Latest news with #Breath
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Yahoo
Grimes County behavioral hospital escapee gets 35 years in prison
GRIMES COUNTY, Texas (FOX 44) – A man who pled guilty to Assault Family Violence by Impeding Breath has been sentenced to 35 years in prison. The Grimes County District Attorney's Office says 36-year-old Scott Evan Shepple pled guilty to the third-degree felony on Friday. The Grimes County Sheriff's Office originally responded to an assault family violence call in Iola on August 22, 2024. The victim told the responding deputy that her boyfriend, identified as Shepple, had beaten her and choked her out before fleeing the scene. The victim was able to provide the deputy with a security video clip which captured the assault. The D.A.'s Office says its chief investigator, along with the constable, found Shepple in Iola. The investigator interviewed Shepple regarding the abuse allegations and obtained a confession from Shepple to both beating and choking his girlfriend. He was taken into custody after resisting arrest following the interview. Shepple was indicted by a Grimes County Grand Jury on December 16, 2024. Prosecutors alleged he used his hands as a deadly weapon during the choking assault. PREVIOUS STORY: 'Violent' Grimes County behavioral hospital escapee caught The D.A.'s Office says Shepple escaped from the Cypress Creek Behavioral Hospital on March 31, 2025. After a 19-hour manhunt, he was brought back to custody. Harris County declined to pursue an escape charge. Shepple pled guilty to Assault Family Violence by Impeding Breath before 12th District Judge David Moorman. He also pled true to the deadly weapon finding. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison in a plea agreement made by the assistant district attorney. Shepple faced an enhanced punishment range due to past felony convictions. He will be required to serve half of his sentence before he is eligible for parole. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Independent
11-04-2025
- Health
- The Independent
I tried mouth taping for three weeks, and the results surprised me
As a wellbeing editor, I'm all too familiar with mouth taping and the concept of nasal breathing as a way to optimise one's health. But to be honest, mouth taping has never been something I've considered trying. While certain biohacks can be effective, the human body is clever and has evolved to keep us alive – it doesn't actually need much help. Unless you have a medical issue, you probably don't need to optimise your breathing. At least, that's what I thought until I read Breath by James Nestor. This book documented the evolution of the human jaw and respiratory system. It described the effects of variables such as a modern diet of soft processed food on the subsequent rise in mouth breathing. The author met with experts and took part in experiments over several years to find out how and why we all started breathing through our mouths - and what this does to our health in the long term. Some of the purported effects of long-term mouth breathing shocked me. Many seemed incredibly dramatic and, frankly, unlikely. It's claimed that mouth breathing weakens facial structure, causes chronic fatigue, and even increases the risk of infections. So I – along with hordes of people who've watched TikTok videos on mouth breathing – began to wonder if my smooth jawbone and ever-present issues with tiredness might be down to how I breathe at night. Nestor's book was responsible for my interest in the health impacts of breathwork, vagus nerve stimulation and postural alignment. After reading it, I made it my mission to find out whether the points made in the book were legitimate. If they were, I was going to go out and buy some mouth tape. Is breathing through your mouth bad for you? I asked several breathwork experts about the book and they each agreed with several of the points made by Nestor. 'Research that would suggest 30 to 35 per cent of people are falling into some sort of dysfunctional breathing, which is just any way of non optimal breathing or breathing in a way that isn't helping you,' explains breathwork expert Jamie Clements. The health benefits of nasal breathing have been documented since at least the 15th century, when yogic texts described breathwork techniques known as pranayama. Many of these techniques are used by breathwork experts today, particularly alternate nostril breathing or 'nadi shodhana' – which literally translates from Sanskrit as 'channel cleaning'. The claim is that nasal breathing is better for you than mouth breathing. The nasal passages act as a filter, preventing dust, pollen and other allergens from reaching your lungs. Breathing through the nose also encourages slower, deeper breaths, which can help regulate oxygen, nitric oxide and carbon dioxide levels in your body, helping with circulation and cognitive function. To force your body to breathe through your nose, therefore, you tape your mouth shut. That's all fine, but I wanted to know for myself if this would actually make a difference. The tape I'd seen advertised on social media seemed very gimmicky. After all, do we really need more single-use products that pollute the environment? Do we need another product that lets us pretend that we're taking care of ourselves? When I asked Clements for his view on mouth taping, he explained that while the benefits are 'legitimate and real', he's not as keen on the fact that one 'can't move for videos of mouth taping on Tiktok.' 'I've experienced the positive benefits of mouth taping,' he says. 