What’s So Important About Breathing?
“The way you breathe is the way you feel, and the way you feel is the way you live” -- Stig Severinsen, four-time world freediving champion
A Deep Dive on Breathing
In 2012, Danish freediver Stig Severinsen became the first person in the world to hold his breath for more than 20 minutes. And to make matters more fun, he broke the record while in a shark-filled tank! Now Stig trains peak performers from top athletes to Navy SEALs on what he calls the most under-appreciated biohack in the 21st century: breathing.
His feat is incredible, but Stig emphasizes that breathing is for everybody, and can be made simple! This article will look at the importance of breathing on virtually every aspect of health, how breathwork makes you healthier and happier, and a simple exercise you can do any time to consciously shift yourself out of stress and into health.
The Vital Importance of the Breath
Humans breathe about 25,000 times per day. Each breath draws in oxygen, our most fundamental, constant energy. Each exhale discards spent energy in the form of carbon dioxide, making breathing a primary source of detoxification.
Your brain uses a full 20% of your body’s oxygen, making the quality of breath directly related to cognitive function. What’s more, the rhythm of breathing directly regulates the vagus nerve, shaping stress response and emotional state.
Your breath’s rhythmic expansion and contraction gently mobilizes everything in the body, from massaging the digestive organs to pumping blood, lymph, and spinal fluid. The lungs and diaphragm’s movement is the pump, setting the body’s internal rhythms in motion.
To sum it up, breathing is a primary source of our energy, is directly related to stress levels and emotional regulation, and mobilizes all of our vital fluids in the body!
The Way You Breathe Matters: Change your Breathing, Change your Life
Although he’s an elite athlete, Stig jokes that he’s actually quite lazy, because to accomplish such amazing feats he essentially sleeps for 20 minutes. His point is that the more relaxed, chill, down to earth you can become, the smoother things tend to go and the better you can perform.
Of course, even the laziest of us still encounter stressors. While we can’t instantly change the world, we can change our internal state toward a relaxed, positive state simply by changing how we breathe. Let me explain.
When we breathe shallowly, rapidly, or through the mouth, our body shifts into high alert—the fight-or-flight nervous system. This triggers stress hormones like cortisol, which affect mood, sleep, digestion, inflammation, and immunity, keeping us in a heightened state of stress.
But the good news is that slow, deep breathing engages the “rest and digest” nervous system, taking the body back toward health and happiness. You don’t need to do two hours of yoga—you can practice breathing while at work, in the car, even before you get out of bed.
Breathing exercise: Relax on Demand (the 2:1 breath)
This exercise triggers the “rest and digest” nervous system by exhaling for twice as long as your inhale (2:1 ratio). The momentary pause at the top of the breath improves oxygenation to the brain and body. Try it out now for just 3 breaths on your own and notice how it makes you feel.
Breathe in with your nose (always!) to a slow count of 5
Hold the breath at the top for a few moments,
Exhale slow and controlled on a “sss” like a snake to a count of 10
Repeat
That’s it! With a bit of practice over time, you will start to shift your nervous system toward more easily relaxing on demand, and find yourself with more energy in daily life.
Stay tuned for part 2, where I’ll dive deeper into how structural bodywork can release restrictions and align your body to make the breath deeper and effortless.