Breathing is the only physiological function that can be both voluntary or involuntary. You can consciously control your breath or you can ignore it and let your body breathe on its own.

You cannot live without breathing so by letting go of conscious control, your breathing falls under the control of your most primitive part of your brain that deals with survival. This is the realm of your unconscious mind where emotions, thoughts, and feelings – of which we may have little or no awareness – become involved and can disrupt the rhythm of your breath. This means your breath can become discoherent and irregular.

Have you ever driven a car all the way home to realise that you don’t remember much (or any!) of the journey? This is because a familiar route has become an autopilot habit. You still have conscious control in this situation and you can respond to any sudden occurrences during the journey, for example, if the car in front of you brakes suddenly or a cat runs in front of your car.

However, if you completely let go of all conscious control, or if you drive under the influence of drugs or alcohol, you may not notice any sudden unexpected occurrences, and you won’t be able to respond to it in time.

Breathing is much the same: if you let go of conscious control of it by taking it for granted or living your life under the influence of distraction, noise, and ignorance, your unconscious breathing can become erratic and irregular, and your mindless breathing may also land you in grave danger.

There are many mindfulness practices, meditations, and more that help you gain control of your mindless, distracted thoughts and bring them back to conscious awareness. Similarly, when you actively place your attention on your breathing, you can turn conscious or mindful breathing into a positive habit.