Joel Jelen

When the midwife missed the small piece of fascia (skin) connected under my tongue to the base of the mouth (aka a small tongue tie), that caused 30 years of misery and respiratory complaints. A brilliant physician Dr Len McEwan working in niche medicine related to breathing disorders in 1995 identified my breathing habit as the cause along with associated habitual hyperventilation owing to the tie.

Dr McEwan also educated me on how hyperventilation (often hidden) can lead to more than 150 medical conditions.

And so began almost 30 years of learning about breathing education. After subsequently meeting Patrick McKeown almost 10 years ago and becoming a Fellow of Buteyko Professional International, i was further inspired to write a book, for children to help them and parents avoid the suffering i went through.

I'm now working across education, community organizations and business to drive home the message...how we breathe determines our quality of life and performance, whether it's in the classroom, the boardroom, in sport, asleep, eating or simply relaxing.