Sleep better and reduce stress with breathing exercises – they will supercharge your life, and your gym workouts, experts say
- Taping his mouth before sleeping helped Patrick McKeown get a good night’s rest. Now he is one of many breathwork experts promoting ways to breathe better
- Breathing patterns are important for exercise, but the benefits can extend into daily life too, such as for stress relief, relaxation, energy and focus
When Patrick McKeown was young, he suffered from chronic asthma. He sought relief through medications and inhalers, without ever getting a good night’s sleep. Doctors assured him and his parents that he would “grow out of it”.
As he reached his 20s, and his asthma grew worse, the Irishman became interested in the breathwork teachings of the Russian Konstantin Buteyko, who developed the Buteyko method of low, light breathing through the nose.
Exasperated by his poor sleep and constant feeling of sluggishness, McKeown followed the instructions, clearing his nasal cavity before bed, and then literally taping his mouth closed before lying down to rest. The impact, he said, was almost immediate.
“Within a few days, I really started noticing a significant change in my sleep, and I was waking up feeling alert,” said McKeown. “I’d never woken up feeling alert before.”
Fast forward two decades, and McKeown has become a leading breathwork expert with bestselling books including The Oxygen Advantage, global speaking engagements and contracts to assist professional athletes and sports teams to improve their performance.