The question: Why does deep breathing make my anxiety worse?
The short answer: James Stewart explains that random, reactive deep breaths taken in the middle of anxiety can tip you into over-breathing, which keeps your body activated. The fix isn't to stop breathing exercises but to breathe in a controlled, efficient way: low, slow, through the nose, with a longer exhale. Your anxiety doesn't need more air; it needs a better signal.
What James explains
James draws a clear line between random deep breathing and controlled, efficient breathing. When anxiety rises, your breathing naturally speeds up, your chest tightens and your breath gets shallower. Then we do what we've been told: take a deep breath and calm down. Layering big, fast breaths, often through the mouth, on top of breathing that's already elevated can push you into over-breathing.
When you over-breathe, you exhale more carbon dioxide. CO2 isn't just waste; James calls it an important gas for keeping your breathing chemistry in balance. As it drops, oxygen becomes less available to your tissues and your breathing becomes less efficient. Chemistry is only part of the story. Your brain is constantly reading and predicting what your body's signals mean, and fast, effortful breathing reads as "something is still wrong." So even while you're trying to calm down, the message your system receives is that you're unsafe, and the cycle continues.
The answer is to change the signal. Slow, gentle nasal breathing with a longer exhale tells your body it can downshift from go to slow.
Try it: 4-6 breathing
- Breathe in through your nose for a count of four.
- Breathe out for a count of six.
- Keep the breath low, slow and gentle rather than big.
- Continue for at least two minutes, or as long as you like, until you feel your body start to relax.
What to watch for
The common mistake is answering anxiety with big, fast, deep breaths through the mouth. Notice if your breathing has sped up or moved into your chest, and guide it gently instead of forcing it. James says you don't need to do this perfectly: become aware of your breath, slow it, soften it, and let your body respond the way it's designed to.
Key points
- Reactive, unstructured deep breaths during anxiety can lead to over-breathing and keep you activated.
- Over-breathing lowers CO2, and your brain reads that fast, effortful breathing as a sign that something is still wrong.
- Slow 4-6 nasal breathing, with a longer exhale, sends the calmer signal your body needs.
Common questions
So does deep breathing not work for anxiety?
Breathing works; the problem is random, reactive big breaths. James teaches controlled, efficient breathing instead: through the nose, slow, and balanced or with a longer exhale. That's what helps your body downshift.
What is over-breathing?
Over-breathing means moving more air than your body needs. James explains that it gets rid of too much CO2, which makes oxygen less available to your tissues and keeps your body in an activated, alert state.
How long should I do 4-6 breathing?
James suggests a minimum of two minutes, ideally, and you can keep going for as long as you want until you feel your body start to relax.
Read the full transcript
Auto-generated from the video captions, so expect small errors.
When you feel anxious, what is it that you do? Most of us like to take a big deep breath. But that may actually be making your anxiety worse. It's not your fault. That's what we've been told to do. Take a deep breath and calm down. There is a real difference between random deep breathing and controlled efficient breathing. And that's what I want to cover in today's episode. Having you understand breath patterns that help and aid the effects of anxiety, and those breath patterns that may actually be making your symptoms worse. I also want to show you a proven breath work technique that will actually help.
So, where is it we actually go wrong? When most of us feel the effects of anxiety, we start taking bigger, deeper, shallower breaths often through our mouth. When you feel anxious, your breathing naturally starts to increase. When you layer on top of that big, fast, and deep breaths, it tends to have us put in a state where we are over breathing. This then has a cascading effect of elevating those symptoms that you're already in from your anxious state. You over breathe, you breathe a lot more air. You exhale and get rid of a lot more CO2. This makes the oxygen much less available to the
tissues in your body, and your body perpetuates that unsafe feeling, keeping you activated longer than you need to be. So, it feels like you're helping your body when you're taking these deep breaths. You may actually be making your breath much less efficient. Let's walk through what's happening step by step in real time. You start to feel anxious. Your body starts to feel a little tense. Your thoughts start to race. And naturally, without thinking about it, your breathing starts to increase. You may feel a little tighter in the chest, and your breath becomes a little bit more shallow. And here's where people step in in order
to help themselves. Let's take some deep breaths, and that makes sense. It feels like the right thing to do. So, you take these deep breaths, and your body gets into a state where you are over breathing. And when that happens, your body loses carbon dioxide, or CO2. CO2 isn't just waste. It is an important gas to maintain balance in your breathing chemistry. As your CO2 drops, your breathing becomes less efficient, and your body is even more stimulated, and keeping you in that activated or alert state. So, even though you're trying to calm yourself down, the message or the signal that your body is receiving that
something is still wrong, and I feel unsafe. So, that creates this cycle. You feel anxiety, your breathing increases, your breathing chemistry changes, your system becomes more stimulated, and you stay in an elevated state. The more you try to fix it with deep breaths, the more activated and anxious your body feels. Your anxiety doesn't need more air, it needs a better signal. And one of the fastest ways to send a better signal is with your breath, but only if it's done in the right way. So, what to do instead? Step one, breathe through your nose. Step two, breathe slowly. And step three, bring balance to your
breath, or increase the length of your exhale. So, yes, it is low, slow, through the nose, bringing balance to your breath. What we're going to do is we're going to go in for a count of four, and out for a count of six. So, it is four-six breathing. That's the protocol, and this is proven to help us for go from go to slow. So, it's going to help us downshift, send that relaxing signal to our body. So, on your next inhale, I just want you to breathe in through your nose for a count of four, and we're going to breathe out for a count of
six. Here we go. In two three four out two three four five six in two three four out two three four five six in two three four out two three four five six You can do this breath work for as long as you want until you start to feel your body starting to relax for a minimum of two minutes ideally. You don't need to do this perfectly. You simply need to become aware of your breath and guide it gently. So, the next time you feel anxious, don't take a deep breath. Slow, soften, and let your body respond like it's naturally designed to do.