- Updated on July 31, 2019
By Dr. Artour Rakhimov, Alternative Health Educator and Author
In a state of chronic hyperventilation, various academic, professional, technical, perceptual, peacemaking, psychological, athletic, recreational and other abilities and skills deteriorate. These include academic performance, concentration, short and long-term memory, logical and analytical abilities, the work of all the senses, coordination, precision of movements, balance, abilities to negotiate, to compromise, to be consistent, persistent, disciplined, self-organized, etc.
There is only one real world, but a person, in conditions of overbreathing, sees it differently at different moments in time. That usually means that people also see their own positions and places in this world differently. Some people experience mood swings. Sometimes they can feel helpless and weak; sometimes they can feel powerful and invincible. In such conditions, they are likely to deny one state while being in another. Realization and acceptance/self-analysis of these changes can lead to periods of depression and confusion. Addictions can develop as ways to avoid this abnormal perception.
A meaningful life means, among many other things, an ability to be realistic, the absence of addictions, having good and healthy relationships with others, the ability to work productively, to enjoy physical work, to achieve certain goals in life, etc. Let us consider those dimensions, which are not discussed above.
Seeing these things clearly is more difficult in an abnormal mental state. Hyperventilating people are more likely to be inconsistent (or moody), choose the wrong friends, pay attention to wrong or non-existent problems in their relationships with other people, etc.
Meaningful relationships with others are possible when the person has a long-term caring and respectful attitude towards others. He/she can clearly see:
– one’s own and others’ abilities and limitations (who is who);
– how they can help each other;
– the impact of relationships on both sides;
– the dynamic or future trends in interactions.
Do we accomplish less in personal life when breathing is heavy?
The achievement of personal goals (e.g., in academic performance, business and employment, personal life and hobbies, arts and sports) requires:
– an ability to perceive reality normally and to be objective when considering one’s skills, growth potentials and limitations;
– an ability to choose an optimum plan to achieve the selected goals;
– an ability to work diligently and persistently towards these goals day after day, month after month, and often year after year while being under the influence of different outer and inner destabilizing factors and processes.
Chronic overbreathing negatively affects the whole goal-achieving complex. An objective perception of the real world, including one’s own place and qualities, is more difficult or nearly impossible. Choosing the optimum plan of actions and its execution become problematic. (If one cannot see oneself clearly, how can one make a good plan?). Finally, an inconsistent state of mind (“spontaneous and asynchronous …”) makes self-discipline, diligence, and persistence, in relation to daily work for many days/months/years, impossible or too difficult.
What problems in society would be solved if normal breathing were again, as they were a long time ago, a norm of life for most people?
