The Science of Breath
What’s in a breath?
So much it’s hard to know where to begin. But let’s start here:
You breathe 20,000+ times per day
You can only live 3 minutes without air (compared to 3 days without water, and 3+ weeks without food)
Nutrients require digestion, oxygen is used almost instantly
You spend 1/3 of your life sleeping, but 100% of it breathing
Would you tolerate your phone malfunctioning 20,000 times a day?
Probably not. So why do you tolerate it in your own body?
Here is a quick Trail Guide on the Science of Breath, and how most of us ended up at the peak of dysfunction.
01. When you breathe, you’re sending continuous signals to your brain about your felt sense of safety.
Fast, shallow, or irregular breathing patterns are interpreted by the nervous system as signs of stress, vigilance, or threat. Slower, deeper, and more efficient breathing patterns signal safety, recovery, and clarity.
This happens because different breathing patterns change carbon dioxide (CO₂) and oxygen exchange, which directly influences blood pH and neural excitability. These chemical shifts affect key neurochemical systems involved in stress and regulation—including cortisol and adrenaline, as well as neurotransmitters like acetylcholine (focus and learning), GABA (inhibition and calm), and serotonin (mood regulation).
In short: how you breathe shapes how your brain and nervous system respond.
02. In our fast-paced, digitally driven world, many people have spent years—sometimes decades—living in a state of low-grade or chronic stress.
Imagine a teacher calling on you in class when you didn’t know the answer. Or a slack message from your boss pops up after hours. A car swerves dangerously close. An Instagram notification pops up. Your toddler reaches towards the hot stove. You read an infuriating news article, etc, etc, etc.
What did you do? You held your breath.
And you started the negative cascade of stress hormones described above. On top of a lifetime of these small stresses, our digital world amplifies the frequency with which we brace our bodies and hold our breath: social media, the news, never ending emails, etc all disrupt our breath and focus.
03. Over time, this stress is stored in the body.
As we become accustom to subtle breath holds or shallow breathing, we slowly affect our muscle tone, fascial tension, and posture over time, particularly in the diaphragm, rib cage, neck, and shoulders.
Unfortunately, our work habits of sitting all day only make this worse: our neck pulls forward rounding our shoulders and further restricting breathing. This creates a vicious feedback loop: posture affects breathing, and breathing affects posture. So even when you try to “take a deep breath,” the body may be unable to do so. Your body is literally locked down because your nervous system is receiving chemical signals (from your subpar breath) that you’re in constant state of alert.
04. Breath repatterning works because it addresses this loop at its source.
Rather than forcing relaxation, we retrain the nervous system by working directly with breathing mechanics and respiratory chemistry over time. This process improves diaphragmatic function, rib mobility, CO₂ tolerance, and autonomic regulation. As breathing patterns change, muscle tension and posture begin to reorganize, allowing the body to adopt a new baseline.
The result is not temporary calm, but lasting changes in how your system regulates stress, energy, focus, and emotional response.
When breathing becomes efficient, the nervous system no longer needs to stay on high alert—and regulation becomes the new default.
