By Jude Huck-Reymond

Breathing is arguably the most essential part of everyone’s life. Not only does it keep us alive, but it also has a powerful effect on how we feel. Using simple, zero-cost methods, we can control our breathing to help alleviate stress, feel more energized, and tackle any challenge that life may throw at us.

The Dynamics of Breathing

Here, we’ll cover what breathing actually is, and how your body uses it to be successful in your everyday life. I’ll refer to the terms and functions described in this section throughout the article, so check back here if you find anything confusing. If you’ve taken high school biology, you might be familiar with a lot of this content, so feel free to skip to the next topic.

Breathing is the process by which your body exchanges oxygen in the air and carbon dioxide in your body. Our bodies use oxygen to produce energy that we can use to think, feel, and be active within our environment. Without oxygen from our inhales, our bodies would be totally useless within a few minutes. On the contrary, carbon dioxide is the waste product of most of our bodily functions, and without our exhales, our bodies would be dysfunctional in under a minute. Obviously, breathing is essential to our lives. Without both the intake of oxygen and the removal of carbon dioxide, we would die remarkably quickly.

The process by which our lungs exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide is called diffusion. This is a physical process where a collection of molecules moves from high concentration to low concentration. To put this into context, the air around us has a high concentration of oxygen relative to the blood in our body. When we breathe in, the oxygen in the air diffuses into our bloodstream where we can use it as energy. Likewise, our body has a high concentration of carbon dioxide relative to the air in our environment. When we inhale, the carbon dioxide in our body diffuses out of our blood and into the air that we exhale. It is important to realize that this diffusion is a two-way process, where oxygen diffuses in, and carbon dioxide diffuses out.

We primarily use a muscle called the diaphragm to breathe. This muscle lies directly below our lungs and is responsible for the rise and fall of our abdomen when breathing. Moreover, we also use the intercostal muscles that line our ribcage to expand our lungs to their largest volume. These muscles are less involved but become important whenever we are doing more challenging physical movements like cardio. You can experiment with these muscles by puffing out your abdomen and chest and then noticing the air that enters your lungs during this movement.

It is important to realize that our inhales are primarily active, meaning we put energy into taking air into our lungs. Meanwhile, our exhales are primarily passive because of the elastic structure of our lungs. To show this, take a deep breath in and notice how without any effort, our lungs expel the air like a balloon being deflated.

Finally, it is necessary to distinguish the differences between nasal and oral breathing. Oral breathing is the process of bringing air in through your mouth and then into your lungs. Likewise, nasal breathing is simply the process of bringing air in through your nose and into your lungs. Nasal breathing provides a better filter for allergens, pollutants, and dust in your environment. Nasal breathing also allows you to sense the chemicals in your environment by smell and allows you to oxygenate your body more effectively because of the increased resistance during inhalations and exhalations. Oral breathing can cause dry mouth, bad breath, and inflammation. Unless you’re trying to avoid your friend’s smelly fart, it is generally more healthy to breathe through your nose.

Optimizing Cardio Exercise

We have all tried to go out for a run and realized that it feels horrible, it’s not fun, and it doesn’t produce the physique that we are chasing so courageously. Here, we’ll discuss a strategy to improve our relationship with cardio and the benefits of using this strategy during our cardio exercise.

The next time you go out for a run or other intense cardio activity, try to hold your mouth shut and breathe entirely through your nose. At first, this will feel as if it is more challenging than if you were to breathe through your mouth. However, if you give yourself a week or so of practice, you will soon realize the benefits of this strategy.

First, your body will be oxygenated much more effectively. The increased resistance when nasal breathing allows for more diffusion of oxygen into your lungs, so your body has a higher concentration of oxygen to use for energy during your cardio. You will feel as if you can run for longer at a decent pace. It is important to note that this strategy is primarily effective during your zone two cardio (70-80% of your maximum heart rate). When you elevate your heart rate out of zone two, you will feel the urge to open your mouth and breath orally. This is a natural urge and should be expected. For example, this strategy will not be as useful for all-out sprints, where your goal is to run as fast as possible for a short distance or time period. Above zone two (>80% max heart rate), oral breathing is more effective as it simply allows for a larger volume of air to enter your lungs over time.

The quality of air entering your lungs will be much better when nasal breathing as opposed to oral breathing. Your nose will filter the air entering your lungs, allowing you to breathe free of allergens, pollutants, and dust in your environment. It will also moisturize and control the temperature of the air entering your body, which will let your lungs feel more comfortable during any bouts of cardio.

Immediate Stress Relief

Throughout our lives, we are constantly faced with stressful tasks and obstacles that we must overcome. Occasionally, this can cause us to feel extremely overwhelmed, and in the worst cases, we can fall into a panic attack. In this section, we’ll discuss how to prevent these panics and alleviate some of our stress using only our breath.

