – Not Using Your Diaphragm
Breathing deeply by using your diaphragm should be the majority of your breathing. But, unfortunately, we’re so not used to this.
All those years of holding in our abs so we look nice and skinny have done nothing for our core muscles (a topic for another time) and have only tensed up our breathing, firing up the old fight or flight system for no good reason.
During diaphragm breathing, you pull your diaphragm downward, making this curved organ flat, and your tummy will extend to make room. This is why it’s often called tummy breathing. Just relax on the exhale, and you are good to go with a nice deep breath.
When using your diaphragm for breathing, you help out your body in so many ways it will feel like a magic pill to health you didn’t even know about.
Here’s How Diaphragm Breathing Helps
- It massages your internal organs. Ahhhhhh. I can feel it now. How about you? Your liver, stomach, and intestines are getting some fantastic rhythmic kneading they need.
- The lower portion of your lungs are the powerhouse areas at efficiency. This is where you need to get most of the fresh goods for processing, and you can only do that with deep breathing. It will give you more energy, and it helps to keep anxiety at bay.
- As you use the muscle intended for breathing (diaphragm) and leave the other muscles (chest) out of it, they can take a well-deserved break and stop pressuring the heart. So as your heart is thanking you, and your neck and shoulders also get a rest.
- The pumping action of the diaphragm during breathing plays nicely with the lymphatic system by encouraging lymph flow. You’ll be so happy to say bye-bye to those toxins and hello to better metabolism and a more robust immune system.
- You’ll stand up straighter. I mean, you’ll have to if you’re using your diaphragm, and your posture is crucial for so many reasons. Including digestion, breathing, immunity, and stress.
To learn how to breathe deeply, see Diaphragm Breathing for Health & Longevity.
Wow. It’s clear how everything intertwines with everything else.
Breathing Mistake #5 – Freaking Out About Your Breathing
Now that you know you’ve been breathing wacky don’t panic. That won’t help anything. It’s more important to relax and breathe naturally and pay attention enough to create better habits.
And use your breathing any time you’re feeling anxious, stressed, angry, or out of sorts. It will make a world of difference.
How To Fix Your Breathing Mistakes
Yay! Now that you know how important it is to break free of these breathing mistakes, you probably want a bit of help on how to do that.
I gotcha!
#1
Use reminders everywhere. On your phone. Sticky notes on the mirror. In your car. By the kitchen sink. Anywhere you are throughout the day, that would give you a chance to stop and pay attention to your breath.
#2
Like any habit you want to add to your arsenal of healthy habits, attach the action of checking your breath with something you already do – the if/then technique.
- If I walk through the front door, then I check my breathing.
- If I lie on my bed, then I check my breathing.
- If I pick up my phone to check how many likes my IG post has, then I check my breathing.
- If my husband asks where he put his keys, then I check my breathing.[2]
#3
Notice when you’re breathing goes awry. Is it when you’re rushing to get out the door? When you’re watching the news? Trying to fall asleep? Once you realize when you mostly hold your breath, mouth breath, or hyperventilate, then you can, with practice, pay more attention in situations where you make breathing mistakes. Awareness is key!
#4
Use a sort of mantra to get your breathing back on track. Something as simple as inhale-hold-exhale-hold. Or more fancy pants like inhale-peace-exhale-calm.
Breathe Easy Now
Suppose you’re serious about taking stellar care of your body, and I know you are. In that case, the next step is to meditate regularly and think about participating in yoga, Pilates, and martial arts that emphasize proper breathing. The more mindful breathing practice you get the better.
Getting oxygen to all the nooks and crannies of your body keeps your systems ticking along and doing the work they are meant for, adding years to your life. As a bonus, you will feel more energized, so much so that you might want to take up ballroom dancing. Sign me up!
What breathing mistake have you been making? How have you fixed it?
[1] I’m obsessed with visualizing my cells as happy and dancing. I blame it on Eric Franklin. Get a copy of Dynamic Alignment Through Imagery or Grow Younger Daily. Maybe I’ll write a post about this, it’s fascinating stuff.
[2] Why is it my job to know where everyone sits down everything? 🤪
