One: The Worst Breathers in the Animal Kingdom

An anxious middle-aged male patient, who was bottle-fed at six-months, and weaned onto jarred commercial foods. The lack of chewing stunted bone development in his dental arches and sinus cavity, leading to nasal congestion. By age 15 he was eating softer, highly processed foods, bread, juice, canned veggies, steak, sandwiches, microwaved foods, etc. 3 years of orthodontics made his mouth smaller, so his tongue could no longer fit in between his teeth. A precursor to snoring. At 17 he had 4 impacted wisdom teeth removed, which further decreased the size of his mouth and increased chances of sleep apnea. His face took a vertical growth pattern leading to sagging eyes, doughy cheeks, a sloping forehead, and a protruding nose.

Forty percent of the population suffers from chronic nasal obstruction and about half are mouth breathers, with females and children suffering the most. The causes are dry air, stress, inflammation to allergies, and pollution to pharmaceuticals.

When mouths don’t grow wide enough, the roof of the mouth rises up instead of out, forming a V-shape or “high arch palate”. This impedes the development of the nasal cavity. When the nasal cavity gets congested, airflow decreases and bacteria flourish.

Of the 5400 different species of mammal, humans are the only ones to routinely have misaligned jaws, overbites, underbites, and snaggled teeth, a condition formally called malocclusion.

1.7 million years ago Homo habilis roamed Africa. 800,000 ya Homo erectus began processing food in fire, our intestines shrank, brains grew 50% bigger, face shrank and took away from nose and airways for the brain. Homo sapiens on the African savanna 300,000 ya, Homo neanderthalensis in Europe (big noses and stunted limbs), Homo naledi (tiny brains, spindly arms, flared hips). Then all but sapiens disappeared due to disease, weather, each other, animals, or us. In colder climates our noses grew narrower and longer to heat air up better before reaching our lungs and skin lighter for more vitamin d. In warm places we got flatter noses and darker skin. The larynx also descended into the throat to accommodate vocal communication. Other animals have a high larynx to more effectively prevent inhalation of food. The tongue slipped further back for more intricate vocalization. Jaw came forward. Then we could also choke on our tongue and snore.

Two: Mouth breathing

During Nestor’s 10 day mouth breathing experiment, his BP went up, HRV plummeted, pulse increased, body temp decreased, and mental clarity decreased. Athletic performance also went down. Can cut total exertion of endurance in half.

Anaerobic energy uses glucose. Quick and easy but inefficient and toxic (lactic acid). Oxygen has not yet been supplied so we feel terrible in the first few minutes of exercise. Aerobic is 16x more energy efficient. Best HR for exercise is 180-age.

An experiment blocking Rhesus monkey’s nostrils found that over 6 months their faces underwent the same downgrowth, narrowed dental arches, crooked teeth, and gaping mouths. Long faces, slack jawed, and glazed over. Inhaling air through the mouth decreases pressure, which causes soft tissue in the back of the mouth to become loose and flex inward, creating less space and making breathing difficult. Nasal breathing forces air making airways wider and breathing easier. When seasonal allergies come, sleep apnea and breathing difficulties increase. When our heads are on pillows, gravity pulls the soft tissues down in the throat and tongue down.

His snoring increased by 4820% from 10 days prior. He suffered 25 apnea events in one night (oxygen levels below 85%). Mouth breathing also causes the body to lose 40% more water. The pituitary gland releases vasopressin to tell the body to store more water when asleep unless deep sleep is disrupted. Meaning he needed to urinate more. Apparently, sleep apnea can lead to ADHD, Diabetes, Bed-wetting, High Blood Pressure, Cancer, Insomnia, etc. The lack of oxygen leads to Depression, Heart Failure, Memory Problems, and early death.

90% of children have developed some sort of deformity in their mouth and nose. 45% of adults snore occasionally and a quarter snore constantly. 25% of Americans over 30 choke on their tongues because of sleep apnea and 80% of cases go undiagnosed.

We’ve found ways to clean our cities and tame/kill diseases, become more literate, taller, and stronger, we live on average 3x longer than in the Industrial age, and yet we can’t breathe.

