alt Hacker NewsI went through the whole process of seeing an ENT, using the machine for the at-home sleep study so insurance would give me a CPAP, then not being able to sleep with a CPAP, and over the course of a couple years I fixed my sleep apnea by fixing my posture and breathing. If you have forward head posture or are not used to breathing through your nose, you might also benefit from this. I think it’s kind of crazy that we do surgeries and take medicine that modifies your brain chemistry for what I believe in many cases is a structural issue.
If you’re curious to try this, read James Nestor’s book Breath, do yoga with breathing exercises, or see a physical therapist. It takes time to fix these structural issues, but you can literally change the shape of your nose, palate, and jaw from just practice.
Here’s a quick exercise you could try. Sit up, relax your body, breathe in through your nose, and feel the breath move up your nose, down to the base of your skull, down your neck, and then as far down your spine as you can. The air isn’t literally moving through these areas, but you should feel a current of sensations moving roughly along that path. As you breathe out, follow the current in the opposite direction. As you tune into this current, your neck and back will naturally straighten a bit, it should feel very natural and even pleasant. Keep your body relaxed and allow your neck and back to align with this current. If you keep doing this regularly it should help improve your posture and breathing. This is basically a pranayama / yoga breathing exercise. If it feels painful, definitely stop and try physical therapy or working with a hatha yoga instructor who can give you more guided instruction.
I used to snore so badly it sounded like, without much exaggeration, a dying elephant. I only did this exercise for a couple years and it slowly improved over that time, and now I sleep quietly.
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Nestor's book didn't feel right. I don't think he's a crank, or that he's entirely wrong, but the idea that we're breathing wrong feels really unlikely. You don't have to be taught to breathe.
I'm sure that many of the lessons in the book are applicable and there is much to learn. But a lot of it felt like woo, even though I know full well that the author is a well-respected journalist.
I'd really like to hear a sound review from someone who knows the domain better than me.
Thank you for this, I will definitely try it today! What is your opinion on Wim Hof breathing exercises, are they helpful in a similar way? I am asking because I do them occasionally and feel great every time.
I had a similar experience, with a slightly different approach (mouth tape and a nose dilator) but seemingly similar outcome. I like that you did it just through exercises with no mechanical intervention. Inspiring.
Yup totally, how you breathe during the day is a habit that basically persists at night
So breathing better during the day can be trained, even at an old age, and it improves sleep
Not everyone breathes suboptimally of course, but I think more do than realize it. There’s a reason that breath work is in the traditions of many different cultures, and why it survived
But things like this aren’t necessarily profitable or worth a doctor’s time, so you have to do them yourself, or see therapists, etc
I had a good experience with a myofunctional therapist and posture therapist
Did you get a second sleep study after your breathing changes to confirm it fixed it?
To expand on this, the posture is really so important, this muscle the iliopsoas connects inner hip to low back on opposite sides, forward head sometimes also has anterior pelvic tilt, anyways your diaphragm is connected to this muscle and if it’s tight, or holding your pelvic in a tilt, it can make the diaphragm not be able to take full breaths. I’ve done some relaxation stretches you can search for this muscle, like laying down with one knee bent and leg up like a square and other leg straight out or slightly elevated, and “dead bug” yoga, and found my breathing suddenly improved on several occasions.
What a ridiculous post. Please leave the Reddit pseudoscience at the door.
There are researchers actively working and studying people with sleep apnea. They're not suffering from "forward head posture" or "breathing wrong".
I have severe sleep apnea and no amount of "breathing exercises" are going to cause my soft palate to uncollapse itself while I'm trying to get REM sleep.
> what I believe in many cases is a structural issue
Many cases it is not. I'm not trying to be a contrarian but I don't want to plant hope in some people who suffer from sleep apnea thinking it's something they can just do breathing exercises for.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/central-sleep...