How to inhale with mouth only

[nohappy]

Hello guys,
My friend is learning OW, and she has an issue that she can't inhale with mouth only. i.e. She can't breath underwater without mask. However, when she practiced that in the air, she had no problem to inhale with mouth only (without 2nd stage). She also can inhale by mouth only with snorkel. The problem is that once she's using 2nd stage, she inhales with both mouth and nose. (weird!)
Is there any tips for her to practice?

 

[tbone1004]

breathe at the surface with her mask off. Thorndike's Law of Intensity, she'll learn REAL fast not to use her nose

 

[nohappy]

breathe at the surface with her mask off. Thorndike's Law of Intensity, she'll learn REAL fast not to use her nose

Thanks tbone1004,
She've already done that at least more than half hour without any progress. Is there any tips to help her? (yes, of course, she'll do more practice)

 

[guruboy]

might be easier to replace the friend...

i'm teasing... kind of...

 

[shoredivr]

Perhaps if she understands the anatomy of the nasopharynx it will help. Every time she swallows she elevates the soft palate, a flap of tissue that separates the nasal passage from the throat. This flap prevents food from getting into the nasal passages when she swallows also.

She can try focusing her attention on the roof of her mouth, towards the back of her throat. You can contract the soft palate if you create the sensation of arching the back of the roof of your mouth. Practicing this before putting a reg in the mouth may help.

Also, the action of putting a regulator in her mouth of course opens her mandible. This changes her awareness of how the roof of her mouth *feels*. Things feel more open, and perhaps her subconscious brain thinks "mouth open, so nose must be "open" too, therefore water must come in the nose, and I'll drown".

Understanding the role of that little flap in voluntarily closing off the nasal passages may help. In the picture on the right, the tongue is touching the roof of the mouth as the soft palate closes off the nasal passages when swallowing food, which is what we usually experience. We are used to this sensation.

When we have a reg in our mouth, the tongue is not touching the roof of the mouth. We have to consciously contract the soft palate, which if you concentrate on the top back part of the throat, feels like arching this area. The tongue, however, stays down from the roof of the mouth, a contrary and learned action to what we usually do when swallowing.

 

[nohappy]

Thanks shoredivr,
Thank you for your helpful advice. But also notice that I mentioned in the op that she can inhale without nose but with mouth wide open at the surface. And she can even inhale with snorkel perfectly without nose. (what make it different from snorkel and second stage? The breathing resistance?)

 

[guruboy]

my 2nd stage breathes easier than a snorkel.

it's probably a weird mental block. just have her practice as best she can.

 

[guruboy]

breathe at the surface with her mask off. Thorndike's Law of Intensity, she'll learn REAL fast not to use her nose

Thanks tbone1004,
She've already done that at least more than half hour without any progress. Is there any tips to help her? (yes, of course, she'll do more practice)

BTW, I think what tbone meant was - breathe on the surface with her face in the water. the surface part is so that she can quickly raise her head out of the water.

 

[nohappy]

OK guruboy, I got it.
She also did that but kept choking making her didn't wanna practice anymore.
(Yup, maybe I should replace a friend as you said)

 

[guruboy]

so as hard as this problem to fix, it also can mysteriously fix itself overnight.

have her try it and choke. then take a break and try again tomorrow.