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I have a question regarding proper breathing patterns and the ideal of practices involving the control of the breath, because I have observed that deep breathing is widely advocated by diverse teachers or people giving advice. But I have read that hyperventilation is unhealthy and according to some teachers of Yoga, the goal of Yoga is not to increase the intake of oxygen but the reverse, namely to breath less than the average. Here is a wikipedia article on the physiological effects of hyperventilation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperventilation Here is a video in which a professional practitioner of Yoga argues that the purpose of Yoga practice is to develop the ability to breath less than the average: http://blog.yogasynergy.com/2012/11/spinal-movement-sequence-part-23-why-to-breathe-less-than-normal-in-yoga/ What do you think?