'But there are important medical concerns around pregnancy, around obesity, around sleep apnea and so on. But I always say if you are generally fit, healthy, and well, and you believe you breathe through your mouth during sleep, then it's actually a really accessible and effective intervention.' Mouth taping – did it work? Though I've attempted to train myself to breathe through my nose – and I think I've done a pretty good job – I know for a fact that when I'm asleep, I can't do much to control my facial muscles, so I probably default to mouth breathing. I decided to take the plunge and see if mouth tape would change my life. I wore my mouth tape every night for three weeks, and once I'd gotten over the guilt about single-use products going straight in the bin - and the cringe factor of becoming a ' morning shed ' person - I started to enjoy the process. One thing I should note is that if you usually enjoy a nice chat with your partner before bed, put your tape on right before you go to sleep – otherwise, it's game over. You can't speak with the tape on. The brand I tested offered green, vaguely lip-shaped stickers (£28, that felt like fabric plasters. Latex-free and hypoallergenic, it felt very sticky on my skin. It's a very strong adhesive - it was probably needed after I'd covered my face in serums and creams before bed - but I worried that I might block the pores around my mouth and end up breaking out. Fortunately, this didn't happen. Some tape brands don't include an emergency breathing hole in their designs, but Mintier does. This felt like a blessing and a curse. On one hand, I was happy to fall asleep knowing I had a failsafe in place should my nose become blocked. But on the other hand, I felt as though I could still breathe through my mouth and might unconsciously start doing so in the night. I was also a little worried in the mornings that my dry lips would peel off with the tape, so I considered shelling out on the brand's more expensive collagen -infused tape (£104, Putting lip balm on before the standard tape meant that it didn't stick properly, and going without it meant rolling the dice each morning, so I attempted to drink more water throughout the day to avoid dry-lip injuries. These issues aside, the sensation of wearing the tape was actually quite nice. I was more mindful of my breathing and took slow, deep breaths before bed that I found soothing. I also noticed that my Oura ring reported fewer waking moments in the night, although my sleep score remained in the 70s and 80s rather than the 90s – which is always my goal. To be fair, these scores were likely down to busy days, later nights and a trip abroad, so I don't think I can blame the mouth tape. The verdict I didn't expect to see any changes to my jawline after three weeks. This was the one reported benefit of mouth taping that I felt was a reach. According to Nestor's research, chronic mouth breathing can potentially affect facial structure over time. I think it's a little foolish to jump to the conclusion that breathing through your mouth will, therefore, literally reshape your face. There were no changes to my face structure as I tested the tape. Taping your mouth shut when you sleep won't give you the ' snatched jaw ' of your dreams. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the effects. I felt more relaxed at bedtime, slept soundly and had a decent sleep score for the full testing period. There was nothing I seriously disliked about the tape, apart from the fact that it wasn't recyclable. There are plenty of celebrities and influencers who've jumped on the mouth taping trend – Gwyneth Paltrow and Tess Daly are fans, and plenty of people took to X to critique Ashton Hall's bizarre morning routine, which, of course, included removing his mouth tape. Unless you have a medical condition that affects your breathing, mouth tape is a perfectly viable sleep aid. You don't need it, but it might help you to practice a more soothing form of deep breathing that could benefit your health long term. I'm a fan of the practice and plan to keep taping my mouth, but I might opt for a more moisturising type of tape and potentially try a brand without a hole in the middle to further my research into the benefits.
The Independent
09-04-2025
- Health
- The Independent
I tried the mouth taping trend to see if it could actually benefit my health
As a wellbeing editor, I'm all too familiar with mouth taping and the concept of nasal breathing as a way to optimise one's health. But to be honest, mouth taping has never been something I've considered trying. While certain biohacks can be effective, the human body is clever and has evolved to keep us alive – it doesn't actually need much help. Unless you have a medical issue, you probably don't need to optimise your breathing. At least, that's what I thought until I read Breath by James Nestor. This book documented the evolution of the human jaw and respiratory system. It described the effects of variables such as a modern diet of soft processed food on the subsequent rise in mouth breathing. The author met with experts and took part in experiments over several years to find out how and why we all started breathing through our mouths - and what this does to our health in the long term. Some of the purported effects of long-term mouth breathing shocked me. Many seemed incredibly dramatic and, frankly, unlikely. It's claimed that mouth breathing weakens facial structure, causes chronic fatigue, and even increases the risk of infections. So I – along with hordes of people who've watched TikTok videos on mouth breathing – began to wonder if my smooth jawbone and ever-present issues with tiredness might be down to how I breathe at night. Nestor's book was responsible for my interest in the health impacts of breathwork, vagus nerve stimulation and postural alignment. After reading it, I made it my mission to find out whether the points made in the book were legitimate. If they were, I was going to go out and buy some mouth tape. Is breathing through your mouth bad for you? I asked several breathwork experts about the book and they each agreed with several of the points made by Nestor. 