Heyo Reader,

I have spent countless hours consciously breathing in as many ways as I can think of, from cyclical hyperventilation to all of the popular patterns like 4-7-8, coherent breathing, physiological sigh - the list goes on. I’ve also explored making up my own patterns, changing pathways, adding holds in weird places, and losing myself in the intuitive, playful flow the breath provides.

From all this practice, you might assume I was highly efficient, had great mechanics, could control my breath in times of need, and had high CO2 tolerance.

Then I began my training to become a Breathing Behavior Analyst and, for the first time, plugged myself into a capnometer.

A capnometer measures CO2 in your exhale. It displays a waveform of your breath on a screen where you can see in real time exactly what is happening. For the first time ever, this showed how the way I moved air affected my chemistry.

What I found was shocking.

Despite my smooth mechanics and ability to change my breath at will, my chemistry was completely unstable. I was operating in a low-CO2 (hypocapnic) state, and I could not bring myself out of it.

Low CO2 constricts blood vessels, which equates to less blood flow to my brain. I hadn't noticed my mind wasn't as clear. I felt sped up, anxious, and overstimulated.

I realized that everything I knew about my breath had created a trap. Instead of supporting me the way I thought, my breath was actually disrupting my stability.

I could see that I was forcing my exhale. I was over-engaging it, pushing it, which tanked my CO2. Once I saw that, I tried to implement what I knew - changing my mechanics and trying to slow things down, which led to taking more control of my breath. My CO2 dropped even lower.

So I began to practice relaxing and lightening my body and not rushing to my next breath. Once I stepped back from the “doing,” my CO2 stabilized, and I felt an improvement in my overall state.

Little did I know that once I could see what was in the way, it was more about allowing the breath than controlling it.

Shocking, I know…

The body is always striving for balance (homeostasis), and we get in the way of that through these unconscious habits, which are often us trying to control the situation.

Despite what I knew about “how to breathe” and all the protocols and techniques, I was missing the behaviors behind it. Habits formed outside conscious practice were embedded in the other 23+ hours of unconscious breathing during my day.

Like any other habits and behaviors that form over time, these habits formed around stress, posture, performance, and old circumstances, and they fire in response to certain triggers. As they are reinforced over and over again, likely to keep me feeling safe, they become the automatic response.

That person cutting me off in traffic set off an overbreathing pattern, making me feel sped up and tanking my CO2. My body tensed up, which led to more anger, which led to breathing more. A vicious cycle.

None of this means protocols and techniques are bad. They are great interventions when we need them, and I still use and teach them. But a technique covers only the minutes you spend doing it. How you breathe, moment to moment and day to day, is a different layer, and that’s where behavior analysis steps in. It shows you your patterns and how you breathe when you aren’t thinking about it. And since the behavior changes with the trigger, it has to start with you.

Our breath affects us in more ways than we realize, and most of us never connect the two. A technique practiced without seeing how it affects your chemistry can even work against you. It did for me. I’ve seen it time and again in this work: when someone addresses how they breathe, other things clear up, many of which they never thought breathing would touch.

Now, after using the capnometer as a biofeedback tool, I can read my body in a new way. I know when my CO2 drops by tuning into acute signs like tightness in my body, headaches, overthinking, and lots of sighing. I know when to step back, disengage, and let my breath flow. It is an ongoing process of unraveling. New triggers show up all of the time. Some are strong, and many of these new behaviors need lots of reinforcement.

I am also continually working on creating flexibility so that I can breathe in any way, like a protocol or technique, and maintain stable CO2. The practices haven't gone anywhere. They sit on a steadier base now. And when my breathing doesn't get pulled into every scene, I move through the day with a lot more fluidity.

You might recognize some of this in yourself - the tightness, sighing, a mind that doesn’t stop and feels a little foggy at the same time. You may have called it stress, or just how you're wired. It's worth asking whether your breathing is part of it.

This is the work I do with clients one-on-one, capnometer and all. I'll share more about that soon.

This might be something you've never considered before. Most people haven't either. Hit reply and tell me what question it raises for you. I'll answer the common ones next time.

Smooth breaths,
Reis 🤙

THE NOISE

The good kind. What's alive in life this week.

What I'm into this week:

The Detox Dudes. Back in May, I went all in on detoxing my body. This was foreign territory for me. Sure, I've done regular saunas, juice "cleanses," and multi-day fasts. But I've found those are more superficial and don't get into the deep nitty-gritty. Thanks to an onslaught of Instagram ads, I came across the Detox Dudes (silly name...). Hearing Josh, the founder, tell his story, I resonated with what he shared and could see similar symptoms I was dealing with. So I went for it. Wowee! After multiple phone calls with my coach, I had a personalized plan that included daily protocols, such as a lectin-avoidant diet, hydration, binders, and supplements, as well as weekly protocols, including ongoing saunas and enemas. I started with my gut, and once it was restored, I moved into a full GI Cleanse - a 5-day fast preceded by an enzyme protocol. Let's just say some crazy things came out. After a bit of time to regenerate, I went into the liver cleanse, which was another enzyme protocol. This led to shedding about 20 gallstones. Wild stuff. I am now in the midst of recovering from that, after which I will do another liver cleanse, then move to parasites and heavy metal chelation. I am taking my time, so I imagine it will take about 9 months. I can say the diet alone has been a major game changer. And with each step, my body feels lighter and brighter. I'm sure I will share more about it at some point...the parasites should be wild. Check 'em out.​

Weekly breath playlist. I make a new playlist for every breath class I host. Here's the latest.

Where I'm Teaching

Living Breath. Weekly at 5:30 pm on Thursdays. All you have to do is show up - mats, blankets, bolsters, and chocolate provided. Register.​

Our Breath Collective. Want a daily practice? Our community breathes daily online for 15 minutes, led by me and the OBC guides. Catch 'em live or on-demand, directly on your favorite device. Try it for 7 days for free.​

Private Clients. I have a few spots open for private work. If something feels off and you can't quite name it, hit replay and we can talk. Referrals always welcome.