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Comment by Cthulhu_ | Hacker News Reader

Funny, a lot of people seem to hold their breath when focusing on something; my girlfriend does it while gaming. I never noticed my breathing changes while doing anything, although it does seem to become more audible sometimes. But, it's automatic so I don't really pay much attention to it.

Also, it kinda sounds like advertising for this breathing method mentioned, but the website doesn't explain the breathing method, just tries to sell it to you then refer you to a practitioner.

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Oh yeah! Now you mention it, it has all the elements of a chiropractor sales pitch:

Present a problem.

Convince the audience that they have it.

This problem will lead to {list of problems on par with stage 4 cancer}

We have the solution! No cancer for you if we crack your neck/teach you to breath

Here is a form to pay for your half price initial consult.

> Also, it kinda sounds like advertising for this breathing method mentioned, but the website doesn't explain the breathing method, just tries to sell it to you then refer you to a practitioner.

I briefly looked into it and got the same vibe from Transcendental Meditation, that it’s mostly a scam. They take a very basic practice and convince you it has miraculous results and that it is impossible to learn except by paying them obscene amounts of money.

I never paid for or practiced either method, so I cannot give a first-hand account. But years ago I did look into Transcendental Meditation extensively and was not convinced it has anything worth paying for, as confirmed by multiple accounts of people who had tried it. The documentary David Want to Fly is particularly interesting from the perspective of someone who really wanted to like it by influence of David Lynch.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Wants_to_Fly

I first heard of Buteyko from this post so I haven’t done thorough research, but a cursory glance reveals the health claims may be greatly exaggerated.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15907677/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buteyko_method#Medical_evidenc...

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2019/jul/...

> Funny, a lot of people seem to hold their breath when focusing on something

I clench my teeth while focusing. It's a habit that's probably near impossible to get rid of.

I've read somewhere that this is a mechanism to supress the signals sent by the tongue. The tongue is so sensitive that it can perturb our brain somehow, but once compressed it is only seen as noise, which the brain is then capable to ignore and concentrate on the actual task.

Interesting. Would there be another way to quiet these signals?

I do not know sorry. FYI it was taken from this source (French podcast), if you want to dig further (and somehow you find a way to translate it ;) )

https://ici.radio-canada.ca/ohdio/premiere/emissions/moteur-...

One way I've found to train that habit is in yoga practice. One of my teachers would often say during particularly difficult or uncomfortable postures -- splits for example -- "use your legs not your jaw" and it was a great cue to realize you were holding tension there. Eventually you build the habit of checking in with it -- "am I clenching my jaw?" -- and it largely goes away with time and patience.

This probably not for You... but

For me, it took separating from my other half. The only ex{-,{girlfriend,wife}} I am not in contact with. It did wonders for my teeth-clenching.

Sucks.

I noticed this in myself in few extreme focus situations. Mostly when driving or riding a motorcycle and suddenly having to dodge stuff at high speed.

In fact it is not so funny, chronic hyperventilation or "under-ventilation" caused by concentration or by worrying causes a fight-or-flight state of mind and can lead to depression. My point being, don't write these articles off as snake oil too easily... Techniques like boxed breathing when you notice something is off, help a lot of people to mitigate imbalances in oxygen levels.

I practice Brazilian jiu-jitsu and have nearly passed out because I was focusing on doing something technical and stopped breathing while someone else was on top of me...

Can't an Apple Watch detect when you've stopped breathing and give some alert signal?

Probably only at night when things are calm enough it activates that measurement, or if blood oxygen levels drop for long enough. I am unsure whether the change in blood oxygen would be detectable though—has anyone seen that measured based just on holding one’s breath for varying lengths of time?

Apple watch only checks oxygen levels every hour or so, and only if you are completely still.

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