https://linktr.ee/jacobhardydpt_painkiller

Jacob Hardy, DPT, 803 Cottage Street, Adel, IA (2026)

09/02/2026

Let’s talk about it!! Leave a comment and let me know what you want to know about air hunger, dysfunctional breathing, or anything else that comes to mind! I’ll answer everyone who comments personally!

08/31/2026

If this sounds familiar, comment “RETRAIN” and I’ll send you my free Strong Breath Quickstart Guide.
Air hunger is incredibly difficult to explain to someone who has never experienced it.
You can breathe—but it never feels like the breath is enough.
You keep trying to inhale deeper, force a yawn, or take one satisfying breath that finally makes the sensation disappear.
But it never seems to come.
It can feel like there isn’t enough oxygen in the room or like your lungs have suddenly become too weak to fill—even when your oxygen levels are completely normal.
For some people, this sensation occurs alongside anxiety or POTS. But too often, once more serious medical problems have been ruled out, they’re simply told:
“It’s just stress.”
“It’s just anxiety.”
Then they’re sent home without any explanation for why breathing feels so difficult—or what they can actually do about it.
Anxiety can absolutely affect your breathing, but that doesn’t mean the sensation is imaginary.
Here’s the tea... Your breathing pattern may have changed.
You may be breathing more than your body needs, relying heavily on your upper chest, struggling to use your diaphragm efficiently, or becoming overly sensitive to normal changes in carbon dioxide.
And constantly chasing a bigger breath can reinforce the cycle.
You don’t necessarily need to pull in more air.
You may need to retrain your body to breathe more quietly, efficiently, and comfortably again.

08/30/2026

Here’s the strange thing about air hunger:

The bigger you try to breathe, the worse it can feel.

You keep sighing, yawning, and pulling in deep breaths—but nothing feels satisfying. Your medical tests may be normal, yet your breathing still feels completely wrong.

Once other medical causes have been ruled out, overbreathing may be part of the problem.

When you breathe faster or deeper than your body needs, you can release too much CO₂.

And CO₂ isn’t simply a waste gas. It helps regulate:

• your urge to breathe
• blood flow to the brain
• oxygen release into your tissues
• nervous-system activity

When CO₂ drops, you may feel lightheaded, tingly, tight through your chest, or desperate for another breath.

So you inhale even bigger.

That may lower CO₂ further—and the cycle continues.

Over time, breathing can become increasingly focused in the upper chest while the diaphragm and lower ribs contribute less efficiently.

The solution isn’t to keep forcing more air into your lungs.

It’s to retrain your breathing to become quieter, softer, and better matched to what your body actually needs.

Your symptoms are real. And when a dysfunctional breathing pattern is contributing, that pattern can be trained.

Comment “STRONGER” and I’ll send you the link to start a 7-day trial of The Strong Breath.

Credits to for the video inspiration!

08/29/2026

Have your breathing symptoms been blamed entirely on anxiety because every medical test came back normal?

Anxiety and can absolutely affect breathing—but the breathing pattern itself can also become part of the problem.

You may begin:

• breathing high into your chest
• taking larger or more frequent breaths
• sighing and yawning repeatedly
• constantly checking whether your inhale feels complete

These changes can affect both your breathing mechanics and CO₂ balance, contributing to chest tightness, air hunger, dizziness, and the feeling that you can’t get a satisfying breath.

The symptoms are real, even when standard testing doesn’t reveal the cause.

And if a dysfunctional breathing pattern is contributing, it can often improve through targeted breathing retraining.

Comment “RETRAIN” and I’ll send you my free guide to help you begin building a quieter, more efficient breathing pattern.

Credits to for the video inspiration!

08/28/2026

When air hunger hits, your instinct is usually to inhale harder, force a yawn, or take another huge breath.

But if overbreathing is driving the sensation, adding more air can keep the cycle going.

Try this instead:

1️⃣ Don’t force the yawn or oversized inhale.
2️⃣ Exhale slowly through gently pursed lips.
3️⃣ Take a small, relaxed breath through your nose.
4️⃣ Let your lower ribs and abdomen move without lifting your chest.
5️⃣ Continue breathing quietly for several cycles.

This may feel strange at first because your brain has learned to respond to every incomplete breath with another sigh, yawn, or deep inhale.

The goal isn’t to fight every normal yawn. It’s to interrupt the repeated breath-chasing pattern and teach your body that it doesn’t need a massive inhale to feel safe.

Keep the exercise gentle and controlled. You’re practicing a quieter response—not forcing yourself to tolerate intense discomfort.

Comment “RETRAIN” and I’ll send you my free breathing guide with a simple routine for breaking the air-hunger cycle.

Credits to for the video inspiration!

08/27/2026

Mouth breathing during a hard run doesn’t mean you’re breathing incorrectly.

Nasal breathing is valuable. It warms, humidifies, and filters the air while helping you practice a quieter, more controlled pattern—especially at rest and during easier exercise.

But as running intensity increases, your breathing needs to adapt.

