Cure Your Breathing Problems with Breathing Exercises

Most of us believe we’ve already mastered breathing. But here’s an honest question: have you ever really observed how you breathe?

Breathing may be automatic, but that doesn’t mean it’s optimal.

In today’s modern age, most people find the concept of using breathing techniques and development very strange and unusual. Most of us take breathing as something we are always doing in the right way. They think that if breathing is something we do naturally, then there is no need to pay any extra attention to it. 

When Breathing Goes Wrong, So Does Health

Poor breathing doesn’t just affect the lungs. It can cause or significantly worsen a wide range of conditions, including asthma, anxiety, high blood pressure, headaches, poor sleep, chronic fatigue, and shortness of breath.

The way we breathe can either support or inhibit nervous system function, circulation, detoxification, lymph flow, and even the gentle internal massage of our organs.

Have you ever taken really good notice of your breathing? 

Many of us don’t breathe deeply enough. Many hold their breath without realizing it. Others breathe out of balance or with constant tension. But here’s the problem: unless someone has experienced good breathing, real balance, ease, and depth, they have no reference point.

There is a right way to breathe. And when you experience it, it doesn’t just look right. It feels right. You know it in your body.

What Happens When Breathing Is Optimized

When we consciously work on the rate, awareness, volume, ease, and balance of our breathing, a number of physiological mechanisms are activated.

As Danielle Rose, MD, states:

“The more correct teachings stemming from Optimal Breathing should be incorporated into physical exams taught in medical schools, as well as allied health programs such as education, speech therapy, physical therapy, and respiratory therapy.”

Once you optimize the rate, awareness, volume, and balance of your breathing, you will notice a dramatic physiological and emotional change in your life. Research has shown that when you breathe, the actions of your diaphragm, lungs, and thorax also work as the primary pump for your heart, lymph, and spinal fluid. And since breathing is our only source of oxygen, it helps keep us energetic and healthy.

Only practicing easy exercises is like doing the same number of push-ups every day for years. Our body adapts to the exercise, and slowly their effects start to diminish. Similarly, the muscles you use for breathing get accustomed to the same pattern, and the same exercises stop having any good effects on your body. Plus, the muscles become comfortable working in the same pattern. Therefore, to get long-term results through breathing exercises, you must practice all kinds of exercises, including the harder ones.

This raises the question: Which exercises should you do, when, and for how long?

Here’s another aspect of breathing exercises: Some breathing exercises can induce altered states of consciousness. When guided properly, these experiences can be profound and beneficial. 

Some people can fall into a trance-like state or experience a personality change in which they start behaving erratically during or after practicing such exercises. This kind of behavior is sometimes misdiagnosed as some kind of psychosis. I know someone who, after taking an intense pranayama class, got so energized and distracted that he crashed his car straight into the car in front of him, so extreme caution is advised when pursuing breathing that may induce altered states of consciousness.

Better Breathing for a Better Life

Many patients and people who are looking to achieve higher goals in life have learned and used our breathing-development techniques. These techniques have helped them improve their personal functionality and power, regardless of their health and performance abilities.

These exercises also help healthy people to stay in good shape and to endure stress and other difficulties in daily life. 

We often underestimate the diaphragm by thinking of it as nothing more than an air mover. In reality, it plays a vital role in emotional expression and vocal strength.

We’ve all felt it:

When someone laughs or yawns, and suddenly we do too. That’s not a coincidence. It’s a physiological and energetic response. Breathing connects us.

If breathing exercises don’t address this emotional and expressive aspect of the diaphragm, their effects are often limited or even counterproductive. As the saying goes, “Practice does not make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.”

Ancient Hatha Yoga texts repeatedly emphasize one thing: breathing exercises must be practiced with care and respect, even at beginner levels. Breathing doesn’t just influence the body. It amplifies what’s already there.

Kindness or irritability.

Calm or agitation. 

Balance or imbalance.

Quirks, phobias, emotional tendencies, and even certain neurological conditions can become exaggerated if breathing practices are poorly matched to the individual. Many times, people don’t pay much attention to these energetic warnings and they become habituated or addicted to these exercises. However, an expert instructor can spot the warning signs and, in such cases, will modify his instruction plans to accommodate the student’s physical or personality traits.

One of the most common physiological risks associated with breathing exercises is that they don’t give us any warning signs of the problems arising from not doing the exercises correctly. While practicing any other kind of yogic asanas, diet experiments or any other changes in our life, we depend on our senses for the warning signs that tell us we are doing something harmful or unsuitable for our body. 

The Bottom Line

“There are no new fundamentals.”–Vince Lombardi

At OptimalBreathing, we help you develop your fundamentals.

These foundational techniques are simple, practical, and safe.  You don’t need any special training or knowledge to practice them. Whether you’re healthy or dealing with illness, these exercises can be practiced daily to restore balance and recharge your system at a cellular level.

To begin, start with the fundamentals.