Have you tried only nasal breathing for a full day??

Try it. Then do it for a week and then a month. It took me about a full year of daily focus to make this positive habit a fixture in my life. That was over two years ago...

Why does any of this matter for something we all do over twenty thousand times a day with little thought??

Simply put, the mouth is for eating and talking while the nose is for breathing. Full stop. And yes, science supports this notion. Aside from the more well-known nasal breathing benefits such as the warming and filtering of air entering our body, there is the matter of nitric oxide and carbon dioxide.

Without getting too deep into the science here, nitric oxide is continually produced in our sinus cavities and makes its way into the lungs when nasal breathing. Among its many benefits, it acts as a vasodilator and widens the blood vessels. At the same time, the carbon dioxide being brought in through your nose acts to release oxygen from hemoglobin in your blood. This is an amazing combination that changes the gaseous balance in our blood that can make us feel better and relieve anxiety.

So, aside from when you're talking and eating, are you able to breathe through your nose the rest of the time?? What about when exercising?? The next time you go for a long run or intense yoga class, try only nasal breathing. Don't open your mouth at all. You'll experience some challenges the first few times and we can call that a half-step backward. Stick to it and your system will not only get used to it, but will benefit from it. We'll call that 2-3 steps forward.

So, I've got this nasal breathing down for when I'm awake, but what about during the night when I'm sleeping?? Are you a mouth breather or do you snore?? Do you wake up with a dry mouth during the night/in the morning and need to keep a glass of water by the bed?? Do you have sleep apnea and use a CPAP machine but still don't feel rested in the morning?

Snoring, apnea, dry mouth, etc can all be addressed by one simple thing: tape your mouth at night. I've been doing this nightly for a few years now and it's a true game-changer. To wake up feeling truly rested with a moist mouth, fluid breathing and possibly a happier bed partner is a win across the board!! Happy to discuss...

Start nasal breathing right now and like meditating, where you get distracted and need to return to the breath, do the same here...