BREATHE BETTER, PERFORM BETTER

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Somewhere along our human development, we lost the path to proper breathing. As James Nestor wrote in his book Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art: "There is nothing more essential to our health and well-being than breathing: take air in, let it out, repeat 25,000 times a day. Yet as species, humans have lost the ability to breathe correctly, with grave consequences."

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We were meant to breathe through our noses, not our mouths. However, breathing through our mouths seems to occur even when we're very young. As studies have shown, approximately 50%-60% of children are mouth breathers. This could be the result of air-hunger from enlarged adenoids, allergic rhinitis, small nasal passages, or a breathing disorder that they acquired along the way. This can lead to anatomical changes in the sinuses, nasal passages, jaw size, and shape that can further compromise our breathing. 

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Mouth-breathing is not just a problem with children, but can also occur later in life--teenagers and adults--leading to significant health consequences including but not limited to obstructive sleep apnea, asthma/poorly controlled asthma, anxiety, panic attacks, hypertension, and dysfunctional breathing. In regards to the latter, we are seeing this occur in an ever-growing population of long-haulers or post-acute COVID syndrome, where patients are significantly breathless, have brain fog, and have an array of symptoms that are having a devastating effect on their lives. 

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Dysfunctional breathing involves oral breathing, increased respiratory rate, frequent sighing and yawning, paradoxical breathing, and movement of the upper chest. Causes of dysfunctional breathing include asthma, a genetic predisposition, the belief that it is beneficial to take deep breaths and breathe more air, anxiety, stress, trauma, lack of physical exercise, hormonal changes, and eating processed food.