As we all know, sleep is a vital part of our existence. Without a good night’s sleep your days can be ruined, passed as if living in a fog, barely able to keep up with all that life sends your way. If you are a habitual snorer, have insomnia or sleep apnea – you know this feeling. A good night’s sleep is deeply connected to the way you breathe.

Something as simple as positioning can make a difference. If you sleep on your back for instance, it is very easy for your jaw to drop open causing you to breathe heavily through your mouth and your tongue to fall back which brings on snoring and can trigger sleep apnea.

Both sleep apnea and snoring occur when you take in a high volume of air at a fast rate during sleep. Snoring is present when the rush of air causes the tissues in the nose and throat to vibrate, and left untreated it can easily progress into sleep apnea.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea is precipitated by this high rate of breathing, but goes one step further by collapsing the upper airways which results in holding your breath until your brain signals the urgent desire to breathe. Picture pulling air rapidly through a flexible straw and you can see it’s sides collapsing. This is what happens to the airways when heavy breathing is present at night. If you then pull more gently, the sides will return to their natural open state – the same is true when breathing.

If you’d rather not be dependent on a CPAP machine (picture on right) or have surgery to expand your airways to help you to sleep, you should definitely contact us to see if breathing retraining will work for you. It can change your life, and certainly can help in the relationship department too! The loud snoring before the sudden quiet, followed by jerking movements, snorts and gasps, can be very disturbing to a sleep partner. The person with the apnea or snoring habit may or may not wake up, but their sleeping partner probably will, and both parties will undoubtedly wake up feeling unrested.

Insomnia can also be fed by over-breathing which brings on brain cell excitability and contributes to a racing mind that keeps you awake with repetitive thoughts, most of which cannot be attended to until the morning. Again you rise exhausted.

Each of these conditions can be eased or overcome with breathing retraining. You will learn how to calm your mind, nose breathe at night, sleep easily and wake up refreshed. Incorrect breathing habits are not just at night, but generally start during the day. Improving daytime breathing is the first step to healthy night time breathing and an end to those sleepless nights. Contact us today to learn more by clicking the button below!