Three: Nose

It clears air, heats it, and moistens it for easier absorption. It can also trigger hormones and chemicals that lower BP and ease digestion. The density of your nasal hairs can actually determine if you’ll suffer from asthma.

During a full or new moon students shared the Shiva Swarodaya pattern (one nostril for sun the other for moon). The cycles of nostril changes were apparently more to do with sexual urges than the moon. The interior of the nose is coated with erectile tissue. They can engorge with blood and become large and stiff. The nose seems to be linked to the genitals. Researchers found that nasal erectile tissue mirrored states of health. Inflamed during sickness or other states of imbalance. If infected it will cycle more often. The right and left nostril work like an HVAC, controlling temp, BP, and feeding chemicals to alter moods, emotions, and sleep states. Right nostril circulation speeds up, your body gets hot, cortisol up, blood pressure, and heart rate up. Sympathetic Nervous System. More blood to the opposite side of the brain in the Prefrontal Cortex (logical, language, computing). Left nostril Parasympathetic nervous system, lower BP, HR, cools body, reduces anxiety, etc. Sends blood flow to the right side (creative thought, emotions, formation of mental abstractions, and negative emotion). You can reduce hallucinations in schizophrenia by more dominant RN breathing.

Alternate nostril breathing (nadi shodhana).

Turbinates – 6 nasal bones, begin at your nostrils and end below the eyes. The lower turbinates are covered in the erectile tissue, covered in mucous membrane (warms and moistens air to body temp and filters).

Sinuses release a huge boost of NO, which increases circulation and delivers O2 to cells. Immune function, weight, circulation, mood, and sexual function can be heavily influenced by NO. Nasal breathing alone can boost NO six-fold. Nasal breathing also helped release more vasopressin. The author got rid of his sleep apnea in 3 nights by mouth taping.

Four: Exhale

The Framingham study; a 70 year longitudinal research program focused on heart disease, gathered data from 5200 subjects and found lung capacity was the greatest predictor of longevity.

Freedivers have been known to more than double the average lung capacity through internal organ exercises. Walking and cycling may help increase capacity by 15%.

Schroth, a girl with Scoliosis, trained herself for 5 years in ‘orthopedic breathing’ and effectively cured herself. She did this by twisting her body, breathing in through one lung while limiting air in the other, arch her back over a table, loosen her ribcage by moving back and forth, and breathing into the empty space.

Carl Stough, writer of Dr Breath and a vocal teacher, was given the task of assisting emphysema patients. When he found them they had their backs arched up by the nurses to help with inhalation, which he realized was making the condition worse. He realized emphysema was a disease of exhalation. They couldn’t get the stale air out. The typical adult engages as little as 10% of the range of the diaphragm when breathing, which overburdens the heart, elevates BP, and causes circulatory issues. Extending that 50-70% will ease stress and work more efficiently. Stough would tap on rigid muscles, getting them to hold their breath while counting to 5, and massage patients while getting them to breathe in and out very slowly. This would be to coax the diaphragm out of its slumber. After several sessions, some could speak and others could walk. He hadn’t found a way to heal the emphysema but he had found a way to access as much lung as possible to alleviate the symptoms.

Over time, shallow breathing will limit the range of our diaphragms and lung capacity and can lead to the high-shouldered, chest-out, neck-extended posture problems seen in emphysema, asthma, and other respiratory problems.

Five: Slow

CO2 has weight and we exhale more weight than we inhale. For every 10 pounds of fat lost in our bodies, 8 and a half come out through the lungs. The rest is urinated or sweated out.

Christian Bohr found that CO2 loosened O2 from hemoglobin. Meaning it acted as a attractant of oxygenated blood drawing it to muscles that were producing CO2. Supply on demand. CO2 also dilates blood vessels. 

The Buddhist monk mantra, Om Mani Padme Hum, lasts 6 secs with 6 to inhale. Om, the sacred sound of the universe, used in Jainism and other traditions, takes 6 sec to sing, and 6 to inhale too. The sa ta na ma chant in Kundalini yoga also does. Pretty much every other culture has a variation for the calming effect. When this technique was done subjects would have increased blood flow to the brain and a higher sense of coherence, with heart circulation and nervous system coordinated to peak efficiency.