'Research that would suggest 30 to 35 per cent of people are falling into some sort of dysfunctional breathing, which is just any way of non optimal breathing or breathing in a way that isn't helping you,' explains breathwork expert Jamie Clements. The health benefits of nasal breathing have been documented since at least the 15th century, when yogic texts described breathwork techniques known as pranayama. Many of these techniques are used by breathwork experts today, particularly alternate nostril breathing or 'nadi shodhana' – which literally translates from Sanskrit as 'channel cleaning'. The claim is that nasal breathing is better for you than mouth breathing. The nasal passages act as a filter, preventing dust, pollen and other allergens from reaching your lungs. Breathing through the nose also encourages slower, deeper breaths, which can help regulate oxygen, nitric oxide and carbon dioxide levels in your body, helping with circulation and cognitive function. To force your body to breathe through your nose, therefore, you tape your mouth shut. That's all fine, but I wanted to know for myself if this would actually make a difference. The tape I'd seen advertised on social media seemed very gimmicky. After all, do we really need more single-use products that pollute the environment? Do we need another product that lets us pretend that we're taking care of ourselves? When I asked Clements for his view on mouth taping, he explained that while the benefits are 'legitimate and real', he's not as keen on the fact that one 'can't move for videos of mouth taping on Tiktok.' 'I've experienced the positive benefits of mouth taping,' he says. 'But there are important medical concerns around pregnancy, around obesity, around sleep apnea and so on. But I always say if you are generally fit, healthy, and well, and you believe you breathe through your mouth during sleep, then it's actually a really accessible and effective intervention.' Mouth taping – did it work? Though I've attempted to train myself to breathe through my nose – and I think I've done a pretty good job – I know for a fact that when I'm asleep, I can't do much to control my facial muscles, so I probably default to mouth breathing. I decided to take the plunge and see if mouth tape would change my life. I wore my mouth tape every night for three weeks, and once I'd gotten over the guilt about single-use products going straight in the bin - and the cringe factor of becoming a ' morning shed ' person - I started to enjoy the process. One thing I should note is that if you usually enjoy a nice chat with your partner before bed, put your tape on right before you go to sleep – otherwise, it's game over. You can't speak with the tape on. The brand I tested offered green, vaguely lip-shaped stickers (£28, that felt like fabric plasters. Latex-free and hypoallergenic, it felt very sticky on my skin. It's a very strong adhesive - it was probably needed after I'd covered my face in serums and creams before bed - but I worried that I might block the pores around my mouth and end up breaking out. Fortunately, this didn't happen. Some tape brands don't include an emergency breathing hole in their designs, but Mintier does. This felt like a blessing and a curse. On one hand, I was happy to fall asleep knowing I had a failsafe in place should my nose become blocked. But on the other hand, I felt as though I could still breathe through my mouth and might unconsciously start doing so in the night. I was also a little worried in the mornings that my dry lips would peel off with the tape, so I considered shelling out on the brand's more expensive collagen -infused tape (£104, Putting lip balm on before the standard tape meant that it didn't stick properly, and going without it meant rolling the dice each morning, so I attempted to drink more water throughout the day to avoid dry-lip injuries. These issues aside, the sensation of wearing the tape was actually quite nice. I was more mindful of my breathing and took slow, deep breaths before bed that I found soothing. I also noticed that my Oura ring reported fewer waking moments in the night, although my sleep score remained in the 70s and 80s rather than the 90s – which is always my goal. To be fair, these scores were likely down to busy days, later nights and a trip abroad, so I don't think I can blame the mouth tape. The verdict I didn't expect to see any changes to my jawline after three weeks. This was the one reported benefit of mouth taping that I felt was a reach. According to Nestor's research, chronic mouth breathing can potentially affect facial structure over time. I think it's a little foolish to jump to the conclusion that breathing through your mouth will, therefore, literally reshape your face. There were no changes to my face structure as I tested the tape. Taping your mouth shut when you sleep won't give you the ' snatched jaw ' of your dreams. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the effects. I felt more relaxed at bedtime, slept soundly and had a decent sleep score for the full testing period. There was nothing I seriously disliked about the tape, apart from the fact that it wasn't recyclable. There are plenty of celebrities and influencers who've jumped on the mouth taping trend – Gwyneth Paltrow and Tess Daly are fans, and plenty of people took to X to critique Ashton Hall's bizarre morning routine, which, of course, included removing his mouth tape. Unless you have a medical condition that affects your breathing, mouth tape is a perfectly viable sleep aid. You don't need it, but it might help you to practice a more soothing form of deep breathing that could benefit your health long term. I'm a fan of the practice and plan to keep taping my mouth, but I might opt for a more moisturising type of tape and potentially try a brand without a hole in the middle to further my research into the benefits.
