Myo Life

Transcript

Hey, I'm Carmen, and welcome to Myo Life. That's short for My Outrageous Life, which is exactly the kind of life I get to live since I found the courage to ditch dental hygiene and build a life I'm bonkers about as a myofunctional therapist and entrepreneur. Here you will find all things Myo business and how to build a life that you, too, are bonkers about. I'm very happy you're here. Shall we dive in?

Hi everyone, welcome back to the podcast. Today, we are diving into a topic that might surprise you—how myofunctional therapy connects to digestion.

Now, you might not immediately think about your tongue posture, the way you breathe, or how you sit as being linked to bloating or gut discomfort, but trust me, they are.

This topic is so close to my heart because it blends two of my biggest passions—myofunctional therapy and nutrition. I see so many clients who have struggled with digestive issues for years, thinking that it's just how they are. But here's the truth: those issues are often connected to habits and patterns that they didn't even realize were impacting their health.

I've been there myself, feeling fascinated but also a little overwhelmed by how interconnected the body is. That's actually why I decided to add a Nutrition Therapy certification to my skillset. It allowed me to take a deeper dive into digestion and how I could better help my clients.

So today, I want to share what I've learned so you can have an easier time explaining this to your clients.

Now, I don't know about you or where you took your training, but I know when I took my myofunctional therapy training, it really wasn't taught to me—the ability to explain the digestive part. Instead, it was just a simple "Oh, that's just how it is. People who have orofacial myofunctional disorders often have digestive issues."

So if you've ever wondered why digestive discomfort seems to be a constant in your life, or maybe in all of your clients' lives, this episode is for you. So let's get into it.

Why I Pursued Nutrition Therapy

So first, let's talk about why I pursued nutrition therapy. I pursued it because I was building a premium brand.

This is one of the things that I really drill down on inside the Ditch Hygiene Academy—we’re not building a Medicaid practice, okay? In the work that I do with students, we're working on really building a premium wellness practice.

I really felt like digestion was just a piece of the puzzle. I also had a lot of clients with congestion, and I knew I could help them from a nutritional standpoint. So that's really why I got into it.

So let's talk about the myofunctional therapy-digestion connection.

The Myofunctional Therapy-Digestion Connection

1. Incorrect Tongue Posture

Incorrect tongue posture is really the first thing. This leads to no vagal nerve stimulation.

So, you know that correct tongue posture means the tongue is up, on the spot, making contact across the roof of the mouth, tip to tail up.

When someone doesn't have proper tongue posture, there's a lack of vagus nerve stimulation. And the vagus nerve is kind of magical—it's responsible for regulating breathing, digestion, anxiety, depression, and so much more. So, we know that digestive issues can come from incorrect tongue posture.

2. Shallow Thoracic Breathing

The next reason that a client might have digestive issues is shallow thoracic breathing—when someone doesn’t use their diaphragm.

Whether it's from an untreated tongue tie or not, when I do a breathing demonstration or assessment with my clients, I'm assessing their nasal passages to see if they can nasal breathe. But I'm also evaluating how they breathe.

So many of my clients breathe with their shoulders moving. If you're watching this on video, you can see what shallow thoracic breathing looks like. If you're just listening, it's when they’re just using the upper portion of their lungs—their shoulders are moving.

We see digestive issues because of that. Why? Because shallow breathing is stressed breathing, just like mouth breathing is stressed breathing.

I always tell my clients:
 When your body senses stress—like if it thinks you're running from a saber-tooth tiger—it doesn't care what happens to your burrito.

Hence, digestive issues.

3. Rapid Eating Behavior

Another issue is rapid eating behavior. I see this in clients with and without tongue ties.

When someone has an untreated tongue tie, I usually see one of two chewing patterns:

1. They chew really slow because eating is a chore—it’s physically difficult.
2. They eat really fast because chewing is inefficient, so they just try to get it down as quickly as possible.

A lot of people develop the habit of chew, chew, swallow—basically, eating like a vacuum cleaner. Parents will even say, Oh yeah, Johnny has always eaten this way!

But it’s not that Johnny woke up one day and said, I think I’ll be a rapid eater today! It’s that he transitioned to the path of least resistance—chew, chew, down the hatch.

You would be shocked at the number of children I work with who barely even chew their food. When we do optimum chewing training in therapy, the food they spit back into their cup is completely identifiable—it’s barely been broken down.

But ideally, food should be chewed to the consistency of a smoothie before swallowing.

4. Stress & Digestion

Stressed-out people have digestive issues—that’s just a fact.

Digestion begins in the brain in a parasympathetic state.

We know our nervous system has:

• Sympathetic mode (stress, fight-or-flight)
• Parasympathetic mode (rest-and-digest)

When people eat while stressed, rushed, or anxious, digestion gets short-circuited because the body isn’t in the right state to process food properly.

5. Chewing & Swallowing Mechanics

I watch a lot of people chew and swallow, and many just do it terribly—simply because they don’t know any different.

This is why, when you’re talking to clients, it’s important to help them understand that just because they’ve always had digestive issues doesn’t mean those issues are normal.

Connecting the Dots for Clients

When I do an exam, I’m already looking at their intake paperwork to see if they have digestive issues.

When they demonstrate their breathing, I often see shallow thoracic breathing, and that’s a great segue into explaining why they may be experiencing digestive issues.

I always go into:

• Incorrect tongue posture → No vagus nerve stimulation
• Mouth breathing → Stressed state
• Rapid eating → Poor digestion

If a client has congestion, I also dig deeper—

• Is the congestion from mouth breathing?
• Or is it from dietary triggers like dairy, gluten, sugar, or alcohol?

Final Thoughts

So there you have it—I hope this helps explain myofunctional therapy’s role in digestion.

It’s all tied together—the breathing, the rapid eating, the posture, all of it.

I hope this episode helps you not only understand the connection yourself but also explain it better to your clients.

Thank you for joining me today! Until next time, take care of yourself and go build a life you are bonkers about.

I’ll see you soon, my friend.