Sachin Patel (video dated Dec 21, 2021) explains why correct breathing is central to metabolic health and gives three practical practices: (1) correct oral posture (tongue placement) to support head posture and promote nasal breathing, (2) nasal breathing benefits (air pressurization, filtration, temperature/moisture regulation, increased nitric oxide which dilates blood vessels and has antiviral effects), and (3) mouth taping during sleep (he recommends 3M Micropore tape) to enforce nasal breathing, improve recovery, reduce snoring, and improve sleep metrics (HRV, resting heart rate). He cites a specific metabolic claim that ~8.5 of every 10 pounds of fat lost is expelled via the breath (as CO2 and water). The video includes actionable how-to cues (tongue placement: ~3/4 of tongue on the roof of the mouth with the tip gently touching behind the front two teeth) and links to further breathing trainings and gratitude breathwork.
Questions this video answers
December 21, 2021.
About 8.5 of every 10 pounds of fat lost (i.e., most fat is exhaled as CO2 and water).
About three quarters of the tongue on the roof of the mouth, with the tip gently touching the back of the front two teeth.
3M Micropore tape.
Chapters
Hello, my friend. It's Satchin. Hope you're awesome. In today's video, I want to talk about one of the most important elements to your health, especially your metabolic health, which is how you breathe. How we breathe is something that is of utmost importance when we're first born, right? It's the first thing doctors look for is the first thing the parents want to hear is the baby crying, because then they know the baby's breathing. And it's one of the last things that we pay attention to is, as we say, when somebody takes their last breath. So it's a very critical importance at certain intervals in our life, and then it's very rarely discussed after that. However, I'm here to tell you it's one of the most important things for you to be able to do correctly in order for you to enhance metabolic function. An interesting fun fact is that about out of every 10 pounds that you lose of body fat, eight and a half of it is actually through your breath. And, you know, believe it or not, one of the byproducts of fat metabolism is water and carbon dioxide. So it's one of our body's ways of getting rid of, you know, this waste product. We don't poop it out, as you might think, so, and we don't sweat it out, as you might think. It goes out through our breath and through our urine. So it's important for us to recognize that because then we start to realize how important breathing correctly is. Because we're not breathing correctly, then we are not burning fat appropriately and as efficiently as we possibly can. And depending on how we're breathing, we may actually be in sympathetic overdrive. So if you're not breathing correctly, it will lead to your body being in more of a fight or flight state, which is one of the keys to healthy metabolism. We don't want to be in Fight or Flight all the time. We want to be in Fight or Flight when it's appropriate, not when it's inappropriate. All right, so let's give you three things to work on. I'm going to give you three really simple things that you can do. However, I have some additional training that I've done. I did an open house recently, and that's a more extensive training on breathing, and I think you'll love that. So definitely check that out. And I'm also going to share with you a gratitude breath work that I did, which can take you into altered states of consciousness. So you want to have some fun with that, check that out as well. Breathing is such A vast topic. Many books have been written about it. One of my favorite books is Breath by James Nestor. And I would highly encourage you to read that book or listen to it. Even the audio version is really great. So let's get into these three things. Number one, oral posture. You don't hear too many people talking about this, but the positioning of your tongue actually enhances the way you breathe. And it's important that your tongue is in the right position because your tongue is also a postural muscle. So believe it or not, your tongue holds the front of your head up and this alleviates tension in your neck and shoulders. So if your neck and shoulders are always tight because you're sitting at your desk, it's not because you're sitting, that could be partly the issue, but it's mainly because your tongue may be in the wrong position. And when your tongue is in the right position orally, it's going to make a difference because it's going to relax your jaw, it's going to support the front of your head, relaxing the muscles in the neck and shoulders, and it's going to force you to breathe through your nose. Okay, so what is correct oral posture? Really simple. Three quarters of your tongue should be at the roof of your mouth and your tip of your tongue should be just gently touching the back of your front two teeth. So really simple, let's practice that right now. Nobody should know you're doing it right. So while you're on your zoom calls, while you're checking your emails, while you're doing anything you want to be conscientious of, where is my tongue positioned? And that's something that you can always come back to, right? Your breath and your oral posture. Alright, so that brings me to number two. Number two is nasal breathing. When your tongue is in the correct position, it's going to enhance your ability to breathe through your nose. Breathing through your nose has several benefits, many, many benefits. And one of them is that it pressurizes the air. Another one is that it cleanses the air. We have little hairs in our nose that filter the air. It also temperature regulates the air, so it can increase the temperature if it's cold, so cold air isn't going into our lungs and vice versa. It also enhances the moisture concentration of the air and it recaptures moisture as we breathe out. So if you're always dehydrated, if you've got a dry mouth all the time, and you're always thirsty, probably it's because you're not breathing through your nose. The Other thing that it does is when we breathe through our nose is it increases nitric oxide production. And nitric oxide production helps lower blood pressure because it dilates blood vessels and it also helps in killing viruses. And I'll let you put two and two together there. So breathing through our nose has so, so many benefits. Starts by correct oral posture, so tongue is in the right position. And then it's much easier for us to breathe through our nose. If you find it difficult to breathe through your nose initially, guess what? Your tongue is an organ that if you don't use it, you lose it. So if you've been breathing through your mouth for most of your life, then it's gonna feel a little bit weird breathing through your nose. You can probably tell my nose is a little bit deviated. I've got a deviated septum. So one of my nostrils works better than the other. But as I've incorporated these techniques, I don't find it restrictive. And I, in fact, used to snore because of my deviated septum, and now I don't snore anymore. So that brings me to number three, which is mouth taping. So one of the best things I've done for myself is tape my mouth with a little piece of tape and 3M micropore tape. I'll put a link below so you can get the exact tape that I use. And I would just put a little piece of tape. I just rip off about that much and I put it over my lips. So it's fine with my beard. It's fine if you don't have a beard. And it's a tape that is easy to take off, so it's not painful or anything to take it off. And it also is really easy for you to still breathe through your mouth if you need to. You can still speak if you need to. It's not like you're taping your mouth shut. So we don't want you to do that. We just want you to tape your mouth closed like this. That's going to allow you and enable you to passively breathe through your nose as you're sleeping, which is one of the most powerful things that you can do. You'll start dreaming again. You'll start remembering these dreams. You'll also have enhanced recovery and you'll wake up way more refreshed. If you wear an OURA ring like I do, you can even track to see how your HRV and your resting heart rate and things like that improve as well as a result of breathing correctly. So day number One tip number one, action number one is we want you to start breathing correctly. If you're not breathing correctly, then nothing else I'm going to teach you is going to work as effectively. And this could actually be one of the reasons that some things that you've tried in the past didn't work as well. In fact, you know, having been in the physical fitness world for quite some time, one of the things that your trainers always pay attention to is your form. However, we say that if your form breaks down, then you have to stop doing the exercise. However, the first thing that we want to pay attention to, breaking down, is your breathing. If your breathing breaks down, then you're not going to get as many benefits from exercise. So the first domino that needs to fall when it comes to your health, super easy, you can change it forever for the rest of your life from this point forward, or at least have consciousness towards it now, is how you breathe. I always tell people, if you want to feel better in 30 days, change your diet. If you want to feel better in a week, drink more water. If you want to feel better in the next five minutes, breathe correctly and watch the transformation that takes place. Once again. I've posted some additional resources for you to access. So take a look at those, engage with them. This is one of the most fascinating topics that I discuss and I absolutely love it. I'm also a breathwork physician facilitator and it's such a great way to enhance people's function in so many, so many ways, in so many powerful ways. So happy breathing, lots of love, and here's to your ultimate health. Bye for now.
