The Nose Knows

Premature Nose Failures

Breathing through the nose is 150 times more difficult than breathing through the mouth. This is probably the reason why the exercise community has dismissed the nose as an efficient breathing device. When people begin training with nose breathing, they frequently feel they are working with an insufficient source of oxygen. But with practice, they realize they are replacing quantity with quality.

The rib cage has a natural tension called elastic recoil, which means it is always squeezing the lungs in order to remove the carbon dioxide during the exhale. When you add this tension to our natural response to stress, which is to hold our breath, most of us end up breathing like rabbits. We take little, shallow upper-chest breaths all day long – 26,000 breaths per day. These upper – chest breaths activate the stress receptors in the upper lobe, and thus the body is being told that life is an emergency with each breath we take. Soon the rib cage literally becomes a cage, squeezing on the heart and lungs. This shallow breathing soon becomes a way of life, causing the following:

• Activates upper-chest stress receptors.
• Activation of stress receptors triggers the burning of sugar and storing of fat
• Denies access to the lower calming, oxygen-rich lower lobes.
• Compromises waste removal through lower lung breathing.
• The ribs and chest become inflexible
• Compromises lymphatic drainage and circulation to the rib cage, breast, heart, and lungs.
• The thoracic spine, where the ribs attach, becomes stiff and rigid, which affects spinal biomechanics.
• The diaphragm becomes tight and less elastic, causing breathing difficulties.
• The tension in the diaphragm affects digestive function, contributing to indigestion, heartburn, and hiatal hernias.
• Neck and shoulders become tight due to excessive upper-chest shallow breathing.
• Sinuses become congested from discontinued use.
• The sense of smell and taste is affected.
• The cranial bones stay supple from nasal breathing and become stiff and rigid without it.

Inside the Nose

An analysis of the anatomy of the nose leaves no question that it is the primary breathing apparatus for humans. Inside, it is made of turbinates, or ridges, which act as turbines to swirl the air into a refined stream most suitable for oxygen exchange. The entire passageway is lined with a protective mucus-producing membrane, to keep it moist and ward off infection. (With mouth breathing, the mucous membranes in the throat dry out, increasing the risk of irritation and infection). The mucous membranes work together with small hair-like cilia to clean, filter, and prepare the air for maximum oxygenation. The air is warmed, cooled, or moistened, depending on the conditions, by the highly sophisticated design of the nasal passage.

The mouth, on the other hand, is the more direct emergency route. It bypasses all the preliminary phases, and the cold, dry, unfiltered air is allowed to enter directly into the lungs. This is risky business and is therefore reserved only for emergencies, as with the overcongested infant.

One of the problems with push-to-the-limit training is that with increased exercise and increased blood flow to the lungs, the time the blood stays in the lungs for oxygen exchange is shortened due to the faster heart rate, which pushes the blood through more rapidly. So, even though the mouth/chest breathing is providing an abundance of oxygen to the mid and upper lung, the accelerated heart rate is decreasing the time for the lungs to exchange it. This respiratory inefficiency shows the crucial need for nasal, diaphragmatic breathing, which accesses the blood-rich lower lobes and takes the stress off the heart.
Remember the formula for the exercise high: dynamic activity coexisting with composure, comfort, and silence. Watching our breath will be our first step toward success.

From: “Body, Mind and Spirit” by John Douillard

Just for clarification there is a class on Saturday, 18th October 2006 at the Twelve Apostles Hotel with Danny Paradise for those who can’t make it during the week. Also the studio classes on the 24th and 26th are in the Moksha Studio.

Regards,
The Moksha Team

“The breath is the bridge that straddles the chasm between the mind and the body.”