Do you ...
wake up with a dry mouth in the morning?
snore?
wake up feeling tired and like you need to hit that snooze button?
This isn't for everyone, if you have a serious medical conditions or are pregnant then always consult with your GP or Doctor first.
These are all signs that you may have dysfunctional breathing during sleep and will have a huge impact on how you function throughout the day. You are twice as likely to experience sleep disordered breathing if you have allergies, asthma or rhinitis. The research is limited on how common the problem is, but there have been studies that show the older we get the more prevalent it becomes. “By the time you reach 40 you are around 6 times more likely to spend at least 50% of your sleep switching between nasal and mouth breathing (European Journal No24 Research).
Why do we snore?
It can happen for a few reasons. It often happens when your jaw has relaxed and you start breathing through the mouth. By doing this you will breathe in larger volumes causing a turbulence in the upper airways. When the jaw relaxes, so does your tongue, moving it from its resting position. In certain positions your tongue can also disrupt the flow of air travelling in and out obstructing your breathing and causing you to snore.
Snoring can lead to sleep apnea, which means that you can stop breathing for a short period of time. Obstructive Sleep Apnea affects 9% of women and 26% of men between the age of 30 and 49 and continues to increase by more than double above the age of 50. (Research paper Understanding phenotypes of obstructive apnea)
So what can you do about it?
You can start mouth taping during sleep. This changes the position of your mouth during sleep. When you tape your lips closed you divert the flow of breathing through the nose, which slows everything down and creates better breathing patterns during sleep. Not only does it slow the breath down it also changes the position of your jaw and tongue, preventing them falling into a relaxed position. The teeth do not need to be clamped, just left slightly apart and the tongue will fit in its resting positing with the tip just behind the front teeth.
How to tape?
There are a few different tapes you can use.
3M Micropore tape (you can get this from a local supermarket for about a £1)
MyoTape – This one presses the lips together but doesn’t seal the mouth completely.
Hostage tape – A brand that is good for guys with a lot of facial hair.
I'm using 3M micropore tape in this image
Just before you go to sleep tape your mouth and enjoy a restful nights sleep. If you feel a bit nervous about having your mouth taped during your sleep try it 15 minutes before you go to sleep so you can get used to the feeling.
Remember you are in complete control of your breathing, and you can take it off at any point.
Once you have seen the difference this new habit will make you can look at working on other aspects of your breath.
If you have a questions about this article you can send me a message
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If you’d like to work 1 on 1 with me to improve all aspects of your breathing, then get in touch.