Breathing is not a matter of belief
- Greg Veek
- Jun 20
- 4 min read
Updated: Jun 22
Last week, I invited one of my colleagues to my breathwork workshop in London. Initially, he was interested, but then he didn't show up.
When I asked him later why, he simply said, "You know, I just don't believe in things like that..."
Although he'd never seen me wearing beads or robes or lighting incense during my workshops (I have nothing against it, but I run a different kind of workshop), he allowed himself to 'not believe' in the power of breath and considered it a woo-woo thing. In his perception of that event, using specific breathing patterns to alleviate stress and anxiety, improve mood and focus (that's what the workshop was about, among other things) was simply wishful thinking, without any proof of concept behind it.
And then I had this realisation, or rather a question: what must have happened to the world around us that people, instead of being able to naturally use their most powerful and easily accessible tool to support their health (mental, physical, spiritual), put themselves into a position where, for part of the population, it's a matter of belief? Just an untested thesis or wishful idea that breath can be a tool to regulate so many processes in the body—from heart rate and blood pressure to inflammation and mental clarity, to digestion and absorption of nutrients, to physical performance and so many other areas this basic tool in our toolkit is meant for (and yes, blood and tissue oxygenation, too).
Where's our instinct, self-awareness, gut feeling? What is natural to animals or newborns seems to be completely lost in adults—the basic understanding of our body's basic regulatory mechanisms.
You'll never see a healthy newborn breathing through the mouth, yet we can easily observe hundreds of people walking their dogs or jogging through the park with their mouths open, over-breathing and succumbing to the vicious cycle of sympathetic nervous system activation (the so-called fight-or-flight response).
Do we need, after hundreds of thousands of years of human beings existing in this world and tonnes of clinical trials, to 'believe' that if we breathe too much, our brain interprets this as a signal of threat? Or that if our breathing is fast and shallow, blood flow to the brain and other organs is limited, and it's a great way to trigger or exacerbate chronic conditions—from heart failure to type 2 diabetes, obesity, gut issues, etc.?
So, for all of us in disbelief:
A recent study published in Current Biology shows humans have individually unique nasal respiratory patterns—we could call them 'nasal fingerprints'.
They recruited 97 people and asked them to wear a top-notch measuring device in the form of a nasal cannula for 24 hours. They measured 24 different parameters of inhaled and exhaled airflow, and they found:
A computer model could identify with 97% accuracy which of the almost 100 patients a given airflow pattern came from (accuracy even better than voice recognition)
The individual breathing pattern reflected a person's BMI
The personal altered respiratory flow and pattern characteristics correctly indicated relative symptoms of high and low (clinical) anxiety, depression, behavioural tendencies, and even signs of neurodevelopmental pathology of autism
The study was repeated with about 40% of participants 24 hours to 2 years later, and the results were the same.
The study emphasised that their methods and recordings focused on nasal rather than oral airflow measurements. It was again confirmed scientifically that nasal breathing is 'indeed a privileged indicator of brain respiratory efferents and afferents'.
In other words, there's a plethora of information being exchanged between the nose and the brain, where intra-nasal sensory systems transmit information, including olfactory (sense of smell) and trigeminal nerve stimuli, allowing nasal airflow to 'drive patterns of brain behaviours'.
The other way around, the brain sends information to the nose to control multiple airflow parameters, including the well-observed asymmetry of the nasal cycle—one that can be altered purposefully through alternative nasal breathing techniques (ANB).
Numerous peer-reviewed studies demonstrate how stress, asthma, fibromyalgia, PTSD, sleep apnoea, metabolic disorders, panic attacks, and countless other conditions can be successfully addressed through intentional breathing pattern modifications.
It's reverse engineering at its finest: if chronic health issues alter breathing patterns, then deliberately changing breathing patterns can positively influence chronic disease progression.
The tool costs nothing. The science is irrefutable. The choice remains yours.
REFERENCES:
Soroka et al., Humans have nasal respiratory fingerprints, Current Biology (2025), https://doi.org/10.1016/j. cub.2025.05.008
This article provides an overview of the complex relationship between breathing and our health. However, it's important to understand that our bodies are influenced by many other factors not covered here, including environmental conditions, gene expression, individual biochemistry, lifestyle patterns, and more. Each person's journey to optimal health is unique and personal.
If you're interested in exploring your own path to improving health and overall wellbeing, we at SelfUP and Veek Health are here to support you. Our approach combines scientific understanding with personalised strategies, taking into account your individual circumstances and goals. Whether you're looking to understand your body better or make sustainable health improvements, we'd be delighted to help guide you on your journey.
For more information or to discuss your personal health goals, feel free to reach out to our team. We believe in creating supportive, long-term relationships with our clients, helping them achieve lasting improvements in their health and vitality.
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