03/07/2026
When I was younger, my brother called me Darth Vader...
I didn't get that nickname from wearing black capes or wielding imaginary lightsabers, I got it from the heavy mouth-breathing sound I made when I was sleeping.
I think I earned the title after falling asleep on one too many family car trips, with my mouth gaping open, making laboured breathing sounds.
I may teach breathwork now, but when I was younger, I had a really disconnected relationship with my breath.
Back then, I was an anxious little chest breather and mouth breather, who hated and feared Cross Country Sports Day, which involved running for waaay too long.
Breathing easier now - so what changed?
In my late 20s, I started working with a somatic practitioner, and that kickstarted a process of reconnecting with my breath and my body that is continuing to this day.
Using my own body as a guinea pig, I made two fascinating breath-related discoveries:
🌿Healing unresolved trauma had a knock-on benefit when it came to naturally deepening my breathing; I literally breathed easier
🌿My cardiovascular ability improved at least *50%, not from doing more exercise, but from focusing on conscious breathing
(*Not an exact figure, but it's my way of saying I switched from having the endurance of a mildly asthmatic child to the robust lungs of a healthy Surf Life Saving Nipper!)
In other words, I'm already a breath convert, that is, I know firsthand the extraordinary healing power of breath.
That's why James Nestor's Breath book already had me at the title!
The Breath book blew me away! (pun intended)
There was chapter, after chapter, of such compelling science-backed discoveries about the healing power of breath that I was regularly asking myself (and whoever was in the room) in exasperation: How is this not part of mainstream medicine or public knowledge?
Verified accounts of people healing from seemingly incurable conditions, such as emphysema, asthma, lung disease, high blood pressure, severe digestive issues, sleep disorders and even scoliosis! Along with evidence that breathing consciously and correctly positively influences weight loss, ADHD, anxiety, depression, and more conditions than I can list here.
I was also fascinated at how mouth breathing, instead of nose breathing, literally alters the shape and structure of the human face, and even contributes to crooked teeth and tooth decay.
The book cited an orthodontist who recommended taping the mouth closed at night to patients who were chronic mouth-breathers; it's also something the author of the book underwent to reverse the damaging physical effects of mouth breathing.
After reading this, I was inspired to conduct my own strange-but-true breathing experiment.
Click on the blog link below to continue reading.
Breathing correctly positively influences weight loss, ADHD, asthma, digestion, blood pressure, anxiety, depression & more. A strange-but-true breathing experiment.
