Poor breathing and athleticism
Strong nasal respiration, better muscle oxygenation, and straight alignment of your body’s skeleton, from the head all the way down the spine, are necessary if you want to excel at sports. For professional athletes, mastering effective breathing techniques can mean the difference between winning and losing.
Astute spectators will notice that certain athletes breathe through their lips during sporting bouts while others breathe through their noses. Next time you watch a sporting event, pay close attention to the way your favourite athlete breathes; you will most likely observe that it’s through their nose.
Poor spine alignment from poor breathing
Mouth breathers tend to carry their heads forward to compensate for airway restriction, with each inch of forward head posture increasing the weight of the head on the spine by approximately 10 pounds. The forward head posture may also put stress on the deep postural-stabilising muscles of your spine, which would reduce the effectiveness of those muscles.
Similarly damaging to spine alignment is tilting the head due to facial asymmetry. This in turn means you may have one eye orbit located higher than the other since the roof of your mouth is not level.
If your upper jaw is weak and crooked, your brain will automatically try to bring your higher eye down to the same level as your lower one to have a more normal visual field. As a result, the weaker side of your face will subconsciously cause you to tilt your head toward it.
You may have become a chronic head tilter if your eyes aren’t completely level, and your brain subconsciously tries to realign your binocular vision. This will lead to neck tension or pain and an imbalance of your spine. Therefore, correct tongue posture and a levelling of the roof of your mouth are critical to levelling your eye orbits.
How to fix bad posture
If you find yourself suffering from neck tension, hunched back, or forward head posture, chances are your issues are caused by poor posture and muscle strain. To assist with the discomfort and mend your posture; simply by following a couple of exercises you can improve the alignment of your head, neck muscles and jaw muscles.
Tongue Posture
Placing your tongue on the roof of your mouth, with the entire tongue including the back against your palate.
Chin Tucks
Gently tuck your chin toward your chest, creating a double chin, hold for a few seconds, then repeat.
Focus on Good Body Posture
When you find yourself slouching, correct your behaviour by keeping a straight spine, shoulders back and head held high.
