How Breathing Impacts Your Mood, Energy Levels, and Body Functions

Image courtesy of Giulia Bertelli via Unsplash.

Take a second to think about your breath. What does it feel like right now? The way most of us breathe is quick, shallow, and often through our mouths. We do this because it’s the only way to continue breathing when our chest and abdomen are constricted by forward posture (working at a computer). Add to that that our pelvic movement is restricted by sitting all day, and our airways are restricted by poor overall development, allergies, and chronic breathing ailments like asthma—and this restricted breathing pattern is a necessary solution to a set of poor conditions.

Basically, we’ve become terrible breathers. 

The problem is that this is also a breathing pattern that tells our bodies we’re stressed. Historically, our breathing was quick, shallow, restricted, and through our mouths in times of extreme stress (think fight or flight because a bear is chasing you). But now, we’re breathing poorly and without thinking most of the time.

Breathing only in this fashion, and especially mostly through our mouths, puts us at a disadvantage. When we breathe through our noses, our bodies actually have more control over themselves—and I don’t just mean when we’re paying attention. Nasal breathing allows your body to open and close its airways as it sees fit. There’s erectile tissue in your nose that has been shown to cycle its activity with your moods, the time of day, and the lunar cycle. (Your nose is smarter than you know-se.)

That doesn’t mean breathing through your mouth is always bad. It can be a great short-term escape plan in an emergency. Mouth breathing allows for quick bursts of oxygen or the release of carbon dioxide, which can be advantageous for your body when it needs it. It’s not a good long-term strategy, but it has its place.

The bottom line: Conscious control of breath allows you to utilize each inhale and exhale for a purpose. Every phase of the breathing cycle, and each type of breathing has advantages and disadvantages. Knowing what each phase does and consciously using each of them is one of the most foundational sets of life hacks you can have in your arsenal (and it’s easier than making Bulletproof coffee). Here are just a few.

How Different Types of Breathing Impact Your Body

There are myriad ways how different types of breathing impact your body. If you’re new to breathing on purpose, try one of these techniques at a time so you and your body aren’t overwhelmed. 

Memory and Consciousness

If you’re struggling to keep names or dates in your head, consider your breath. You’re more likely to consciously remember something that happens on an inhale. Think about when you get scared, for example. Humans instinctively take a quick breath in through our mouths in response to a fearful stimulus. This way, we get a quick flood of oxygen and set ourselves up to remember what the threat was so we can avoid it in the future.

The opposite is kind of true as well. Exhaling doesn’t make you forget, but it is more likely to influence your subconscious mind. That’s why hypnotherapists make sure to make suggestions on an exhale.

Mood, Anxiety, and Stress

This is the area of breathwork you might be most familiar with. Where you breathe when you inhale impacts your alertness, and can help trigger a waterfall of events in your body, designed to either hype you up (for protection, for a workout, before a big meeting) or calm you down (to wind down for sleep, to relax your muscles, to help circumvent a panic attack).

Breathing into your chest activates your sympathetic (fight or flight) system. This increases your cortisol (alertness hormone) levels, and provides a rush of blood to your skeletal muscles, in case you need to sprint away from danger—or get prepped to give a big presentation at work. 

This also requires more active energy to do. Think about how much more force it takes to expand your bony rib cage than it takes to move the thin sheets of muscle around your abdomen. The hard tissue of bone is more work to move than the soft tissue of your belly.

On the other hand, breathing into your belly activates your parasympathetic (rest and digest) system. This can soothe the system for a number of reasons, including that you activate your vagus nerve, which releases a neurotransmitter that slows your heart rate. Breathing into your abdomen also stimulates your digestive system, which sits in the area you’re expanding and contracting as you breathe. And you can’t discount the calming impact that getting a deep, relaxed breath and fully expanding your lungs can have.

Creativity, Planning, and Focus

Your breath can also impact your ability to be creative, and stay focused. The rate of your breathing cycle, as well as which nostril you’re using, can help hone the environment you want to create in your body.

Breathing through your right nostril promotes more structured thought and executive planning, and it activates your sympathetic nervous system. It increases your blood pressure, body temperature, and heart rate, which can help you focus.

A longer inhale and shorter exhale will have a similar impact. Lesson? Next time you’re losing energy at the 3 p.m. slump, try one of these tips: 1) take a deep breath in and exhale fast a few times, or 2) breathe solely through your right nostril (hold your left closed with a finger) for five breath cycles.

If you need to get creative, breathe through your left nostril, which can activate creative thinking and stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system. This lowers your blood pressure, heart rate, and body temperature, and can help you get into a more meditative state where ideas flow.

Same goes for taking deep breaths where your exhale is twice as long as your inhale. To boost creativity on demand, give either of these a try: 1) inhale for a four count, and exhale for an eight count, or 2) breath using your left nostril only (hold the right one closed with a finger) for five breath cycles.

I want to emphasize: There are a wild number of possibilities when it comes to types and methods of breathing and how they can impact your body. We’ll dive into more of those (including more about mouth vs. nasal breathing) soon. For now, check out these four things you can do to breathe better right now.