If you have a breathing-related issue and would like support to improve your condition, book an online assessment for only AU$59.

These assessments help identify unbalanced or dysfunctional breathing patterns, such as mouth breathing, thoracic-dominant or paradoxical breathing, rapid breathing, hyperventilation, hypoventilation, and irregular breathing patterns, which can cause or worsen symptoms associated with stress and a range of medical conditions including rhinosinusitis, asthma, COPD, snoring, sleep apnoea, inducible laryngeal obstruction, gastro-oesophageal reflux, functional cardiac syndrome, thrombosis, anxiety, panic attacks, insomnia, chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis, Long COVID, and can also reduce exercise tolerance and sports performance.

Following an assessment, personalised recommendations will be made for you. For more information, contact The Breathing Clinic, or buy now for only AU$59 and you will be contacted to arrange your online breathing assessment. Distance is no obstacle - all you need is a good internet connection!

 

When:  Saturday and Sunday 25 & 26 March 2023 AEST

Time:  9am - 5pm AEST (click to check your time zone)

Where:  Online - attend from the comfort of your own home!

Presenter:  Tina Taylor, Respiratory Educator & Breathing Therapist

This online seminar is delivered over 2 days!  This is not a pre-recording - it's delivered LIVE by yours truly!  I'd love to see you there if you're interested in learning more about why it's important to breathe right for life. I would love someone from every household to possess this knowledge because breathing right is foundational to quality of life in ways that most people do not appreciate simply because this information is not widely known. As a university-qualified Respiratory Educator, and Breathing Therapist, I want to change that, which is why this seminar is offered at a price that is hopefully affordable for families.  

If you register to attend this seminar, you will receive an electronic summary of the material presented, so that if you cannot attend the entire seminar, you will nonetheless have material you can read or review at your leisure. You will also have access to audio recordings and written material, so you can begin integrating healthy breathing patterns into everyday life if you haven't already! 

Some people may be perfectly satisfied with their breathing, whereas others may want to fine-tune or optimise their breathing, or reduce breathing-related symptoms to improve their quality of life. This is where Breathing Retraining Programmes come into play. Registering to attend this seminar entitles you to discounted Breathing Retraining Programmes, explained in more detail at the end of this seminar outline.    

Seminar Day 1 (Saturday 25 March) is all about the importance of breathing nasally and why it's so important to address mouth breathing - including when we sleep! Day 1 also addresses the importance of using the diaphragm as the "prime mover of respiration" and the adverse effects associated with thoracic-dominant and paradoxical breathing patterns. Topics include:

• Common causes of mouth breathing including nasal valve collapse, deviated septum, enlarged turbinates, nasal polyps, rhinosinusitis, enlarged adenoids/tonsils, narrow upper upper jaw, retracted low jaw, and tongue tie.
• Why nasal breathing is our body's first line of defence against infection and essential to the health of the respiratory system.
• The importance of nitric oxide from our nasal sinuses and how mouth breathing dimishes this vital gas in the airway!
• The critical role of nasal breathing and "correct oral posture at rest" in shaping oral + facial development in children, and how prolonged mouth breathing can lead to structural changes that predispose children and adults to crowded, crooked teeth, high palatal arch, nasal obstruction, upper airway resistance syndrome, snoring + sleep apnoea, as well as issues related to oral health, speech, hearing, swallowing, TMJ dysfunction, mood, learning, and behaviour.
• How nasal congestion can lead to a "sniffing" pattern of breathing that can cause/worsen nasal valve collapse, nasal hyper-sensitivity and over-use of the upper chest breathing muscles.
• How mouth breathing promotes a forward head posture (FHP), which can cause postural imbalance, pain, and impair diaphragm function, and how mouth breathing, FHP, and over-use of upper chest breathing muscles can cause inducible laryngeal obstruction, strained voice, and muscle "dysponesis" i.e., recruitment of non-respiratory muscles during breathing causing dysfunction in other body parts.
• The various sub-types of sleep apnoea and how dysfunctional breathing can compromise the efficacy of conventional sleep apnoea treatments such as CPAP + MAD.
• How mouth breathing may aggravate certain psychiatric illnesses due to the absence of "brain lateralisation" associated with nasal breathing and "nasal cycles", and may contribute to memory loss and cognitive decline.
• Why low serotonin and low carbon dioxide contribute to nasal congestion and how mouth breathing leads to "de-afferentation", worsens nasal congestion, and perpetuates nasal disuse + nasal health decline, which does not improve with nasal surgery. 
• Why the diaphragm is designed to do most of the work of breathing for the body and how diaphragmatic breathing improves ventilatory efficiency of the lungs. 
• The role of the diaphagm in posture and core stabilisation, airway clearance, digestion, defecation, and lympathics, as well as the diaphragm's role as an "external lower oeseophageal sphincter".
• Why it's important to be able to use the diaphragm when you are at rest and when you want to relax, and why the diaphragm is integral to core stability.
• What can cause thoracic-dominant and paradoxical breathing and what are the potential consequences.
• How over-use of the upper chest breathing muscles can cause or contribute to gastro-oesophageal reflux, obstructive sleep apnoea, voice disorders, inducible laryngeal obstruction, and "muscle dysponesis".

