How Chronic Stress and Trauma Affect Breathing (and How to Regulate Your Nervous System With Breathwork)
When you are in trauma therapy, the importance of noticing progress and healing is essential.
If you’ve noticed chest tightness or shallow breathing during stress, you’re not imagining it. Chronic stress and trauma can impact the body in very real, physiological ways, including the way we breathe. However, to this day there are many people who don’t believe this is true. When I, as a somatic therapist, am working with clients, I always give two examples of how many actually do accept the premise that stress impacts our bodies:
1: You are having a difficult day at work. It has been one of those days where you have been simply surviving. Your inbox is still at 200 unread emails, and you have been in back to back meetings. You have been able to shove down a protein bar and have not had a chance to refill your water. People won’t stop coming up to you to ask you questions and it becomes hard to even think. When you get home, you have a pounding headache no matter how much food you are able to eat or water you are able to drink.
2: You have been anxious about an upcoming work trip. You have a big presentation and are not feeling great about leaving your kids for a whole week because they are still pretty young. You notice that a couple of days before your trip your chest feels really tight and your diaphragm feels like it almost won’t even move. You have difficulty breathing deep enough to feel satisfied, and you also feel lightheaded.
Most people agree in these circumstances that our bodies are impacted by our mental load. Breathing is usually one of the first things that changes that tells us our bodies are starting to respond to this stress. So, today let’s chat about all things breath, breathing, and practical tips for working with the breath!
Why trauma and chronic stress change breathing patterns (fight, flight, freeze)
Essentially, when we experience chronic stress or trauma, we are going into fight, flight, or freeze. This is how a healthy nervous system responds to (perceived) outside threats.
When the nervous system senses danger (even emotional danger), breathing often becomes faster, shallower, or “stuck” as the body prepares for survival. Dr. Peter Levine, who created Somatic Experiencing, noticed that animals rarely get “traumatized” like humans do because they are able to carry out these self-protective responses (the fight, flight, freeze, or fawn responses).
I think, therefore, it is beneficial when explaining the breath and its response to stress to bring it back down to the basics. We are animals. We need energy when we are going to fight or flee. We also need to make our breathing barely noticeable or really shallow if we are trying not to be seen (with the freeze or fawn responses). Essentially, we are hardwired for self-protection. Even though it doesn’t feel like it, breathing changes are a response to the threat that is aimed at self-protection.
What “air hunger” is (and why it can show up with anxiety)
One common trauma-and-anxiety breathing symptom is “air hunger”. Air hunger is the feeling that, no matter how much you are trying to take deep breaths, relax your diaphragm, or breathe more often, you aren’t getting enough oxygen. Intellectually you know that you are, but your physiology is telling you something different.
This can happen when stress shifts your breathing toward hyperventilation. For a deeper overview of how hyperventilation and anxiety can interact, see this explainer from the Cleveland Clinic.
First things first: validate your nervous system
You can’t attend to what is wrong if you are pretending to be okay. Notice that your breathing is a little wonky, and then kindly say some words of affirmation to yourself before you do some breathing exercises. Here are a few examples that I like:
“It is okay that I’m anxious right now. There is nothing wrong with me. “
“I am having a difficult time with breath right now because my body is trying to protect me.”
“I am able to care for myself at this moment.”
“This is not dangerous. I’m not in danger.”
If you’d like more nervous-system tools, you may also like our post: How to Relax Your Nervous System: Quick and Easy Techniques.
Trauma-informed breathing exercises for nervous system regulation
There are several ways you can use breathwork to regulate your nervous system, including using the deep “voo” sound and physiological sighing.
Breathing reset for air hunger
Take in a deep breath for the count of five. Hold your breath at the top for a count of eight. Exhale, imagining the lungs wringing out the last bits of air. Then, stay like that with no air in the lungs until you take a spontaneous deep breath. Repeat a few times and then do your best to think about something else afterward. “Box breathing” is a simple, evidence-informed technique often used for anxiety and stress regulation. Here’s a step-by-step guide from the Cleveland Clinic.
