I have been bodybuilding for the past 20 years, working out about three times a week. In April I started power walking, and since May I have basically been exercising seven days a week, either working out or power walking. When I power walk I only breathe through my nose, and I keep my mouth shut. It took about three weeks before I was able to go around the entire track, which takes about an hour, with my mouth shut. Now when I work out I’m able to keep my mouth closed pretty much all the time.

Despite doing more exercise, I don’t feel worn out. On the contrary, I have gained a lot more energy and feel fitter.

Since I started practicing the Conscious Breathing Method this spring, I have lost about 5 kg, as well as gained about 3-4 kg of muscle mass, so I’ve been able to transform my fat to muscle. Now, when I go to the gym, I can add more weights and do more reps.

Feel less stressed and more creative

I also feel less stressed and more creative. For instance, I got an “idea book” to help me keep track of all the new ideas that keep popping up. One thing I found interesting is that I’m now exercising more because my body wants it, not because my brain is telling me it’s time to exercise.

I’ve slept with my mouth taped shut for one week now, and it has led to much better sleep quality. When I wake up, it feels like I have slept really well and am rested.

Since I started taping my mouth shut, I have started bringing up quite a lot of phlegm in the afternoons. As I understand it, this is the result of improved breathing during the night and means that my body is able to remove waste and is more balanced. The excess phlegm that I used to need to protect my airways and lungs is now coming out, because it’s not needed anymore.

My experience in the dental chair changed completely with nasal breathing

Update March 2011: I’ve always been afraid (horrified) of going to the dentist which manifested with a lots of saliva forming in my mouth, pain and breathing problems. Yesterday I had to see the dentist urgently, with an intense tooth ache. It ended up in a long and big root canal procedure lasting 45 minutes, with several more treatments to follow.

A few minutes into the treatment, that was just as awful as expected, I came to realize that I could start breathing WITH MY NOSE. To my big surprise it worked perfectly. I could easily have stayed there for twice as long—no problems what so ever with pain, breathing or saliva. By stopping holding my breath, and instead breathing rhythmically in and out through my nose, I was able to change the experience in the dental chair completely.