Action Analysis: Breathing

“Breath is the link between mind and body.”

— Dan Brule

Breathing is not only one of our most important vital signs, beyond being an essential part of our living, it is also a window into another person's body language. At its core, the goal of breathing is to provide the body with the necessary oxygen it needs, but because our need for oxygen can change from moment to moment our breathing pattern needs to constantly adjust as a consequence. Because of this constant variability, understanding a person’s (or a fictional character’s) breathing pattern can be very telling of a person’s emotional and physical state. Breathing alters its patterns, speed, and shape during the day and depending on our emotional states, fear, or physical effort. How we breathe can be a reflection of our mood of the moment and our level of physical activation. 

More than a tutorial, this short piece wants to be a general reference on how breathing works and how it can change depending on our level of arousal. Mainly, we will analyze two big factors, where does breathing happen in the body, some of the muscles involved, and how fast or slow the breathing is. 
Just to warn you, this will probably be way too much information than what you would use on a daily basis. 

First, we'll take a look at where different types of breathing happen in the body and the area and muscles if requires. Then, we'll analyze different types of more or less common breathing patterns, taking into consideration their speed and where breathing happens. 

TYPES OF BREATHING 

 Diaphragmatic (or abdominal) breathing is the most natural type of breathing and is often found in children or people who feel relaxed and comfortable. Breathing with the diaphragm is often slow and focused on the lower part of the lungs. 

The diaphragm is a dome-shaped muscle used to divide your upper part of the torso from the other organs and it's the main muscle responsible for breathing. During inhalation, the diaphragm contracts, pushing the shape of the stomach out, and at the same time increasing the space in the thoracic cavity and creating a partial vacuum that supports respiration by, to a certain degree, forcing the inflation of the lungs.
On exhaling, the diaphragm relaxes, creating a pushing force towards the chest and helping the lungs deflate and pushing the air outward.
When a person is relaxed or is trying to relax, breathing is often characterized by a slightly shorter inhale with a longer, sustained exhale through the mouth.

By John Pierce - Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4850963

Thoracic (or chest) breathing is common in people in a state of arousal, either during physical effort or psychological stress. This type of breathing is characterized by the expansion and retraction of the chest (and as a consequence often a compression of the abdomen), and it is a more superficial type of breathing, making use mostly of the upper part of the lungs. Breathing of this kind tends to tense the muscle of the upper body (especially the shoulders), creating a feeling of physical distress. 

On average, chest breathing tends also to be fast and shallow, with short, strong inhales, followed by short and powerful exhale. 

By John Pierce - Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29433612

Clavicular breathing can be considered as a more extreme version of thoracic breathing, where we end up using mostly the very top part of the lungs, forcing our shoulders to rise on each in-breath. Breathing rates are fast and very shallow. This type of breathing is not a commonly found one but can be seen if a person is in a particularly high state of anxiety, stress, shock, or during panic attacks.

“ABNORMAL” BREATHING PATTERNS 

Here we are going to take a more in-depth look at some of the more common variations of the breathing patterns that we can find with a visual representation: 

• Eupnea: It is the normal breathing rate both for range (amplitude of thoracic and diaphragmatic movement) and speed (number of inhales and exhales per minute). And it usually runs around 12 to 20 breaths per minute. If the person is relaxed, generally the abdomen and diaphragm are engaged. If the person is stressed, breathing becomes faster with more expansion on the thoracic area. 

---

• Hyperpnea: also called heavy breathing, inhalation and exhalation become harder and deeper than usual, although not necessarily faster. The body is trying to get in as much oxygen as possible, this type of heavy breathing is more common at high metabolic rates, on high altitudes, or during intense physical activity. This breathing pattern often signals tiredness or fear. During hyperpnea, generally both the abdomen and chest expand to the maximum, engaging both the diaphragm muscle and thoracic area. 

EXAMPLE:

---

•   Hyperventilation: similar to hyperpnea, hyperventilation sees an increase in depth and breathing rate. This type of breathing is often caused by acute tension and a high level of physical stress, often due to anxiety and lack of sleep. A similar change in breathing rate can happen with shallow, rapid breathing during strong emotional moments such as crying. 

EXAMPLES:

---

• Apnea: it is a complete stop to the breathing process. Normally, it can be found after a strong moment of fright following a quick and sharp inhale (such as during a jumpscare), or it is often present during moments of extreme physical efforts (such as lifting a heavy weight or sprinting very fast). Apnea is often followed by a long, sometimes conscious exhalation that the person uses to cool down and enter a more relaxing state and let go of the fear state. Especially when coming from a fear moment, this exhale can be accompanied by a lowering of the shoulders. 

EXAMPLES:

---

Breathing alone can be a powerful way of conveying emotional states and levels of physical activation, and more so because breathing is often received subconsciously by the audience.
That's all for today, I hope it was informative. 

---