What is Breathing?

I wrote this a few months ago on my Instagram account and thought it would be useful for you guys looking at my blog…

But first...what’s the problem?

Something in the healthcare system clearly isn’t working… anxiety levels are at an all-time high, alongside a sharp upward trend in people seeking anxiety treatment, with talking therapy access increasing by over 20% since 2020.

This rings true to what I experienced, years of mind-based tools such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, with small, but minor changes and ultimately staying stuck in the same mind-based loops… the same situations.

We are forgetting about the impact of our breath.

I believe how we breathe is at the foundation of how we live.

Our breathing pattern interacts with all our internal systems to influence how we show up on a emotional, mental, physical and spiritual level.

The stats are alarming...

Some 22.6% of people questioned by the Office for National Statistics in October-December 2024 said they experienced a high amount of anxiety.

(ONS, 2025).

This suggests that the number of individuals in the UK experiencing severe anxiety symptoms today is likely in the tens of millions, pointing to a major public health concern.

Anxiety and Breath: The Missing Link

Despite this prevalence of anxiety, there remains limited direct research connecting anxiety symptoms with dysfunctional breathing patterns.

In a 2020 study conducted in Russia, researchers found that among participants with borderline anxiety, 63% also met criteria for dysfunctional breathing, as measured by the Nijmegen Questionnaire (Koniukhovskaia et al., 2020).

This sole study demonstrates the idea that chronic or unresolved anxiety is frequently accompanied by disordered breathing, even if patients are unaware of it.

I believe this figure is likely considerably higher, with 90% of my clients turning up to my clinic on Harley Street with “undiagnosed” dysfunctional breathing patterns...

The simples...or maybe not?

Breathing is more than just gas exchange.

While oxygen enters and carbon dioxide leaves, the process affects every system in the body.

We need oxygen in our cells to survive, and carbon dioxide plays a crucial role in helping oxygen release from haemoglobin and reach our tissues and muscles.

But beyond that, your breathing pattern can either support your health or silently sabotage it. It can be a weapon for regulation or a trigger for stress.

A Weapon or Untamed Trigger?

Many of us know the feeling: we’re having a stressful day, our breath becomes tight and shallow and we predominate our breathing in the chest, creating a vicious cycle.

This is often called the breath-anxiety cycle.

Shallow, chest breathing signals threat to the nervous system, activating the sympathetic response - heart rate and blood pressure rise. The HPA axis is triggered, flooding the body with cortisol, the primary stress hormone.

At the same time, over-breathing lowers CO₂, which disrupts oxygen delivery to muscles and the brain.

Less oxygen where it’s needed leads to more stress and more tension. Then the cycle repeats.

So, what can we do to change this?

Something fascinating that 99% of the population probably don’t know...

Breathing is one of the few bodily functions that’s both automatic and under your conscious control.

By bringing awareness to our breath, and adapting our breathing pattern and restoring natural rhythm through guided, hands-on support, we can actually shift how the breath functions automatically.

Whether we struggle with anxiety or not, every one of us can benefit from greater breath awareness - and a more dynamic, responsive way of breathing.

Thank you for reading,

Will