THE MISSING LINK WITH SLEEP APNEA
Finding rest again with better breathing.
Unknowingly having your breath stop while you sleep is a daunting thought. Yet for many people, this is a nightly reality. Sleep Apnea is a condition where breathing repeatedly pauses during sleep, and a lot of people go undiagnosed.
Many of my clients first become aware of a potential problem not only through a formal sleep study, but because a partner notices their breathing pauses at night. Often commenting that their breathing resumes with a gasp or erratic pattern, a classic sign of Sleep Apnea.
Who Is at Risk?
Sleep Apnea can affect anyone (my youngest client is infact 26), but certain factors increase the risk:
Age and hormones: As we get older, our chances of developing Sleep Apnea rise. In women, perimenopause brings fluctuations in hormones such as progesterone, which plays a role in keeping the airways open. Sleep Apnea is however more common in males.
Weight and body structure: Carrying extra weight, especially around the neck, can increase pressure on the airway and contribute to collapse during sleep
Asthma: Research shows that individuals with asthma are 2.5 times more likely to develop Sleep Apnea
Snoring: Loud or chronic snoring can often be an early warning sign. If you haven’t yet developed Sleep Apnea but you’re keeping the house up with your uncontrollable snoring, I highly suggest we reverse the snoring now before it escalated into something more sinister such as Sleep Apnea.
So Snoring could be a Warning Sign?
Snoring isn’t just a nuisance for your partner, it can be a precursor to Sleep Apnea. If your snoring is loud enough to keep others awake or is described as “like a freight train,” it’s time to pay attention. Early intervention may prevent progression to more serious airway collapse.
I often explain it to clients using the wet paper straw analogy: you know that frustrating moment when you try to sip a drink but the soggy straw collapses in on itself? That’s similar to what happens in your airways when you’re breathing too hard for the size of your airways.
Why It Matters
Untreated Sleep Apnea puts strain on the body in several ways:
Sleep disruption: Prevents deep, restorative rest, leading to fatigue and poor concentration
Cardiovascular stress: Increases the risk of high blood pressure, irregular heart rhythms, heart attack, and stroke
Metabolic effects: Linked with insulin resistance, Type 2 Diabetes, and weight gain
Mental health: Associated with anxiety, depression, and mood instability
Why Breathing Habits Matter
The way we breathe during the day often carries into the night. Upper chest, loud, or heavy breathing can increase the risk of airway collapse, especially when lying on the back. By contrast, healthy breathing habits; slow, light, and through the nose - can help maintain airway stability and support restful sleep.
This is where Functional Breathing Training can make a difference. Poor daytime breathing patterns may contribute to sleep apnea, while retraining the breath can reduce severity and, in some cases, prevent it from worsening.
Here, we retrain the body to develop healthier breathing habits during the day, with the goal that these patterns will carry over into the night when we’re less in control.
Is Mouth Taping Part of the Protocol?
For many people, the idea of mouth taping can sound a little daunting at first. In reality, it’s a gentle and highly effective tool to help reinforce the breathing habits we’re retraining during the day. When the mouth falls open at night, it often drives harder, faster breathing patterns that can worsen sleep apnea.
Using a supportive product like MyoTape can encourage nasal breathing while still allowing for safety, as this tape is designed to let you “mouth puff” if needed. This is especially important for those with diagnosed or suspected Sleep Apnea, since completely restricting mouth breathing may actually aggravate symptoms. Over time, the goal is for mouth puffing to naturally subside as healthier breathing patterns become established.
Mouth taping can also be used safely alongside a CPAP machine, offering additional support in creating a more stable breathing environment overnight.
Types of Sleep Apnea
Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA): The most common type, where the airway physically collapses. Factors include weak tongue and jaw muscles (the tongue can literally fall back into the airway). In these cases, I often refer clients also to Myofunctional Therapists (a match made in heaven) who specialise in strengthening oral and facial muscles, alongside breath training.
Central Sleep Apnea (CSA): Caused by the brain failing to send proper signals to breathing muscles. Here, working on CO₂ tolerance and biochemical balance through methods such as Buteyko Breathing can help reset the body’s breathing centre of the brain.
Diagnosis and Conventional Treatment
If you suspect Sleep Apnea, the first step is to speak with your GP and request a sleep study. This test measures breathing pauses (apneas) and can lead to a diagnosis of the type of Sleep Apnea you may have and your AHI number; apneas (cease in breathing) and your hypopnea (shallow breathing) episodes per hour of sleep.
The most common treatment is a CPAP machine (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure), which keeps airways open by delivering pressurised air. While necessary for some, CPAP adherence can be difficult and studies show that compliance hovers around 50% due to discomfort, cost, or inconvenience.
Where Functional Breathing Fits In
At Breathscape, I guide clients through a step-by-step process to restore healthy breathing prodominately focusing on Lighter Breathing for Sleep Apnea clients where we’re resetting CO₂ tolerance and improving oxygen delivery to cells as a bonus. As your body becomes less sensitive to this gas which is our main trigger to breathe, you’re breathing becomes naturally slower and driven by the diagphram. All factors critical to keeping your airways open.
Using approaches from the Buteyko Method, we gradually shift ingrained habits. For many clients with Sleep Apnea, this journey takes 5–6 sessions, with the goal of improving their Controlled Pause / BOLT (Body Oxygen Level Test) score to a consistent 25+ before considering a repeat sleep study to see if things have shifted.
The Bigger Picture
Good breathing isn’t just about the night, it’s about creating patterns of health during the day that carry into restful, restorative sleep. As Patrick McKeown often says:
“When we improve our breathing when awake, we improve our breathing when sleeping. And better sleep equals a better quality of life.”
