What is the correct way to breathe?

At rest: through the nose, from the diaphragm, and slowly, with the belly moving more than the chest, the breath quiet, and the exhale as long as the inhale or a little longer. Twelve breaths a minute or fewer. That is the breathing the body defaults to when nothing is wrong; stress, screens and posture push it up into the chest and the mouth, and the fixes are in that order: nose, low, slow.

How do I know if I am breathing wrong?

One hand on the chest, one on the stomach, one minute of normal breathing. Signs it has gone wrong: the top hand moves first or most; the mouth is open; the shoulders rise; you sigh or yawn often; you can hear yourself breathe; you count more than sixteen breaths in the minute. Any of those is the habitual shallow breathing most desk-bound adults have, and it is fixable in a couple of weeks.

Is it better to breathe through your nose or mouth?

Nose, at rest and during easy exercise. It warms, humidifies and filters the air, slows the breath, adds nitric oxide that widens the airways, and makes over-breathing harder. The mouth is for hard exercise, when the nose cannot move enough air, and for the exhale in some techniques. Chronic mouth breathing at rest and in sleep is linked to dry mouth, snoring, worse sleep and, in children, changes in facial growth, which is why it is worth fixing rather than ignoring.

How many breaths per minute is normal?

Twelve to sixteen at rest for an adult is the textbook range, and the calm end of it, ten to twelve, is where most people feel best. Slow-breathing exercises take it to six for a few minutes on purpose. Consistently above twenty at rest is worth a doctor's attention.

Should I breathe from my chest or my stomach?

Stomach, meaning the diaphragm. It moves more air with less effort, keeps the neck and shoulder muscles out of a job they were not built for, and engages the calming side of the nervous system on every exhale. Chest breathing is for sprinting and emergencies; used all day it keeps the stress response half on.

Can you learn to breathe properly again?

Yes, and faster than most habits: two weeks of five minutes a day, lying down at first, is what physiotherapists prescribe, with a few reminders a day to take three low breaths at the desk. Once the belly moves first without thinking, a daily five minutes of slow breathing keeps it, and the nose does the rest.

Is there an app that teaches proper breathing?

Braele, for iPhone, paces the slow low breath with a voice that counts and haptics that mark each phase, so the practice works lying down with the eyes closed, and reminders that ask for a few slow breaths through the day. Box breathing and the physiological sigh are free forever; no account, no ads, works offline.

How to breathe properly

Nose. Low. Slow.

Nobody teaches breathing because everybody can already do it, and most adults do it badly: through the mouth, high in the chest, faster than they need to. Proper breathing at rest is three words, nose, low, slow, and each one is a fix you can make this week. Start with the one-minute check below, then the timer, which paces the breath the body is designed for.

Tap a pattern and breathe along right here. Free, no download needed.

One minute

Check how you breathe now

1
Hands on, breathe normally
One hand on the upper chest, one on the stomach. Do not change anything for a minute; the point is to see the habit, not the exercise.
2
Which hand moved first?
Lower hand: good. Upper hand, or both together, or the shoulders rising: the breath is high, which is the most common fault and the first to fix after the nose.
3
Was the mouth open?
If it was, or if you could hear the breath, the nose is not doing its job. Closed-mouth nasal breathing at rest is the single biggest change most people can make.
4
How many breaths?
Count for the minute. Twelve to sixteen is the textbook range at rest; ten to twelve is where calm lives; above sixteen is fast, and above twenty consistently is worth mentioning to a doctor. Sighing or yawning during the minute is a sign of catching up on shallow breaths.

The three fixes

Nose, low, slow, in that order

Nose

Close the mouth and breathe through the nose, all day and, as far as you can manage it, all night. The nose warms, humidifies and filters air; it adds nitric oxide, which widens the airways and improves oxygen uptake; it slows the breath, because the passages are narrower; and it makes over-breathing difficult, which quietly fixes half of what is wrong with fast chest breathing. Mouth breathing at rest is linked to dry mouth, snoring, poorer sleep and, in children, changes in the shape of the face. If the nose is blocked, that is the first thing to sort out, with a pharmacist or doctor, before any exercise.

