Let’s talk about your breath. Are you breathing correctly? and why is that SO important?
Breath is essential for our energy and to have the best night’s sleep. I’ve learned the hard way what it means to be an ‘over-breather’ and how it feels when you’re not breathing correctly. So it was such a joy and honour (after talking to clients for many years about the power of breath, and the power of nose breathing) to get to interview James Nestor. If you missed it LIVE, you definitely want to watch it back, and get his book “Breathe” because it contains scientific evidence and research to back up what I’ve been saying in clinic for years, and what I have anecdotally experienced in my own life.
As we move into the holiday season and start thinking about Christmas, we can all agree that it’s been quite a stressful year for many of us. So, we now have a choice to go into the Christmas season really busy, rushed, frantic with a whole bunch of to-dos, events to go to, social things to go to; or we can still do all of that, but in a much calmer, relaxed way. You all know which choice I would recommend!
I love stacking health benefits for you, but it’s not about doing more! If it was about doing more, none of us would have great health. There is, however, a simple change we can make with our breath, and one that we can be really conscious of.
I’ve created many videos on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook about the power of our nervous system and how becoming parasympathetic dominant is key. There are many breath tools and exercises that you can watch on our social channels that are quick and easy. So I’m going to suggest you go back to Instagram or YouTube and have a look at some of those, and bookmark them.
Today I want to focus on the power of ‘nose breathing’. When I first created my online course, we talked a great deal about sleep and how to have a better night’s sleep by breathing through your nose. I also shared my personal story around my bad sleep from childhood and around the fact that I was born with an obstruction in my nose. Back then I defaulted to breathing through my mouth. It was for survival !! Like any habit, because I was so used to it, I just kept doing it, and I didn’t realize that it was having such an impact on my health in a bad way.
After my health declined so much I started working with experts and specialists, who confirmed I was indeed a ‘mouth breather’ and I was over-breathing. In fact, I was managing about double the breaths per minute than the average person. So, think about the energy I was using for absolutely no return. I was getting no bang for my buck, as I liked to say in my investment banking days. I was actually just depleting energy, when my energy was already such a scarce resource. I needed to make sure that I was conserving it so I worked with breathing experts to transform my own health.
Recently, when I was doing all the research into ‘mask mouth’ in preparation for my TVNZ Breakfast appearance, I realized the toxicity of breathing through our mouths due to the over consumption of carbon dioxide.
So firstly, I want you to check if you are a nose breather or are you a mouth breather? Are you a nose breather during the day? and at night? Do you have problems sleeping? Do you have sleep apnea? Are you a snorer? Do you feel like your nose is blocked? Are you always getting sinus infections? Do you want better energy?
Some of the key outcomes that you can get from being a nose breather are better sleep, better energy, and being in a parasympathetic state (where you can access calm, and digest your food to extract the nutrients you need).
If you’re a mouth breather during the night, you are never going to get into full parasympathetic sleep, and sleep is key for our hormones, for energy, and detoxification. You know how much I love to talk about sleep! In fact, the next newsletter is going to be all about sleep. Why? Because I’m currently doing corporate presentations on sleep to wrap up the year and am going to share my top tips with you. That’s coming to your inbox, so wait for that one.
But make sure that you are nose breathing at night. If you dribble, or you wake up with a wet mouth, you know that you are a mouth breather. What I had to do, and the quickest way to change yourself into a nose breather, is to tape your mouth with breathable tape. We’re not going to suffocate you. You’re going to be perfectly fine, but it is the quickest way to create this as a new life-changing habit.
It’s similar to when you want to train yourself to use your non-dominant hand, and you strap up the arm you don’t want to use anymore, to help you create that new habit. So, you are changing your natural inclination and creating a new pathway in your brain. This is the quickest way to create that new habit and remove any other option. It is key!
So, please go and watch my Facebook interview with James Nestor for lots of great tips and research. He was also interviewed by Jesse Mulligan on Radio New Zealand recently if you are looking for more information, plus we also have his book in clinic. In fact, I loved it so much I purchased it on my iPad as well.
Pay attention today. Are you a mouth breather or a nose breather? This will change your health!!