Dramatically improve your health with this one skill
One of the easiest ways to improve your overall health and vitality is right under your nose. Literally.
Learn to breathe correctly.
We all know how important breathing is. We all know the rule of 3’s: while we can survive 3 weeks without food and 3 days without water, we can only survive 3 minutes without air.
Breathing is synonymous with life itself.
So I was surprised to discover that many if not most of us breathe incorrectly.
That’s right. There’s a right way and a wrong way to breathe.
Apparently, human beings are meant to breathe through our noses, not our mouths.
Breathing through the nose allows the air to first travel through the nose and sinuses before reaching the throat and going into the lungs.
The nose and sinuses are constructed to warm, moisten, filter, and purify the air that we breathe. The mucus inside the nose is designed to catch and collect inhaled junk and potential invaders and move them down the throat, into the stomach and out of the body.
The nose’s preparation of the air we breathe allows the lungs to extract more oxygen from each breath that we breathe.
In addition nose breathing releases a huge boost of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide is essential in increasing circulation and delivering oxygen to cells. Nitric oxide is also important for regulating weight, circulation, mood and sexual function.
In fact, nasal breathing alone can boost nitric oxide six-fold which is one of the reasons we can absorb about 18% more oxygen via nasal breathing as opposed to mouth breathing.
On the other hand – mouth breathing allows unfiltered air to reach the back of the throat which can cause inflammation of the tonsils and adenoids.
Mouth breathing also leads to periodontal disease and bad breath. And surprisingly – mouth breathing is the number one cause of dental cavities! Mouth breathing is also associated with snoring and sleep apnea.
Nasal breathing carries these benefits and more:
- Fewer upper respiratory infections
- Better use of oxygen – leading to more energy
- Increased nitric oxide (leading to lowered blood pressure, improved immune function, better mood)
- Better oral health
- Reduced snoring and sleep apnea
Some even say that nasal breathing can potentially reduce the transmission of corona by filtering the air we breathe in and reducing the viral load.
If you’re interested in learning more about nose breathing, including how to unblock a chronically congested nose, check out this page.
So from now on – keep your mouth shut – and allow yourself to breathe just using your nose.
