Breathing is, of course, very natural and automatic. As long as we live, our body ensures that we inhale and exhale automatically to take in oxygen. Although this is a natural process, it is not always done consciously.
Fast breathing affects your health
When you are busy with something, you may find that your breathing is much faster than is good for you, putting your body in a state of exertion. For many people, this unconsciously rapid breathing occurs more often than they realize. This has various effects on your health that we want to share with you.
How often do you breathe on average per minute?
Many people breathe 12, 14, or 16 times per minute. Although this may be the average, when you are not physically active, 6 times per minute is actually sufficient. Are you curious about what happens when you breathe too fast? When you breathe 16 times or more per minute, for example, while reading the newspaper or sitting behind your computer, your body is in a state of agitation and readiness, as if you are cycling against the wind at 20 km per hour.
You can imagine that rapid breathing can eventually lead to problems. There is a direct link between breathing too fast and common complaints such as fatigue, restlessness, headaches, and sometimes even palpitations.
Calm breathing: the effect on your energy
Studies have shown that when you breathe calmly, it can have a very quick positive effect on your energy. Due to improved oxygen uptake, you will sleep better, headaches may reduce, feelings of agitation will disappear, and this will result in more energy and improved sports and work performance. So, the importance of a good breathing rhythm is essential for our functioning!
What does this calm breathing look like? With faster breathing, you will notice that your inhalation and exhalation have the same pattern. With calm breathing, the exhalation is always significantly longer than the inhalation. This also means that your heart rate will be much lower as a result.
Breathing exercise for calm breathing
A simple and effective breathing exercise is to lengthen your exhalation. Breathe calmly in through your nose, extend your exhalation until it feels comfortable, and then breathe calmly in through your nose again. It's essential not to inhale too deeply but to extend your exhalation. This way, you ensure a proper oxygen balance. There also exist other variations of breahting exercises for stress.
Incorrect breathing? Take the test!
Would you like to see how you're doing yourself? You can easily test this using a stopwatch by counting your breaths (every inhalation) for 1 minute.
If you find that you're breathing too quickly, it's probably because you can exhale more slowly: try the exercise described above! For the best results in energy, sleep, and performance, do this exercise three times a day for 10 minutes over the next 6 weeks. See what it does for you!
Source/book recommendation: Verademing (Bram Bakker & Koen de Jong)