Seminar Day 2 (Sunday 26 March) explains the adverse effects of rapid breathing, as well as hyperventilation, hypoventilation and irregular breathing patterns, and addresses whether techniques such as the Wim Hof Method are suitable for all people. This final day also addresses COVID-19 and Long COVID and the role of breathing retraining in recovery and rehabilitation. Topics include:

• How upper chest breathing can often be accompanied by rapid breathing, which can lead to hyperinflation (as well as hyperventilation or hypoventilation) and why this can worsen stress, anxiety, airway obstruction, and compromise sports and exercise performance.
• Why it is important to develop a 1:2 breathing ratio and what this means.
• How rapid breathing can cause over-stimulation of the nervous system causing or contributing to stress, anxiety and insomnia as well as decreased heart rate variability (HRV) and cardiac symptoms.  
• The benefits of breathing at 6 breaths per minute as a therapeutic breathing technique to increase HRV and support autonomic nervous system balance and better stress management.
• How stress can trigger the "fight/flight response" or "freeze response" and what this means for our breathing and physiology.
• Why over-breathing (hyperventilation) causes hypocapnia (low carbon dioxide) and respiratory alkalosis (excessively alkaline blood), triggering a cascade of biochemical shifts in the body and a raft of symptoms and effects.
• What can cause hyperventilation.
• Why hyperventilation decreases oxygen in the cells of the body and why carbon dioxide is not a waste gas.
• How rapid, thoracic breathing can contribute to hyperventilation symptoms. 
• How stress, fear, anxiety and trauma increase the number and intensity of hyperventilation symptoms.
• How our thinking about our symptoms can worsen symptoms.
• How over-reacting to hyperventilation symptoms and dyspnoea (breathing difficulty) causes breathing instability and "increased loop gain" and what this means.
• How hyperventilation can cause mental + physical fatigue and worsens chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)/myalgic encephalomyalitis (ME) + certain cases of Long COVID.
• How hyperventilation can cause thrombosis, which may lead to pulmonary embolism, heart attack, stroke.
• How hyperventilation can affect blood vessels, the brain, the airway and gut.
• How chronic hyperventilation can cause a "false or low carbon dioxide set-point" and what this means.
• What can cause hypoventilation.
• Possible effects of hypoventilation include cardiometabolic syndrome, hypertension, depression, and low vitamin D3 levels.
• In children, hypoventilation can occur due to enlarged adenoids or narrow upper jaw/retracted mandible occluding the airway during sleep, causing daytime sleepiness, poor concentration, low mood and behavioural issues. 
• What are irregular breathing patterns and how do they worsen stress and anxiety.
• What are the benefits of interrmittent hypoxic training (IHT) and hormetic stress.
• Under what circumstances is deliberate hyperventilation (e.g. Wim Hof Method, Holotropic Breathing) appropriate and inappropriate.
• COVID-19 and Long COVID, the prevalence of dysfunctional breathing in Long COVID, and the role of breathing retraining in recovery and rehabilitation.

Note: this seminar clearly explains what "healthy" breathing patterns look like and includes access to audio as well as written material to get you started at home. For people who want to take things further, the Breathing Retraining Programmes include more than 30 instructional videos and more than 100 pages of written material to support the breathing retraining process. More details are provided below.

Professionally-supported Breathing Retraining Programme

When: Available April 2023.

Where:  Online consultations or in-person consultations on the Atherton Tablelands.

PRICE:  $349 (valued at $539) (save $190) 

Includes:

• 2hr breathing assessment
• 4 x 1hr consultations, including final re-assessment
• PLUS lifetime access to over 30 online videos and over 100 pages of written material detailing the breathing exercises and techniques contained in the Breathing Retraining Programme.

The sections in this Breathing Retraining Programme include:

• Baseline breathing observations.
• Nasal breathing rehabilitation.
• Optimising the use of the breathing muscles (diaphragm, intercostals, upper chest).
• Using the diaphragm for relaxation.
• Using the diaphragm for core stabilisation.
• Mindful reduced relaxed breathing and techniques to address hyperventilation.
• Resonance frequency breathing for HRV and hypoventilation.

Additional consultations, if needed, can also be purchased at the reduced rate of $60 per 1hr session (rather than $80) or $50 per 30-minute session (rather than $60).       

Take part in Breathing Research ... and SAVE!

When:  Commencing April 2023.

Where:  Online consultations only.

PRICE:  $149 (valued at $699) (save $550) 

I’m inviting expressions of interest from members of public to take part in research I’m undertaking through The Breathing Clinic to assess the efficacy of breathing retraining to relieve symptoms and improve quality of life associated with stress and a range of medical conditions that can trigger unbalanced or dysfunctional breathing patterns that can cause or worsen symptoms associated with those conditions. This research programme includes:

• 2hr breathing assessment
• 6 x 1hr consultations, including final re-assessment
• PLUS lifetime access to over 30 online videos and over 100 pages of written material detailing the breathing exercises and techniques contained in the Breathing Retraining Programme.

If you have a breathing-related issue and would like to be considered as a candidate for this research project, please send an expression of interest to The Breathing Clinic (by clicking here). I look forward to hearing from you!