As promised, I’m back with a few tests. You can do this very second to see if you have a dysfunctional breathing pattern.
My shallow breathing led to a massive heart attack that almost ended my life…
Do these RIGHT NOW, and get help if you notice you’re not breathing right:
- Hyperventilation or overbreathing
This is often caused by emotional issues. The problem is, you may not be realizing you’re even doing it, but if you get episodes of dizziness or start feeling weak all of a sudden, it may be your breathing patterns.
Try to lie down and sit for a few minutes to relax and regulate your breathing rate. Then, start to count how many seconds the inhalation versus exhalation takes. Usually, the exhalation is longer. If it’s not, then you have a tendency to over breathe.
- Breathing in your upper-chest
The air we take in must hit our diaphragm. If air doesn’t reach our upper chest, it’s just like shallow breathing – you’re not getting enough oxygen.
Lie on your back, and put one hand on your upper chest, and the other on your stomach. Breathe. If the only hand that moves is the one on your chest, then you’re definitely not getting enough oxygen.
- Holding your breath
This is an involuntary pause you take between your inhale and exhale. It’s common to do it if you exercise, and feel like you can’t ‘catch your breath’, but for some people it can happen all the time, even when resting.
For this one, you need to pay attention to how you breathe, and ask someone close to monitor you as well.
- Shallow breathing
Here’s what the doctor told me to do to confirm my breathing pattern was to shallow:
Lie on your back and place your hands around your lower ribs. You should feel your cage expanding without efforts on inhale, and recoil on exhale. Mine was completely motionless, which means my pattern was too shallow to allow proper oxygen intake.
- Breathing through the mouth
This commonly happens when we get a stuffy nose, or if we snore. Our noses have the task of preparing the air we breathe in to ensure it’s the right moisture and temperature to enter our bodies, allowing for ideal oxygenation.
The mouth can’t do that, so if you’re routinely breathing through the mouth, chances are your body is in need for some better-quality oxygen.
Why does nobody talk about it?
Lung problems go unnoticed until it’s too late, when there’s a full blown disease formed. After all, who of us has stopped to think that a random shortness of breath is indicative of something greater?
I was lucky to have that heart attack. It helped me discover my dysfunctional breathing pattern, and thanks to breath retraining and a bit more awareness of this problem, I was able to fix my breathing problem.
It’s why I’m writing this. Check your pattern right now. Our bodies need oxygen to thrive, and not giving it the proper amount can have devastating health effects.
If you do the tests and see you may have a problematic pattern, please see your doctor at once!