Is Poor Sleep a Breathing Problem?

Do you experience these symptoms of poor sleep?

• not feeling rested in the morning even after ample time sleeping

• racing mind, wired, not being able to fall asleep

• anxiety interfering with sleep

• insomnia - chronic difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep

Each of these symptoms is associated with dysfunctional breathing.

Breath is a neglected and yet fundamental key to sleeping well.

Problems with sleep are highly correlated with dysfunctional breathing. However, most people, including many sleep therapy professionals, are largely unaware of this problem.

What is dysfunctional breathing?

Dysfunctional breathing means breathing in a way that does not optimize the body’s capacity for air exchange, delivering life-giving air to the cells.

Most of us in the modern world suffer from dysfunctional breathing.

This includes restricted breathing, stressed breathing, and over-breathing.

Dysfunctional breathing is associated with poor sleep.

In this post you will learn:

• The relationship between dysfunctional breathing and poor sleep.

• What stressed breathing does to your sleep.

• How dysfunctional breathing can cause anxiety.

• The best way to breathe for improved sleep.

The relationship between dysfunctional breathing and poor sleep

Do you wake up in the morning and still feel tired - even after ample sleep?

The reason for this is most likely because your sleep is being interrupted over the course of a night.

This is called "sleep fragmentation". 

Sometimes the interruptions are so short that you don't even realize you woke up, you just surface from sleep for a second or two and then dive down again.

This situation prevents you from getting adequate deep sleep - the kind of sleep needed to repair the body and mind. 

You wake up and just don't feel refreshed.

You probably feel sluggish, irritable, and foggy.

You are not feeling energized and you would love to just stay under the covers and rest for as long as possible.

The way not to breathe

OK, so what causes sleep fragmentation, and how is this related to breathing?

Sleep fragmentation can be the result of constricted breathing.

Constricted breathing results in poor airflow into the lungs.

Imagine your airway as a pipe from your nose to your lungs. When air flows through the nose it gets warmed and moistened. Breathing through the nose increases the oxygen delivered to the lungs and enhances delivery to the cells.

We are meant to breathe through the nose.

Instead, most of us breathe through the mouth.

When we breathe through the mouth, we get constricted breathing.

Breathing through the mouth allows dry air down the air passages and into the lungs. This causes chronic inflammation of the bronchial tubes, restricting airflow.

Keeping the mouth open during sleep changes the architecture of the mouth, reducing airflow.

With the mouth open, the throat is more constricted. You can experience the difference right now; notice airflow through your throat with your mouth closed. Now open your mouth wide and notice the difference.

This is especially important during sleep because along with other parts of the body, the throat relaxes.

With a closed mouth, there is a sufficient passage for air to flow through. Also, the tongue is less likely to fall to the back of the mouth restricting airflow and causing sleep apnea. 

When breathing is constricted, you can't get adequate deep sleep.

The brain will allow more light sleep or may wake you up completely if you have stopped breathing altogether, as in sleep apnea.

The problem of constricted breathing is a continuum, not only confined to sleep apnea.

It is a matter of not getting sufficient air to your lungs, keeping you in more light sleep when you should be in deep sleep, and causing sleep fragmentation.

Do you wake up with a dry mouth in the morning?

This is a sure sign that you are mouth breathing at night, interfering with efficient sleep.

Another reason you can feel fatigued, not only when you wake up in the morning, but all day long, is due to inefficient air exchange, also caused by mouth breathing.

The solution to overcome constricted breathing is breathing through the nose.

How to solve this problem:

Practice breathing through the nose.

Practice this during the day to get familiar with it and to get into the habit of nose breathing. In fact, nose breathing should be practiced all the time unless you are talking or eating.

How? Shut your mouth. Breathe.

Stress causes dysfunctional breathing

Do you find your mind racing, feeling wired, so you are unable to fall asleep when you want to?

You can solve this problem with your breath.

So how is that?

In our hyped-up modern life, we are often in a constant state of low-grade stress.

This causes the heart to pump a bit faster, the blood vessels to dilate, and the breathing rate to increase.

We can't consciously tell our heart to slow down, or our adrenaline to settle down.

Even our thoughts can be difficult to control.

Luckily there is one signal that we do have conscious control of and with that signal, we can tell our body that all is well and that it can calm down, and relax.

That signal is the breath.

The breath is the key to calming the body and mind.

Many of us breathe too fast.

We breathe from the upper chest in short fast breaths.

Fast breathing triggers the danger signal in our primitive brain. When we are asleep and breathing too fast, this part of our brain senses danger and keeps us in a state of shallow sleep so that we can more easily wake up in the case of an emergency.

This contributes to sleep fragmentation. The brain wakes up for micro-moments or stays in light sleep more than it should.

The solution to overcoming this includes:

• Nose breathing - which slows down the breath

• Training yourself to breathe more slowly during the day

The missing link between anxiety and poor sleep

Do you suffer from anxiety, getting in the way of sleep?

A feeling of anxiety is triggered by breathing in a certain way - fast, hard, and high in the chest. In other words, anxiety is triggered by dysfunctional breathing.

When you feel anxious you automatically breathe this way and this in turn heightens the feeling of anxiety.

Anxiety is actually triggered by the brain's interpretation of how much carbon dioxide is in your bloodstream.

There is a subtle sense which may not even be conscious, of not getting enough air, and this triggers anxiety. So, you breathe faster and deeper.

In fact, you do have ample air. You have enough oxygen to breathe.

Your brain has just interpreted the level of carbon dioxide incorrectly due to a habit of dysfunctional breathing.

You can train your brain to interpret the level of carbon dioxide correctly. This will eliminate this underlying sense of anxiety that can interfere with your sleep.

You reset your brain's interpretation of carbon dioxide saturation by:

• always breathing through the mouth

• slowing your breathing down

• breathing in a bit less with each breath

Why you are a light sleeper

Do you experience insomnia - a chronic difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep?

One of the factors that contribute to insomnia is something called a low arousal threshold.  This means that you wake up easily.

You probably call yourself a "light sleeper".

Once you wake up, you find it hard to fall back asleep.

Over time you come to the conclusion that you can't sleep and that feeds the problem even more.

So, how is a low arousal threshold influenced by breathing?

When you breathe too fast, too heavily, and too high in the chest, the alarm branch of your nervous system is signaling that all is not well.

The primitive part of your brain keeps you in light sleep, in case of emergency. You are much more easily awoken in this state of light sleep.

Many people who suffer from chronic insomnia also experience an undercurrent of low-grade stress and anxiety during the day.

Sometimes this is not even noticed, as it feels "normal".

The bodily functions signaling "danger", even at a subtle level, keep you stressed day and night, interfering with sleep and your enjoyment of life.

This can all be turned around by developing new breathing habits.

Habits that calm the body and mind, allowing for deep sleep, a healthy body, and a relaxed mind.

Here is a summary of how to breathe well:

Breathe through the nose

Breathe from the diaphragm, not the chest

Breathe more slowly

Breathe lightly (less air per breath)

Want a primer in breathing to help you get to sleep?

​CLICK HERE FOR A FREE RESOURCE!​

PS. Concerned about Sleep Apnea?

Coming up soon in a future post - what it is and how to correct it - with some options to correct the problem that I bet you've never heard of!