It's a new year. Is it time for a breathing reset?

Christmas and the festive period are always a perfect storm for disrupted breathing habits. Routines disappear.

Sleep patterns shift.

We eat and drink more than usual.

Activity levels change.

Stress might dip for a while, but then January hits and suddenly you’re back at work, back into deadlines, back into pressure... and your body doesn’t quite follow.

Now that we are a few weeks in, have you started the new year with a familiar feeling that something’s a bit off? You might not be able to put your finger on it, but you feel flatter, more breathless, more tense, or just not quite yourself. Have you wondered whether this might be due to your breathing?

That’s where a Breathing MOT comes in.

Why can your breathing seem worse over Christmas?

Many of our patients find the changes often creep in unnoticed, particularly over the festive period. This can be for many reasons:

• Your usual daily structure and routine tends to disappear over the month with festive celebrations, parties and events.

• Alcohol intake often increases alongside the increase in events.

• Late nights and poor sleep are much more common.

• Your physical activity may reduce thanks to all those late nights and parties!

• You may also unwittingly find your posture changes with more sitting and lounging around.

  
  

Individually, none of these reasons are a problem, but together, they can quietly shift how you breathe, resulting in faster, shallower breaths that are sometimes through the mouth and more into the upper chest.

This can then compound into

• Feeling more breathless than usual

• Tightness in the chest or throat

• Sighing or yawning frequently

• Feeling “wired but tired”

• Reduced tolerance to stress or exercise

You think it will all settle down again when January arrives, work restarts and those stress levels ramp back up again. But you're now a few weeks in and thinking Hang on… this doesn’t feel great.

That's why you should book in for a Breathing MOT!

Most of us don't think twice about booking an MOT for a car that feels a bit sluggish or isn’t running smoothly. We don’t wait for a breakdown, we check it, see what needs attention and fix small issues before they become big ones.

A Breathing MOT works in exactly the same way.

It’s the perfect way to find out whether your breathing is supporting your health and performance, if it's contributing to fatigue, stress or any other symptoms, or establish if you are being affected by lifestyle changes you may not have noticed.

The Breathing MOT will help confirm any subtle changes, the kind that are very common after a disrupted period like Christmas and much easier to resolve when addressed early.

It's all about breathing right for you

When you book in for a Breathing MOT we begin by assessing what your breathing is actually doing right now.

That includes looking at:

• Where the breath is going (chest, abdomen, neck)

• How fast and how often you’re breathing

• How your breathing responds to stress or activity

• Whether your breathing mechanics are efficient or overworked

Once that picture is clear we can support you with a breathing reset so you can get back to breathing right for you again.

The Breathing MOT is a simple first step

A Breathing MOT is simply a way of pressing pause and taking stock after a period where normal habits have been disrupted.

For some people, it confirms that everything is ticking along nicely. For others, it highlights a few small adjustments that can make day-to-day life feel noticeably easier. Either outcome is useful because it replaces uncertainty with clarity.

Think of a Breathing MOT as:

• A check-in after a disrupted period

• A way to start the year informed, not reactive

• A chance to make small changes that have a disproportionate impact.

  
  

You don’t need to feel “bad enough” to book one. You just need to be curious about whether your breathing is working with you or quietly against you.

And the new year is a very good time to find out.

If you'd like to know more, or to book an MOT please don't hesitate to get in touch by email info@thebreathingmot.com or you can call us on 0207 971 1464.