Don’t Hold Your Breath When Concentrating

Do you hold your breath when trying to concentrate?

People often ask, “Why do I hold my breath when I focus?”

Many hold their breath when they need to concentrate on a task, study, or work, as if it helps them focus. When you dive into the water, you need to hold your breath, but that isn’t the right thing to do when you’re focusing.

This is done unconsciously, but it creates physical and mental strain that is absolutely unnecessary and unhealthy, and it disrupts concentration.

You must be aware of this tendency to hold your breath, and when it happens, relax your body and start breathing normally. After all, how long can you hold your breath? After a little while, you will feel strained and exhausted and have to breathe in.

While concentrating, you should breathe calmly and stay relaxed. This might be challenging initially, but if you keep trying, you will eventually succeed.

Recommended reading: Focus and Concentration: Master the Keys to Mental Mastery and Success.

A Question About Breathing and Concentration

Someone has asked me the following question:

“Whenever I want to concentrate, I have to hold my breath. Otherwise, I can’t concentrate properly. The problem is I want to concentrate for more than a minute. Why do I hold my breath? Can you help me?”

“Why do I keep holding my breath?” seems to be a common question many ask.

As already said, holding your breath while concentrating is unhealthy. It creates unnecessary strain and disturbs your concentration. Focusing is a mental act, not a physical act, so there is no need to hold the breath or tense the body, as many do.

There is an unconscious belief that concentration involves effort, and the more effort you put in and the more you strain your body, the better your focus will be. This is an erroneous idea.

You need to be aware of this habit and undo it.

Whenever you do something involving concentration, be careful not to strain your body and muscles. This is totally unnecessary.

Concentration works better when there is no tension. Strain and tension are a waste of energy and disturb your attention.

It’s okay that your concentration is not strong enough, and you cannot hold it fixed on one thing for more than a moment. Don’t fret about that because you can change this. What you need is to train your mind and attention.

You train your physical body by exercising and going to the gym. You need to train your mind in the same way if you wish to improve your concentration.

The body needs oxygen. The mind needs oxygen. They need it to function in the best way. You can focus your mind better when you breathe normally, not when you hold your breath.

Do not Stop Breathing When You Focus Your Attention

Now you ask, what should you do? How to stop tensing your body when you need to focus your mind?

Here is what to when you need to focus your attention:

1. Relax your body.
2. If you are sitting down, sit comfortably without straining your body.
3. Take a few deep breaths before starting to concentrate.
4. Focus on your body and relax each muscle, starting from your toes all the way to your head. It need not take more than a few moments.
5. When focusing, breathe normally, even if you find it difficult to focus this way.
6. You might feel unable to focus your mind if you don’t hold your breath, and you might find that you instinctively hold your breath. If you keep holding your breath, you will not be able to focus for long since this is tiring.
7. Whenever you realize that you are holding your breath, start breathing again.

You need to pay attention to your breath every time you concentrate. If you keep doing so and follow the above simple guidelines, you will gradually eliminate this unnecessary and unhealthy habit.

Remember, concentration does not require holding your breath. In fact, this could be distracting and exhausting.

Conclusion: Breathe Easy to Focus Deeply

This article makes one message unmistakably clear: real concentration is a mental skill, not a physical struggle. Holding your breath might feel instinctively tied to effort, but it only drains energy, tightens the body, and scatters attention.

Sustainable focus grows from the opposite qualities: relaxation, awareness, and steady, natural breathing.

When you train your mind the way you would train your body, you discover that progress comes from calmness, not tension.

Each time you catch yourself holding your breath, reset the habit by inhaling, releasing the strain, and returning to the task with a clearer, more grounded mind. Over time, this simple shift becomes a powerful habit that supports deeper concentration and greater mental endurance.

Additional Reading

Do you wish to improve your focus and concentration? You will find the following articles useful:

The power of concentration
Concentration exercises

If you are looking for a step-by-step guide with instructions and exercises to improve your concentration and focus, read our book, How to Focus Your Attention.

“Deep breathing brings deep thinking, and shallow breathing brings shallow thinking.”
– Elsie Lincoln Benedict

“Breathing well means breathing more slowly and deeply. Relax, feel your breathing, and breathe comfortably. Once aware, it naturally becomes deeper and slower.”
– Ilchi Lee

“Breath is the bridge which connects life to consciousness, which unites your body to your thoughts.”
–Thich Nhat Hanh

“As you breathe in, cherish yourself. As you breathe out, cherish all Beings.”
– Dalai Lama