#192 Dr Rosalba Courtney (DO, PhD) is an osteopath, researcher, author and teacher.

Rosalba has a PhD on the topic of dysfunctional breathing and breathing therapy and has published widely in the scientific literature and contributed to textbook chapters. Rosalba is passionate about both the art and science of breathing. She believes that breathing combined with movement, mind-body techniques, other health practices has enormous potential as a tool to heal the mind and body. She is actively involved in ongoing research on broad topics related to breathing and health.

Rosalba has developed a system called Integrative Breathing Therapy based on the models and tools she developed during her PhD and subsequent research. She has trained health professionals from many disciplines including physiotherapy, psychology, speech and language pathology, osteopathy and integrative medicine in the theory and applications of breathing therapy for their field. She is currently developing her first online certification course in Foundations of Integrative Breathing Therapy for Health Professionals.

Rosalba also runs online and face to face programs for individuals and groups. These programs include Breath Mind Body, Functional Breathing Retraining, Healthy Breathing Healthy Child and Altitude Power Breathing. She sees private patients at the Breath and Body Clinic in Avalon and at Genbiome in Edgecliff, Sydney.

In this episode we cover

• What breathing issues or dysfunctions she commonly sees in children and why some of these occur
• Signs that a child's breathing may need attention
• The importance of nose breathing and the impact of nitric oxide
• What mouth breathing does to the oral microbiome
• Rosalba's thoughts on mouth taping for children
• Strategies that help to restore functional breathing and break vicious cycles
• How humming is such a great strategy on so many levels
• And so much more