How do you breathe just before stepping into cold water? The exaggerated nasal inhale when someone asks you an important question, the short shallow rapid breaths of anticipating a needle poke or the sigh of relief when you were about to drop your phone into the toilet—but didn’t. These are moments that demonstrate how breathing changes with what we expect to happen next.
Our breathing patterns are associated with what we do, think and feel whether we are aware of them or not—every moment of every day.
Imagine the pattern of your breath over an entire day: What shape would it take? When would it be rapid or slow, deep or shallow, holding or hyperventilating, light or heavy? Would it align with the task at hand, overshoot or be sub-optimal? We all have unique breathing habits and patterns—a breathing signature, if you will. It may be adaptive or maladaptive. Breathing can oscillate with our brain waves and help us think and feel better.
Please select this link to read the complete article from Psychology Today.