Do you think you are breathing correctly?

I recently finished reading the book 'Breath' by James Nestor. The book explores how the human species has lost the ability to breathe properly over thousands of years and is now suffering from a long list of illnesses like snoring, sleep apnea, asthma, and autoimmune diseases because of poor breathing.

Breathing is something we can do without thinking yet the importance of how we breathe isn’t acknowledged as much it ought to be. We tend to breathe through our mouths instead of our nose. Optimal breathing should be through the nose and according to some studies, half of us breathe through our mouths. The nose does the important job of taking air in, cleaning it out, heating it, and moistening it. This leads to a release of chemicals that lower blood pressure, regulates the heart rate, and much more. When you take in unprocessed air through your mouth, you get none of these benefits.

The book resonates strongly with me as I'm a daily pranayama practitioner and I offer private classes in pranayama, the art of breath or life-force control. 

A daily morning practice can improve physical and mental health and help calm the nervous system. Depending on your own medical conditions certain types of pranayama can help reduce anxiety, lower blood pressure, induce meditative states, and increase lung capacity. Other pranayama practices can even invigorate, uplift and energise you. 

There's lots of information available about pranayama practices but feel free to contact me for private lessons if you'd like to explore it further.