We can live several weeks without food, a couple of days without water, but no more than a few minutes without air.  Given its importance, it is quite amazing how little emphasis is given to how we breathe.  Noses were made for breathing, mouths for eating. Yet, many people mouth breathe.  Mouth breathing negatively affects wellbeing, and may contribute to conditions including asthma, sinus, gum disease, snoring, sleep apnoea, anxiety and possibly hypertension and obesity. Babies naturally breathe through their noses, and it’s only with allergy, a cold or some other cause of na ..read more

What’s not to love about oxygen? After all, we depend on it for our very existence. So, it’s somewhat of a surprise, that a recent body hacking trend is all about putting the brakes on this marvellous molecule.  Intermittent Hypoxic Training Known as Intermittent Hypoxic Training (IHT), the style of breathing training is not new. Used for many years by Olympic and other athletes and their coaches to improve sports performance, traditionally hypoxic (Hypo – low, Oxy -oxygen) training was in mountain camps set above 2,000m, ensuring lower atmospheric oxygen. Elite athletes would train at hi ..read more

  5 Reasons Why Your Child is a Mouth Breather Noses are made for breathing; mouths are for eating, talking and laughing. Is it really a problem your child is a mouth breather? Yessiree, there are a host of reasons to avoid the insidious practice of mouth breathing, particularly for children. Long-term mouth breathing can lead to teeth grinding, misaligned teeth, frequent coughs and colds, enlarged tonsils, gum disease, dental decay, sleep apnoea and even behavioural problems.   Here are 5 contributing causes to mouth breathing.   1. Allergies Allergies to dust mite, animal dan ..read more

‘Children should be seen and not heard’. Thankfully we are a few generations removed from this style of parenting, however, there are several good reasons why children should close their mouths, and breathe only through the nose. 1. Reduce coughs, colds and asthma The nasal cavity is lined with mucous membranes that help trap pathogenic microorganisms including bacteria, viruses and fungi before they head south to the throat and lungs.  In addition, embedded in the mucous membranes are immune cells that also serve to inactivate the bugs that cause tonsillitis, laryngitis ..read more

While it’s possible to breathe through your mouth, and plenty of people do precisely that, the question is should you breathe through your mouth?  And the answer to this is an emphatic NO!  What is mouth breathing Mouth breathing is simply having the mouth open while breathing. Even with the mouth slightly open, where you are not obviously inhaling and exhaling through your mouth, this is still considered mouth breathing and harms your health. The Buteyko Breathing Technique retrains your breathing patterns so that nasal breathing becomes your default, permanently reversing mouth b ..read more

Snoring and Sleep Apnoea are considered to be Sleep Disordered Breathing conditions, with Snoring on the less serious end and Obstructive Sleep Apnoea at the other end of the spectrum. Snoring Snoring is the sound made by turbulent air flowing through the upper airway.  Large gusts of air cause a vibrating of tissue in and around the throat, including the uvula, base of the tongue, epiglottis, and tonsils.  Snoring affects young and old, although as muscle tissue becomes floppier as we age, snoring is more common in those over 40.  Snoring is by its nature, over-breathing. Over ..read more

Buteyko Breathing or Breathwork is experiencing a worldwide explosion in popularity.  This is unsurprising when optimising breathing patterns potentiates mental clarity and physical performance. The science underpinning these claims is irrefutable. The three core aspects of breathing involve chemistry, anatomy, and rhythm. The Chemistry of the Breath The biochemistry of breathing revolves around two main gases, oxygen and carbon dioxide. Oxygen is clearly king, required for life as we know it. However, carbon dioxide, often dismissed as waste gas, is the game changer when it comes to br ..read more

5 Tips to Stop Snoring Naturally Does your snoring raise the roof? sound like a freight train?, or is it loud enough to wake the dead? Perhaps it’s your beloved bed partner, not you, sawing logs all night?; either way, snoring is not merely a night-time nuisance, or the source of merriment among friends – snoring is a health threat. Snoring not only increases your risk of stroke, it may be the cause of chronic daily headaches, is associated with Type 2 Diabetes, definitely affects sleep quality, increasing daytime fatigue. Additionally, while not everyone who snores suffers from sleep apnoe ..read more

A Treatise of Asthma was written by Moses Maimonides, Rabbi, philosopher and medico. In this text, written over 1000 years ago, Maimonides clearly describes how asthma symptoms often start as a common cold during the wet months, with the patient coughing and gasping for air. Recommended treatments included seeking a dry climate, plenty of sleep, fluids, moderation of sexual activity, and chicken soup. Oy vey, Moses must have made his mother proud. Asthma occurs when the airways, in reaction to a trigger, become inflamed and swollen. In response, cells lining the airways release sticky mucus a ..read more

Anxiety is a marriage between body and mind. An unhappy marriage. The more anxious you feel, the more symptoms your body exhibits. From diarrhoea and nausea to heart-gripping chest pains. Defined as a ‘generalised pervasive fear’, some people suffer anxiety all day, every day. Feeling frightened all the time is not a pleasant way to live. An anxiety or panic attack is an episode of anxiety ramped up dramatically. The pain and fear are so extreme, panic attacks are often mistaken for a heart attack. Symptoms Muscle tension, especially around the neck, shoulders and jaw. Insomnia. Trembling or ..read more