Six: Less

The key to optimum breathing is to practice fewer inhales and exhales in smaller volumes. Not all the time but on occasion, like fasting. When running you can use the technique of 3 sec in and 4 sec out while eventually lengthening the exhale. Training the body to breathe less increases VO2 max.

Konstantin Pavlovich Buteyko realized that heart disease, ulcers, and chronic inflammation were all linked to disturbances in circulation, blood pH, and metabolism. Which are all affected by breathing. Breathing just 20% more could overwork our systems and lead them to falter. Hypoventilation training then began to show up occasionally throughout history. Leading a czech man to win olympic golds in running and a US swimming coach to win golds.

Dr Xavier Woorons, a French physiologist, had found that the researchers who were critical about hypoventilation training were measuring their experiments wrong. They were looking at athletes with full breath in their lungs, so they struggled to reach hypoventilation. When trained with a half in full out technique for several weeks, their muscles could tolerate more lactate accumulation, which allowed their bodies to pull more energy during states of heavy anaerobic stress, and train harder and longer. Some studies showed an increase in red blood cells, like altitude training. Voluntary Elimination of Deep Breathing seems especially effective in treating respiratory diseases, such as Asthma.

Asthma is an immune system sensitivity that provokes constriction and spasms in the airways. Pollutants, dust, viral infections, cold air, and more can lead to attacks. Also over breathing. Once an attack starts, air gets trapped in the lungs and passageways constrict, making it harder to press out and back in. More breathing but more feelings of breathlessness, more constriction, more panic, more stress. Drugs can help but often lead to deterioration of lung function, worsened asthma, blindness, and increased risk of death.

When we breathe too much, we expel too much CO2, our blood becomes more alkaline; when we breathe slower and hold in CO2, pH lowers and blood becomes more acidic. Almost all cellular functions in the body take place at pH7.4. The kidneys will buffer over breathing by pumping bicarbonate in the urine. This is a temporary fix. Too much over breathing will deplete the body’s minerals. It takes magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and more with it. Nerves malfunction, smooth muscles spasm, and cells can’t create energy efficiently. This is one reason why asthmatics are prescribed magnesium to stave off attacks. Constant buffering also weakens the bones because they dissolve their mineral stores into the bloodstream.

Animals with the lowest resting heart rates live the longest. They also tend to breathe the slowest. “The yogi’s life is not measured by the number of his days, but the number of his breaths,” wrote B. K. S. Iyengar, an Indian yoga teacher said. All pulmonauts seem to come to the same conclusion that the optimal amount of air at rest per minute is 5.5l, 5.5 breaths per minute.

Seven: Chew

12,000ya, humans in the Southwest Asia and the Fertile Crescent in the Eastern Mediterranean stopped gathering roots and vegetables and hunting game and started growing their own food. These first farming communities were also the first to start suffering from crooked teeth and deformed mouths. Then about 300ya these maladies went viral. By around 1500 farming had taken over the world. The human population was around half a billion. City dwellers had horrible lives, with waste gushing down city streets. Air was tainted by coal smoke and lakes and rivers with blood, hair and acids from manufacturing run-off. Advances in milling removed the germ and bran from rice, leaving only the starchy seed. Roller mills removed germ and bran from wheat, leaving only white flour. Meats and veggies were canned and bottled. Shelf lives were extended but it made the foods mushy and soft. Sugar also became cheap. This diet lacked fiber, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and other nutrients. In the 1730s, the average Briton was 5ft7in and down two inches within the century. Mouths shrank and facial bones became stunted. Dental disease became rampant and crooked teeth went up tenfold in the Industrial Age.

Our ancient ancestors chewed for hours a day, every day. Food today is too soft.

Sleep apnea, snoring, asthma, and ADHD are all linked to obstruction in the mouth. The deeper the uvula hangs in the throat the more likely to have airway obstruction. If the tongue overlaps the molars, or has “scalloping” teeth indentations in its sides, it’s too large and may clog the throat when you sleep. Thicker necks also cramp airways. Men with necks wider than 17in and women at 16in. However, the main problem is the mouth crowding. 50% of kids with ADHD no longer have symptoms after having adenoids and tonsils removed until the airway gets smaller again.

