Sachin Patel explains that breathing correctly improves focus and mental clarity by signaling safety to the nervous system. He contrasts calm, intentional breathing (which supports focused work) with mouth-open, short, shallow breaths (which signal stress, increasing anxiety and scattering attention).
The other thing that breathing correctly will do is it will improve your focus and clarity. So when I'm trying to do focused work, one of the first things I tap into and pay attention to is how am I breathing? Because if I'm breathing in a calm, gentle way, intentionally, that's going to set the stage in my nervous system for me to be focused and have clarity. But if I'm breathing with my mouth open, short, shallow breaths, I'm telling my nervous system that I'm under stress, and it's having the exact opposite effect of what I'm trying to do. My mind is going to be anxious and I'm going to be scattered and not able to focus on.
Your Doctor Won't Prescribe This… But It's the Most Powerful Medicine on Earth
