A Guide to Proper Breathing Techniques
How to Breathe Correctly: A Guide to Proper Breathing Techniques
Learn the correct way to breathe. This will also help reduce stress, improve sleep, and boost energy in just 5 minutes a day.
We take roughly 20,000 breaths every day, yet most of us have never been taught how to breathe properly. It sounds absurd—breathing is the most automatic thing we do. But somewhere between childhood and adulthood, many of us develop incorrect breathing patterns that can contribute to anxiety, poor sleep, and overall dis-comfort.
The good news? Learning to breathe correctly is simpler than you might think, and the benefits can be transformative.
Why Learning Proper Breathing Matters
Breathing isn't just about getting oxygen into your lungs. It's intimately connected to your nervous system, your posture, your digestion, and your mental state. Poor breathing habits can trigger your body's stress response, while proper breathing activates your parasympathetic nervous system—the "rest and digest" mode that helps you feel calm and centered.
Benefits of correct breathing include:
- Reduced anxiety and stress levels
- Improved sleep quality
- Better athletic performance and endurance
- Lower blood pressure
- Enhanced focus and mental clarity
- Reduced chronic pain and tension
- Improved digestion
What Is the Correct Way to Breathe?
Before we dive into how to improve your breathing, let's clarify what we're aiming for. Optimal breathing has several key characteristics:
Nasal breathing: Your nose is designed to filter, warm, and humidify air. Breathing through your nose, especially during rest and light activity, is far superior to mouth breathing.
Diaphragmatic breathing: Your diaphragm is a dome-shaped muscle at the base of your lungs. When you breathe correctly, your belly should expand on the inhale and contract on the exhale. Many people do the opposite, using their chest and shoulders instead—a pattern called "chest breathing" or "vertical breathing."
Slow and steady: Optimal breathing is rhythmic and unhurried. A typical resting breathing rate is around 10-14 breaths per minute, though many people breathe much faster.
Quiet: Good breathing is nearly silent. If you can hear yourself breathing during rest, you're likely overbreathing.
How to Learn Correct Breathing: Step-by-Step Guide
Step 1: Assess Your Current Breathing Pattern
Lie down on your back and place one hand on your chest and one on your belly. Breathe normally and notice which hand moves more. If your chest hand is doing most of the moving, you're primarily a chest breather and will benefit significantly from retraining.
Step 2: Practice Diaphragmatic Breathing
Start with just five minutes a day in a comfortable position—lying down is easiest when you're learning. If you prefer, you can bend your legs at the knees too.
Place one hand on your belly, just below your ribcage. As you breathe in through your nose, focus on making your belly rise while keeping your chest relatively still. Your hand should move outward. As you exhale through your nose, your belly should fall naturally. Don't force anything; just guide your breath lower into your body.
Think of your torso as a bottle filling from the bottom up. The goal isn't to puff your stomach out artificially, but to allow your diaphragm to descend naturally, which pushes your abdominal contents forward.
Step 3: Extend Your Exhale
Once diaphragmatic breathing feels more natural, start working on lengthening your exhale. A longer exhale than inhale activates your parasympathetic nervous system and promotes deep relaxation.
Try a 4-6 breathing pattern: inhale through your nose for a count of 4, exhale through your nose for a count of 6. Gradually, you can extend this to 4-8 or even 5-10 as your capacity improves.
Step 4: Commit to Nasal Breathing
This one can feel challenging at first, especially if you're used to mouth breathing. Start by keeping your mouth closed during rest and light activity. If you find yourself gasping for air through your mouth during exercise, you're probably going too hard—slow down until you can maintain nasal breathing.
Over time, your tolerance will improve. Some people even tape their mouths shut at night (with special mouth tape) to train themselves to breathe through their nose during sleep, which can dramatically improve sleep quality.
Step 5: Practice Breath Holds
Once you're comfortable with the basics, you can practice breath holds, which have many benefits including increasing your lung capacity.
Try this simple exercise: After a normal exhale (not forced), hold your breath and count how many seconds you can comfortably go before you feel the first urge to breathe. If you can't make it to 10-15 seconds, your breathing efficiency could use work. With practice, you should be able to work up to 20 seconds.
How to Make Proper Breathing a Habit
The real magic happens when proper breathing becomes automatic. Here's how to make that transition:
Set reminders on your phone to check in with your breath several times throughout the day. Are you breathing through your nose? Is your belly moving? Are your shoulders relaxed?
Practice mindful breathing during transitions: when you sit down at your desk, before meals, when you get into your car. These micro-moments add up.
If you exercise, pay attention to maintaining nasal breathing as much as possible, especially during warm-ups and cool-downs.
When to Seek Professional Help
If you have chronic nasal congestion that makes nasal breathing difficult, consider seeing an ENT specialist or allergist. Sometimes structural issues or allergies need to be addressed first. If you have asthma or other respiratory conditions, work with your healthcare provider to develop a breathing practice that's safe for you.
Common Breathing Mistakes to Avoid
- Mouth breathing during rest: This dries out your airways and bypasses your nose's natural filtration
- Chest breathing: Using only your upper chest creates tension and doesn't fully utilize your lung capacity
- Breathing too fast: Rapid breathing can lead to chronic state of low level stress
- Holding tension: Keep your shoulders, neck, and jaw relaxed while breathing
- Forcing the breath: Breathing should feel natural and effortless, not strained
The Bottom Line
Learning to breathe properly is one of the most accessible and powerful tools for improving your physical and mental health. It costs nothing, requires no equipment, and you can practice anywhere, anytime. The key is consistency—like any skill, it takes time and repetition to rewire old patterns.
Start small. Even five minutes a day of intentional breathing practice can create noticeable shifts in how you feel. Your body already knows how to breathe correctly; you're just helping it remember.
Quick Start Summary:
1. Test your breathing pattern (chest vs. belly)
2. Practice belly breathing for 5 minutes daily
3. Breathe through your nose whenever possible
4. Extend your exhales to activate relaxation
5. Check in with your breath throughout the day
With consistent practice, proper breathing will become second nature, and you'll experience the profound benefits that come with giving your body the oxygen and calm it needs to thrive.