Low

Let the breath drop to the diaphragm, so the stomach hand moves and the chest hand barely does. A low breath moves more air with less effort and keeps the neck and shoulders out of a job they were not built for; it also engages the calming side of the nervous system on every exhale, which chest breathing never does. It is learned lying on your back with knees bent, where it happens on its own, then brought to sitting and standing over a fortnight. The diaphragmatic breathing page has the drill, and the shallow breathing page explains what you are undoing.

Slow

Once the breath is nasal and low, slow it: lengthen the exhale until it is a little longer than the inhale, four in and six out, and let the rate settle toward ten or twelve a minute. Slow breathing lowers heart rate and blood pressure, and five minutes a day of it at around six breaths a minute, coherent breathing, is the practice that keeps the new default and lowers the stress that built the old one. Deep never means big: a slow, modest, low breath is deep; a large gulp into the chest is not.

What proper breathing changes

Sleep, because nasal breathing and a slow rate at bedtime are what the body needs to switch off; focus, because the stress response stops running in the background; stress itself, because the exhale is the brake on it; and effort in exercise, because a low breath is a more efficient one. None of it is dramatic on any given day. All of it compounds.

Common mistakes

Taking big breaths when told to breathe deeply. Holding the stomach in, which makes a low breath impossible. Slumping over a screen, which does the same. Breathing through the mouth during easy exercise out of habit. Practising an exercise for five minutes and breathing the old way for the other twenty-three hours, which is why the desk reminders matter more than the mat.

The fortnight

Five minutes lying down, three times a day, for a week; then sitting and standing for a week; three low nasal breaths at the desk six times a day throughout. After that, five minutes of slow breathing a day keeps it. The Braele app paces the practice with a voice and haptics, carries the reminders, and keeps the streak with a rest day built in.

Questions

What people ask

What is the correct way to breathe?: At rest: through the nose, from the diaphragm, and slowly, with the belly moving more than the chest, the breath quiet, and the exhale as long as the inhale or a little longer. Twelve breaths a minute or fewer. That is the breathing the body defaults to when nothing is wrong; stress, screens and posture push it up into the chest and the mouth, and the fixes are in that order: nose, low, slow.
How do I know if I am breathing wrong?: One hand on the chest, one on the stomach, one minute of normal breathing. Signs it has gone wrong: the top hand moves first or most; the mouth is open; the shoulders rise; you sigh or yawn often; you can hear yourself breathe; you count more than sixteen breaths in the minute. Any of those is the habitual shallow breathing most desk-bound adults have, and it is fixable in a couple of weeks.
Is it better to breathe through your nose or mouth?: Nose, at rest and during easy exercise. It warms, humidifies and filters the air, slows the breath, adds nitric oxide that widens the airways, and makes over-breathing harder. The mouth is for hard exercise, when the nose cannot move enough air, and for the exhale in some techniques. Chronic mouth breathing at rest and in sleep is linked to dry mouth, snoring, worse sleep and, in children, changes in facial growth, which is why it is worth fixing rather than ignoring.
How many breaths per minute is normal?: Twelve to sixteen at rest for an adult is the textbook range, and the calm end of it, ten to twelve, is where most people feel best. Slow-breathing exercises take it to six for a few minutes on purpose. Consistently above twenty at rest is worth a doctor's attention.
Should I breathe from my chest or my stomach?: Stomach, meaning the diaphragm. It moves more air with less effort, keeps the neck and shoulder muscles out of a job they were not built for, and engages the calming side of the nervous system on every exhale. Chest breathing is for sprinting and emergencies; used all day it keeps the stress response half on.
Can you learn to breathe properly again?: Yes, and faster than most habits: two weeks of five minutes a day, lying down at first, is what physiotherapists prescribe, with a few reminders a day to take three low breaths at the desk. Once the belly moves first without thinking, a daily five minutes of slow breathing keeps it, and the nose does the rest.
Is there an app that teaches proper breathing?: Braele, for iPhone, paces the slow low breath with a voice that counts and haptics that mark each phase, so the practice works lying down with the eyes closed, and reminders that ask for a few slow breaths through the day. Box breathing and the physiological sigh are free forever; no account, no ads, works offline.

Nose, low, slow, every day

Braele paces the low breath with a voice and haptics, reminds you through the day, and keeps the fortnight on a streak with a rest day built in. Box breathing and the physiological sigh are free forever on the App Store.

Downloadon the App Store