You spend a third of your life asleep, which makes nocturnal nose breathing a critical part of the equation when it comes to good health and getting the quality sleep your body requires to function optimally. Unfortunately, most of us end up breathing through our mouths at some point during the night.
“Mouth breathing disrupts sleep more than anything except stress.”
Mouth-breathing simply refers to breathing with your mouth open. While your mouth is open, your body’s natural tendency is to inhale and exhale through your mouth.
While your mouth is closed, your body’s natural tendency is to inhale and exhale through your nose. This is what is referred to as nose-breathing.
Although the difference between these two methods initially sounds inconsequential, as humans we are built to be primarily nose breathers.
Mouth breathing is available as a backup option if your nose gets clogged, or during times of intense physical exertion.
However, mouth breathing while sleeping can be harmful.
We will dive into this a little in this article and look at the top 5 reasons to make breathing through your nose a priority as you sleep.
What Causes Mouth Breathing?
Usually, mouth breathing occurs because of an obstructed nasal airway. A partial or complete blockage can prevent airflow into your nasal passages.
If your body can’t get enough oxygen through your nose, it turns to mouth breathing.
Several conditions cause blocked nasal airways and increase the risk of mouth breathing, including:
The interesting point to note is that many of these issues are caused or exacerbated by mouth breathing, and can be resolved through retraining the natural flow of the breath to be through the nose.
Assuming that you don’t want to film yourself while you sleep, there are three ways to determine if you are mouth breathing at night.
The first is if you sleep with a partner, you can ask them. Find out if it’s something they’ve noticed in the past, or if not, ask them to check next time they see you asleep.
The second way is to use mouth tape between your two lips to gently tape your mouth closed during the night. If it has come off then this will indicate that you have been frequently mouth breathing during the night. More on this below.
The third method is to check and see if you experience any of the problems listed below. If you are experiencing one or more of these, there’s a good chance you are mouth breathing while you sleep.
Children who mouth breath at night are affected in sometimes different and quite serious ways.
Chill Out & Get Sleepy
The first thing you need to know is that nose breathing combats stress and will help to calm your mind, which is why nostril breathing is such a huge element of yoga and meditation practices.
When you breathe through your nose it encourages deeper, slower breathing using the diaphragm, which will put you into a parasympathetic state, activating your rest-and-digest response (the opposite to stress), slowing you down and helping you to relax, ready for sleep.
Breathing through your mouth, on the other hand, especially during the first 20 minutes of light sleep, can slow your transition into deep restorative sleep that is vital to healing and restoring your body and mind.
This is because mouth breathing activates your fight-or-flight stress response. When you understand the basics, it all starts to make sense.
Breathwork techniques that encourage a nose breathing focus can help prepare your body for sleep. Here’s a simple Breathwork Practice for Sleep that you can try out.
If you are new to breathing practices it can be helpful to attend a live breathwork training or access online resources like the 21 Day Master Your Breath Program and this FREE Breathwork Masterclass.
Stay Hydrated
When you breathe through your nose, your mouth remains closed, and this prevents moisture from being sapped from your body. It amounts to an entire litre of water over the course of a day!
As you sleep with your mouth closed (or taped shut…mor
e on this later!) you are not only preventing your mouth and gums from drying out, and helping prevent dental cavities, gum disease and bad breath, you are preventing dehydration which could cause you to wake up during the night.
Say No to Dry Mouth
Remaining hydrated will mean it’s less likely that you will wake due to thirst and dry mouth. This is something that I really noticed when I consciously became a nocturnal nose breather, I went from waking up due to thirst, and always needing a glass of water on my bedside table to sleeping all the way through the night.
Stay Asleep Longer
Mouth breathing causes disturbances to your body’s chemistry, which can result in the need to urinate frequently during the night. One study showed that 69% of men and 76% of women over 40 get up to go to the bathroom at least once per night.
When I changed to nose breathing at night, one of the t
hings I was very aware of was not having to get up multiple times throughout the night to use the bathroom. I went from that to sleeping right through without any thirst and without having to get up. Tick.
The Right State for Cellular Renewal
Nose-breathing increases alpha brain wave activity and helps the body to come into a relaxed, calm and meditative state, in which the parasympathetic nervous system becomes dominant and where your body can begin cellular renewal and repair.
