FHP2 – Breathe Right

Breathing is the most natural thing in the world; so the chances I’m not “breathing right” are slim, right?

Wrong!

By analogy, walking might be said to be one of the most natural things in the world, yet 85% of the Western population over-pronate as they walk; which means they are “walking wrong”… the figures for breathing are likely similar. In fact, some 11% of people who end up as in-patients in the hospital setting have a breathing pattern disorder driving their symptoms. As you work through this Breathe Right resource, you will begin to understand why this may be, to what degree you personally are affected, and what you can do about it.

Since we breathe somewhere in the region of 25,000 times per day, it is clear that a slight inefficiency in the way you’re breathing can quickly have a significant cumulative effect on your health and function. Elements of modern lifestyles which frequently can affect the way we breathe are as wide and varied as the following:

• Stress levels
• Emotional status
• Nutritional intake
• Hydration status
• Exercise habits
• Sleep patterns
• Parental nutrition when you were conceived
• Immune function
• Body composition

… among many others!

A further way to screen for factors affecting your breathing pattern is to look at what your levels of anxiety are. Although all emotions will affect the way we breathe, anxiety is the most closely correlated with breathing pattern disorders. Here you can assess your current score using the section on anxiety from the Advanced Health Appraisal Questionnaire (HAQ). Click on the link here, and please ensure you total up and note down your overall score.