Are you breathing too fast or too slow?

Are you breathing too fast or too slow? Chances are that you’re doing one of these things and you don’t even know it. You may be surprised that there is a right and wrong way to breathe, and you may also be surprised to find out that if you’re breathing incorrectly, it can negatively affect your health in the long run. At Millennium Smiles in Frisco, Texas, we are concerned about not only your teeth but your breathing, too! We recommend reading up on the Buteyko Breathing Method to bring your breathing volume back to normal.

What Is the Buteyko Breathing Method?

The Buteyko Breathing Method is a breathing technique developed in the 1950s by Russian medical scientist Dr. Konstantin Buteyko. Buteyko helps to achieve ideal breathing; calm breathing in a relaxed fashion only through the nose.

Breathing this way helps to achieve ideal oxygenation levels in your body.

What Is Ideal Oxygenation?

Ideal oxygenation means that your tissues and organs are getting the most oxygen possible. This is a big thing – your body and your brain need oxygen to survive and function properly. If you are not breathing efficiently, you’re robbing your body of vital oxygen.

In addition to oxygen starvation, if you breathe too fast, you lose carbon dioxide – which could leave your blood vessels at risk of spasm.

Don’t Breathe Too Deeply

Okay, so the more oxygen, the better, right? Not so fast. While for years, researchers have suggested that deep breathing is optimal because it gets the most oxygen into the lungs, you’re actually getting less oxygen and converting less oxygen to carbon dioxide.

So, What Is “Normal Breathing”?

Normal breathing at rest is 8-12 breaths per minute. That may not sound like enough, as many of us breathe around 25 breaths per minute. In many cases, this rate of breathing is related to high anxiety and stress levels. You may not even notice how frequently you’re breathing and could be completely unaware that you’re stressing your body through a low-level form of hyperventilation.

Try It: Applying Buteyko Breathing

Are you ready to try the Buteyko Breathing method? Try these steps:

1. Take a Normal Breath In Through Your Nose. Sit down in an upright position and take a normal and calm breath through your nose. Do not breathe too deeply. Focus your breathing on your diaphragm, and your stomach will naturally expand.

2. Now, Breathe Normally Out Through Your Nose. Time to exhale – but don’t exhale through your mouth. Exhale normally through your nose and focus on using the diaphragm. Push out all the air from your lungs. Note: your stomach should move, but your chest should not.

3. Change It Up. Next, take a shorter breath through your nose.

4. Go Long. Now, slowly release your breath through your nose. This should take about five seconds. Use your diaphragm to push the air out of your lungs.

5. Hold up for a second. Well, more like five seconds; hold your breath and exhale after five seconds.

Repeat these steps for several minutes.

Breathing and the Dentist

So, why are we telling you this? As we said, we’re not just worried about your teeth, we are concerned about your breathing and total health, too.

Learn more about how we can help better your breathing through dentistry by calling Millennium Smiles in Frisco, Texas, at 972-987-4899 for a consultation today.

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