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Summary
On episode 570 of 40+ Fitness, Coach Allan sits down with Stuart Sandeman, a globally recognized breathing expert, performance coach, and former Scottish Judo champion who found breathwork after losing his girlfriend to cancer at age 31.
Stuart explains how breathing directly drives the autonomic nervous system, switching the body between the sympathetic “on” state and the parasympathetic “rest and digest” state with every inhale and exhale.
The conversation covers the seven common breathing patterns most people fall into without realizing it, why nose breathing beats mouth breathing, and specific breathing techniques to calm down under stress or generate energy without reaching for caffeine.
Links
- https://breathpod.com
- https://instagram.com/breathpod
Key Takeaways
- Every breath flips a switch in your nervous system. Breathing in activates the sympathetic “on” response, raising heart rate and blood pressure, while a slow breath out activates the parasympathetic “rest and digest” response, so how you breathe directly shapes how you feel.
- Most people fall into one of seven dysfunctional breathing patterns. Stuart names the chest breather, reverse breather, collapse breather, frozen breather, breath grabber, and breath controller, each tied to posture, stress, or personality, plus a “perfect breather” baseline to aim for.
- Posture and clothing quietly wreck your breathing. Tight jeans, high waistbands, and hunched shoulders at a desk can all push someone into a shallow, restricted breathing pattern without them ever noticing.
- Nose breathing beats mouth breathing for nearly everything. The nose filters, warms, and moistens air and releases nitric oxide, which dilates blood vessels, while mouth breathing tends to trigger the stress response and, over time, can even affect jaw and facial development.
- A simple in for 4, hold for 4, out for 8 count calms the body fast. Breathing in through the nose for a count of 4, holding for 4, and exhaling through the mouth for a count of 8 increases the parasympathetic response and can dial down anxiety in about one cycle.
- You can breathe yourself alert instead of reaching for coffee. A faster, layered breath (belly, chest, exhale, repeated while standing) creates a bit of “good stress” that raises energy without disrupting sleep the way afternoon caffeine can.
- Breathwork can release stored emotional tension, not just physical stress. Stuart’s own turning point came through a breathing class after losing his girlfriend to cancer, where he felt he released tension he didn’t know he’d been carrying.
- Stuart’s three strategies to get and stay well: use your breath with awareness to actively shift how you feel; get your body moving, since movement and breath work hand in hand; and follow your highest excitement, choosing the path that genuinely lights you up.
“If we calm our breath, our mind will follow.”
Stuart Sandeman
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