Because our tongues are blocking our airways we crane our heads forward. The weight of our sloping head stresses the back muscles, leading to back pain; the kink in our necks adds pressure to the brain stem, triggering headaches and other neurological problems; the tilted angle of our faces stretches the skin down from the eyes, thins the upper lip, pulls flesh down on the nasal bone. This is called “cranial dystrophy”, affecting 50% of the population. Tongue-thrusting exercises may help. If directed at the roof of the mouth, it is believed it may help to expand the upper palate and open airways. “Mewing”.

Children who were breast fed had lower incidence of sleep apnea. Mothers used to breast feed their children until 2-4 years. The more time spent chewing and sucking the better the facial muscles and airways.

Eight: More, on Occasion

When perceived stress levels are high, the vagus nerve slows HR, circulation, and organ functions. Our tendency to faint is controlled by the vagal system. However, these days we are less likely to faint but more likely to be suspended in a half animated half lolling gray zone. 8/10 of the top common cancers affect organs cut off from normal blood flow during extended stress. Vagal nerve stimulation helps to reset these areas. It is also highly effective for patients suffering from Autoimmune Diseases, anxiety, and depression.

The practice of Tummo (Inner fire) enabled Wim Hof students to release adrenaline, cortisol, and norepinephrine. It also releases immune cells to fight pathogens and heal wounds. The huge spike in cortisol helped downgrade short-term inflammatory immune responses, while a squirt of NE redirected blood flow from the skin, stomach, and reproductive organs to muscles, the brain, and other essential areas. Also, opioids, dopamine, and serotonin.

When the body is forced to breathe too much, we’ll exhale too much CO2, which narrows blood vessels and limits blood flow by 40% to the brain. The hippocampus, frontal, occipital, and parieto-occipital cortices, which govern visual processing, body sensory info, memory, time, and self are affected. Possibly creating hallucinations. The pH imbalance also sends a distress signal throughout the body, especially to the limbic system, which controls emotions, arousal, and other instincts. This may trick the primitive brain into thinking it is dying.

Nine: Hold it

CO2 therapy was used to help people with eczema, psoriasis, asthma, catatonia, anxiety, etc., but suddenly went out of fashion after creams and inhalers came about. Supposedly able to help reset chemoreceptors in the brain.

People with anorexia or panic induced OCD consistently have low CO2 levels and a greater fear of holding their breaths. To avoid an attack they breathe in too much and become hypersensitized to CO2 and panic when they sense a rise. To prevent an attack, patients are instructed to breathe slowly and less to increase CO2.

Ten: Fast, Slow, And Not at All

Qigong (Breath-work)

The more oxygen life can consume, the more electron excitability it gains, the more animated it becomes. When cells lose the ability to offload and absorb electrons, they begin to break down. As the cells in the body lose the ability to attract oxygen, electrons slow and stop freely interchanging with other cells, resulting in abnormal and unregulated growth (cancer). This is why cancer grows in low oxygen states. In all cultures except modern Western ones, healing was accomplished through moving energy.

The Indus Valley was the birthplace of yoga. The earliest yoga (5000ya) was a science of holding still and building prana through breathing.

Pranayama. Buteyko. Coherent Breathing. Hypoventilation. Breathing Coordination. Holotropic Breathwork. Adhama. Madhyama. Uttama. Kêvala. Embryonic Breath. Harmonizing Breath. The Breath by the Master Great Nothing. Tummo. Sudarshan Kriya.

Epilogue: A Last Gasp

After just 240 hours of breathing only through their mouths, catecholamine and stress-related hormones spiked, suggesting that their bodies were under physical and mental duress. A diphtheroid Corynebacterium bug had also infested his nose. If he’d continued breathing only through his mouth for a few more days, it might have developed into a full-fledged sinus infection. All the while, his blood pressure was through the roof and his heart rate variability plummeted.

