You are breathing too much.  Practically everyone in modern society is chronically mildly hyperventilating, due largely to being overly comfortable, sitting down all day, junk food, overeating, underactivity etc etc.  Optimizing your breathing is, in my opinion, the single most beneficial thing you can do to improve your health and well being (okay tied with meditation and relaxation). Proper breathing is unfortunately overlooked in the health and fitness community, and of course in society at large.  On top of that, the breathing advice we DO get is often counterproductive.  For example "take deep breaths".  On the surface this may sound like good advice.... wouldn't bringing in a ton of air help oxygenate your body?  The answer is no.  It's counter-intuitive (like so many things in self-actualization), but breathing LESS oxygenates your body MORE.  I won't get too scientific but it has to do with the carbon dioxide in your body (see Bohr effect).  You actually do not breathe because you are hungry for oxygen, you breathe to get rid of carbon dioxide.  Carbon dioxide, though often demonized as a toxic byproduct of breathing, is required to transport oxygen into your cells and bloodstream.  Our goal is to increase your tolerance for carbon dioxide, so that more of this gas can stay in your body for longer, so that more oxygen can be transported into your bloodstream and cells.  And in general, more oxygenation = better health and well being.  To add just a little more science, you want to be breathing through your nose, because the air interacts with your sinuses to produce nitric oxide which further increases oxygenation.  (Increasing nitric oxide is another extremely worthwhile endeavor in addition to breathing properly).  Additionally, your nose warms the air and filters out impurities. Proper Breathing Inhaling and exhaling through the nose Slow, gentle, calm, soft Non-visible, quiet No sighing, yawning, gasping, coughing, abrupt inhales or exhales, etc Using the diaphragm ("horizontal" breathing, not "vertical") Exhale is not forceful, rather it is simply a relaxation of the body Slight pause after exhale Rhythmic and regular Less than you are currently breathing Better advice than "take deep breaths" would be: relax your body and take softer, gentler breaths.  Think about it this way, what does a calm, healthy, fit individual breathe like at rest?  You wouldn't even notice their breathing.  Then, consider an overweight, unfit, anxious individual breathing at rest.  This person's breathing would likely be visible, perhaps you could hear it, they might even be breathing through the mouth sighing a lot etc.  Consider also when you are deep in meditation... with your body and mind as calm as can be, your breathing can almost become nonexistent.  Ideally, you want to get your "control pause" as high as possible.  Your control pause is the amount of time you can comfortably hold your breath after exhaling.  To measure, sit upright, comfortably, relaxed, and breathe as normal for a few minutes.  Then, take a normal inhale, and normal exhale.  Hold your breath until the first inclination to breathe occurs.  The number of seconds between that exhale and inhale is your control pause.  Note, you should be able to resume breathing normally after measuring your control pause.  If you have to take a big gasp or feel out of breath, you have held your breath too long and improperly measured your control pause.  A good goal is to get your control pause over 20 seconds.  Even more is better.  Don't worry, I was at like 3-5 seconds when first starting.  Every few seconds you can increase to your control pause has a substantial influence of your health and well being.  I especially notice it in my mood, cognition, mental health etc. Proper Breathing Exercise There are many exercises, but the goal of most is to maintain a slight air hunger for some time.  Don't overdo this, you wouldn't try to bench 300 lbs your first day at the gym Sit upright, completely relax your body Gently, softly, slowly, inhale through the nose.  Inhale slightly less than you would naturally Exhale through your nose by completely relaxing, especially your diaphragm and stomach Wait a little bit longer to inhale than you would naturally Continue for as long as you'd like.  This is a great way to meditate / start your meditation Breathe in this manner while also doing physical activity like walking, running, lifting weights etc etc for SERIOUS health gains (try not to open your mouth!) (can't stress this bulletpoint enough) You will know you are doing well when your extremities feel warmer, you are producing more saliva, and you feel calmer and more at peace Other tips to oxygenate your body Exercise Walk, walk, walk Don't sit too much Eat oxygenating foods: Beets (MVP), spices like ginger turmeric cayenne etc, high nitrate vegetables like leafy greens (nitrates increase nitric oxide, beets have the most which is why they're MVP... In fact, I would wager that most of the benefits of eating plenty of vegetables comes from their nitrate content), raw cacao, cordyceps mushroom Meditation and relaxation Properly hydrate Do not overeat or eat junk food Look into fasting Improve your sleep quality (may need to write a separate post on this sometime) TAPE YOUR MOUTH SHUT AT NIGHT WHILE SLEEPING (maybe the single easiest yet most beneficial thing you can do for your health) Some Resources Patrick Mckeown's youtube videos and book "The Oxygen Advantage" Research the "Buteyko Method"   Some Caveats The goal is to make your unconscious breathing more in alignment with the above descriptions of proper breathing I.e., breathing exercises where you DO hyperventilate can potentially have benefits as well (Wim Hoff method, shamanic breathing, etc), but chronically hyperventilating (which practically all of us do to some degree) is harmful, and in general breathing less throughout your day makes you healthier       "A perfect man breathes as if he is not breathing"  -Lao Tzu