How we breathe can affect our health by the effect it has on our autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system regulates certain body processes and it works automatically, it has two divisions – the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous system.

• The parasympathetic nervous system is stimulated when we breathe slowly, through our nose and by using our diaphragm.
• The sympathetic nervous system is stimulated when we breathe through our mouth, when we breathe rapidly and when we use ‘accessory respiratory’ muscles 

Continual activation of the sympathetic nervous system is not beneficial for health as it supresses certain functions in the body such as digestion and immunity.

For a strong and robust immune system, breathing slowly through the nose, using the diaphragm is important. When using the diaphragm to breathe in, the abdomen moves outwards away from the spine without the chest expanding or shoulders hunching upwards.

A challenge to proper breathing is a blocked nose. When both nostrils are blocked the mouth has to open to breathe and this stimulates the sympathetic nervous system. With the exception of the Common Cold, the most common reason people have a blocked nose is a food intolerance or sensitivity. Food intolerances can be discovered and eliminated with Vega testing, so please contact me if you are interested in a nutritional consultation with Vega testing.

Faulty breathing patterns can occur for a number of reasons, but possibly the most common is stress. When we are stressed, we tend to breathe faster and shallower and we tend to use the accessory respiratory muscles (sternocleidomastoid, spinal, and neck muscles) to breathe. A way to check if the accessory respiratory muscles are being used is to see if a person’s chest expands and/or shoulders elevate as they breathe. This form of breathing is normal when we are exercising as it allows you inhale more air to provide the working muscles with extra oxygen. But, at rest, this is not ideal.