5 Breathing Hacks to Transform Your Sleep & Focus | Patrick McKeown | Align Podcast #543

Align Podcast

Aaron Alexander

Health & Fitness, Alternative Health, Nutrition

4.8 • 900 Ratings

🗓️ 15 May 2025

⏱️ 104 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Struggling to sleep well or stay focused throughout the day

We’ve all been there… but most people don’t realize that just breathing right could actually fix both.

In this episode, breathing expert Patrick McKeown explains how simple changes in your breathing can transform brain function, sleep quality, and mental clarity.

He reveals the power of nasal breathing, the role of carbon dioxide, and how to safely use breathwork techniques to reduce anxiety and boost performance.

OUR GUEST

Patrick McKeown is a bestselling author and internationally recognized expert in breathing re-education, respiratory health, and performance. As the creator of Oxygen Advantage® and Director of Education & Training at Buteyko Clinic International, he has spent over two decades developing science-backed breathing techniques that improve respiratory function, mental clarity, and overall well-being. Through Buteyko Clinic International, Patrick has helped thousands manage asthma, sleep apnea, anxiety, and chronic conditions using evidence-based breath training. His Oxygen Advantage® method optimizes oxygen efficiency, CO₂ tolerance, and nervous system regulation, making it widely used in clinical practice, rehabilitation, and peak performance. Patrick’s work spans healthcare, elite sports, and corporate wellness, offering clear, practical strategies that unlock better health, resilience, and human potential.

PATRIC MCKEOWN

🌐 Website ▶ http://www.oxygenadvantage.com/

📸 Instagram ▶ https://www.instagram.com/oxygenadvantage/

📸 Instagram ▶ https://www.instagram.com/patrickmckeownofficial/

▶️ YouTube ▶ https://www.youtube.com/@OxygenAdvantage

🤳 TikTok ▶ https://www.tiktok.com/@oxygenadvantage

AARON ALEXANDER

📸 IG ▶ https://www.instagram.com/aaronalexander/

🤳 TIKTOK ▶ https://www.tiktok.com/@alignmethod

👉 SUBSCRIBE ▶ https://www.youtube.com/@AlignPodcast?sub_confirmation=1

🌐 WEBSITE ▶ https://www.alignpodcast.com

ABOUT

Aaron Alexander is a pioneering manual therapist and movement coach with over 5 years experience. He is the founder and creator of The Align Method, author of The Align Method book, and host of The Align Podcast which has ranked #1 in Nutrition on Apple Podcasts.

Aaron has worked with some of the world’s greatest professional athletes, performers, and celebrities to help relieve pain, improve strength, better flexibility, and ease the mind and body.

On this channel, Aaron interviews renowned experts in a range of fields focused on improving the mind and body. This mind and body podcast will teach you all that you need to know to become the healthiest version of yourself by integrating simplified ancient techniques and the foundational principles of The Align Method to strengthen your body, balance the mind, and activate healing systems in daily life.

The mission? To be the best personal growth podcast about healthy habits, redefine functional movement, and make fitness who you are; not what you do.

TOPICS

1. Breathing Techniques

2. Breathwork Exercises

3. Sleep Improvement

4. Snoring & Sleep Apnea

5. Anxiety and Stress Relief

6. Controlled Hyperventilation

7. Breathwork Myths

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Patrick McKeown, thank you for making time to come back again. I think this might be the third
0:04.8	conversation we've had. Yeah, I think it is actually. Pleasure. Thanks very much, Aaron. Patrick,
0:09.6	what is breathing? Well, that's a, that's a question, isn't it? It really depends. Everybody
0:17.5	is their own idea what breathing is. you know, what's breadth work?
0:27.6	Because it can range from the most gentlest and subtlest of breathing exercises to the most extreme.
0:29.1	And I don't say that likely, you know, what you can do with the breath is very powerful.
0:33.5	One could argue that it's even more powerful than physical exercise.
0:37.3	You can reduce blood flow to the brain by 20 to 40%, or you can increase blood flow to the brain by 20 to 40%.
0:44.2	You can bring it into your rest, into your movement, into your sleep.
0:48.5	You can hyperventilate. You can hypoventilate.
0:52.5	So breathing is a system whereby you have an understanding of what's involved
0:57.8	with Brett and you can influence the body and mind. And it's very important that when we talk
1:04.2	about breathing that we know what we're actually doing. Now that's not a criticism or anything like
1:09.5	that. You know, if we think of ultimately yarn, breathing involves, we have an inspiration, we
1:15.6	have an expiration.
1:17.4	So in the face of it, it's pretty simple.
1:20.2	And with that, we can either speed up our breathing.
1:22.8	We breathe faster, that's a stressor.
1:26.2	Or we can slow down our breathing, and that typically is a relaxer.
1:30.3	We could breathe harder and taking full breaths, and if it causes a lowering of carbon dioxide, it can be a stressor.
1:39.3	We can breathe lighter by breathing less air with each breath.
1:48.4	To generate a small degree of air hunger, that can induce relaxation.
	...

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