We need Carbon Dioxide. When we first learn about breathing, we learn that humans inhale in oxygen and exhale out carbon dioxide. While that isn’t wrong, it’s not completely correct either. We actually exhale most of the oxygen we inhale. We typically don’t exhale all of the carbon dioxide we produce. The stimulus or urge […]

Your diaphragm muscle will work all by itself or you can control it. Your diaphragm is your main breathing muscle. When you inhale your diaphragm moves downward which creates more space in your lungs, causing air to flow into the body. As you exhale, your diaphragm moves upward and compresses your lungs, squeezing air out

Why is Breathing at Altitude so hard? What happens when we travel up in elevation? Why do athletes go to higher elevation to train?To start we need to talk atmospheric pressure. As we go up in elevation, the pressure decreases. Decreasing pressure means there is less stuff moving around in the air. The air around

Your tolerance to carbon dioxide determines when you feel the urge to breathe. We must breathe to get rid of excess carbon dioxide produced during cellular metabolism. However, we also need to keep some carbon dioxide in our lungs and blood so that our red blood cells are able to let go of oxygen and

Your emotions are a physiological response in your nervous system. Your breath influences your nervous system.  Your nervous system influences your breath. Our breath is an incredible tool for our conscious body to communicate with our unconscious body. By observing our breath, we can become more aware of our emotions and how we feel. By

Is there an optimal way to breathe when you’re relaxed, feeling safe, and at rest? Yes. Our breath is determined by our energy output, emotional state, nervous system, posture, blood biochemistry, and our past breathing patterns or life experiences. There are many ways to breathe and survive; the body is incredibly adaptable and robust. Your