Why stress is ruining your breathing

Stress affects many parts of the body, but one of the most immediate and noticeable effects is on breathing. When people feel stressed, their breathing often changes without them realizing it. This can lead to over-breathing, also known as hyperventilation, which can cause a range of symptoms. Read on to understand how stress influences breathing patterns.

The build up of stress in the body can impact our breathing

How Stress Can Ruin Breathing Patterns

When the body senses stress, it triggers the "fight or flight" response. This response prepares the body to react quickly to danger by releasing stress hormones like adrenaline. Great when you need to run away from a tiger, but not so great when triggered by endless emails, deadline and to do lists. This stress settles into the body, changes our chemistry and overloads our nervous system to change the way we breathe. We become so used to this, our body think this is normal. Your body forgot what calm feels like and lives in permanent emergency mode. There is no difference between danger and daily life. So you breathe faster, shallower, and high in the chest, rather than low and slow.

What Is Over Breathing and Common Signs?

Over-breathing means breathing more air than the body needs. Most people who over breathe don’t even know they’re doing it. People can look calm on the outside but can be suffocating on the inside. Smiling. Working. Functioning like they always have at home or at work. Over-breathing impacts both physical and mental health. Physically, it can cause muscle tension, headaches, and fatigue. Mentally, it can increase feelings of anxiety and panic. This happens because the body’s chemistry changes when carbon dioxide levels drop, affecting the nervous system.

When you over-breathe, you blow out too much carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide helps regulate the pH of your blood. Losing too much of it causes the blood to become more alkaline. Some common symptoms that show up when you are over-breathe are:

• Chest discomfort or tightness

• Clenched jaws

• Frequent yawning or sighing

• Feeling like you can’t get enough air

• Waking up already exhausted

  
  

Practical Ways to Manage Stress Related Breathing Changes

Here are some things you can practice for a few minutes each day to help calm your nervous system and get your breathing back to something more functional.

1. Practice Diaphragmatic Breathing

Also called belly breathing, this technique encourages deep breaths using the diaphragm instead of shallow chest breathing, allowing the air to expand the chest area deep and wide. The diaphragm is our primary breathing muscle, but often when stressed, we rely on the little muscles in and around our chest instead, and breathing becomes fast and shallow. 

2. Slow down the breath

Try counting an inhale for 5 seconds, and an exhale for 5 seconds. Repeat.

3. Breathe through your nose

Try to limit how much breathing you do via the mouth. Try to breath as much through the nose as you can, even while exercising and sleeping. 

4. Reduce the volume of air breathed in and out

When you yawn or sigh a lot, you take in and expel large volumes of air. Efficient oxygenation of the blood can be achieved without huge volumes of air entering the body. Practicing the three steps above will also help reduce the volume of air. 

If breathing problems persist or worsen, it is important to consult a healthcare provider. They can rule out other medical issues and provide advice to manage stress and breathing effectively.