Use the deep “voo” to stimulate the vagus nerve
The “deep voo” is something that Dr. Peter Levine uses a lot in his practice with clients. You do this by:
Taking in a deep breath
Releasing the breath slowly while saying voo (in a deeper register) Make sure you feel your sternum/belly vibrate a bit, this ensures that the vagus nerve is being activated
Do this a few times
Bonus points if you can do it with another person! Think: monks chanting. This is nothing new.
Self-touch on the diaphragm (grounding + safety cue)
Dr. Kathy Kain is a body worker and faculty for Somatic Experiencing International. She teaches many classes to therapists and other trauma practitioners on how to incorporate touch into their healing modalities with clients.
One thing I have found helpful is the idea that touch can gently help different structures in the body that get activated by stress to calm down. Touch can be a nice way to say “Hi there, maybe we don’t have to do that thing right now.”
Try this: place your hand (or hands) gently on your diaphragm while lying down or sitting up. Try to imagine your hands having microscopes that can actually see and send good energy to your diaphragm. Try to invite it to relax a little bit, softening like butter. Then take a deep breath. See what happens!
Change your inhale: “physiological sigh” for downshifting
A “physiological sigh” (two short inhales followed by a long exhale) can help the body downshift from stress. Try mimicking the breath that people take after they have had a good cry and their nervous system is in a more regulated state. Take two, quick deep breaths in and then blow the air all the way out. Don’t be quiet about it, let yourself really take those deep breaths in and out!
For more on the physiological sigh, see Stanford Medicine’s overview of stress-breathing tools from Andrew Huberman (Stanford).
When breathing symptoms might be a sign to get support
In the mental health field, there is this stream metaphor that is often used. If there is an issue that people experience symptoms from, we often find that people are being “carried away by the river.” Sometimes, as people and practitioners, we focus on the person that is in the river, treating their symptoms. However, if you have the energy and the skills, swimming upstream and figuring out why people are falling into the river is more effective in the long run.
What I mean to say is that if you find yourself dealing with dysregulated breathing often, then it is important to swim upstream and figure out what is causing the stress to begin with. We don’t want to simply keep treating the symptom, we want to treat the cause.
If you’re in the Kansas City area and looking for trauma therapy that includes nervous-system work, you can learn more about our approach to Somatic Therapy and trauma healing at Embodied Healing Collective.
A great therapist who is well-versed in trauma therapy and chronic stress interventions would be a great fit for helping with something like this. You are not alone, and you don’t have to heal alone. Needing help is normal.
Happy healing!
Start Your Trauma Healing Journey With Somatic Therapy
At Embodied Healing KC, our trauma-informed therapists guide you with compassion and skill, helping you safely process emotions and build resilience. If you are ready to start healing from trauma and would like some support, reach out! Trauma-informed therapist Lauren Bradley has immediate openings and is ready to help you on your journey.
Frequently Asked Questions About Chronic Stress and Breathing
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Yes. Trauma and chronic stress can shift the nervous system into survival responses that change breathing patterns—often leading to shallow breathing, chest tightness, or feeling like you can’t get a full breath.
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Air hunger is the sensation of not getting a satisfying breath. It can happen with anxiety, panic, or chronic stress, especially when breathing becomes faster or more upper-chest focused.
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Breathing tools can support nervous system regulation and grounding. In trauma work, it’s best to use gentle, choice-based practices and stop if anything feels activating.
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Many people find box breathing or longer exhales helpful. If holding the breath increases anxiety, try a softer approach like slow nasal breathing with a long exhale.
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Stress can affect breathing, but sudden or severe symptoms should be checked by a medical professional. If you’re unsure, it’s always appropriate to seek medical guidance.
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Somatic therapy helps you track body sensations, build capacity, and gently complete stress responses—often improving breath, grounding, and felt safety over time.
Stevie Olson-Spiegel is a Licensed Therapist and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner located in Kansas City. She uses Somatic Experiencing as her main body-based trauma healing modality, as well as EMDR. As an Intuitive Eating Counselor, she uses these principles to help her clients challenge their relationship with their cultural misconceptions about their body and food.
