How Mouth Breathing Changes Your Face

Mouth breathing can make you less attractive because mouth breathing is unhealthy. The correct way to breathe is through your nose with the tongue resting on the roof of the mouth. Nasal breathing with correct tongue posture allows the jaw to develop properly in childhood it because it helps expand the jaw against the inward force of the cheeks and lips. When the jaw does not properly grow forward, the air passages become compromised and the body is forced to compensate with a forward leaning posture that effects the entire body. The best way to fix mouth breather face is to practice breathwork with correct tongue posture. You can learn more about breathwork here, or sign up for our breathwork class coming soon here.

Some of the Benefits of Nose Breathing include:

• Fine nostril hairs act as a filters to prevent harmful particles from entering the lungs.
• Increased cardiovascular and immune system health from the production of Nitric oxide
• Breathing through the nose also helps to warm and humidify the air which is inhaled.
• Better sense of smell
• increased oxygen uptake

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Symptoms and consequences of Mouth Breathing include:

• Snoring
• Dry Mouth and lips
• poor sleep quality (sleep apnea)
• teeth grinding
• Compromised Airways
• Poor posture
• compensatory body movement patterns
• worse memory formation (brain fog)
• bad breath
• gum disease and tooth decay
• An elongated face
• Droopy eyes with dark spots
• Narrow upper lip and nostrils
• A forward open bite
• A hoarse voice
• Drool on pillows

How to Stop Mouth Breathing

The nose is a 'use it or lose it’ organ.

Most people who mouth breathe are unaware of it. The best way to increase breath awareness and stop mouth breathing is by practicing breathwork. You can learn more about breathwork here, or sign up for our breathwork class coming soon here.  Here are the key ways to develop healthy nasal breathing.

• Practice breathing through the nose so the nostril tissue will adapt
• Improve the tongue's posture and strength
• strengthened the throat muscles so that it is less collapsable
• strengthen the diaphragm and rib cage muscles

1) Correct Tongue Posture (Mewing)

The natural and healthy posture of the tongue rests gently on the roof of the mouth. (i.e. mouth together, lips not touching, tongue resting on roof of the mouth with the tip behind the front teeth). The tongue should remain on the top of the mouth throughout the day apart from when you talk and eat, or are sick. In addition to breathing, speaking, swallowing, and chewing, the Tongue helps to balance the nervous system through trigeminal nerve connections to improve stability, balance, and strength. Nose breathing with the tongue resting on the roof of the mouth also helps to ensure that the airway is larger.

Mewing is a new term for practicing correct tongue posture. Although it has gained tremendous popularity on social media for potentially reshaping the face by strengthening the tissues around the mouth and jawline, there is not enough scientific evidence to back the theory up. In mewing you position your mouth in correct tongue posture for an extended period of time to strengthen the facial muscles. Mewing for the purposes of physical appearance can turn into a harmful obsession. Instead, if you use it for the purposes of increasing awareness of your tongue posture and breathing patterns it can help your health in the long run.

2) Unblock your Nose and Practice Breathwork

Most people can fix mouth breathing by starting a consistent breathwork practice. This will simply bring more awareness to your breathing patterns and help you consciously change your habits. Blocked nasal passages is a common reason why people resort to mouth breathing. Once you start breathing through your nose, the tissue in your nostrils will adapt to stay open more. Having clear nasal passages is important for performing all of these technique and maintaining good overall health and energy. Over breathing and mouth breathing cause the carbon dioxide levels in our bloodstream decrease and mucous secretion and constriction in the airways increases. These exercises temporarily increase the carbon dioxide levels in the blood to open the nasal passages. These two breathing techniques will help you unblock your nose, and you can learn over 20 more breathing techniques here. (and don't forget that you can always blow mucus out of your nose with a tissue or outside. )

Buteyko Breathing Technique

1. Gently exhale through the nose
2. pinch your nose and hold your breath for as long as you can
3. while holding your breath, sway side to side or move make small head rotations
4. release your nose and resume calm breathing as quickly as possible
5. Wait at least 30 seconds before repeating the cycle for up to six times

Zombie Walk Technique

1. Lift your hands extended in front of your chest like a zombie
2. March and lift each knee high up to your chest like a zombie

Alternate Nostril Breathing (Fast Method)

1. Inhale through the mouth
2. close one nostril with your finger and fully exhale twice rapidly through the open nostril
3. Inhale through the mouth
4. Switch your fingers for the second nostril and repeat on the other side.
5. Quickly repeat many times for a minute

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3 Unhealthy Shallow Breathing Habits to Avoid

In addition to mouth breathing there you should also be careful of shallow breathing because it affects your whole body, causing anxiety and panic attacks. If you experience any of these unhealthy shallow breathing habits you should try to address the root symptoms at the beginning of this article, and learn how to properly breathe with your diaphragm here. These unhealthy breathing patterns often arise from a dysregulated nervous system and emotional imbalances and can be fixed with a breathwork practice. You can test your breathing by placing one hand on your chest and one hand on your belly to see if you breathe deeply through both.

Clavicular Breathing

Clavicular breathing occurs when you raise the shoulders with each breath. It's the most inefficient and harmful way to breathe because It only utilizes the top part of the lungs, thereby increasing your breathing rate, increasing tension, and providing low oxygenation. Avoid clavicular breathing at all costs.

Upper Chest Breathing (Thoracic Breathing)

if only your upper chest moves when you breathe then you are breathing too shallow. Chest breathing stimulates the fight or flight stress response and can become an ingrained habit from traumas. It is inefficient and taxing for the nervous system and will lead to long term health issues. Fast upper chest breathing tends to result in anxiety.

Paradoxical Breathing

Paradoxical breathing occurs when the natural expansion and contraction of the chest are reversed with the inhale and exhale. For example, in paradoxical breathing the chest moves inward with the inhale and expands during the exhale. This is the opposite of the natural diaphragmatic breathing where the diaphragm expands on the inhale and contracts on the exhale.

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Can Mouth Breather face be reversed in adults?

Because facial development slows as you age, it can be difficult to change your Jaw structure as an adult. Most of the potential for growth in the jaw and dental arch develops during the key ages of 2-8. Some adults have years of compensation patterns developed from restricted airways and narrow dental arches so it is best to address breathing functionality as early as possible. Some adults may need to consult a doctor to address underlying health conditions or allergies.

Some reasons we develop Mouth Breathing as Children:

• Allergies
• Asthma
• deviated septum
• tongue-tie
• pacifiers and thumb sucking
• other medical issues

Focusing on your overall health will do wonders for your breathing and appearance. Humans are evolutionarily hard wired to find healthy mates attractive, so taking responsibility for all aspects of your health will address the root cause of the problem. Mouth breathing is one of many internet crazes where people try to quickly fix their insecurities. However, spending lots time looking at these memes will only cause your mental and emotional health to deteriorate, thereby decreasing physical beauty as a consequence. Instead of fighting against reality we will accomplish more by letting go of habits that no longer serve us, and replacing them with healthy ones.

Some ways to improve your health include

• exercising to loose excess weight
• eating healthy
• reducing stress
• Maintaining a healthy sleep schedule
• Having a morning and night time routine
• Spending quality time in nature with friends
• maintaining healthy posture day and night
• practice yoga, meditation, and breathwork

Best Breathing Exercises for Nose Breathing

As previously mentioned, establishing a consistent breathwork practice is the best way to start breathing correctly. Here are some of the best techniques for nose breathing. You can learn more about breathwork here, or sign up for our breathwork class coming soon here.

• Natural Diaphragmatic Breathing
• Alternate Nostril Breathing
• Breath of Fire (Kundalini Breathing)