We breathe more than 20,000 times every, single day... and although many of us do not give our breathing a second thought, there is actually a massive difference between breathing well and breathing poorly.

But isn’t breathing something that just happens, without our conscious input?

Thankfully we don’t need to remember to breathe each of those 20,000 times, or we really wouldn’t achieve much else. BUT, we can consciously adapt and change the way we are breathing, and the benefits of that are significant.

Not only do you feel better when you breathe well, your body will operate at an entirely different level (think lower heart rate, lower blood pressure, better exercise capacity…)

So, how can we tell if we are breathing well or breathing badly?   

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My work helping clients to restore their breathing to our “ideal” has helped me define the 5 most common breathing mistakes I see in our modern society:

1.  Breathing through your mouth rather than your nose

The human nose is an incredibly complex organ, specifically engineered to carry out more than 20 functions to assist our breathing efficiency ( think warming and humidifying the air, trapping pollens and germs, slowing down the airflow, producing nitric oxide, assists the diaphragm to work and many many more).

When we breathe through our mouth, we miss all these benefits and quickly move to breathing 2-3 times as much air as we need. The effect on your body as it processes and deals with all this additional air is huge - way too much of a good thing!

2.  Breathing too fast

Our breathing should be calm and slow….. A gentle, soft wave of air passing in and out through your nose, allowing your lungs to do their job and complete the exchange of gases to keep your body running smoothly.  The perfect number you are looking for here is between 8 and 12 breaths per minute - any more than that and again, you are causing your body systems to overwork to process all that air, and actually reducing your lungs’ ability to do their job efficiently.

It is not unusual for clients to be breathing close to 20 times every minute when they approach me for help with their breathing - the changes we see when we bring this back to 10 are phenomenal. 

3.  Upper chest breathing instead of diaphragm breathing

The diaphragm is often ignored when people think about the way that we breathe.  It is actually an incredibly important part of our anatomy that has a primary function to allow us to breathe efficiently and easily. When our diaphragm is responsible for our breathing, our upper chest and abdomen remain almost perfectly still - it is very difficult to see someone breathing well actually breathing….  In contrast, when the upper chest is the primary breathing driver, it is very easy to detect breathing. 

Using your upper chest muscles for your breathing is exhausting and makes you very susceptible to neck and shoulder pain as well as totally changing the depth and rate of your breathing.  Take a look in the mirror right now and see what you can pick up….

4.  Breathing irregularly

Have you ever wondered why some people seem to sigh frequently?  Or why you can yawn repeatedly even when you are not tired?  Sighing, yawning, coughing, throat clearing, gasping and snorting are all examples of irregular breathing.  They are not necessarily connected to fatigue or allergies but a sign that the crucial balance of gases in our bloodstream is not quite right.

When our breathing follows a very consistent, regular pattern (breaths that are reasonably small in volume but consistent and slow), this demonstrates that we are breathing well.  An afternoon or evening punctuated by sighs, yawns, coughing and a tickly throat are a sure sign your breathing needs some attention.

5.  Breathing too deeply

Again, let’s remember that a “perfect” human breath is a gentle, small, slow breath….. A breath that is hard to detect when you are watching someone.  When we breathe deeply and then empty the lungs of all that air, we are moving a long way from our “perfect”.  We are creating a huge amount of work for our lungs, heart and other organs to process all that air - when we actually need just a small breath to thrive. 

Breathing well allows your body to run efficiently and to thrive.  Breathing well is a pleasure and will allow you to achieve so much more with your life.  Breathing well will affect how you sleep, how you focus, how you enjoy life and how you turn up for those who are important to you. 

If you are making any of these 5 common breathing mistakes, let’s talk about how we can turn it around.  If you are ready to take control of your breathing and take control of your life, let’s get started!