Patrick McKeown and Oxygen Advantage share this article: 5 Effective Ways Breathing Supports Healthier Heart:
Your heart responds to every breath you take. Small shifts in breathing speed, depth, and route (nose vs mouth) can either increase cardiovascular strain or help the heart work more efficiently with less effort.
1. CO₂ balance reduces cardiac strain
While oxygen gets most of the attention, carbon dioxide (CO₂) plays a critical role in heart health. Calm, efficient breathing helps maintain healthy CO₂ levels in the blood, allowing blood vessels to stay relaxed.
When vessels are open and flexible, the heart doesn’t need to beat as fast or generate as much pressure to move blood around the body.
Rapid or excessive breathing lowers CO₂ levels, triggering blood vessel constriction and a rise in heart rate. This is why breathing faster often causes the heart to race, even when you are not physically active. It also explains why brief breath holds can temporarily influence heart rate by restoring CO₂ balance and improving circulation efficiency.
Research on respiratory physiology shows that improved CO₂ tolerance enhances oxygen release from the blood to working tissues, including the heart muscle itself, reducing cardiac workload during both rest and activity.
2. Breathing improves heart rate variability (HRV)
A healthy heart is not perfectly regular. Instead, it constantly speeds up and slows down in response to the body’s needs, a quality measured as heart rate variability (HRV). Higher
HRV reflects a heart that is adaptable, resilient, and well-regulated by the nervous system.
Slow, controlled breathing increases HRV by strengthening the connection between the heart and the breath. As breathing slows, the heart naturally follows, which is why breathing techniques are commonly used to bring a racing heart rate down in moments of stress.
Multiple studies have shown that paced breathing at around 5.5 to 6 breaths per minute produces the greatest improvements in HRV. Higher HRV is consistently associated with lower cardiovascular risk, better stress recovery, and improved long‑term heart health.
3. Strengthens vagal tone
The vagus nerve is a major regulator of heart rhythm. When vagal tone is strong, the heart beats more calmly, blood pressure stabilizes, and the body recovers more efficiently from stress. Slow, nasal breathing is one of the most effective ways to stimulate this nerve.
In contrast, shallow or rapid breathing reduces vagal activity, keeping the heart in a more stressed, effortful rhythm. Over time, this can increase resting heart rate and reduce the heart’s ability to adapt to physical or emotional demands.
Research shows that breathing within a slow, comfortable range enhances vagal tone and improves the balance between the sympathetic (“fight or flight”) and parasympathetic (“rest and digest”) systems. This shift reduces stress load on the heart and supports long‑term cardiovascular resilience.
4. Helps normalize blood pressure
Full article: https://oxygenadvantage.com/blogs/blog/ways-breathing-supports-healthy-heart?utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=5+Ways+Breathing+Impacts+Your+Heart+blog&_kx=8JHHSkA8b4zczg77MsJUExagxFtdtiHiz9ZhD2GyPvE.WnfgCK
