Are we all breathing badly? | 91TV
Transcript
- By the age of 30, you'll have taken around 250 million breaths.
- Chances are you've been doing it wrong.
- Humans have become terrible at breathing.
- This impacts anxiety,
- your ability to focus, to sleep, how you feel -
- almost every facet of your health.
- The good news is, there are a few simple ways to breathe better
- and live a healthier and happier life.
- Here's how.
- The nose isn't some random appendage,
- it's a wonderfully complex organ.
- The inside of it looks a lot like a seashell, which makes sense
- because sea creatures use their shells to keep out invaders.
- So do we.
- Each breath you take in through your nose is filtered,
- warmed and pressurised,
- making it easier for you to absorb oxygen.
- The cavities within the nose also release a miraculous molecule
- called nitric oxide, which opens up blood vessels
- and helps our bodies kill off viruses and bacteria.
- A wondrous thing it is - the nose.
- The problem is, up to half of us don't use it.
- We breathe through our mouths.
- Dust, pollutants, mould, viruses -
- all this gunk goes directly into our bodies with no filter.
- After a while, it can cause irritation
- and an overgrowth of bacteria
- that can give you cavities, bad breath, gum disease,
- and make you much more susceptible to things like snoring
- or allergies or asthma.
- This is not good.
- But how did it happen?
- How did we become the worst breathers in the animal kingdom?
- We'll need to go back a few million years to find out.
- As we evolved from our ape-like ancestors, our brains grew,
- shrinking the real estate in our mouths and sinus cavities.
- If you look around today,
- more than 90% of us have a chin that is recessed,
- a mouth that's too narrow,
- and the shrunken sinus cavities that come with it.
- OK, I know this is getting pretty depressing,
- but just know that your breath is not a foregone conclusion.
- Make nasal breathing a habit.
- The more you use your nose, the more the tissues will open up,
- the easier it will be to become a full-time nasal breather.
- Chewing pumps more blood to the brain,
- drains fluid in our ears,
- and most importantly, it helps us develop
- a wide and forward-growing face.
- Chewing when we are young makes it easier for us to breathe
- when we get older.
- You can also hum.
- It might sound ridiculous,
- but humming will increase nitric oxide in the sinuses 15-fold.
- It can be anything.
- Try humming your favourite song.
- Many of us breath too much, too often,
- taking in and exhaling a breath every three seconds or so.
- But to operate at your full potential,
- you should aim to lengthen this pace.
- The ancients knew all about this.
- Six seconds in.
- And six seconds out.
- But they didn't call it slow breathing.
- They called it prayer.
- Recent studies have shown that breathing like this
- for just a few minutes a day can have huge benefits
- to your mental and physical health.
- You can try it.
- In...two, three,
- four, five, six.
- And out...two, three,
- four, five, six.
- And in...two, three,
- four, five, six.
- And out...two, three,
- four, five, six.
- Make your breath like a circle,
- seamlessly transitioning from inhale to exhale.
- Whenever you feel stressed or want a little more calm or more oxygen
- or just need to balance your nervous system,
- slow that breath down.
- You know, breathing well doesn't require wearing robes
- or yoga pants or necklaces and crystals.
- This is a biological function,
- and you can do it wherever you are, whenever you want.
- Let's make each of those breaths count.
How do you know if you're breathing right? Here's how you can optimise your breathing - with author James Nestor. Made in partnership with @bbcideas
James Nestor's book Breath was shortlisted for the Royal Society Science Book Prize 2021
/medals-and-prizes/science-book-prize/books/2021/breath/
About the Royal Society
91TV is a Fellowship of many of the world's most eminent scientists and is the oldest scientific academy in continuous existence.
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