Don’t get me wrong, I love a lot of mouth breathers but I’m not going to date them. The beauty is though you can change your breathing pattern. I know because I did. I spent years mouth breathing, both day and night, and honestly had no idea. However, I know too much now about how mouth breathing is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to health issues to not use it as part of my dating criteria. Let’s break this down a little more.
Mouth Breathing vs. Nasal Breathing
The mouth’s main roles are to be used for eating, speaking and drinking. Otherwise, it should be gently closed. Mouths are a backup option for the nose but not are not meant to be the main form of breathing! When it comes to breathing, it should be mostly nasal! Benefits of nasal breathing include everything from controlling the temperature of the air we breathe to filtering out toxins in the atmosphere. It also humidifies the air before it reaches our lungs as well as helps generate nitric oxide, which is really good stuff! When primary mode of breathing is through the mouth, not only are you more susceptible to bad breath and gum disease but it can lead to physical changes in your oral anatomy and posture. Overall, deeper breaths are gained through the nose and more shallow breaths are through the mouth. And the slower and deeper you breathe, the healthier overall you usually are.
Hope For Mouth Breathers
If you mouth breathe, don’t be discouraged. I’ve been there. We are complex creatures however and there can be a whole host of issues that lead to mouth breathing. This includes everything from allergies, airway obstruction, habit, enlarged tonsils, chronic stress and so on! If you find it hard to nasal breathe for 2 minutes, that would be a good indicator you need additional support. You can reach out to an ENT, allergist or me. There are options. There are solutions. But it all starts first with awareness. So get real honest and ask yourself, “how do I breathe?”
Live with intention. Move with gratitude. Breathe with purpose.
