As a breath coach, I see it all the time—people struggling with tension, fatigue, or anxiety without realizing their breathing is a major factor. The way you breathe affects everything from your energy levels to mental clarity, and if you’re not using your breath correctly, it could be working against you.

There are several indicators that you may not be using your breath correctly. The more of these signs you notice, the more impact your breath pattern may have on your well-being—physically, mentally, and emotionally.

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Are you limiting your breath? 7 signs to check.

Most of us don’t think twice about how we breathe—but poor breathing habits can lead to several breath issues which can lead to tension, fatigue, and even pain. If you’re doing any of the things on this list, it might be a sign that physical restrictions or ingrained habits are getting in the way of efficient, natural breathing. Check yourself against these seven signs to see if your breath is working for you or holding you back.

1. You’re “over breathing”. You breathe too quickly, which can result in shallow breathing and a stressed nervous system.

Test yourself: Take a timer and set it to 1 minute. Now count the number of inhales you take in a minute. If you’re taking more than 12 inhales, you are in fact over breathing.

2. Keeping an open mouth. If you breathe through your mouth, you lose the benefit of nasal nitric oxide gas from the nose cleaning and enhancing your O2 intake.

3. Your breathing is audible. If those around you can hear you breathing, is possibly due to obstructions or restrictions in the respiratory system. A natural breathing pattern is soundless.

4. Your breathing can be seen in your body movements. If you’re moving your body when you breathe is again possibly due to restrictions in the body. Only the chest and belly should visibly be moving when you breathe.

5. Experiencing limitations in your flexibility. If you have back issues, these can cause restrictions in the diaphragm which inhibit your breathing.

6. Excessive “sitting”. Sitting too much during the day can result in an anterior tilt of the pelvis which can restrict breathing as the diaphragm will not be able to function properly.

7. You sleep with your mouth open at night. If you wake up with a dry mouth and find yourself snoring at night, you’re probably sleeping with your mouth open. This can create an imbalance in the fluid level in the body, as far more fluid evaporates through the mouth than through the nose when you sleep, and you remain tired and mentally unclear throughout the day.

What to address first – close your mouth!

The first and most important thing to address is mouth breathing. If you often breathe quickly and through your mouth, it affects all aspects of your life, from sleep quality, mental capacity, and emotional stability to physical health.

People who breathe too much often breathe through the mouth and become short of breath during exercise, snore during sleep, and are generally fatigued.

When you breathe through your mouth, you take cold, dry air into your lungs, this causes the airways to contract, which can reduce oxygen absorption. If you then try to breathe more, you make it even worse, and eventually, you find yourself in a destructive circle of constantly breathing through your mouth.

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Noticing your breath under stress—and why it matters.

When you’re stressed, your breath changes—often without you realizing it. It might become shallow, rapid, or even stop momentarily. These shifts can reinforce tension and keep your body in a heightened state of stress.

By paying attention to how you breathe in difficult moments, you can catch these patterns and start to shift them, helping your body and mind find a sense of calm more easily. Try looking at how you breathe when you’re stressed, do you:

– Swallow more.
– Sigh more.
– Breathe faster.
– Takes more air into the lungs.
– Make sound/perceptible movements.
– Breathe through your mouth?

Stress changes your breathing, which becomes a self-reinforcing factor in connection with stress. So try to do the opposite.

Breathe less, more lightly, slowly, quietly, deeply, breathe through the nose, and try to regulate your breathing. I know it can feel hard to do if you’re stressed out, but even a few moments of focus on changing your breath can have a significant impact on your hormones and stress level.

If you feel like it’s impossible to focus on breathing correctly while feeling stressed, focus on just this one thing – breathe only through your nose! This will immediately force you to slow down your breathing and lower your stress levels.

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