Breathing may seem simple, even automatic to most. But what if your breathing is impacting your health? While most people will never bother to answer “are you breathing wrong?” they feel that their poor breathing habits, which affect their sleep, energy, focus, and health, are just a part of getting older. So they plug away, struggling to catch their breath while walking up the stairs, without recognizing the true problem: Their breath – the foundation of their health.
Our breathing doesn’t begin to be a problem until we get older. However, bad breathing habits develop over time, usually without us noticing. While aging makes our breathing worse, by the time we begin to notice a problem, we lack the energy or knowledge to do much about it.
In this article, we’re going to examine what poor breathing looks like, what it does to our body, and why people never realize that it is can be a problem until their health worsens..
What “Wrong” Breathing Looks Like
Most people never question how they should breathe. Because breathing comes automatically, they ignore signs of bad breathing habits. If you are tired or experience poor sleep or are often short of breath you’re most likely breathing wrong. Other signs include constantly sighing and yawning or breathing too fast.
One of the biggest giveaways that your breathing is wrong is that you breathe almost exclusively from your mouth. No matter if you are mouth breathing while awake or during sleep, it changes how your body works.
Obvious signs of poor breathing include:
- You breathe through your mouth when sitting or walking
- Your shoulders rise when you inhale
- You feel tightness in your chest or neck
- You regularly feel “wired but tired”
Developing poor breathing habits usually happens slowly and over time. And because it is automatic (not a conscious process) , its easy to miss. However, you can begin to change your breathing once you spot the patterns,
Why It Matters More Than You Think
Poor breathing habits not only impact your lungs but your entire body. When you don’t breathe properly your sleep is impacted, as is your mental sharpness, and your ability to get enough oxygen to your cells [1[. Everything else about your lifestyle could be great: you may eat properly, get enough exercise, etc. but if your breathing is poor, so is your health.
When mouth breathing or even shallow chest breathing becomes a habit you can expect the following:
- Sleep quality decreases– Mouth breathing disrupts airflow and leads to snoring, light sleep, and waking up early.
- Energy falls – You feel tired even after 7–8 hours of sleep.
- Stress increases – You feel on edge from fast, poor breathing, such as in being in fight or flight mode..
- Focus is reduced– Less oxygen reaches your brain making your brain feel foggy and unfocused.
- Blood pressure may increase – Regular over-breathing can cause a stress response in your body.
- Immune system is compromised – Mouth breathing weakens your immune system. Nasal breathing makes nitric oxide, which supports immunity, and nasal passages filters air before it gets to your lungs
- Increased risk of sleep apnea and snoring – while sleeping, airways can collapse and become unstable as a result of mouth breathing. Nasal breathing supports more stable airways during sleep.
These issues, are more common (or more obvious) as we get older, but can be addressed by practicing nasal breathing.
Why Most People Never Realize It
When change occurs slowly most people don’t notice them. This goes for aging as well as how we breathe. Because people almost never consider “Am I breathing wrong?” – they rarely question how breathing impacts their health. Just because breathing is automatic doesn’t mean it can’t be bad for us.
This is why most people don’t notice a problem with their breathing:
- It happens slowly – Breathing habits can change slowly over months or years due to stress, weakening posture or gradually blocked and constricted nasal airways.
- It seems “normal” – Rarely do people notice or understand that breathing through the mouth is harmful, until it causes health issues.
- There’s no pain – Because there is no pain or obvious discomfort to indicate something is wrong, except for perhaps being winded and slightly uncomfortable, it isn’t an issue for most people.
- Even active people do it – It seems normal as we watch athletes and those that are high performing default to mouth breathing (perhaps way before they should) when under stress or effort..
This is why poor breathing is such a problem – it is mundane and unobvious and doesn’t become an issue until your health is noticeably impacted..
How You Can Start Noticing the Pattern
If you’ve never really considered your breathing before, this is the time to do so. You don’t need any equipment or tools, although I’ve discussed some that may help in my article Why You Need to Stop Mouth Breathing While Sleeping Now! If you do intend to take action to correct your breathing, you should consult your doctor first.
You should ask yourself:
- Are you breathing through your mouth while sitting, working, or watching TV?
- Do you wake up with a dry mouth, stuffy nose, or sore throat?
- Are you finding yourself yawning or sighing often during the day?
- Do you feel tired, even after a full 8 hours of sleep?
If the answer is yes to any of these questions, there is a chance that your breathing is dysfunctional and can be working against you. Not all is bad news, you can improve your breathing now that you are aware of the problem. It starts with understanding and small changes to your breathing habits.
Conclusion: Are You Breathing Wrong?
Your ability to breathe properly impacts so much to do with your health but is usually overlooked or even attributed as a symptom of some other issue. This is probably because no one thinks about their breathing because its automatic and does the job. However, if you are experiencing health issues you need to examine whether you breathing is causing your issues and take steps to improve it.
Breathing is a tool, which if used properly, can serve you well. It can improve your health, your life, and can help you regain your edge.
Check out Active Breathing for Better Health.
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This article does not substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Therefore, always reach out to your doctor when you are unsure about any health issues.
