Breathing Tips While Skydiving

One of the questions we often get is, “can you breathe while skydiving?” Not only is breathing while skydiving possible, it’s easy! There are plenty of mental and physical techniques to help make breathing in the sky as natural as breathing on the ground. 

Is it hard to breathe while skydiving? It won’t be if you follow these tips on how to breathe while skydiving!

Relax

Though it may seem counter-intuitive, relaxing during your skydive IS possible! Sure, you may be hurtling toward the ground at 120 mph, but how could this view not make you feel zen?! 

Scenery aside, there are certain things you can do to help stay calm, and breathing is a big part of that. Controlled breaths will send the message to your brain that everything is under control. Your body automatically interprets short, irregular breathing as an indicator of stress, so keeping your breathing as consistent as possible will trick your mind into thinking you are going for a walk in the park. 

There are also things you can do to calm your nerves before you even step foot on the dropzone. Mentally prepare yourself before your jump by doing some research, getting plenty of rest, and enjoying your usual stress-relief activities. The more relaxed you are, the easier it will be to breathe when the time comes to exit the plane!

Find Your Rhythm

What’s better than breathing? Deep, rhythmic breathing! Before you even get into the airplane, you can establish a habit of keeping a slow, even rhythm to your breaths. The more natural you can make this feel, the less you’ll have to think about it during your skydive. 

A lot of people experience sensory overload on their first skydive. It makes sense! Jumping from an airplane is not something that comes natural to humans (or even birds, for that matter), and it’s impossible to prepare your body for what that experience will feel like.

Your senses being overloaded means that actions that are normally a no-brainer suddenly require your full attention. This can make breathing complicated. If you practice calm breathing techniques on the ground, you’re much more likely to keep that going once it’s time to take the leap.

Focus On Form

You are going to learn a few things about body position on the day of your skydive. Arch, arch, arch being the main takeaway. But part of that arching technique includes keeping your chin up. 

Looking straight out at the horizon will help you with a few things. First of all, you will have a much better view of your beautiful surroundings if you are looking out and not down. Also, if you purchase video (hint, you totally should – did we mention the views?), the camera will be able to get a way better shot of your big, cheesy grin. And, of course, it helps you breathe! 

It’s much easier to catch your breath if the air is passing over your face and not into it. Looking down will cause you to be hit straight in the nose and mouth with 120 mph wind. Looking out will allow the air to pass over your face in a much more natural flow. If you’re going to be doing all of this work to train your brain to keep breathing, why not make things as easy as possible?

Let Out That Scream

SCREAMING IS FUN! See? Even reading a scream in your head is a good time. And not only will letting your joy audibly escape add to your skydiving experience, but it will also help you breathe! 

If you are feeling like your breath is stuck, screaming will force the air from your lungs and kickstart that breathing cycle again. It reminds your brain that if you can breathe out, you can also breathe in! Once you have empty lungs, it will be much easier to refill them. And thanks to the rushing of the wind, no one will even hear you scream!

Skydiving With Asthma

Can you go skydiving with asthma? You can! Plenty of licensed and new jumpers have asthma. Keep your rescue inhaler on you, and make sure your pals know you’re asthmatic before you jump. Of course, every set of lungs is different and, while we are experts at all things skydiving, our expertise stops there. If you have any medical questions about whether or not you should go skydiving with asthma (or any other health concern), reach out to a doctor to get clearance before you book your jump. 

Book here and let us take your breath away! Blue skies!