Resting bitch face is my new default facial expression. You’re probably wondering why or you could care less because you don’t know me. Take a look at this post where I’m smiling. I’ve been a chronic smiler my whole life. I never gave it much thought before, though I’ve definitely been mistaken for not being serious. For someone who’s run through bouts of depression and extreme social anxiety, I think it was my way of showing the world everything was alright. Now I’m beginning to wonder if there was something deeper at play. I’ll explain.
This will all tie back into epigenetic orthodontics, you’ll see.
I was a mouth breather. There, I said it. It wasn’t readily apparent at first glance. My mouth didn’t hang open, nor my upper lip jut out. This look, by the way, carries a social perception of lower IQ by as much as 30 points! I say was because I’m purposefully biohacking my health or experimenting with small lifestyle changes to dramatically improve my well being and stop mouth breathing. Since I am paying a small fortune to have my palate expanded with an appliance, I thought it wise to take the initiative and do everything within my power to improve my facial structure. Before I embarked on this venture, I had no idea of the exponential consequences of mouth breathing. I also never thought that my chronic smiling could be hiding my bad breathing habit.
I do know that when I am under stress, I smile. When I’m depressed, feel anxious, nervous, or have one of my raging migraine headaches, I smile. I’ve done this my whole life. My theory is that smiling opened up the nasal passages to facilitate breathing more deeply. I also rest my tongue between my teeth to prop my mouth open. Not to mention, I have tori mandibularus which means there is no room in my mouth for my tongue. Smiling subconsciously works in conjunction with biting my tongue to keep my mouth open for breathing without having the signature gaping pie hole. I can’t say for certain that smiling was hiding my mouth breathing, but it seems entirely plausible.
Building on this concept I’m beginning to realize that some of my lethargy, falling asleep at my desk, and poor posture are not JUST the result of years spent in front of a computer doing CAD work. Although I didn’t have the gaping mouth of a mouth breather, I did develop the typical mouth breather profile as seen in this post, forehead and jaw back with nose forward and head forward of shoulders. Funny thing is, I’ve been trying to correct my posture, but it is so hard. Now, I think I understand why. Mouth breathing and bad posture are self reinforcing and it’s almost impossible to correct these until you start breathing through your nose, but for some people like myself, breathing through your nose is almost impossible without some intervention. See the dilemma?
People who can’t breath through their nose tend to jut their head forward to open the airway. This is done without their awareness of course. When the head is not aligned with the shoulders, it becomes heavier to carry and causes neck and back pain. Trying to maintain good posture becomes a battle as your body is trying to breath better and you’re fighting to exhaustion trying to keep your head upright. It becomes a nearly impossible feat.
What is one to do? I can only speak for myself, but I am undergoing palate expansion as mentioned and that has already opened up my right nostril allowing me to breath through my nose for the first time in my life. I’m building on this by being aware of my breathing throughout the day and maintaining my nasal breathing. I’m consciously eating tougher foods and continuing to adhere to a primal diet. Also, like this writer, I am adopting the mantra “TEETH TOGETHER. LIPS TOGETHER. TONGUE ON THE ROOF OF YOUR MOUTH.” Hence, why you may see me walking around with my new resting bitch face. I tried out my new face when I went to pick up my Auto PAP machine yesterday and I was met with a health worker who mirrored my look. Once I revealed my DNA appliance, the health worker immediately softened, realizing my face was not an indication that I was a non-compliant bitchy patient, just someone trying to hide a lot of metal and plastic. I’m not really hiding it, just working on my mantra.
Side note: I’ll be using the APAP for the first time tonight and I’m going to pick up some mouth tape, so I can continue to train myself to breath through my nose at night. I’ll post an update as soon as that experiment happens.
elitrope 