That may include:

✅ exhaling through pursed lips
✅ taking occasional breaths through your mouth
✅ transitioning to mouth breathing during harder efforts

A controlled mouth exhale can slow your breathing rhythm and help prevent you from stacking one breath on top of another.

Problems can actually start when runners force nasal-only breathing beyond what they can comfortably maintain. They tense their neck, lift their chest, and begin fighting for each inhale.

That misses the point.

Nasal breathing is a skill to develop—not a rule you have to obey every second of every run.

Practice it at manageable intensities and allow it to become easier over time. When the effort increases, let your breathing expand with it.

Functional breathing isn’t rigid or perfect.

It’s efficient, responsive, and adaptable to what your body is doing.

Credits to for the video inspiration!

08/26/2026

For years, my breathing had way too much control over my day.

I felt air hungry while driving, talking, resting, and trying to fall asleep. I was constantly sighing, forcing yawns, and searching for one inhale that finally felt complete.

Meanwhile, every medical test said I was “normal.”

That was the most confusing part. How could my results look fine when breathing felt so uncomfortable?

Eventually, I realized the problem wasn’t simply whether I could move air—it was how I was breathing.

My breaths had become too big, too frequent, and too focused in my upper chest. The more I chased a satisfying inhale, the more I reinforced the pattern.

Things began changing when I stopped trying to take bigger breaths and started retraining my breathing to become:

• quieter at rest
• better coordinated through my diaphragm and ribs
• more controlled during exercise
• less reactive to every unusual breath sensation

Over time, breathing stopped demanding so much of my attention. I could rest, talk, and go about my day without constantly checking whether my next breath felt “right.”

That experience is a big part of why I became a certified breathing specialist and why I now help others understand these symptoms.

Normal tests don’t mean your symptoms are imaginary. Sometimes the breathing pattern itself needs to be assessed and retrained.

Comment “RETRAIN” and I’ll send you my free guide to help you start breaking the air-hunger cycle.

Credits to for the video inspiration!

08/26/2026

Hypermobility and air hunger show up together more often than most people realize—and there are several reasons why. 👇🏽

When connective tissue provides less passive stability, the body may compensate by bracing through the abdomen, ribs, neck, and shoulders.

That can change the way you breathe:

1️⃣ Your breath shifts into your upper chest

The neck and shoulders begin helping more while diaphragm and lower-rib movement becomes limited.

2️⃣ Your muscles brace for stability

Constant tension around the abdomen and ribcage can make each inhale feel restricted or incomplete.

3️⃣ Overbreathing enters the picture

Breathing faster or deeper than your body needs can lower CO₂ and increase air hunger, dizziness, tingling, and the urge to take an even bigger breath.

4️⃣ Dysautonomia may add to the problem

POTS and other forms of autonomic dysfunction commonly overlap with hypermobility and can affect heart rate, breathing rate, and your sense of breathlessness.

5️⃣ Breathing becomes harder to ignore

When every breath feels “off,” it’s easy to start monitoring, correcting, and chasing it—which keeps the cycle going.

This doesn’t mean every symptom is caused by dysfunctional breathing, and it isn’t necessarily “just anxiety.”

But when your breathing pattern is part of the problem, it can be assessed, trained, and improved.

Comment “STRONGER” and I’ll send you the link to start a 7-day trial of The Strong Breath.

Credits to for the video inspiration!

08/24/2026

Does this sound familiar?

You keep trying to get a satisfying breath. You sigh, yawn, or breathe deeper—but the air still feels stuck in your chest.

Then your oxygen levels, lung tests, bloodwork, and scans all come back normal.

A breathing pattern disorder may be part of the problem.

It can occur alongside anxiety, hypermobility, POTS, long COVID, MCAS, and panic symptoms. When the breathing pattern itself is overlooked, it may continue feeding air hunger, chest tightness, dizziness, and tension.

Here’s how the cycle can develop:

1️⃣ Your breathing shifts into your upper chest

Your chest, neck, and shoulders begin doing more work while your diaphragm and lower ribs contribute less.

2️⃣ You start breathing more than your body needs

Breathing too quickly, deeply, or frequently can lower CO₂ and create an uncomfortable urge for more air—even when oxygen levels are normal.

3️⃣ You chase the “perfect” breath

You take bigger breaths, sigh, or force yawns looking for relief. Unfortunately, that can keep the cycle going.

4️⃣ Your breathing muscles tighten

Your chest and neck become tense, and each breath starts to feel restricted or incomplete.

5️⃣ Your attention locks onto your breathing

You monitor every inhale, worry when one feels wrong, and try even harder to fix it.

Air hunger is a symptom. An inefficient breathing pattern may be one of the things driving it.

With the right retraining, breathing can feel quieter, easier, and more reliable again.

It’s real. It’s not “all in your head,” and it shouldn’t automatically be dismissed as anxiety.

Credits to for the video inspiration!

Jacob Hardy, DPT

09/02/2026

08/31/2026

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