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Check Back
There are spoilers ahead. You might want to solve today's puzzle before reading further! Check Back Constructor: Beth Rubin Editor: Amanda Rafkin HAITI (35A: Author Edwidge Danticat's birthplace) Edwidge Danticat's first book, Breath, Eyes, Memory (1994), was an Oprah's Book Club selection. Edwidge Danticat was born in Port-au-Prince, HAITI and moved to New York City as a young girl. Breath, Eyes, Memory began as an essay about her childhood in HAITI and expanded into a novel dealing with racial, linguistic, and gender identity. Edwidge Danticat's most recent book, We're Alone, was published in September of last year. TANGO (61A: Alejandra Mantinan and Aoniken Quiroga's dance) You can find multiple videos online of Alejandra Mantinan and Aoniken Quiroga dancing the TANGO. Here's a link to one to get you started. CROC (1A: Gator's cousin) When I see a mention of CROCs and gators together, I am reminded of helpful articles I've read that point out the differences between them. One of the differences is that a CROC typically has a stronger bite than a gator. Um ... I prefer not to be bitten by either one, to be honest. ELLA (14A: Jazz legend Fitzgerald) and ETTA (65A: "At Last" singer James) As a result of their crossword-friendly four-letter names, we see references to ELLA Fitzgerald and ETTA James in the crossword on a regular basis. It was fun to see them appear together today. HALLE (15A: Oscar winner Berry) In 2001, HALLE Berry won an Oscar (Academy Award) for Best Actress for Monster's Ball. ALS (48A: Pulitzer Prize winner Hilton) Hilton ALS is a writer and theater critic. He won a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 2017, "For bold and original reviews that strove to put stage dramas within a real-world cultural context, particularly the shifting landscape of gender, sexuality and race." MESA (51A: Costa ___, California) Costa MESA, which is Spanish for "coastal tableland," is located in Orange County in southern California. EASEL (55A: Means of support for an artist) This is a fun clue, because when I read "means of support," my first thought was financial support. Instead, the support here is an EASEL, a stand that provides physical support for an artist's work. PETE (67A: Folk singer Seeger) We saw PETE Seeger in the puzzle just six days ago. PLOT (6D: One might have a twist) This reminded me of last Wednesday's puzzle, which was titled "PLOT Twist." PLANTAIN (10D: Fruit in kelewele) Kelewele is a Ghanian dish also known as Spicy Fried PLANTAINs. HAL (15D: Actor Holbrook) In 1954, HAL Holbrook (1925-2021) developed a one-man stage show called Mark Twain Tonight! He portrayed Mark Twain for more than 60 years, winning a Tony Award in 1966 for Best Actor in a Play. CHAI TEA (31D: Beverage often flavored with cardamom) Yesterday we saw the separate answers CHAI and TEA in the puzzle, and today they have joined forces. Some people are bothered by the expression CHAI TEA, because since CHAI is a Hindi word for TEA, the phrase basically means TEA TEA. However, I recently read a book in which one of the characters opened a TEA shop, and about this very thing, he said, "As long as people are drinking TEA, it doesn't bother me what they choose to call it." I like that approach. PAM (40D: "Jackie Brown" actress Grier) Jackie Brown is a 1997 crime movie directed by Quentin Tarantino. The movie is based on Elmore Leonard's 1992 book, Rum Punch. PAM Grier stars as the title character, a flight attendant who smuggles money between the United States and Mexico. YOU (45D: "___ become strong by doing the things ___ need to be strong for") "YOU become strong by doing the things YOU need to be strong for," is an Audre Lorde quote from her book, Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches. This is a lovely way to clue the word YOU. TAP (61D: Dance like the Nicholas Brothers) Fayard (1914-2006) and Harold (1921-2000) had a dancing style sometimes called acrobatic dancing, which combined elements of TAP, ballet, and acrobatics. The brothers taught master classes in TAP dance at Harvard and Radcliffe Universities. Do yourself a favor and spend three minutes of your day enjoying the Nicholas Brothers performance in the 1943 movie, Stormy Weather. FILL IN THE BLANK (19A: Test format) RIGHT AS RAIN (37A: Perfectly fit and well) VIRTUAL REALITY (57A: Simulated 3D experience used in some video games) CHECK BACK: The BACK (last) word of each theme answer can be paired with the word CHECK to form a new phrase: BLANK CHECK, RAIN CHECK, and REALITY CHECK. The theme of this puzzle made me think that perhaps I'll take a RAIN CHECK on doing a REALITY CHECK. However, I won't be writing a BLANK CHECK! It's an interesting theme with a nice set of theme answers. Thank you, Beth, for this enjoyable puzzle. USA TODAY's Daily Crossword Puzzles Sudoku & Crossword Puzzle Answers This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Crossword Blog & Answers for March 26, 2025 by Sally Hoelscher
