Why People with MS Should Learn to Breathe Differently

💡 Introduction: Breathing—An Overlooked Superpower in MS

Breathing is automatic. You do it 20,000 times a day without thinking. But how often do you breathe with intention? For people with MS, how you breathe can directly affect:

Your nervous system balance
Pain and muscle tension
Fatigue and mental fog
Mood and emotional regulation

In short: your breath can either keep you stuck in a state of stress and inflammation—or become a gateway to calm, clarity, and better symptom management.

Want to try Breathwork? Click here.

🧠 How MS Affects the Nervous System—and Your Breath

Multiple sclerosis is a disease of the central nervous system (CNS). It damages the myelin sheath that insulates nerve fibers, leading to miscommunications between the brain and the body.

But MS doesn’t stop there.

It often leads to dysautonomia, where the autonomic nervous system—responsible for involuntary actions like heart rate, digestion, and breathing—gets out of sync.

This means many people with MS unknowingly develop:

Shallow chest breathing
Breath-holding during stress or pain
Irregular breathing during sleep
Overbreathing (hyperventilation), leading to dizziness or panic

⚠️ The Hidden Effects of Shallow Breathing in MS

When you breathe shallowly (mostly from your chest):

You activate your sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight)
You increase heart rate, stress hormones, and muscle tension
You reduce oxygen delivery to your brain and muscles
You increase CO₂ loss, leading to poor pH regulation

For someone already battling inflammation, fatigue, and anxiety, shallow breathing compounds the problem. It can make symptoms feel more intense, more unpredictable, and more emotionally draining.

🌿 The Breath-Body Connection: Why It Matters for MS

Your breath is one of the few body systems that is both automatic and controllable. This makes it a unique gateway to influence:

🧘 Your mental state (reducing fear and rumination)

💪 Your physical symptoms (reducing spasticity and improving endurance)

🧠 Your neurological function (oxygen delivery to the brain, vagus nerve stimulation)

🫁 Your respiratory muscles (especially if MS affects diaphragm function)

The diaphragm, your main breathing muscle, also supports posture and core stability—two areas often weakened in MS.

When you breathe differently—deeper, slower, and more consciously—you restore balance where MS creates chaos.

Want to try Breathwork? Click here.

🌀 Why People with MS Tend to Breathe Poorly

Several reasons:

Stress and Anxiety: MS brings uncertainty, and uncertainty brings shallow, rapid breathing.

Fatigue: Tired muscles (including the diaphragm) lead to inefficient breathing.

Pain: Physical discomfort causes breath-holding or tension.

Cognitive Load: MS brain fog or emotional overwhelm can disrupt natural breath rhythms.

Neurological Lesions: MS can impair the brainstem or spinal cord signals that control breath patterns.

That’s why breathing “normally” isn’t always helpful for someone with MS. You may need to retrain your body to breathe in a more healing way.

🌬️ The Benefits of Retraining Your Breath with MS

✅ Better Energy
Diaphragmatic breathing improves oxygenation and reduces the effort of breathing, saving precious energy.

✅ Reduced Muscle Spasms
Relaxed breath helps downregulate muscle tension, reducing spasticity and pain.

✅ Less Brain Fog
More efficient breath = better oxygen delivery to the brain.

✅ Improved Mood
Breathwork increases vagal tone, which boosts mood-regulating neurotransmitters like serotonin.

✅ Improved Sleep
Breath practices calm the nervous system and ease transitions into deep sleep.

✅ Enhanced Control Over Flare-Ups
A trained breath helps you stay calm during a flare and recover faster afterward.

🔄 Breath Habits to Unlearn

Here are some common unhelpful habits people with MS may fall into—and what to replace them with:

Habit	Why It’s Unhelpful	What to Do Instead
Mouth breathing	Dries airways, increases anxiety	Practice nasal breathing
Chest breathing	Triggers sympathetic state	Use belly breathing
Holding your breath during stress	Increases panic and tension	Use rhythmic breath (box breathing)
Fast, shallow breath	Lowers CO₂ and oxygen balance	Slow breath down to 6 breaths/minute

🧘 Breathwork Techniques That MS Patients Should Learn

Here are the foundational techniques every person with MS can benefit from:

1. 🟠 Diaphragmatic (Belly) Breathing

How to:

Place one hand on your belly, one on your chest

Breathe in through the nose so your belly expands

Exhale fully through the mouth

Practice for 5–10 minutes a day

Why it matters:
This rewires your breathing baseline and activates the rest-and-digest system.

2. 🔵 Box Breathing (4-4-4-4)

How to:

Inhale for 4 seconds

Hold for 4 seconds

Exhale for 4 seconds

Hold for 4 seconds

Repeat

Why it matters:
Balances the nervous system and creates emotional stability during flare-ups or stress.

3. 🌙 4-7-8 Breathing

How to:

Inhale for 4 seconds

Hold for 7 seconds

Exhale for 8 seconds

Why it matters:
Triggers the parasympathetic system and helps with insomnia or anxiety.

4. 🌸 Coherent Breathing (5-5 Pattern)

How to:

Inhale for 5 seconds

Exhale for 5 seconds

Continue this rhythm for 5–10 minutes

Why it matters:
Synchronizes heart and brain rhythms, improves HRV, and boosts vagal tone.

🧪 What Science Says About Breathwork and MS

Though MS-specific studies are limited, there is growing evidence:

A 2022 study showed that slow breathing improves fatigue and sleep quality in neurological patients.

Breathwork lowers inflammatory markers like IL-6 and CRP—both elevated in MS.

It improves vagal tone, which enhances resilience and emotional regulation.

People with chronic illnesses who practice breathwork report reduced anxiety, depression, and pain.

📅 How to Build Breathwork into Your MS Self-Care Routine

Morning

🕖 Start your day with 3–5 minutes of belly breathing.
✨ Affirmation: “My breath is my anchor.”

Midday

🕛 Use 5-5 coherent breathing to reset energy and reduce fatigue.
💧 Pair it with hydration and stretching.

Evening

🕠 4-7-8 breathing before sleep or medication.
🛌 Helps improve sleep quality and wind down the day.

Flare-Up Days

🌀 Return to box breathing or gentle diaphragmatic breath throughout the day.
👂 Use breath to check in with your body, not panic about it.

🧘 Is It Too Late to Learn?

Never.

Even if you’ve had MS for decades, the neuroplasticity of the brain and body means it’s always possible to retrain your breath.

Start small. Even 2 minutes a day can begin to shift your baseline state.

🛠️ Tools to Help You Learn

Apps: Breathwrk, Insight Timer, Othership

YouTube Channels: The Breath Space, Wim Hof Method, Yoga with Adriene

Books: Breath by James Nestor, The Healing Power of the Breath by Brown and Gerbarg

Devices: Spire Stone (breath tracker), HRV monitors, biofeedback tools

💬 What MS Warriors Are Saying

“I never realized how tense I was until I started practicing breathwork. It changed my pain levels and helped me sleep better.”
— Janelle, 35, RRMS

“I use breathwork during infusions, flare-ups, and even before doctor visits. It’s my way of staying grounded.”
— Victor, 49, SPMS

❤️ Final Thoughts: You Can’t Control MS—But You Can Control Your Breath

Living with MS is often a journey through the unknown. You can’t predict flare-ups. You can’t always stop the symptoms. But in every moment, you can choose to return to your breath.

By learning to breathe differently—more consciously, more slowly, more deeply—you regain a sense of control, safety, and power.

And in a body that sometimes feels like it’s turning against you, that’s no small thing.

Your breath is medicine. Use it well. 🌬️

Want to try Breathwork? Click here.