How Your Breath Can Influence Your Heart

Ever felt your heart racing? Maybe it was after a sprint or a CrossFit workout. Maybe an earthquake or a careless driver gave you such a fright that you thought your heart would punch its way out of your chest. In that moment, did you wish you could slow your heart down the way you can slow down your breathing? The challenge is that you can’t control your heart directly. However, I have good news: you can influence it using your breath.

Your heart and lungs are part of the autonomic nervous system. This means that they operate without conscious input. Contrast that with dolphins, which need to be conscious to breathe, so only half their brain sleeps at a time. In humans, the medulla oblongata (a part of the brainstem) regulates these vital involuntary functions, keeping you alive while you focus on other things, like sleeping or eating.

But there is a key difference between your heart and lungs. Your heart function is fully involuntary. You cannot consciously make it beat faster or slower, or with more or less force. In contrast, your breathing is semi-voluntary. Your motor cortex (located in the prefrontal cortex) enables you to override aspects of your breathing, allowing you to hold your breath, breathe faster, or slow your breathing down. This ability to voluntarily change how we breathe lets us send signals to our nervous system that influence how our heart beats.

A healthy heart naturally speeds up during inhalations and slows down during exhalations. This variability in speed is due to the vagus nerve. Inhaling inhibits the vagus nerve while exhalations activate it, slowing the heart. So, if you breathe with shorter, quiet inhalations and long, slow exhalations, you can slow your heart rate.

Deep breaths also have an impact on heart function. As pressure in the chest cavity increases, baroreceptors (sensors that help regulate blood pressure) are triggered. This activates the parasympathetic nervous system, slowing the heart, softening each heartbeat, dilating blood vessels, and reducing blood pressure.

Engaging the parasympathetic system has the added benefit of turning off the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight). In fight or flight mode, cortisol levels can double or even triple, and adrenaline production can increase up to 100 times above baseline. These hormones speed up the heart and promote shallow, rapid breathing. There are circumstances when that might be desirable, but not if we want to calm down in a stressful situation.

This means that while we can’t exert direct control over our heart, the breath can influence how it behaves. If you want to try it, inhale for four seconds and exhale for six to eight seconds. Practice it for a few minutes and notice the change.

Whether you’re feeling stressed or simply want to feel more grounded, your breath is a powerful and accessible way to influence your heart.

Disclaimer

This blog is for informational purposes only. It is not medical advice. Always consult a healthcare professional for personalized guidance and treatment.