Although it is possible to use either your nose or your mouth for breathing the nose should always be your first choice.
The air that we breathe is full of pollutants which can be very damaging. Your nose has small hairs which filter the air before it reaches your lungs. When you breathe through your mouth the polluted air goes directly into your soft and vulnerable lungs and the pollutants can be transmitted to your bloodstream and carried around your body.
Having been through an era of Covid it is so important that people understand that their nose is their body’s first protection against airborne viruses.
It is far more effective than any mask you wear. The usual masks people use are useless against airborne viruses which will pass straight through them.
There are many other benefits to using your nose rather than your mouth to breathe. Here are a few more:
It helps your sense of smell
Your sense of smell is essential for helping you to taste your food. How boring eating and life would be without a sense of smell. It also acts as an aid to your memory!
It slows down your breathing
Overbreathing is known as hyperventilation. It can cause many symptoms such as tingling and numbness, chest pain, dizziness and confusion. It can also lead to full blown panic attacks.
Using your nose slows down your breathing rate. This enables you to take in more oxygen and release more CO2 with each breath. It also helps prevent the panting and gasping for breath that precedes panic attacks.
You should only use your mouth to breathe on occasions where your nose can’t supply enough air. This is usually when you are exercising hard or perhaps have a blocked up nose.
The other reason to breathe out through your mouth is if you have a cold or any other sort of infection. Your breath is one of the main ways your body gets rid of toxins. Still breathe in through your nose but focus on expelling those toxins more directly through your mouth.
Hospital studies have shown that breathing through your mouth at night is a primary cause of snoring.
Making the change
If you are a habitual mouth breather changing to breathing through your nose will feel strange at first. However, you will very quickly feel the benefits. You will feel calmer in your mind and more relaxed in your body. You will go to sleep more easily and should snore less and wake up feeling more refreshed.
Nose breathing is encouraged throughout all your tai chi practice
Find out more about traditional Chinese exercises to develop a relaxed and powerful body and a focused mind through the tai chi and kung fu classes I run or sign up to our site to learn the wealth of material we have here.
