If you struggle with anxiety, you may be unwittingly caught in a cycle that makes it much harder to overcome: *CO2 intolerance*. While this may sound like a small detail, it plays a major role in the stress and anxiety you’re trying to escape. Here’s why:
Almost everyone with anxiety has some degree of CO2 intolerance, which becomes a key player in the loop of constant stress and unease. When we’re chronically stressed, our bodies lose the ability to tolerate CO2, which makes us even more sensitive to it. In turn, this creates a feedback loop that amplifies the very anxiety we’re trying to overcome.
When we’re anxious, our breathing patterns change—often we breathe faster or more shallow. This decrease in the body’s ability to tolerate CO2 signals the brain that something is wrong. This alarm, triggered by CO2, is a natural response to danger—it’s meant to protect us. But when you’re anxious and your body is intolerant to CO2, this alarm is going off *all the time*.
This constant “danger” signal is one of the primary culprits behind anxiety. And many people don’t even realize that their intolerance to CO2 is playing a huge part in keeping them in a constant state of alert.
It turns out, 80% of communication between the brain and body actually flows from the body to the brain. So, as long as your body is sending signals of danger through CO2 intolerance, overcoming anxiety becomes nearly impossible. The body is constantly on high alert, and it sends that message straight to your brain.
It wasn’t until I understood this connection that I experienced a profound shift in my own anxiety. This understanding led me to become a certified Breathwork practitioner. It became clear to me that healing from anxiety—and healing the nervous system—cannot happen with dysfunctional breathing patterns.
The most important takeaway from this? Improving your CO2 tolerance can be transformative in overcoming anxiety. When you retrain your body to breathe more efficiently and normalize CO2 levels, you stop sending those “danger” signals to your brain. The body and mind can finally relax.
For many, increasing CO2 tolerance is the missing link in breaking the anxiety cycle. As long as your body is intolerant to CO2, your brain will continue to receive constant danger signals, making it harder to find peace.
Take a moment to reflect: Could CO2 intolerance be a hidden factor in your anxiety? By shifting how you breathe, you might just find the relief you’ve been searching for. It has been for hundreds I’ve coached, because the truth is: as long as you are still breathing in a way that sends a danger signal to the brain, anxiety will continue. The way we breathe is what tells our body whether we are safe or under threat. Think of your breath as the master controller of your nervous system—get it right, and you’ll unlock a new level of healing.
If you’re looking to improve your CO2 tolerance, join my Inner Circle for exclusive access to my three-part anxiety series. In this series, I invite leading breathwork expert, Campbell, to guide us through the exact techniques that have transformed thousands of lives and helped dissolve numerous cases of anxiety. This is truly life-changing work!
