what is dysfunctional breathing?

Sep 8

Breathing Challenge

Hey Team!

Language. It's how we communicate. But in order to understand, we often need to unpack words to get clear, concrete meaning. That's why Andy Sabatier is so brilliant when it comes to teaching breathing.

Andy breaks down breathing into 14 words. And he'll give you concrete strategies to assess whether you're breathing functionally or dysfunctionally. In service of clear and concrete meaning, let's unpack those two words:

functional means in a natural and proper way.
dysfunctional means impaired or abnormal.

When you're breathing functionally, it's with natural rhythms, based on how your body is built. With dysfunctional breathing, the system is impaired and there is room for improvement.

Unfortunately, dysfunctional breathing has become the norm, not the exception. Experts say 60-80% of adults breathe dysfunctionally. This usually takes the form of "chronic hyperventilation". Short, shallow breaths that never fully oxygenate the blood. Leaving you feeling like you never get a full, deep breath.

Sound familiar?

Here's where things get messy and miraculous....Your breathing creates a cascade of effects in your body. For example: short, shallow breathing is stressful for the body and it stimulates the sympathetic response (fight or flight). This generates stress hormones, which leads to more shallow breathing, more sympathetic activation and then more stress hormones flood the body. It's a vicious cycle.

The inverse is also true. Functional breathing balances the branches of your nervous system, releases feel-good neurochemicals, and keeps you steady-eddy even when the waters of life get choppy.

Now, when you find yourself in a dysfunctional breathing pattern, It's tempting to disrupt the pattern with something dramatic, but for lasting change, you need to "nudge the system" as Andy will say. This means learning about your breathing, paying attention, and gently restoring natural rhythms.

And that's exactly what we're doing with the Fall in Love with Your Breathing Challenge. Start the journey by listening to Andy's interview on Erika's podcast On & Off the Mat.

Andy and Erika both provided life-changing tutorials and Q&As for the Breathing Challenge. And they are available now! These will generate inspiration and motivation for the live, guided practices starting 9/23.

If you haven't already, sign up for the Challenge: