In James Nestor’s Book Breath, he provides multiple reasons to practice the lost art of breathing. One of my favorite topics is nasal breathing. Here’s why it trumps mouth breathing and some easy recommendations for implementing!

Nasal Breathing to Improve Wellness

Nasal Breathing to Improve Wellness Video Transcript

Want a simple way to improve your health and wellness? Today we’re going to talk about something that you can do anywhere, anytime, and it’s free!

It’s nasal breathing.

This is the third in my series of my favorite lessons from James Nestor’s book Breath. For other lessons, see:

Lesson #1: The Perfect Breath: How to Use Coherent Breathing to Calm Down

Lesson #2: How Humming Improves Wellness

You might be wondering, do we really need a lesson on how to breathe through our nose? Yeah, a lot of us do!

The Problem With Mouth Breathing

We’ve become mouth breathers over the years and centuries as we cooked food, making it softer, and started eating more processed foods. As many of us have started to become mouth breathers, it has impacted our health and wellness. So, let’s talk about what it means to be a mouth breather.

What’s the problem with breathing through our mouth? We’re designed to do that, right?

Really, we’re designed to breathe through our nose. It’s the best way. Here’s why:

  • Those who are mouth breathers, have suffered detriments to blood pressure.
  • Sometimes it can affect things like brain cell development and the functioning of certain brain regions involved in ADHD.
  • People who are mouth breathers tend to have poor dental health.
  • It can cause snoring and sleep apnea, which comes with a whole host of other health issues.
  • When we don’t breathe through our nose on a regular basis, it can weaken the nasal structures, making it harder for us to breathe through our nose in the future.

The Importance of Nasal Breathing

Yikes! Ok, let’s say you’re sufficiently frightened away from mouth breathing. What’s the big deal about nasal breathing?

One thing that’s good about nasal breathing is that even if we’ve been a mouth breather, we can start to train ourselves to breathe through our nose. As we do this, we will improve the structures that might have suffered or deteriorated from being a mouth breather.

In this way, nasal breathing is a use it or lose it function.

When we don’t breathe through our nasal passages, the tissue can weaken and soften. The more we use it, we train our body to redevelop that area to become better nasal breathers.

Some research has shown that it’s really helpful for athletes or people who are involved in sports. It allows the body to use oxygen more effectively, which helps with endurance as you require less breathing.

In addition, nasal breathing serves a host of functions:

  • It cleans the air, so it filters out debris, bacteria, and germs.
  • It warms and moistens the air so we can more readily use it and be more efficient at breathing.

How to Encourage Nasal Breathing

I recommend simply becoming more aware of your breath. You might set aside five minutes a day to simply focus on nasal breathing, just to practice. This can help to rebuild those nasal structures and strength.

Consider practicing while driving in the car. Perhaps for just five minutes, simply breathe through the nose and focus on that.

One thing I’ve done is practice while I’m doing cardio. I can’t do it for very long because it’s harder, but I’ll set aside five minutes while I’m riding the bike. I simply practice breathing through my nose, and I’ve become better, and better at it.

You can set aside just five minutes to practice each day to become more aware. This makes you more aware throughout the rest of the day.

A Personal Example

As I’ve done this myself, I’ve started to notice that certain times during the day, if I’m rushing around and stressed, thinking about the 10 things I have to do, I’m stuck in my head. I’ll pause for a minute to notice my breath, and every time I find myself breathing through my mouth. It’s like I’m huffing and puffing with shallow, short breathing.

I simply close my mouth and take a few deep, slow breaths through my nose. It’s like a hard reset for me. It gets me out of my head down into my body, into the present moment. This allows me to stop rushing, and to be here now.

I find this pause really helpful. The benefits have developed from simply practicing nasal breathing for a few minutes a day. This plants the seed, so I’m more aware throughout the rest of the day.

Find out for yourself. Give nasal breathing a try this week.

Sign up!

If this is helpful or you want more information on simple, science-based practices to help with stress and anxiety and prioritizing health and wellness, sign up for my newsletter, Take Five.

You’ll also receive a free copy of my e-book “5 Ways to Decrease Stress and Anxiety in Five Minutes or Less!”

In the meantime, give nasal breathing a try and let me know how it goes. We can do small things to make ourselves feel calmer and be more resilient and prioritize our health and wellness. Nasal breathing’s one of them.

Helpful Links:

James Nestor’s book, Breath: https://www.mrjamesnestor.com/