How to Breathe Through Your Mouth

There are a number reasons why you should breathe through your nose rather than your mouth. Your nose provides more resistance to the airflow, which slows your breathing down and increases the amount of oxygen that makes it into your system. Your nasal passages also filter and warm the air when you breathe in -- your mouth and throat can't perform that service.



However, there are times when you have to breathe through your mouth. For example, if you have a cold and your nose is blocked, you don't have another choice. You can help your body get higher levels of oxygen despite breathing through your mouth, by taking steps to breathe properly.

Instructions

• 1

  Breathe in slowly through your mouth. When you inhale through your nose, it takes several seconds to complete the breath. Try to take the same amount of time to inhale through your mouth as you usually take breathing through your nose.

• 2

  Expand your diaphragm while inhaling. You'll draw a deeper breath when you let the diaphragm do the work rather than your chest muscles. Your diaphragm is located just below your sternum, in the V-shaped space at the base of your ribs. Place your hand on this area when your breathe in. You should feel the muscle pushing your hand outward.

• 3

  Exhale slowly. When you breathe through your mouth, you tend to exhale much faster than when you breathe through your nose. This can send confusing signals to your body and result in higher mucus production. It can also speed up dehydration.

• 4

  Relax your diaphragm to exhale. Exhaling through your mouth should take no muscular effort at all, but can be accomplished solely through relaxing your breathing muscles.