Shallow Breathing Effects

Let's start off with a really simple example. You know how when you're really tired or bored and you take a deep breath, you feel energized? Doesn't it just change the way in which you are feeling, and course a sudden burst of energy through you? That should just go to show what deep breathing can do for you.

Deep breathing draws in more oxygen into the body, and transports the same throughout the body -- this allows for all the functions of the body to be carried out well enough. Deep breathing is hence recommended and considered very beneficial for your body and mind. What happens when you do not breathe deeply though? Is it harmful for the body, and if so how?

Shallow breathing is also known as chest breathing, hypopnea, or thoracic breathing and is characterized by a person drawing in minimal breaths into the body. This condition can be caused by anxiety, stress, trauma, asthma, COPD, infection in the chest and lungs, inflammation in the airway, obstruction in the breathing passage and more.

This form of breathing can also be accompanied by other conditions of hyperventilation and anxiety. In some milder cases, wearing tight clothes will restrict the air passage and cause for shallow breathing, so also can sleeping in a horizontal position. These can be easily taken care of and breathing restored to normal.

But in most cases, people aren't even aware that they carrying out slow breathing and that is where the problem comes about. It is very important to understand the shallow breathing effects and what it can do to a person. In the following section, we shall try and understand what this form of breathing during one's sleep or otherwise can do to a person's health.

One has to understand that when there is an inconsistency in breathing, and in breathing well, there are bound to be complications that arise because breathing and taking in oxygen is the basis of our existence, everything depends on the same.

The deal is that less oxygen is drawn into the body and that results in less oxygen being transported to all the organs. The most important of which is the brain because it controls the functioning of the rest of the bodily functions.

When the brain does not receive enough oxygen it results in affecting all the basic functions and compromises on one's concentration, memory and efficiency.

Deep breathing is essential when it comes to allowing for sound and deep sleep at night. Sleeping is the body's way of repairing the wear and tear in the body and thereby allowing for better efficiency and performance. If there is no proper sleep, it can affect a person's entire mood and productivity and cause for irritability, mood swings and the like.

Did you know that shallow breathing can also cause weight gain? When you breathe in a shallow manner, the metabolism is highly affected, and that in turn affects the burning of calories and fats -- the entire functioning thus becomes sluggish and leads to weight gain.

There is a general decrease in the immunity of a person with shallow breathing and therefore, a person becomes more prone to getting afflicted by varied diseases. The most common of which are lung disorders and anxiety.

As we have seen, the varied shallow breathing effects will bring about certain conditions in the body and mind that will lead to varied physical and mental problems. The direct result of which is that of a person becoming weaker and weaker and suffering from poor health.

The best thing to do therefore is concentrate on the way in which you breathe and ensure that you breathe from the abdomen and not just the chest region. Only then will you ensure deep breathing and thereby good health.