How to Easily Increase Lung Capacity & Oxygen Delivery to Organs
In 2004, Patrick McKeown published his book Close Your Mouth: Buteyko Clinic Handbook for Perfect Health. This is a bestselling book on Amazon which reviewers have called,“life changing.” It is the same book that I have at my bedside, and is now a little dog-eared for constantly being thumbed through. You can imagine that I was delighted to have Patrick on The Adiel Gorel Show where we chatted about breathing, wellness, athletics, academics and more! This is one episode that I truly recommend to all of my listeners. Here’s why…
Learning to breathe.
The problem is that as a society we have forgotten the right way to breathe. A significant proportion of us are mouth breathers, simply because no one told us better! Switching to nasal breathing has tremendously positive impacts as Patrick explains in his books and in this episode. In fact, this is something that he has dedicated his life to. Until not too long ago, human beings were nose breathers. However, with changes in the way we ate and lived, our jaws became smaller. Our nasal passages became constricted, and the way we chewed and breathed changed.
We just have to look at how many people today have the problem of overcrowding of teeth, receding chins and other dental problems to understand that this is a relatively modern phenomenon. If obstructive sleep apnea is so common, the reason for this is not difficult to pinpoint: because our jaws are smaller, our tongue constricts the airways!
How breathing connects to weight loss, fatigue, academics.
Patrick explains how much of an impact mouth breathing has on our system. It impacts how well we sleep, how relaxed we are and it even impacts appetite. Sleep quality is directly linked to the production of hormones such as leptin and ghrelin, which control and promote appetite. So, in that sense, how you breathe can impact your weight reduction program, if any!
Patrick recommends breathing exercises that help train the body to breathe correctly. These exercises help us to breathe through the nose and to breathe lightly, with less resistance. This means lower instances of sleep apnea, snoring and hypothermia, as well as the proper regulation of hormones. It can even help to reduce accidents caused by driver fatigue.
Another startling revelation Patrick makes is the connection between breathing and academic ability. Unfortunately we are not taught the right way to breathe in school and hence we do not know what impact it has on concentration, sleep and academic ability. Maybe there is more to academic performance than innate intelligence, and we can actually train our brain to decipher information more effectively and efficiently, as Patrick reveals.
These days, we speak a lot about mindfulness, about committing fully and being present to each moment that we live. And this starts with breathing. As we feel each breath that we inhale and exhale, this is the beginning of mindfulness, the very essence of being present. We speak about all this and more – don’t miss this fascinating and transformational chat with Patrick McKeown. Catch it here.
