Top 9 signs you might be a mouth breather
One of my favorite ways to practice nasal breathing is in nature.
Nothing pulls me into the moment more than staring up at the beauty around us. You may know of this as forest bathing or mindfulness. It’s definitely meditative for me. Photo taken in October 2024 on the trails of Lacunas Creek/Round Lake in Camas, Washington.
How do you know if you’re breathing through your nose?
Nasal breathing, or breathing in and out through your nose, can change your life. It’s changed mine. I’ve been a mouth breather for as long as I can remember and have been working over the years to change that. We can be mouth breathers for many reasons and it’s not uncommon - we all breathe through our mouths when we talk or maybe when we’re really congested - but it’s much healthier to breathe through your nose (inhale and exhale). See the links at the bottom for more resources on the power of nasal breathing.
At Spears Strong we work with clients to practice and improve their breathing so they can breathe in and out through their noses as much as possible to reap the many health benefits. But sometimes it’s hard to know or we forget to pay attention and our default breathing takes over. Below are some ways I know when I’m mouth breathing and things you might not know could be caused by breathing through your mouth. Take a nice inhale and exhale through your nose and read on!
9. Yawning: Frequent yawning or taking a big sigh (also known as a stress breath) can be a sign that you’re breathing through your mouth. When we take in too much oxygen – which happens when we breathe through our mouths – it causes disruptions in our breathing and despite taking in too much air we feel oxygen deprived, causing a need to yawn or sigh.
8. Hiccups: Get the hiccups a lot? It could be caused by too much air getting in when we’re eating or drinking. This happens if you’re like me and you tend to eat rapidly as if you were training for a food eating contest.
7. Dizzy/Light headed: Mouth breathing causes us to breathe too fast and too shallow, which increases our heart rate. If we are exclusively breathing through our mouths this can cause lightheadedness or dizziness.
6. Loud Breathing: If you – or more likely someone around you – can hear your breathing, you might be a mouth breather. Of course when we are pushing ourselves physically we can breathe loudly through our mouth or nose but if we can hear our breathing when doing mellow things like walking down the hallway or up a short flight of stairs we might be breathing through our mouths.
5. You get sick/colds frequently: Your nose is your first and best defense against viruses/bacteria. It does an incredible job of filtering your air but if you breathe through your mouth all that icky stuff gets in and you get sick, which causes nasal congestion, which makes it harder to breathe through your nose. And the vicious cycle continues until we slowly and consistently work on our nasal breathing.
4. You’re stressed or anxious. Going back to the shallow breathing caused by breathing through your mouth. This also creates anxious feelings. Mouth breathing is proven to cause anxiety and also if we’re anxious we breathe through our mouths so which comes first? Who knows. Doesn’t matter. What matters is there’s a way out of the loop. Try it out, breathe through your mouth and see how you feel then breathe through your nose and notice.
3. You’re thirsty - dehydrated. When our mouths are open we lose water and can more quickly become dehydrated. Teachers and people who talk a lot are prone to this and need to replenish fluids often. If you have to talk a lot, try taking a breath in and out through your nose between each sentence or when you pause in your talking. This has the bonus effect of improving your public speaking with nice pacing.
2. Mouth Health is impacted: Drooling, cavities, bad breath … all common symptoms of mouth breathing.
1. Chapped Lips! At this point in my breathing training the number one way I know I’ve been doing more mouth breathing than usual is chapped lips. Before I started breathing through my nose I would get chapped lips so bad tht the skin would peel off and my lips would often bleed. Now, I hardly ever get chapped lips or even have to use chapstick … unless I’m breathing through my mouth because I’ve been talking too much, I’m stuffed up or I’m stressed and unaware.
The health benefits of nasal breathing are numerous while the health determinants of mouth breathing are clear. If you struggle to breathe through your nose or don't’ know where to start, we’re here for you. Breathing is one of our Health Coaching Themes of the Month and we train you on how you can – slowly and step by step – improve your breathing.
Additional Resources
Oxygen Advantage, by Patrick Mckeown
The Surprising Benefits that come from Breathing through your Nose
Curiosity of the Week: Shelby’s story via video (Spears Strong client access required, login to your wellness living profile)