Stop Holding Your Breath
You’re killing your chances of making good decisions
What do you do when you’re nervous? Mad? Lost? Confused? Whatever you do, don’t hold your breath!
I am 49 years old and just realized I hold my breath when I get emotional. That’s pretty much…all the time. It’s a wonder I’m alive.
My therapist pointed it out to me during an intense conversation.
“Emily, breathe. Do you know you’re holding your breath?”
“ No, I’m not. I don’t hold my breath. That’s ludicrous.”
We continued our session, and she repeated herself countless times.
“Emily, breathe.”
I insisted I was breathing. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to argue with her I was breathing.
Everybody does it.
It turns out that holding your breath is a somewhat common thing. Especially when working online.
Linda Stone coined the phrase email apnea in a 2008 article for Huffington Post in which she described a tendency to hold her breath as she checked her email.
Real Simple published a more recent article about it here:
The toll it takes on your health
Researchers found that holding your breath takes a real toll on your health. Not just because you could pass out if you don’t breathe…
Obviously, breathing is important to trade carbon dioxide for oxygen.
But holding your breath is particularly harmful for your brain.
Especially since one usually holds their breath — during an intense moment — a moment the brain needs more oxygen to function properly.
Since learning this, I’ve paid attention to how often I hold my breath. It’s a wonder I’m not brain-dead!
There is no way my brain is receiving what it needs. I’ve noticed I not only hold my breath while working on my computer, but I also walk around holding my breath all day!
- McKinley has a popsicle in the living room — I hold my breath. Don’t spill it!
- Alan brings me flowers. I hold my breath. What is he trying to make up for?
- There’s rain in the forecast. I hold my breath. What about the game?
- As I’m writing this blog, I’m holding my breath. What if no one cares?
If I’m not holding my breath, I’m reminding myself not to hold my breath. I’m becoming obsessed with whether I’m breathing…which makes me hold my breath.
Such a viscous cycle!
But it’s not just the brain that suffers.
As toxic as it is for the brain when we hold our breath, the brain isn’t the only system that suffers.
Chronic breath holding and effortful breathing are not healthy because the muscular effort, coupled with the effects of stress on the nervous, hormonal, and immune systems, can impair both physical and psychological function. Psychology Today https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/body-sense/201009/waiting-exhale
With so much potential damage to the systems in our body, how do we stop holding our breath?
Though we are subconsciously compelled to hold our breath during stressful moments, it’s not something we have to put our bodies through. Nor do we have to sign up for Yoga classes.
If you find yourself waiting to exhale, Dr. Jessica Baron has these suggestions for breathing a sigh of relief:
- Sit up as straight as you can (or lie on your back) so your belly is free to fill with air.
- Take a deep, slow breath in through your nose, letting your chest and then belly rise as your lungs fill up, keeping your shoulders stationary. (Typically, you’d want to try for a count of 2–4 seconds on your inhale.)
- Then slowly release the breath through your mouth. (Here, try for 4–6 seconds.)
- Continue for 2–3 minutes and take a moment to think about how you feel.
Find more information in her article:
Stop killing your chances of making better decisions! Just breathe.
