Part 1: The Breath We Think We Need

"I’ll feel better when I can take a deeper breath."

These words appeared recently on the intake form of a new Somatic Mind Body Coaching client. It brought back a twinge of sadness and a flood of memories, reflecting a belief I had carried for years as a Forrest Yoga teacher: that a deeper breath is the key to feeling better.

In Forrest Yoga, breath is a foundational pillar, with **ujjayi** breathing at its core. This technique, often called "Darth Vader breath," involves breathing deeply through the nose while creating a whisper-like sound in the back of the throat. The goal was always to lengthen and deepen the breath as much as possible. Like many, I believed in the mantra: "Bigger breath is better." My focus was on mechanics—expanding the ribs and engaging respiratory muscles—all aimed at increasing oxygen intake.

This belief, shared by countless others, felt true and comforting. How many times have we heard:

"Just breathe..."

"Take 10 deep breaths."

"Let's take a deep breath and calm down."

These phrases reflect the widespread idea that deep breathing automatically leads to relief. It certainly shaped my early teaching. I became skilled at guiding students to breathe more profoundly, assuming that pulling in more oxygen equated to greater health. I taught students to engage the ribs and breathe into a full 360-degree chest expansion, thinking this was the path to vitality.

However, something unexpected happened during this period. I began to feel dependent on my yoga practice to feel okay. It became an addiction, requiring dedicated time each day to "fix" myself. My focus shifted from practicing to live better, to living just to practice. When I eventually moved away from Forrest Yoga, I sought a more balanced approach, where tradition and movement science intersect—a journey that led me to found Evolve Yoga.

On this journey, I encountered a teaching that completely upended my understanding of breath. This new perspective suggested something radical: we were overbreathing.

Overbreathing, or chronic hyperventilation, occurs when we breathe more than our body needs, causing a drop in CO2 levels in the blood. For years, I thought oxygen was the hero, and carbon dioxide was the villain, believing that our bodies were constantly in search of more oxygen. However, I learned that CO2 is not the enemy; it’s actually CO2, not oxygen, that drives our need to breathe. Ancient yogic texts, which spoke of breath retention to harness prana, had grasped this principle long before modern science did.

This new understanding changed everything. It reframed how I approached breathwork and questioned many assumptions I had held. Just before the COVID-19 pandemic, I made a bold decision: I stopped cuing breath in my classes. Instead of guiding students to breathe deeply, I encouraged them to observe their natural breath patterns and trust their body's ability to adjust its breath to the task at hand. This shift was liberating for me as a teacher and empowering for my students, inviting them to develop a healthier relationship with their breath by inviting curiosity and the felt sense before overriding a demand for it to be different.

This transformation wasn’t just theoretical. My teaching style evolved, but so did my practice. I stopped practicing **ujjayi** breathing, which is a tough habit to break. I resisted the urge to cue specific inhales and exhales in class, instead inviting students to witness their innate breath without altering it. This shift also aligned with my evolving understanding of how breath affects the nervous system and the body’s overall function.

It wasn’t until I stumbled upon Robin Rothenberg’s work that I fully understood the biochemistry of respiration. Breath isn’t just about mechanics—how we move air in and out—but about the chemistry of how oxygen and carbon dioxide work together in the body. Rothenberg introduced me to the idea that our breath isn’t governed by a lack of oxygen but rather by our tolerance to carbon dioxide. As CO2 builds up in the body, it triggers the need to breathe. Learning this opened up a whole new world of breath exploration for me, one that went far beyond what I had learned through traditional yoga practices.

With this new knowledge, I could guide others, like my new Somatic Mind Body Coaching client, to rethink their approach to breathing. Instead of striving for deeper and more controlled breathing, we now explore how the body naturally balances breath and how noticing what arises in sensation and feeling can be a clue to empowering one's own nervous system with danger and safety cues. This understanding empowers you to interpret your feelings and sensations based on your OWN experiences and not just rote cues of "breathe"!

This shift in understanding breath as a balance of biochemistry, not just biomechanics, has been one of the most transformative aspects of my journey. I’m excited to share this message with my students and clients, encouraging them to rethink their own relationship with breath. Sometimes, less is more. Sometimes, breathing less leads to better health.

Stay tuned for the next part of this journey, where I’ll explore the science behind CO2 and breath biochemistry—an exploration that will further transform how you think about breathing.

Stay tuned for Part 2: The Science I Didn’t Know: CO2 & Breath