Are breathing exercises safe? Risks and who should take care

The short version

• Slow, gentle exercises with no long holds, such as diaphragmatic breathing, resonance breathing and pursed-lip breathing, are safe for almost everyone.
• Stop if you feel dizzy, tingly or light-headed, and breathe normally until it passes. See dizziness and tingling.
• Never do breath-holds or fast breathing in or near water, in the bath, in a hot tub or cold plunge, while driving, or standing where a faint could hurt you. See breath-holding and water.
• Take extra care if you are pregnant or have epilepsy, a heart condition, uncontrolled high blood pressure, a lung condition, panic attacks or a history of fainting. See who should take care.
• Keep taking your medicines. Breathing exercises add to treatment; they don’t replace it.

Where the risks come from

Almost all of the risk comes from two things: breathing more than your body needs, and holding your breath for a long time, especially after over-breathing. Over-breathing lowers the carbon dioxide in your blood, which causes dizziness and tingling and, in some people, can trigger panic or a seizure. A long breath-hold after over-breathing can make you black out without warning. See carbon dioxide and over-breathing.

Slow breathing exercises don’t do either of these things, as long as the breaths stay soft. That is why they are the ones we recommend most, and why the Wim Hof method is the one exercise on this site with no breathe-along timer.

When to get help

Breathing exercises are for breathlessness and symptoms you already understand. If you are breathless and don’t know why, or it is getting worse, get it checked first. Call 999 if you have severe difficulty breathing, chest pain, blue or grey lips, or sudden confusion. See breathlessness: when to get help.