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Many of us have developed the habit of breathing through our mouths. Unfortunately, mouth breathing is not good for your sleep or your health.

When you inhale through your nose, the air is moistened and warmed on the way to your lungs. Cilia, the tiny hairs that line our nose, filter out dust and foreign particles.

Breathing through your mouth causes you to inhale dry, unfiltered air into your lungs.

Breathing through your nose slows your breathing and heart rate yet increases your circulation and the capacity of your lungs. Breathing through your mouth does none of that.

When we breathe through our mouths, our bodies don’t regulate the oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in our blood as efficiently. This leads to a lack of oxygen that can awaken us in the night.

Mouth breathing can also cause over-breathing, which can elevate blood pressure and heart rate, and worsen asthma and snoring.

Another poor breathing habit that we have is we don’t breathe all the way down to our abdomen. This problem easily results from mouth breathing. The lower lungs contain about 3 times the capacity as the upper lungs; thus, three chest breaths are needed to get the same amount of air as you can with a single diaphragmatic breath.

Proper breathing and good sleep go hand in hand. You will be able to reduce your stress load and alleviate many sleep problems by learning natural breathing.

To learn more about natural breathing, get a copy of Sleep Secrets and read Chapter 7.