The method of breathing we’ll use is called the physiological sigh, and it is extremely simple. First, take a deep inhale until your lungs are mostly full. Then, take a second inhale in an attempt to maximize the air in your lungs. Finally, release the air in a long, slow exhale. That’s all there is to it. To maximize its effectiveness, repeat this process 3-5 times, or until you feel you have control of your state of mind.

The physiological sigh effectively resets your phrenic nerve, which is responsible for the rhythm and frequency of your breathing. When using this sigh, your body interprets it as an especially long, slow breath and responds by slowing the rest of your body’s systems.

This strategy is extremely effective in lowering your heart rate, which will then lower your stress and reduce panic. Before you have an exam for school, a presentation at work, when you’re trying to fall asleep, or even when you feel a full-blown panic attack coming on, use this method to control your heart rate and control the state of your mind. In my own experience, I used this method right before my exam in Numerical Linear Algebra and went from sweaty and stressed, to calm, collected, and ready to perform on my exam in a matter of seconds (not to brag, but I got an A).

You can even use this strategy to ease cramps on the right side of your abdomen while doing cardio exercises. This is because cramps on the right side of your stomach are generally caused by a disruption in the phrenic nerve. Coupling this with nasal breathing during your cardio will take you to the next level of endurance and allow you to put in those extra miles. It is important to note that cramps on the left side of your abdomen are caused by different disruptions, often related to excess air or fluid in your bowels.

The use cases for the physiological sigh are practically endless, and you can use this method as often as you need to control your state of mind.

Enhance Sleep and Energy

Do you ever wake up from a long night’s sleep and feel sluggish, foggy, and generally unsatisfied with your rest? Sleep is possibly the most significant influence over our energy levels throughout the entire day, and consistent, quality sleep can be life-changing. Let’s discuss the strategy that will allow you to get higher-quality sleep every single night.

Your lack of energy after waking up and throughout the day could be caused by oral breathing during sleep. When we orally breathe throughout the night, our body is not oxygenated to the extent that it needs. This has lasting effects on us throughout the rest of the day.

To get higher quality sleep, we must simply nasal breathe throughout the night. Some may find this advice good enough and are able to simply shut their mouths and breath normally through their nose. However, many of us let our mouths fall open while we are unconscious and simply don’t have the control to close them and breathe through our noses. The quickest fix is to take a piece of medical tape and place it vertically over our mouth. Yes, tape your mouth shut before you go to sleep. This may sound off-putting at first, as taping your mouth shut might sound dangerous or unsafe. However, your body will naturally respond to the shut mouth by opening your nasal canals and allowing air to pass freely through your nose. Moreover, if you actually stop breathing during your sleep, your body has mechanisms that will wake you up and bring you back to consciousness. The lack of oxygen from breathing orally could be causing you to wake from sleep anyways and could lead to more serious cases of sleep apnea, so it is vitally important to prioritize nasal breathing while you rest.

Not only will this strategy improve your energy levels, but it will also cause you to have better breath and whiter teeth. Moreover, you will be able to enjoy other aesthetically pleasing effects including a less protruded jaw, raised eyebrows, and tighter skin around the rest of your face.

It is important to note that many tapes can cause skin irritation, so you should look for medical-grade tape that is meant to be applied to the skin. While this is technically not zero-cost, the alternative is the negative effects of oral breathing and the risk of sleep apnea, a much more serious diagnosis. In many cases, sleep apnea can require a device called a CPAP, which is quite expensive compared to the cheap alternative I provide.

Never Have Hiccups Again

Hiccups are annoying, painful, and quite hard to get rid of. There are many strategies online such as eating or drinking something backward or upside down, holding your breath or even getting startled by someone. However, while these strategies may work for some, they often don’t work for everyone and they probably don’t work for you. Here, we’ll discuss a clinically proven strategy to get rid of hiccups every single time they arise.

The strategy is simple, when you get a hiccup take a big inhale, then another inhale to fill your lungs, and then take a third inhale even if only a minuscule amount of air enters your lungs. Then let all of the air out in a normal manner. To clarify, three inhales in a row, and then a normal exhale.

This method works because hiccups are actually caused by a malfunction of the phrenic nerve causing your diaphragm to spasm and give you a hiccup. Doing this effectively resets your phrenic nerve and allows it to function normally again without spasms. The next time your friend has the hiccups, don’t try startling them, just offer them this simple solution using your breath.

Motivations

I feel extremely passionate about sharing this information with everyone as I see how it can immediately improve everyone’s life using only our breath. I was inspired to write this article while listening to an episode of the podcast Huberman Lab, where Andrew Huberman discusses all of these strategies in great detail. I can not recommend his podcast enough, and I believe every single one of his episodes can bring immediate value to your life at little or zero cost. Please check out his podcast if you found my article interesting or beneficial.