Breathless Awakening is a medical mystery interwoven with family drama, evolution, and love. It shines light on the hidden epidemic of sleep-disordered breathing, showing how something as simple as the way we breathe at night can shape our health, relationships, and even survival.

My name is Dr. Maria Sokolina, and I am the author of Breathless Awakening. My journey is rooted in two educations, first at the dental department of a medical school in Russia, then later at New York University College of Dentistry. This dual perspective has always fueled my determination to search for why people develop disease, rather than endlessly chasing symptoms. Over the years, I have also witnessed the deep disconnect between medicine and dentistry: dentists often see the earliest signs of systemic illness, yet their voices are rarely heard. This book is my attempt to bridge that gap.

For Families, Patients, Wives, and Mothers

This book tells the story of an immigrant family whose love was almost lost to exhaustion, routine, and the hidden toll of sleep apnea. A wife watches her husband fade away, tired, irritable, disconnected. Their marriage strains under the weight of fatigue and silence. But when he collapses one night, she saves his life with CPR.

That moment became a turning point. In saving him, she reassesses her own life and their relationship. Together, they begin a journey not only of medical discovery but also of emotional healing, finding their way back to intimacy and love that seemed gone forever.

Through this story, you will see that what feels like endless tiredness, irritability, or disconnection may have a hidden cause. And with awareness and the right treatment, love, vitality, and hope can return.

You’ll love this book if you:

• Have a partner who snores, struggles with fatigue, or seems distant
• Wonder why you feel tired or anxious despite “normal” tests
• Believe there must be answers beyond medication and endless treatment cycles

For Medical and Dental Professionals

Behind the human story lies a pressing medical reality: sleep-disordered breathing is an epidemic hiding in plain sight. More than 20% of the population is affected, yet the majority remain undiagnosed. Symptoms are often misattributed to stress, aging, or lifestyle, while the underlying airway dysfunction remains untreated.

As a clinician trained in both medicine and dentistry, I have seen how dental professionals are uniquely positioned to detect the earliest signs, bruxism, scalloped tongues, arch form deficiencies, worn dentition, yet their observations are often dismissed. Meanwhile, physicians see the downstream consequences, cardiac disease, depression, metabolic dysfunction, without connecting them to oral and airway origins.

This book demonstrates the urgent need for an integrated approach. It challenges professionals to move past silos and to view sleep, airway, and oral health not as separate specialties but as interdependent systems.

You’ll find value in this book if you:

• Treat patients with fatigue, anxiety, cardiac issues, or metabolic disease
• Want to better understand the oral-systemic health connection
• Are seeking practical, interdisciplinary strategies for patient care

What You’ll Discover in Breathless Awakening:

• How sleep apnea hides in plain sight, dismissed as “just snoring” or “just stress”.
• Why jaw structure, facial development, and breathing habits matter for lifelong health.
• How family dynamics, intimacy, and emotional wellbeing are shaped by sleep quality.
• Practical solutions, from oral appliances and orthodontics to lifestyle and myofunctional therapy, that can transform both health and relationships.

Book Structure

The book is written in three parts:

Part I introduces the hidden epidemic of sleep apnea through real-life stories. You’ll meet families blindsided by health crises, including a young father who nearly died from cardiac arrest and a mother who notices subtle breathing struggles in her child. These stories set the stage for understanding why sleep-disordered breathing matters.

Part II dives deeper into the science, exploring how modern lifestyles, jaw development, and evolutionary changes in humans contribute to airway collapse. Here, you’ll find insights from medical and dental experts, as well as my own journey into sleep medicine, told through nights spent in sleep labs and conversations with patients.

Part III brings together solutions and hope. You’ll learn about oral appliances, orthodontic approaches, myofunctional therapy, and lifestyle changes that transform not only health but also relationships. Through stories of resilience, the book shows that awareness and treatment can turn exhaustion into vitality.

Other Ways to Support Me

Some people just can’t contribute, but that doesn’t mean they can’t help:

• Please share my presale campaign on Facebook, X, and LinkedIn with your friends, family and network. Please use #BreathlessAwakening and tag me so we can help amplify your efforts.
• Please recommend my book to five (5) friends, family members, or co-workers who you think would enjoy it via text or direct message on social media.

Thank you so much for all of your love and support!

Maria

About the Author

Dr. Maria Sokolina is a dentist, lecturer, and international speaker who has spent more than fifteen years dedicated to dental sleep medicine. Trained in the dental department of medical school in Russia and later at New York University’s College of Dentistry, she brings a rare dual education that bridges clinical practice and human experience.

Her passion for esthetic, biomimetic restorations led her to discover the hidden epidemic of sleep-disordered breathing when even her strongest restorations failed against clenching, grinding, and poor sleep.

Maria is the founder and CEO of Harmony Dental Arts, a member of the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine, host of a podcast and YouTube channel on sleep and health.

An avid traveler and supporter of art and theater, Maria studies life through nature, evolution, and stories.