Tongue Position While Breathing

Breathing- The Right Way

Where is Your Tongue Supposed to Be? 

Where is Your Tongue Positioned? 

Take a minute and find where your tongue is in your mouth….is it low and at the bottom of your mouth? Is it pushing on the back of your front teeth? Or is the tongue at the roof of the mouth? 

How to Check Your Tongue Position and Strength

Our tongue is made to live on the roof of your mouth without any pressure on the back of the front teeth. This position supports and improves nasal breathing. The other jobs the tongue has is to swallow, move food back and forth in the mouth, and for speaking. 

The tongue is a muscle, but how do you test it? Here is how to try: suction your tongue at the roof of your mouth, open your mouth, and now plug your nose. Can you breathe through your mouth in this position?? If you are unable to breathe through your mouth, that is great! Being able to breathe through your mouth indicates tongue weakness. 

Having posterior tongue weakness can cause sleep apnea, sleep disordered breathing, a restricted airway, and many other muscle and postural issues. 

Now What?

Myofunctional and physical therapy exercises can improve tongue strength and posture to promote proper nasal breathing! Try today!