Name: The Neuroscience of Breath: How to Use Breathing to Control Emotions
Uploaded: 2025-03-24T04:48:48.000Z
Duration: 9 min 4 s
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Have you ever noticed how your breathing changes when you're stressed?

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Maybe it becomes shallow and quick or perhaps you even hold your breath without realizing it.

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What if I told you that understanding and controlling your breath could be one of the most powerful tools for managing your emotions?

Today we're going to look at the science behind how breathing influences your brain and your emotional state.

I'm Dr. Tracey Marks a psychiatrist and I make mental health education videos to help you strengthen your mind, fortify your brain and build resilience.

In our last video we talked about moving from reactivity to resilience.

Today we're diving deep into an effective tool for emotional regulation your breath.

Let's start by understanding what's happening in your body when you breathe.

Your autonomic nervous system has two main branches.

The sympathetic system which handles your fight-or-flight response and the parasympathetic system often called the rest and digest system.

Think of these as your body's gas pedal and brake and at the center of this system is the vagus nerve which acts like an information superhighway between your brain and your body.

When you take slow controlled breaths you're essentially sending calming signals up this nerve to your brain.

On a neurochemical level this helps regulate stress hormones like cortisol and also increases GABA which is a neurotransmitter that promotes calmness.

This is why deep breathing can almost instantly make you feel more relaxed.

Let's look at four key ways that controlled breathing affects your brain and body.

When you breathe slowly and deeply you're actually changing the carbon dioxide levels in your blood.

Carbon dioxide plays a vital role in brain function acting more than just a waste product that we exhale.

It influences how excitable neurons are especially in the amygdala your brain's emotional alarm system.

When carbon dioxide levels drop too low due to rapid shallow breathing the neurons in your amygdala become more excitable making you more prone to anxiety and overreaction.

But when you slow your breathing and allow carbon dioxide levels to stabilize you create a calming effect reducing the amygdala's reactivity.

It's like turning down the volume on your brain's stress response.

This effect of low carbon dioxide is one reason why hyperventilation can trigger or worsen panic attacks and why you sometimes see people breathing into a bag to slow their breathing.

You're breathing back in the carbon dioxide and stabilizing your levels.

You can get the same effect without the bag but if your anxiety is already at DEFCON level 10 you're not going to have the control that you need to shift to slowed breathing.

So the bag helps increase your carbon dioxide levels faster.

Second thing controlled breathing affects is cognitive function.

Controlled breathing increases oxygen delivery to your prefrontal cortex.

That's the part of the brain responsible for decision making and focus.

So when you're breathing properly you're feeding your brain what it needs to think more clearly.

Focused breathing enhances what we call interoception.

Your ability to sense what's going on inside your body.

This increased body awareness can help reduce feelings of anxiety and dissociation grounding you in the present moment.

And the fourth way controlled breathing affects your body is a stress reset.

Deep diaphragmatic breathing has been shown to increase the rate at which your body clears cortisol, the primary stress hormone.

So you're not just feeling calmer, you're actually resetting your body's stress response.

One measure of how well your nervous system is functioning is something called heart rate variability.

Despite how it might sound, having a high variation in your heartbeat is actually good.

It shows that your system is flexible and responsive.

Slow controlled breathing has been shown to improve heart rate variability which means better emotional regulation and stress resilience.

Now let's talk about specific breathing techniques that can help you take control of your emotions.

I'm going to share three evidence-based methods, each with its own benefits.

First is box breathing, also known as square breathing.

Imagine tracing a square with your breath.

You inhale for four counts, hold for four, exhale for four, and hold for four.

A benefit of this technique is it gives you a simple pattern to focus on while activating your parasympathetic nervous system.

Navy SEALs use this technique to stay calm under pressure and research shows it can reduce stress and improve focus within minutes.

You inhale for four counts, hold for seven, and exhale for eight.

This pattern is particularly good for anxiety because the long exhale triggers your relaxation response more strongly than the box breathing pattern.

It's this longer exhale compared to the inhale that has been shown in research to increase parasympathetic activation more effectively than breaths of equal length.

The third technique is resonance breathing, also called coherent breathing.

This involves breathing at about six breaths per minute.

That's five seconds on the inhale and five seconds on the exhale.

So it's similar to box breathing in that you have even inhale and exhale but you don't have pauses with this.

This pattern optimizes your heart rate variability that I mentioned earlier and helps synchronize your breathing with your heart rhythm.

This improves emotional stability over time.

It's like finding your body's natural relaxation sweet spot.

These breathing patterns don't just affect your emotions, they also impact your cognitive function.

When you're stressed, shallow breathing reduces oxygen flow to your brain which can impair your focus, memory, and decision making.

But controlled breathing, especially techniques that emphasize slow exhalation, enhance prefrontal cortex activity.

So when you take a deep breath before responding to a stressful situation, you're giving your brain the oxygen it needs to make a better decision.

So when should you use these different techniques?

Use box breathing when you need to focus or stay calm under pressure, like before a presentation or during a stressful meeting.

The equal ratios make it easier to remember the practice anywhere.

Try the 4-7-8 breathing technique when you're feeling anxious or need to calm down quickly.

The extended exhale makes this really effective for reducing anxiety.

But if you're new to breath work, start with the box breathing first as holding your breath for seven counts may feel too uncomfortable and this isn't something that should feel like a struggle.

Practice resonance breathing when you have a few minutes to reset your system, maybe during your morning routine or when transitioning between work and home life.

This technique is great for building long-term stress resilience.

So here are some common mistakes to avoid when practicing these techniques.

If you're feeling light-headed or uncomfortable, just return to normal breathing.

Like any skill, breath work takes practice.

Third, don't wait until you're extremely stressed to try these techniques.

The best time to practice is when you're relatively calm so that you can build the skill for when you really need it.

The best part about breath work is that it's always available to you.

You don't need any special equipment, you don't have to set aside a lot of time, and you can do it anywhere.

A few deep intentional breaths can shift your entire psychological state in a matter of just seconds.

In the next video, we'll look at mindfulness and cognitive techniques to further enhance your emotional resilience.

But for now, I encourage you to experiment with breath work and see how it impacts your ability to manage stress in the moment.

And of course, if you have a medical condition that impairs your breathing, you should check with your doctor to see what kinds of breath work would be appropriate for you.

If you found this helpful, make sure to subscribe and hit the notification bell so that you don't miss our upcoming videos on mental resilience.