By night, the constant flow of unpressurized, unfiltered air flowing in and out of their gaping mouths collapsed the soft tissue in their throats to such an extent that they both began to experience persistent nocturnal suffocation. They snored. A few days later, they started choking on themselves, suffering from bouts of sleep apnea. Had they continued breathing through their mouths, there’s a decent chance they both would have developed chronic snoring and obstructive sleep apnea, along with the hypertension and metabolic and cognitive problems that come with it. Not all of their measurements changed. Blood sugar levels weren’t affected. Cell counts in the blood and ionized calcium remained the same, as did most other blood markers. There were a few surprises. Their lactate levels, a measure of anaerobic respiration, actually decreased with mouth breathing, which suggested they were using more oxygen-burning aerobic energy. This was the opposite of what most fitness experts would have predicted. (Olsson’s lactate slightly increased.) He lost about two pounds, due most likely to exhaled water loss. Nagging fatigue, irritation, testiness, and anxiety. The horrid breath and constant bathroom breaks. The spaciness, stares, and stomachaches.

Breathing Methods

Author tutorials: mrjamesnestor.com/breath

Chapter 3. Alternate Nostril Breathing (Nadi Shodhana)

• Improves lung function and lowers heart rate, BP, and sympathetic stress. Use before meetings, events, or sleep.
• (Optional) Hand positioning: Place thumb of your right hand over your right nostril and the ring finger of that same hand on the left nostril. The forefinger and middle finger should rest between the eyebrows.
• Close the right nostril with the thumb and inhale through the left nostril very slowly.
• At the top of the breath, pause briefly, holding both nostrils closed, then lift the thumb to exhale through the right nostril.
• At the natural conclusion of the exhale, hold both nostrils closed for a moment, then inhale through the right nostril.
• Continue alternating breaths through the nostrils for 5-10 cycles.

Chapter 4. Breathing Coordination

• Helps to engage more movement from the diaphragm and increase respiratory efficiency. Each breath should feel soft and enriching.
• Sit up so that the spine is straight and chin is perpendicular to the body.
• Take a gentle breath in through the nose. At the top of the breath begin counting softly aloud from 1-10 over and over.
• As you reach the natural conclusion of the exhale, keep counting, but do so in a whisper, letting the voice softly trail out. Then keep going until only the lips are moving and the lungs feel completely empty.
• Take in another large and soft breath and repeat.
• Continue for anywhere from 10-30 or more cycles.  

Can also be done while walking, jogging, or light exercise.

Coaching: www.breathingcoordination.ch/training

Chapter 5. Resonant (Coherent) Breathing

Places the heart, lungs, and circulation into a state of coherence, where the systems of the body are working at peak efficiency. 

• Sit up straight, relax shoulders and belly, and exhale.
• Inhale softly for 5.5 seconds, expanding the belly as air fills the bottom of the lungs.
• Without pausing, exhale softly for 5.5 seconds, bringing the belly in as the lungs empty. Each breath should feel like a circle.
• Repeat at least 10 times, more if possible.

Buteyko Breathing

Trains the body to breathe in line with its metabolic needs. 

Control Pause

A diagnostic tool to gauge general respiratory health and breathing progress. 

• Place a watch with a second hand or mobile phone with a stopwatch nearby.
• Sit up with a straight back.
• Pinch both nostrils closed with the thumb and forefinger of either hand, then exhale softly out your mouth to the natural conclusion. 
• Start the stopwatch and hold your breath.
• When you fell the first desire to breathe, note the time and take a soft inhale. 

Make sure the first breath after the control pause is controlled and relaxed. If you are gasping, it’s too long of a hold. It should only be measured when relaxed and breathing normally, never after exercise or during stressed states. Don’t attempt while driving, underwater, or a time where you may be injured if you get dizzy. 

Mini Breathholds

This technique helps you to breathe less. Staves off asthma and anxiety attacks.

• Exhale gently and hold the breath for half the time of the control pause (if your control pause was 40sec, hold for 20sec). 
• Repeat from 100-500 times a day. 

Nose Songs

Nitric oxide widens capillaries, increases oxygenation, and relaxes the smooth muscles. Humming increases the release 15-fold. 

• Breathe normally through the nose and hum, any song or sound.
• Practice for at least 5 minutes a day, more if possible.

Walking/Running

Less extreme hypoventilation exercises offer many of the benefits of high-altitude training. 

• Walk or run for a minute while breathing normally through the nose.
• Exhale and pinch the nose closed while keeping the same pace.
• When you sense air hunger, release the nose and breathe very gently, at about half of what feels normal for about 10-15 seconds. 
• Return to regular breathing for 30 seconds. 
• Repeat 10 times. 

