Guide · body · 3 min read
When to be careful with breathing exercises — what to expect, when you have been meaning to start
Breathing exercises are generally very safe, but there are situations where the standard advice needs adjusting.
Start here
Here is what tends to work, in the order that helps most.
You have been meaning to start. This is the least intimidating way in.
If you only do one thing from this page, do the first point below. It is first because it removes the most friction for the least effort.
What helps
If breathing exercises consistently make you feel worse, stop. They are a tool, not a moral obligation.
Skip breath holds if you are pregnant, or if you have a heart, blood pressure or lung condition. Slow breathing without holds is usually fine, but ask a doctor first.
If you have asthma, keep your inhaler nearby and do not use exercises that involve long exhales through pursed lips during an attack.
What to do when it does not work
Stop if you feel dizzy, tingly or lightheaded. Those symptoms usually mean you are breathing too fast or too deeply, not that you are doing it well.
Do not do forceful breathing exercises while driving, swimming or operating machinery.
Panic attacks and breath holds are a bad combination. Holds can trigger the sensation of suffocation that panic is already producing.
Questions people ask
Is deep breathing always good?
No. Over-breathing is what causes the dizziness many people associate with "deep breathing". Slow and quiet is usually better than deep.
Written for people who want the practical version. No accounts, no tracking, no newsletter wall.
If this is not the angle you need, try Breathing exercises that help during panic — what to try first, when you are cold and want to be warm, Do you actually need eight glasses of water, on a low-energy afternoon or How to get through the first hour without your phone — a straightforward guide, when you have already had a long week.