The ADHD Fix THAT No One is Talks About
The science-backed breathwork approach helping ADHD brains thrive.
Introduction: I Have ADHD — And This Changed Everything
Living with ADHD isn’t just about being distracted. It’s about feeling like your mind and body are always running at different speeds, constantly buzzing, easily overwhelmed, and rarely able to switch off. That’s been my experience for most of my life. I could hyper-focus for hours… or lose track of a simple task in seconds. My thoughts felt loud, my emotions even louder, and despite all the coping mechanisms, there was always a layer of noise I couldn’t escape.
Then I found breathwork.
And I don’t mean slow breathing for calm (although that’s powerful too). I mean using my breath, actively, intentionally; as a way to regulate my nervous system, shift my state, and actually feel more at home in my body.
As someone with ADHD, I wasn’t interested in another rigid routine. I needed something flexible, effective, and instantly grounding. Breathwork gave me that. And now, through IMD Breathwork, it’s something I share with others who feel wired, scattered, and stuck in high alert.
This article is about how and why breathwork works for ADHD. Not just for focus, but for emotional regulation, energy management, and nervous system reset. Whether you’ve been diagnosed or just suspect your brain works a little differently, this is for you.
The ADHD Nervous System: Stuck in High Gear
While ADHD is not solely defined as chronic dysregulation of the autonomic nervous system (ANS), there’s growing evidence suggesting a strong link between the two. Research indicates that individuals with ADHD may experience imbalances in their ANS, particularly in arousal regulation, which could contribute to core symptoms like hyperactivity, impulsivity, and emotional dysregulation.
In simple terms: people with ADHD often live in a constant state of low-grade fight-or-flight. The body is alert, agitated, and overstimulated, and the mind follows. This makes it harder to self-regulate, pause before reacting, or access calm, focused states.
It also means the nervous system often struggles to switch gears, moving between stress and rest modes.
Breath as a Regulator
Breathing is the only autonomic function we can control consciously. That gives us a direct line to our nervous system and that’s where breathwork becomes such a powerful tool.
When we slow and deepen the breath, we stimulate the vagus nerve, the control switch for the parasympathetic nervous system (our “rest and restore” mode). This sends a signal to the body that it’s safe, which lowers heart rate, reduces stress hormones, and helps the mind settle.
Studies show that coherent breathing (around 5–6 breaths per minute) improves heart rate variability, increases vagal tone, and calms emotional reactivity, all of which are disrupted in ADHD.
ADHD and Carbon Dioxide: The Forgotten Link
Here’s something most people don’t realise: individuals with ADHD often chronically over‑breathe, especially through the mouth. That leads to hypocapnia, a state of low CO₂, which counterintuitively reduces oxygen delivery to the brain and worsens clarity, focus, and energy.
Nasal breathing and methods like the Buteyko technique help retrain the system to tolerate CO₂ better. these techniques:
Nasal breathing, which warms, humidifies, and filters air; produces nitric oxide for better oxygen delivery; and creates mild resistance to regulate airflow, resulting in more efficient and balanced breathing.
Reduced breathing volume and softer diaphragmatic breathing, which increase CO₂ tolerance over time.
Science backs this up: a 2016 study by Patricio Mario et al. found that a four-week Buteyko program increased CO₂ tolerance by 50% and significantly reduced resting heart rate, showing the respiratory system can “reset” to accept higher CO₂ levels.
Moreover, research links low CO₂ - caused by chronic hyperventilation, to overexcitable brain cells, which may underlie ADHD symptoms like impulsivity and poor focus. A 1999 paper published in the Journal of Applied Physiologyeven showed that hyperventilation caused asynchronous firing among cortical neurons, making it harder to concentrate.
What Is the Buteyko Method?
The Buteyko Method is a breathing technique developed by Ukrainian physician Dr. Konstantin Buteyko in the 1950s. It’s designed to retrain the body to breathe more slowly, lightly, and through the nose. The core idea is that many people chronically over-breathe, reducing carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels too much, which paradoxically limits oxygen delivery to the brain and body.
The method involves:
Nasal breathing only (even during sleep and exercise)
Shallow, quiet breaths using the diaphragm
Breath-hold practices to increase tolerance to CO₂
Learning to recognise and reduce signs of over-breathing (like frequent sighing or mouth breathing)
By improving CO₂ tolerance, the Buteyko Method helps regulate the nervous system, reduce symptoms like anxiety or breathlessness, and enhance focus and mental clarity, which is particularly helpful for those with ADHD.
Buteyko Control Pause Exercise (CO₂ Tolerance Reset)
Sit comfortably with your back straight and breathe slowly and quietly through your nose for 1–2 minutes.
After a gentle exhale through your nose, pinch your nose closed and hold your breath.
Hold your breath only until you feel the first definite urge to breathe, don’t push it. Then, release your nose and breathe calmly through your nose again.
Rest and breathe normally for about a minute.
Repeat 3–5 times.
To remember: ADHD isn’t just about attention, it’s often tied to autonomic imbalance. Through nasal and Buteyko-style breath retraining, we can rebalance CO₂ and oxygen, calming the nervous system and improving executive function.