Decongest the nose

• Sit up straight and exhale a soft breath, then pinch both nostrils shut.
• Try to keep your mind off the breath holding; shake your head up and down or side to side; go for a walk, or jump and run.
• Once you feel the air hunger, take a slow and controlled breath in through the nose (or mouth with pursed lips if still congested). 
• Continue this calm, controlled breathing for at least 30 seconds to 1 minute. 
• Repeat these steps 6 times. 

Patrick McKeown’s book: The Oxygen Advantage, instructions in Buteyko methods. 

www.consciousbreathing.com, www.breathingcenter.com, www.buthykoclinic.com

Chapter 7. Chewing

Hard chewing builds new bone in the face and opens airways. 

Gum

Strengthens the jaw and stimulates stem cell growth. 

• Falim, a Turkish brand. 
• Mastic gum

Oral Devices

Ted Belfor – Preventive Oral Device (POD), a small retainer that fits along the bottom row of teeth and stimulates chewing stress. www.discoverthepod.com

Palatal Expansion

Dr. Mariana Evans: www.infinitydentalspecialists.com

Dr. William Hang: facefocused.com

Dr. Mike Mew: orthodontichealth.co.uk

Chapter 8. Tummo

Two sorts of Tummo – one stimulates the SNS, and another triggers PNS response. Wim Hof (Wim Hof Method) does the former. 

• Find a quiet place and lie flat on your back with a pillow. Relax shoulders, chest, and legs.
• Take 30 very deep, very fast breaths into the pit of the stomach and let it back out. If possible, breathe through the nose; if the nose is obstructed, try pursed lips. The movement of each inhalation should look like a wave, filling up the stomach and softly moving up through the lungs. Exhales follow the same movement, first emptying the stomach then the chest.
• At the end of 30 breaths, exhale to the natural conclusion, leaving about a quarter of the air in the lungs. Hold the breath for as long as possible. 
• Once you’ve reached your absolute breath hold limit, take one huge inhale and hold for 15 seconds. Very gently, move that fresh breath around the chest and to the shoulders, then exhale and start the heavy breathing again. 
• Repeat at least 3 times. 

Chapter 9-10. Sudarshan Kriya

Om chants, breath restriction, paced breathing (inhaling for 4 seconds, holding 4, exhaling 6, holding 2), and 40 minutes of heavy breathing. 

www.artofliving.org.

Yogic Breathing

Standard pranayama.

Phase 1:

• Sit in a chair or cross-legged and upright on the floor and relax the shoulders
• Place one hand over the navel and slowly breathe into the belly. You should feel it expand with each breath in, deflate on the way out. Practice a few times. 
• Move hand up a few inches to cover the bottom of the rib cage. Focus the breath into this location, expand ribs with each inhale and retract with exhale. Practice 3-5 times. 
• Move hand below collarbone. Do the same as before but here.

Phase 2:

• Connect all these motions into one breath, inhale into stomach, lower rib cage, and chest.
• Exhale in the opposite direction. 
• Continue for a dozen rounds.

Box Breathing

Navy SEALs use this to stay calm and focused in tense situations. 

• Inhale to a count of 4; hold 4; exhale 4; hold 2. Repeat.

Longer exhalations elicit a stronger PNS response. The next provides deeper relaxation. Good for sleep. 

• Inhale to a count of 4; hold 4; exhale 6; hold 2. Repeat.
• Six rounds.

Breathhold Walking

Anders Olsson uses to increase CO2 and, thus, increase circulation in his body. 

• Go to a grassy park, beach, or somewhere soft.
• Exhale all the breath, then walk slowly, counting each step.
• Once you feel a powerful sense of air hunger, stop counting and take a few very calm breaths through the nose while still walking. Breathe normally for at least a minute, then repeat. 

4-7-8 Breathing

Dr. Andrew Weil. Deep relaxation. 

• Take a breath in, exhale through your mouth with a whoosh sound.
• Close the mouth and inhale quietly through your nose to a mental count of 4.
• Hold for 7.
• Exhale completely through the mouth, with  whoosh, to the count of 8. 
• Repeat for at least 4 breaths.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=gz4G31LGyog