Breathe Better in 2026: Top Breath Boosters to Kick‑Start Your Health
- Charlotte Marsh
- Jan 1
- 4 min read
If the New Year has made you think about creating a healthier version of you, then there’s no better place to begin than with the way you breathe, because how you breathe really does shape how you feel, rest, calm and perform.
Better breathing isn’t wellness fluff, it’s supported by respiratory science showing that slower, nasal, diaphragmatic breaths influence our nervous system, oxygen delivery, stress levels and resilience. 
Healthy breathing follows a few major principles, we can teach them using the code for better breathing; NEAT.
N - for Nose: Nasal breathing is key, it filters, warms, enriches air with nitric oxide a natural gas that fights germs and opens blood vessels; a built-in defence system. Children are born nasal breathers, but by age 12, 40% revert to mouth breathing, losing all of the protective benefits of the nose.
E - for Easy movement: Diaphragm-led breathing creates 360-degree expansion, supporting posture, growth, and gas exchange in the lower lungs.
A - for Air: It’s not “take a big breath” we never even use all of the oxygen in each breath that we take in! And most dysregulated clients already over-breathe. The key is to use each breath efficiently, calming the nervous system.
T - for Time: altering the rythmn of your breathing changes your nervous state. We must remember that young children breathe faster than adults, around twice the rate. The exercises we use need to be age-appropriate and paced just right to stimulate the vagus nerve, helping bodies of various ages settle and minds connect.
Here are some of my favourite tools and products for 2026 that can help you and your family breathe better and feel better.
📖 1. Susie Sloth and Her Secret Superpower: this fun activity book for children includes five of Susie Sloth’s favourite breathing exercises.
A beautiful, accessible guide that introduces five breathing exercises designed to shape healthier breath patterns, from nasal breaths to slow exhales and even a beginners buteyko breath hold. These aren’t just fun for kids but biologically grounded, helping nervous systems shift toward calm and balanced states through paced diaphragmatic breathing. Children absorb our own nervous state, so having a grown up read this book with children is the perfect place to start 😉. Research shows slow, controlled breathing increases vagal tone and supports parasympathetic activation (the “rest & digest” state), improving HRV and emotional regulation. 
👉 Get it here: Susie Sloth and Her Secret Superpower
🕰️ 2. Loftie Clock: A Breath‑Friendly Wake‑Up & Wind‑Down Tool
This minimalist sleep and alarm clock replaces the need for your phone at bedtime and includes guided soundscapes and calming audio tracks that naturally lead your body into slower respiration before sleep. Ambient cues like soundscapes are shown to influence respiratory rate and promote relaxation, helping you activate parasympathetic responses before sleep. 
🔗 Buy Loftie Clock for calmer, screen‑free nights.
🧘♀️ 3. Komuso Necklace: Stylish Breath Reminder Pendant
Not just a piece of jewellery, the Komuso necklace acts as a wearable cue to pause, exhale slowly and shift your breath toward calm. Slow, intentional breathwork engages the vagus nerve and supports physiological regulation, an effect that has been captured in research on voluntary slow breathing improving heart rate variability and stress profiles. 
🔗 Wear your reminder to breathe slow and deep.
🐦 4. Moonbuddy Bibi Bird: Guided Breathing for Kids
Children naturally breathe faster and can benefit from cues that shape a slower respiratory rhythm. The Moonbuddy Bibi Bird gently guides kids through breath pacing that lowers physiological arousal and helps them calm down, which mirrors findings that slow, deep breathing can reduce stress responses in children and teens. 
🔗 Help little ones breathe, calm down & relax https://tr.ee/K7gz-tSlCc
😴 5. MyoTape Mouth Tape: Nasal Breathing All Night
MyoTape gently encourages light lip closure during sleep so that the nose does the breathing it was designed to do. Nasal breathing increases nitric oxide production, a powerful vasodilator that enhances oxygen uptake, lowers blood pressure, and supports immune defense, this has been shown to improve parasympathetic regulation compared with mouth breathing. 
🔗 Swap mouth breathing for restorative nasal breathing.
👃 6. Nasal Strips: Open Nasal Airways Naturally
Nasal strips support nasal airflow by slightly widening your nasal passages. This is important because nasal breathing filters, warms and humidifies incoming air and releases nitric oxide; improving oxygen uptake and cardiovascular function. Mouth breathing does none of the same things. Studies also show nasal dilators can reduce airflow resistance and improve subjective sleep quality for people with congestion. 
🔗 Try nasal strips for clearer, easier breathing.
🌟 Why These Breath Boosters Work: Evidence‑Driven Insights
Every item above supports one or more scientifically observed mechanisms:
• Nasal breathing increases nitric oxide production, improves oxygen uptake, and activates parasympathetic balance. 
• Slow paced breathing enhances vagal tone and HRV, which is linked with lower stress and better emotional regulation. 
• Guided respiration and rhythmic cues (whether electronic or tactile) help train your nervous system into calm states. 
• Habits like mouth taping reinforce nasal breathing and can support sleep quality and autonomic balance. 
🌙 Breathe Well, Live Well in 2026
Good breathing supports everything from calm and focus to deeper rest, better athletic performance and emotional resilience. These tools actively support better breathing, giving your biology a gentle nudge in the right direction.
Better breathing doesn't demand perfection. It asks for awareness, consistency, and kindness towards your body.
Start a better breathing habit - one calmer breath at a time, try out the N.E.A.T. code for better breathing.
Because when breathing improves, sleep improves, focus improves, emotional regulation improves - and everything else tends to follow.
I hope 2026 starts gently and brings you smiles and plenty of special moments,
Charlotte
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