Taking Time to Breathe: Basenotes by Vitruvi

“The act of breathing is unique in many ways: it’s involuntary and voluntary; it’s conscious and unconscious. While our bodies are always doing their jobs—inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale—amidst the chaos of stressful, busy schedules, we can often lose awareness of our breath. In turn, we’re not doing our bodies (or minds) any favours. I sat down with physiotherapist and marathon runner, Diane Rizzardo, to pick her brain on how we can become better breathers.

TM: It’s been a while since science class in high school, so could you remind us…why is deep breathing important? 

DR: On a simple physiological level, when you inhale fresh oxygen you feed the tissues (muscles, heart, brain) through red blood cells. When you exhale, you rid the body of carbon dioxide.

TM: What about the about the correlation between stress and breathing? 

DR: Yes they are very connected. Chronic shallow breathing (aka apical breathing) causes tension in the neck and shoulders. Your breathing rate and depth can actually change with your emotions. Think about what happens to your heart rate and breathing depth when you are scared, nervous, mad or anxious. I bet if you saw yourself in a moment of frustration or anxiety, your shoulders would be up near your ears and you would be taking quick, shallow breaths as your heart rate quickened.