Brainwaves, Breath, and Sound: Rewiring the ADHD Brain
ADHD brains often show an imbalance in brainwave activity. Neurofeedback studies have consistently observed patterns such as excess Beta (associated with stress, anxiety, and hypervigilance) and deficient Alpha and Theta activity. These slower frequencies; Alpha (8–12 Hz) and Theta (4–7 Hz) are essential for relaxed focus, creative thinking, introspection, and emotional processing. When these frequencies are underactive, the result can be racing thoughts, distractibility, restlessness, and a feeling of disconnection from the body or emotional awareness.
The good news? Breathwork can actively change brainwave patterns.
Slow, diaphragmatic breathing helps shift the brain from high Beta into calming Alpha and introspective Theta states. This supports emotional regulation, task engagement, and deeper mental clarity, skills often underdeveloped in ADHD brains.
Conscious connected breathing techniques, such as those used in IMD Breathwork, create rhythmic stimulation that can increase Theta and even Gamma waves. While Theta brings access to memory and emotion, Gamma (>30 Hz) is associated with deep insight, unified brain activity, and peak learning, traits that support executive function when properly accessed.
Breath retention techniques, especially when paired with rhythmic patterns, can temporarily alter oxygen and carbon dioxide balance, creating a neurological “reset.” This can enhance neuroplasticity; the brain’s ability to form new neural pathways, which is crucial in adapting and overcoming executive dysfunction.
But breath is only part of the picture.
Pairing breathwork with sound healing significantly amplifies these effects. Here’s how:
Binaural beats: two slightly different frequencies played in each ear create an auditory illusion that entrains the brain to a specific frequency (e.g. 6 Hz for Theta, 10 Hz for Alpha). This makes it easier for ADHD brains to enter the relaxed, focused states they often struggle to reach on their own.
Solfeggio frequencies like 528 Hz (associated with healing and clarity) or 396 Hz (linked to releasing fear) can help shift emotional energy and calm the nervous system.
Ambient soundscapes, droning tones, or rhythmic pulses can enhance breath synchronisation, supporting the transition between brain states with minimal conscious effort.
This combination: breath, rhythm, and sound creates a multidimensional intervention. Instead of only treating symptoms, it works at the neurological root, helping the brain move out of survival mode and into flow, clarity, and calm.
When designed with intention, these tools don’t just manage ADHD—they help reshape the way the brain experiences and processes the world.
Why Breathwork Feels So Calming for ADHD Brains
We frequently hear from people with ADHD that they’ve never felt so calm as they do after a breathwork session, especially with IMD Breathwork. This isn’t just anecdotal. There’s a neurophysiological reason why.
Conscious Connected Breathing (CCB) alters brain function by reducing activity in the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain associated with executive function, decision-making, planning, and self-monitoring. While essential for focus and control, in ADHD this region often becomes overstimulated and dysregulated, contributing to mental restlessness, rumination, and hypervigilance.
During CCB, the drop in CO₂ (hypocapnia) leads to vasoconstriction and cerebral hypoxia, which temporarily reduces blood flow and oxygen to the prefrontal cortex. This downregulates its activity and at the same time, activates the limbic system, the emotional centre of the brain responsible for instinct, memory, and somatic processing.
In simpler terms: Breathwork helps ADHD brains get out of their heads and into their bodies.
This shift offers a profound sense of relief for individuals who are used to living in a constant state of cognitive overdrive. With the “thinking mind” finally quieted, they experience what regulated nervous system states feel like, sometimes for the very first time.
Breathwork for Emotional Regulation
People with ADHD often feel things more intensely: joy, frustration, fear, overwhelm. But they don’t always have the tools to regulate what they feel.
This is where breath becomes essential.
Breathing slowly through the nose, or practicing somatic sighing (double inhale, long exhale), helps regulate the limbic system and prefrontal cortex, the areas tied to emotion and decision-making.
Over time, this builds interoception (body awareness), helping individuals feel their emotions rise before they explode, and choose how to respond instead of just reacting.
Recommended Breath Techniques for ADHD
These can be used daily — or in the moment — to reset:
Coherent Breathing: Inhale and exhale for 5–6 seconds. Helps centre and stabilise.
Box Breathing: Inhale–hold–exhale–hold (4 seconds each). Builds calm and focus.
Buteyko/Nasal Breathing: Close the mouth, reduce breath volume. Sharpens focus and builds CO₂ tolerance.
Conscious-Connected Breathing: In guided sessions, this unlocks deeper subconscious patterns and releases stuck energy.
Somatic Sighing: Double inhale through the nose, slow sigh out. Shown in Stanford studies to quickly downregulate stress.
A Personal Note from Me
As someone with ADHD, I built IMD Breathwork to work with my kind of brain, the kind that’s easily distracted, constantly buzzing, and deeply sensitive to sound and emotion.
That’s why we use headphones (to block out distractions), eye masks (to quiet visual overload), sound design (to guide the nervous system), and a structured sequence that feels safe, even in deep emotional territory.
We build safety, clarity, and deep integration.
Conclusion: You’re Not Just Managing, You’re Rewiring
Breathwork isn’t about trying harder to focus. It’s about changing the conditions of your body and brain so that focus can happen naturally.
Whether you live with ADHD or love someone who does, know this: breath isn’t just a stress tool. It’s a rewiring tool, one that can help bring your system back into balance, one inhale at a time.