Mindful Breathing: Practicing self-care
Can better breathing habits improve your health?
December 30, 2025
Medically Reviewed | Last reviewed by Smitha Mallaiah on December 30, 2025
Breathing is not something most of us think about regularly. It’s just something we do, day in and day out, and it happens all the time without us really noticing.
But did you know that if you’re not breathing properly, you could be missing out on a key opportunity to improve your health — especially if you’re a cancer patient?
Keep reading to find out why optimal breathing is so important, how it benefits your mind and body, and three simple steps you can take to correct poor breathing habits in the moment.
The best way to breathe
Many organs and body systems have optimal (or ideal) and suboptimal (or less than ideal) ways of performing. Your lungs are no exception.
In a perfect world, every breath of air you took would fully inflate all five lung lobes and be pulled in slowly through the nostrils. Each exhalation would be smooth and controlled, and longer than the inhalation. You would also be sitting up straight or standing while this occurred.
Why?
Because inflating your lungs fully:
- improves their capacity
- increases the amount of oxygen in your bloodstream
- strengthens the muscles that control respiration
- stimulates the vagus nerve, the largest and most complex connection between the brain and the organs
- regulates both heart rate and heart rate variability (HRV), or the difference between your highest working heart rate and your lowest resting heart rate.
The natural resistance of nasal breathing also requires a slightly greater effort to move air, which helps to strengthen the respiratory muscles over time. Nasal breathing also produces nitric oxide, which helps widen blood vessels and improve oxygen delivery throughout the body. And, neurons located in the nostrils help regulate the autonomous nervous system, which controls the “fight-or-flight” response that alerts us to danger.
Diaphragmatic breathing has many benefits
This mindful way of breathing — also known as diaphragmatic breathing — can make you feel more centered and improve your concentration. It can even help you achieve an almost meditative state if you’re breathing deeply and slowly enough. That’s why so many traditions use breathing as a prerequisite to meditation. It’s considered an anchoring practice. Ancient yogic practices like pranayama/breath work offer extensive guidance on cultivating such breath patterns.
For cancer patients, diaphragmatic breathing offers another potential benefit: it improves the flow of lymph and reduces the risk of lymphedema. The main duct for emptying lymph passes right through the diaphragm, so any time you breathe deeply, it squeezes that muscle and drains the fluid, especially from your upper body.
Breathing deeply may also help reduce stress, which is linked to both chronic inflammation and some cancers.
Key takeaways
- Diaphragmatic breathing expands your lung capacity, strengthens the muscles that control respiration, and increases the amount of oxygen in your bloodstream.
- It can also make you feel more centered, improve your concentration and help you achieve an almost meditative state of mind.
- To optimize your own breathing, adopt a good posture, breathe slowly through your nose, then exhale twice as slowly as you inhale.
What gets in the way of optimal breathing
So, why don’t people breathe this way all the time?
For one thing, fear, anxiety and stress can all make you take quick, shallow breaths — and sometimes even hold it. Allergies and respiratory infections, meanwhile, may force you to breathe through your mouth. And, sitting for too long or just having poor posture can collapse the chest and abdominal cavities, leaving your lungs without enough room to inflate properly.
All of these behaviors can become habits over time. But any time you feel stressed, your body experiences them, too. That means your pupils dilate, your heart rate goes up, and your lungs shift into “upper breathing” mode.
Taking quick, shallow breaths only engages the uppermost lobes of your lungs. So, the intercostal muscles that pull the rib cage out and the clavicle muscles that lift the shoulders end up doing most of the work.
Ideally, you want to engage all the breathing muscles, including the powerful diaphragm, which is situated just below the lungs. You also want to engage the middle and lower lobes of the lungs. That’s because they’re the biggest and can process the largest volume of air.
So, what’s the solution? Try these three steps.
- Adopt a good posture: Sit up straight if you’re seated or pull your shoulders back and lift your chin if you’re standing.
- Breathe slowly through your nose: Do this on both the inhale and the exhale.
- Extend the exhale: Whenever you can, aim for a 1:2 ratio. That means if you inhale slowly for a count of three, exhale for a count of six.
You may also want to add a yogic practice called “bhramari,” or honeybee breath, as a fourth step. Research has shown that simply making an “mmmmmmm” humming sound while slowly exhaling increases nitric oxide levels in the body. This chemical compound improves lung capacity, blood pressure and circulation by dilating the blood vessels. It may also have some cognitive benefits.
Diaphragmatic breathing helps you at all times of day
The best thing about diaphragmatic breathing? You can do it virtually any time: whether you are waiting for the doctor to deliver some test results or just trying to fall asleep.
If you’re an MD Anderson patient, you can learn more about this breathing technique by attending a free weekly class conducted by our Integrative Medicine Center. The virtual class takes place every Tuesday at 10 a.m., excluding holidays, and does not require a referral. Patients may register through MyChart.
Smitha Mallaiah is a senior mind-body intervention specialist in MD Anderson's Integrative Medicine Center.
Request an appointment at MD Anderson online or call 1-877-632-6789.
Diaphragmatic breathing reduces the risk of lymphedema.
Smitha Mallaiah
Senior Mind-Body Intervention Specialist