Why the Breath Deserves a Place in Mental Health Conversations
Bringing mental health conversations into the open and part of everyday life has been a powerful result of Mental Health Awareness Week. Being able to talk about and discuss mental health worries is invaluable. However, it is important to recognise that mental health is physiological, not just psychological.
In my work as a breathwork practitioner and coach, I see regularly that breathing is both a reflection of state and a tool for change. Accessing breathwork provides one of the most immediate tools available to many of my clients and often is not something they may have considered before.
We analyse thoughts endlessly but rarely notice breathing
As society becomes more open and honest and the mental health awareness culture deepens, being able to identify your feelings, describe them or analyse them becomes second nature for many. But naming your thoughts and talking about your feelings is not the same as addressing the physiological response to those feelings.
You may be able to very easily describe to me how you’re feeling in any given moment, but noticing how you’re breathing – this is far less common.
Breath sits between conscious and unconscious systems
We don’t just experience emotions psychologically. We experience them physically and neurologically as well.
We may not realise it but stress changes breathing automatically – under stress your breathing becomes shallower, and fear shortens the exhale. These physical responses – responses that we may be unaware of – are continually sending messages back to the brain, which then reinforce the stress signals sent to your body.
It’s a conversation loop between mind and body — and words don’t always reach the nervous system.
Take a deep breath….
It’s often not until it’s pointed out to individuals that they notice the way the body uses breath in certain situations. In fact, the way breath changes our response to situations is actually closely tied with many familiar sayings.
“Take a deep breath and…” is used as a way to brace the body and prepare to do something that makes you nervous. “Breathe a sigh of relief…” for when you’ve been holding your breath in a stressful situation.
There’s even a recognised name of that habit you have of holding your breath whilst you read your emails or type a text message: ‘Screen Apnea’.
By recognising how your mental state alters your breathing and vice versa, we can start to affect the communication loop between the two.
Self-awareness AND body awareness
Many people are trying to think their way out of states that are also physiological. We analyse our habits and emotions, understand our triggers — yet still find ourselves tense, overwhelmed, restless or exhausted. Not because the insight is wrong, but because awareness alone doesn’t always reach the nervous system.
The body responds to signals, patterns and repetition, often beneath conscious thought. And breath is one of the ways those signals are constantly being communicated. Sometimes the answer isn’t in finding a new thought, but in giving the body a different experience of safety.
Your breath tells a deeper story
For many people, the breath has become background noise — something the body does automatically while the mind carries on. But the way we breathe often tells a deeper story about how we’ve been living: how long we’ve been rushing, bracing, coping, holding.
Mental health isn’t only happening in our thoughts. It’s happening in the body too. And sometimes the first step isn’t fixing anything at all, but simply noticing what the body has been trying to say.
Try it for yourself - I am running monthly free, online breathwork sessions to help you access the power of your breath. The upcoming dates are listed below and more will follow - hope to see you there!