Breathing is universal, habitual, and nearly always automatic. However, you do have choices about the way you breathe—fast or slow, shallow or deep. This can send messages to your body that affect your blood pressure, immune function, mood, and stress level.
For instance, when you get stressed, your breathing pattern and rate change, often resulting in more chest breathing in response to a fight-or-flight situation. This is triggered by the autonomic nervous system. What’s interesting about the function of breathing is that it’s both a voluntary and involuntary process.