Healing and repair can only occur when the body enters this parasympathetic state. Nose-breathing increases parasympathetic activity by 50%, whereas mouth-breathing causes the stress response to become active, which subsequently causes any healing and repair activities your body would otherwise conduct as you sleep to shut down, causing you to age prematurely.
Mouth-breathing increases beta brain wave activity and can lead to a state of hyper-arousal making it nearly impossible to sleep, whereas nose-breathing has the opposite effect.
Get ready for a good rest here with this Breathwork Practice for a Good Night’s Sleep.
Nitric oxide is produced through nose breathing and is a naturally occurring molecule in the human body. Nitric oxide helps tremendously with things like digestion, athletic performance, weight loss, mental health, healthy blood pressure, immunity, inflammation, and cognitive function.
Nose breathing substantially increases the amount of nitric oxide circulating in the blood, providing these long-term health benefits. Mouth breathing on the other hand, does not produce any nitric oxide whatsoever.
Nose breathing has been shown to activate a stress-reducing response, allowing you to become more relaxed, and enjoy a more restorative sleep compared to mouth breathing.
Also known as the Relaxation Response, this physiological response can help counteract the negative effects of the fight-or-flight response and the long-term wear and tear that this has on the human body.
Many of us are under constant stress throughout the day, which can have damaging effects on our overall health and has been shown to reduce your IQ and
lifespan.
Retrain Yourself to Nose Breathe
You can retrain the natural flow of your breath, so that you become a nose breather rather than a habitual mouth breather, by working with a breathwork instructor, attending breathwork training courses or accessing online resources like these masterclasses and videos (ADD LINK).
Breathing through your nose is scientifically superior, but years of mouth breathing can make nose-breathing seem impossible.
“Mouth-breathing causes blood vessels in the nose to become inflamed and enlarged,” says Patrick McKeown, author of bestselling book The Oxygen Advantage, which makes inhaling and exhaling through your nostrils difficult.
Having said that, if you are ready to become better at it here’s a simple exercise from McKeown:
(INFOGRAPHIC HERE ON THE ABOVE TECHNIQUE)
Once you’re comfortable with your nose breathing, you can consider taking it to the next level by taping your mouth shut at night.
“Most people breathe through their mouths all night long,” says McKeown. That’s eight hours of poor oxygenation and zero nitric oxide uptake, which could explain why you might be feeling less than optimal in the morning.
He believes it’s possible to correct the problem by pressing low-adhesive paper tape, such as 3M Micropore, lightly over your mouth. If you’re uncomfortable with tape, McKeown recommends a “stop snoring strap”.
As weird as it sounds, mouth taping while you sleep is a great way to stop night-time mouth breathing and improve nose breathing as well as your overall health.
You can use mouth tape to gently hold your lips together as you sleep. It’s a great way to make sure you nose-breathe throughout the night. If you wake up every morning without tape on your mouth, it’s also a good diagnostic tool that indicates you are frequently mouth breathing.
McKeown says you should notice a dramatic improvement in your energy throughout the day when you start using mouth tape at night. He recommends using the tape nightly until you’re breathing through your nose all night.
Many people who start mouth taping notice an improvement in their sleep within just the first few nights.
That’s because mouth breathing often correlates with interrupted sleep—just enough to kick you out of deep sleep but not usually to the point you remember waking. But once you start mouth taping, these interruptions will probably go down, providing you with deep sleep and a fresh start to the morning.
On a personal note, when my partner started mouth taping, the effects were dramatic – for me, and for him. Not only did he sleep through the night, without tossing and turning and waking us both up, but he also woke up for the first time in ages feeling refreshed and without any lower back pain.
You can get some from our shop.
Nose breathing is essential for sleep and good health. It’s worth retraining yourself to breathe through your nose if you want better sleep, better health and more energy, and if you suffer from chronic stress, anxiety, depression or any of the symptoms of mouth breathing listed in this article.
It may take a little time and patience, but your body will thank you for it and you’ll experience innumerable benefits and vast improvements to your quality of life – which includes living for longer!
There are numerous amazing offerings out there to help you on your journey to becoming a proficient nose breather. I recommend starting with these great Breathwork Training Courses and Breathwork Masterclasses.
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Copyright © 2022 | Breathless
Copyright © 2022 | Breathless
