Last month, I drew on the work of philosophers Luce Irigaray and René Descartes to show the link between a breathing, physical body and ethical thought and concluded that breath is the foundation of ethics. But I think there’s more to this story. The way we breathe influences how we think. It affects our decision-making, no matter whether those decisions are practical deliberations or weighty moral choices. In this follow-up piece, I build on my previous article to explore the physical aspect of morality. I discuss what scientific research says about heightened nervous tension and decision-making. And I break down the relationship between breathing and morality.
King of the Mind
“Mind is the king of the senses; breath is the king of the mind; and the nerves are king of the breath,” B.K.S. Iyengar wrote in his foundational modern yoga text Light on Yoga. Iyengar’s insight suggests a top-down hierarchy. Our nerves control our breathing patterns, our breathing controls our mind, and our mind controls our senses. When a person experiences pain or acute stress, their nervous system increases their respiratory rate. This rapid, shallow breathing pattern sends a “Danger!” warning signal to the brain. As the person perceives the world colored by this warning, their senses scan for potential threats and prepare the body to respond to imminent danger.
For example, if I roll my ankle while hiking, the injury alerts my nervous system to take action. My respiratory rate increases to provide more oxygen to my system, and the pain and faster breathing let my mind know something is wrong. When I see the sun setting and feel an icy wind, I panic and try to move more quickly. And in doing so, I cause further injury to my ankle.
Or, I feel stressed after a long, hectic day at work. My shoulders are tight, my jaw is clenched, and I’m taking short, shallow breaths. My mind is on alert. And when my spouse asks me the seemingly innocuous question, “What’s for dinner?” I snap and say, “You figure it out. I’m not your personal chef.”
In other words, injury and acute stress influence our breathing patterns. And the way we breathe influences how we perceive our environment and how we respond to environmental stimuli. A heightened nervous system and altered breathing patterns can lead us to act in ways we might later regret.
The Science of Stress
Scientific research supports the link between stress and regrettable decision-making. Compared with individuals in a neutral state, anxious individuals are more likely to perceive their surroundings as threatening, more willing to perform unethical actions and more likely to justify their own unethical actions as less problematic than similar actions of others. When facing an environment of uncertainty, individuals are indeed more likely to act out of fear and engage in unethical behaviors. Higher stress has also been linked with a shift toward intuitive, automatic responses rather than deliberate reasoning, and increased stress is correlated with making egoistic, rather than altruistic, moral decisions. Though chronic stress is more difficult to assess experimentally, at least one study has observed that chronic perceived stress leads individuals to be more tolerant of unethical behavior.
But we are not totally at the mercy of our nerves and breath. Iyengar’s words remind us that the point of yoga is to control one’s breathing even while practicing postures that physically stress our bodies. We can control our breath, which means we can control our mind and the way we respond to our environment.
Breathing and Morality
In last month’s article, I argued that breath and thought are the foundation of ethics:
“I breathe, and I wish to keep breathing. I see that others have bodies that breathe. From the way they move those bodies, I assume they have minds like mine to direct those movements and that they desire to continue breathing. And this point is the first piece of a moral framework. Because I think and breathe, there are ways I wish to be treated. I have rights I do not wish violated. To violate the desires and rights of another thinking, breathing creature is to sanction an equivalent violation of my rights, which I do not want. Therefore, I ought to respect the rights of others. Breath supports physical existence, which supports morality.”
Breathing is an essential part of what makes us moral creatures. But how we breathe can influence our moral decision-making.
Research indicates that controlled breathing reduces stress, anxiety and depression. Consciously slowing one’s breathing enhances physiological processes governing emotional control and psychological well-being. There is limited research on the relationship between controlled breathing and moral decision-making. However, a 2023 study found that participants in an eight-week mindfulness program that included yoga were less likely to make increasingly questionable choices in a moral decision-making task.
The mechanism for breath-influenced morality seems clear. When stress, anxiety and other heightened nervous states can lead to morally compromised decisions, consciously controlling one’s breath reduces nervous tension. Controlled breathing frees the mind to deliberate without the influence of compromising physiological states. Additionally, the calmed mind no longer judges sensory perceptions through the lens of danger. The individual can then make decisions without resorting to panicked, irritated or angered reactions. Controlling our breathing provides one way to affect our moral choices.
The Physiology of Emotion
Of course, this conclusion isn’t exactly groundbreaking. I recall hearing “Take a deep breath and count to ten” when I was upset as a child. And my wife and I encourage our three-year-old to take slower, deeper breaths when she is throwing a tantrum or crying after a hard fall. But this intuitive understanding complements what the yogis and scientists have been telling us: there is often a physical component to our emotional responses. By controlling our breath, we can regulate our emotions, deliberate rationally and potentially avoid ethical missteps.