Do you struggle with anxiety or stress? Poor sleep, brain fog or an inability to relax? If you’re looking for simple solutions to help you manage and tackle these challenges while improving your overall well-being at the same time, then read on. You'll find my top four reasons for making the full switch back to nasal breathing, and why prioritising relaxation could play a key role in your long-term well-being.
If you're waking up in the morning with a dry mouth, you're not feeling fully rested, and you're getting tired during the day then, chances are you're mouth breathing at night (and potentially during the day too if you're not fully aware of your own breathing). If you can audibly hear your own breathing or have a lot of movement in the upper chest when you breathe, you could be unknowingly adding extra stress onto your body, keeping your nervous system in an up-regulated state. The good news is you can address this with some easy to implement tips and exercises.
Mouth breathing is generally harder, faster and linked with upper chest movement. When our breathing is harder and faster (mouth or nasal), our nervous system thinks there's a potential threat and will react accordingly. This logical response from the body eventually leads to higher stress levels, anxiety, sleep disturbances and much more.
Four more reasons why breathing through your nose is awesome:
1. It helps to regulate your nervous system, reducing stress - as mentioned above, when we mouth breathe the volume of air is greater and the subsequent harder and faster breathing triggers the stress response of the body. Breathing through the nose can help prevent us becoming stuck in this stress response and help to down-regulate the nervous system improving your overall well-being & strengthening your resilience to stress!
2. It warms the air as it goes down the airways and into your lungs – when you breathe through the mouth the air is colder and as above, the volume is greater. When we nose breathe, we reduce the stress put on the airways by humidifying and warming the air. We also (bonus fact, get this...) reduce the chance of cavities as Carbon Dioxide (CO2 -the gas we exhale) doesn't pass through the mouth.
3. It can help reduce your chances of catching viruses such as the common cold! - Put simply, when we breathe through the mouth it's a bigger hole, so obviously the chances of us picking up a virus are greater. However, (a little bit more science-y for you) when we nasal breathe we harness a gas called Nitric Oxide that we don't get the benefits of when we mouth breathe. Nitric Oxide acts as a natural anti-viral and although it doesn't guarantee that we won't get a cold (we all get them from time to time obviously) it will definitely impact on how often you get unwell.
4. It increases oxygen delivery, blood flow and opens your airways – another super cool fact about Nitric Oxide is that it's both a vasodilator and a bronchodilator. This means that it will help open up your airways and your blood vessels! Particularly helpful for those with asthma, congestion and poor circulation.
Jess Parkinson, Breathing + Wellbeing Coach
