I catch myself doing it several times a week: mouth open, breathing loud and shallow, as if my body has forgotten everything I’ve spent years teaching other people. The irony isn’t lost on me – I’m a certified Buteyko breathing trainer, and yet I have to catch myself mid-breath and correct course.
That contradiction is oddly comforting, though. It reminds me that breathing isn’t something we master once and then own for life. It changes with us. And how well we know our own breath at 60, 70, or 80 may have a lot to do with how well we’ve been listening to it all along.
The Breath That Kept Changing on Me
I first noticed this during pregnancy. I was sitting in meditation, doing something I had done countless times before. I tried to settle into my familiar breathing rhythm – and simply couldn’t find it.
Nothing was dramatically wrong. I wasn’t gasping for air. But the rhythm I knew was suddenly unfamiliar. My growing body had changed the mechanics of breathing, and for a moment I realized just how much I had taken my own breath for granted.
It’s changing again now. I’m 49. No hot flashes yet, no racing heart – but I notice that my breathing isn’t quite the same as it used to be. Not dramatically different. Just… different. And strangely unsettling.
I knew intellectually that hormones and breathing were connected. But knowing something in theory and feeling it happen in your own body are two very different things.
Each time, I had to relearn something I thought I already owned: how to breathe.
Why the Nose Matters More Than We Realize
If there’s one thing I want every reader to take from this article, it’s this: whenever you comfortably can, breathe through your nose.
The nose filters, warms, and humidifies incoming air before it reaches the lungs. Mouth breathing bypasses much of that process and can contribute to a dry mouth and throat, snoring, and disrupted sleep.
What surprised me most, learning this professionally and then living it personally, is how often mouth breathing is simply a habit rather than something we consciously choose.
I’ve worked with people who assumed they had to breathe through their mouths, only to discover – gently, without forcing anything – that their noses could do far more of the work than they had realized.
And there is another reason I think this deserves our attention in midlife.
A large European study, published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, followed 1,438 women across three study periods and found that lung function declined faster during the menopausal transition and after menopause than would be expected from age alone. The researchers adjusted for factors including weight and smoking.
That doesn’t mean we should become anxious about every change in our breathing. It means something simpler: our respiratory system is part of the body going through this transition, too.
And perhaps that makes it worth listening to.
The Exercise I Actually Use: Breathe Light
Of all the techniques I teach, this is the one I return to myself – often while sitting at my desk, or the moment I notice I’ve drifted into mouth breathing again.
Sit comfortably, with your back supported and your shoulders and jaw relaxed.
Close your mouth gently and breathe in through your nose.
Make the breath in just slightly softer and shorter than usual – not a big inhale, but a smaller, quieter one.
Let the breath out naturally, without forcing it.
Continue until you notice a mild, manageable urge to breathe a little more. That small edge is the point – not discomfort, just awareness.
This isn’t about holding your breath or pushing through discomfort. If it feels uncomfortable, simply return to your normal breathing.
I’ve never managed this perfectly. Some days my breath settles within a minute. On other days – usually the stressful ones – it takes much longer.
And that’s fine.
The point was never perfection.
It was noticing.
Everything Changes – Including Your Breath
If pregnancy and midlife have taught me anything, it’s that the body keeps rewriting itself, and our breathing changes with it.
That isn’t necessarily a loss to mourn.
It may simply be another invitation to pay attention – the way you would pay attention to any relationship that matters.
I’d Love to Hear from You:
Have you noticed your breathing change at different points in your life? Do you tend to breathe through your nose or your mouth? And – be honest – without checking, do you know right now whether your mouth is open or closed?
