How To Stop Manually Breathing: 6 Tips That Work

✅ Today's Sunday • 📖 7 mins read

Did you know we breathe about 20,000 to 25,000 times a day? Most of these breaths happen without us thinking about them. But sometimes we become overly aware of our breathing, and that’s called manual breathing.

Manual breathing is the feeling that you have to consciously control each breath instead of letting breathing happen automatically. It’s usually a temporary focus or anxiety-related sensation.

Noticing your breathing is perfectly normal and doesn’t indicate anything is wrong. Try observing its pace and depth without trying to change it. But if you start to control each breath, it can get uncomfortable.

Stress and anxiety can heighten our awareness of breathing, which may feel uneasy, especially if we monitor or control it. Often, shifting your focus can help ease that sensation.

Hyperventilation means breathing more than the body needs, which can lower carbon dioxide in the blood. Hypoventilation means breathing too little to meet the body’s needs, which can raise carbon dioxide. Neither is defined by breathing rate alone.

If you find yourself overly focused on your breathing, try these simple tips to feel more relaxed and let your breath return to its natural rhythm.

How To Stop Manually Breathing: 6 Practical Tips

Here are six breathing techniques to stop manual breathing:

1. Box Breathing

Box breathing is a paced-breathing exercise that can help you calm down and reduce manual breathing.

Here’s how to do it: Picture a square, or look at a square painting or shape, with each side representing a time guide for inhalation, pause, exhalation, and pause:

1. Breathe in gently through your nose for 4 seconds.
2. Pause comfortably for 4 seconds.
3. Breathe out gently for 4 seconds.
4. Pause for 4 seconds before the next breath.

Repeat for a few rounds, following the sides of the square with your breath. Keep the breaths relaxed; don’t strain or force the pauses.

Gradually letting go of the counting and focusing outward can help your breath feel natural again. If focusing on breath makes you more anxious, stop and explore other methods to return to a natural breathing rhythm.

This simple, calm breathwork can ease your anxiety and refresh your mind when you are unfocused or distracted.

2. Double inhale with a long exhale

In this, you take in a long inhale, and at the end of it, take in a short and rapid extra inhale. Then exhale a long breath.

Double inhale with a long exhale helps increase oxygen levels in the body and stimulate the vagus nerve, which then triggers a relaxation response, reducing stress, calming the mind, increasing focus and clarity, and boosting physical performance.

You may even practice it regularly a few times each day to keep your body’s oxygen levels replete and stress levels lower.

Stanford neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Huberman calls it the “physiological sigh,” suggesting it is a natural process we often see in babies and pets.

3. Diaphragmatic Breathing

Have you ever taken a really deep breath and felt calmer afterward? That’s because deep breathing can help relax your body and mind. One way to do this is called diaphragmatic breathing.

The diaphragm is the muscle that separates your chest from your gut area. When you breathe deeply, you use your diaphragm muscle more than with regular shallow breathing.

This is how to practice diaphragmatic breathing:

1. Breathe in slowly through your nose, letting your belly push out.
2. Then breathe out through your mouth, letting your belly sink in.
3. Repeat this slow deep breathing for several minutes.

As your body gets extra oxygen, you start to have a sense of control over your thoughts and emotions, feeling more relaxed.

“In particular, changing one’s breathing toward a slower and deeper breathing pattern is a well-known strategy to acutely increase cardiac vagal control, as reflected by an increase in heart rate variability along with the respiratory rhythm.” — D’Agostini & Claes, 2022

4. Alternate Nostril Breathing

Alternate nostril breathing is a yoga technique where you breathe in through one nostril and out through the other nostril.

It can help lower your blood pressure, heart rate, and anxiety levels, as well as improve your respiratory endurance.

Here’s how to try alternate-nostril breathing:

1. Sit comfortably and gently close your right nostril with your thumb.
2. Breathe in gently through your left nostril.
3. Close your left nostril and release your right.
4. Breathe out gently through your right nostril.
5. Breathe in through the right nostril, then switch sides and breathe out through the left.

Continue alternating for a few comfortable rounds, or up to 5 minutes if it feels soothing. Keep your breath easy, and skip pauses or stop if you feel uncomfortable.

This is a calming breathing exercise. When you stop, it helps shift your attention to your surroundings and return to natural breathing.

5. Mindful Breathing

Mindful breathing means paying close attention to each breath.

Here’s how to do it:

• Find a quiet place to sit, set a timer for 5–10 minutes, and close your eyes.
• Focus just on the sensation of air moving in and out of your body.
• Count “1” as you inhale, “2” as you exhale, and repeat.

Your mind will probably wander off many times. That’s normal!

When your attention wanders, gently bring it back to your breathing. Act like you are helping your best friend learn how to breathe in a new way.

6. Distraction

Sometimes the best way to stop thinking about your breathing is to distract yourself.

Psychologists have also found that distraction is one of the most helpful ways to stop overthinking.

• Do things that bring instant joy, like dancing to short videos.
• Focus on a task that is focus-intensive, like jigsaw puzzles.
• Challenge your anxious thoughts or recall positive memories.

My go-to distractions are making and having a good cup of coffee, doing 30 pushups, or watching a video on YouTube.

They help break the cycle of over-focusing on my breaths, and settle into my natural breathing.

Manual Breathing vs. Normal Breathing

Manual breathing is stressful breathing. It is an unnatural process controlled by the higher brain, as compared to our lower brain’s normal, unconscious control of breathing.

See below how manual breathing is different from normal breathing.

Types of Manual Breathing

Now, manual breathing can be of two types:

1. Stress-induced
2. Intention-induced

This study found that voluntary breath-holding duration is not a suitable test to measure carbon dioxide sensitivity or suffocation alarm threshold in panic disorder.

• 5 Daily Gratitude Practices (And How To Pick the Right One)

Final Words

Our mental state can affect how we breathe, and how we breathe can affect how we think.

Reverse-engineer the process. Take a few deep breaths to calm your mind and slow your racing thoughts.

Finally, a simple way to improve your breathing is to sit up straight. It lets your lungs expand more fully, which allows for better exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide.

√ Also Read: R.A.I.N. Method of Mindfulness Meditation: A Precise Guide

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