The Nose: The Intelligently-Designed Path of Breath

According to a wealth of information, both ancient and modern, simply put, we should ALMOST NEVER be breathing into our mouths, not even in Breathwork Journeying. It could be suggested that short bursts of mouth breath, for example in kundalini yoga that is under 10 minutes, does not cause any lasting harm and holds benefits through short-term use. Anything beyond this, however, has consequences that we should be fully informed of, especially for those practicing open-mouth breathwork. This blog will explain why…

Simply put: Noses are intelligently sophisticatedly designed for breathing, and mouths for eating!

Let’s begin by first looking to nature… How do animals breathe? With the exception of dogs, the rest of the animal kingdom relies on nasal breathing for survival, and mouth breathing usually only occurs as an adaptation within a species, like domesticated dogs. Birds, for example, are predominantly nose-breathers, aside from diving birds such as penguins, pelicans or gannets. Generally, when an animal breathes through its mouth it is a sign of sickness, injury, or distress. Guinea pigs and wild rabbits will continue to breathe through their nose even under heavy exertion, and will only breathe through their mouths if they have developed a breathing abnormality. The same goes for all farm animals, including the cow, sheep, donkey, goat, and horse. Mouth-breathing in these animals would be a clear signal to a farmer or pet-owner that there is something wrong. Experience tells the farmer that when a cow or sheep stands motionless with their neck extended and mouth open, they are very sick and it is time to call the vet.

Now, let’s turn to the ancients… The magical purpose of the nose, and its healing powers, was well known by the ancients. Around 1500 BCE, the Ebers Papyrus, one of the oldest medical texts ever discovered, offered a description of how nostrils were supposed to feed air to the heart and lungs, not the mouth. A thousand years later, Genesis 2:7 described how “God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” A Chinese Taoist text from the 8th century AD noted that the nose was the “heavenly door,” and that breath must be taken in through it. “Never do otherwise,” the text warned, “for breath would be in danger and illness would set in.” In tai chi, mouth-breathing is also referred to “adverse breath.”

When the Native Americans of the plains were studied extensively by a man named George Catlin in the 1830s, he found that the peoples of all 50 tribes seemed to share the same superhuman physical characteristics. Many of the men were 6-7 ft tall with Herculean shoulders and chests, and the women nearly just as tall and striking. Having never seen a dentist or doctor, the tribal people had teeth which were perfectly straight, nobody seemed to get sick, and chronic health problems seemed to be rare or nonexistent. The tribes attributed their vigorous health to one medicine alone, what Catlin called the “great secret of life.” The secret was breathing. The Native Americans explained to Catlin that breath inhaled through the mouth sapped the body of strength, deformed the face, caused stress and disease. On the other hand, breath inhaled through the nose kept the body strong, made the face beautiful, and prevented disease. “The air which enters the lungs is as different from that which enters the nostrils as distilled water is different from the water in an ordinary cistern of a frog-pond.” Within these tribes, healthy nasal breathing began at birth. Mothers all followed the same practices, carefully closing the baby’s lips with their fingers after each feeding. At night, they would stand over their infants and gently close their mouths shut if they had opened. And several other ways to teach them… All of these methods trained infants to breath through their noses, all day, every day. It became a habit they would carry with them for the rest of their lives. They were shared universally across tribes for millennia. (pp 45-48. Breath, Nestor)

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The Sacred Breath Method™ works with both a scientifically, physiologically and somatically-supported nose inhale cycle which incorporates key understandings of basic human design, new anatomy, nervous system regulation, deep unwinding, and trauma/emotional release. Because of this, we want to take the opportunity to share some amazing facts and information around the nose that you may not be aware of! In a sea of ever-increasing mouth-inhale breathwork, we especially feel this information is vital to share!

And as always, please do your own research too.

Before taking any breathwork classes or workshops, start by asking your facilitator which inhale method they are working with and why. Do they know which receptors their inhale of choice is activating (parasympathetic or sympathetic)? If they can’t answer this, they haven’t studied their breathwork on a physiological level.

It is paramount that we understand our craft as teachers, both inside and out. In addition to the healing, guiding and space-holding elements of breathwork, broad-spectrum science and alternative/somatic psychology also go hand and hand. For more information, you can check out this blog post.

Now, let’s begin our exploration of the nose!

Our bodies were intelligently designed to breathe through the nose, not the mouth. It’s even been said that breathing through your mouth is about as practical as trying to eat through your nose!

Breathing in and out through the nose helps us take fuller, deeper breaths, which stimulates the lower lung to distribute greater amounts of oxygen throughout the body. Also, the lower lung is rich with the parasympathetic nerve receptors associated with calming the body and mind, whereas the upper lungs — which are stimulated by chest and mouth breathing — prompt us to hyperventilate and trigger sympathetic nerve receptors, which result in the fight or flight response.

The Physiology of the Nose:

The nose is a miraculous filter lined with tiny hairs called cilia. The cilia have many functions: they filter, humidify and warm or cool the air (depending on the temperature) before it enters the lungs. It is estimated that cilia protect our bodies against about 20 billion particles of foreign matter every day!

Once it exits the nose, air passes through the mucus-lined windpipe. This is another avenue to trap unwanted particles before they enter the lungs. Next, air enters the lungs, where the oxygen is pumped into the bloodstream and circulated through the body. In exchange, the air leaving the body carries with it carbon dioxide from the cells, a waste material that is expelled through exhalation. (Lawrence)

Conversely, the mouth is designed for taking in food and water and converting these forms of sustenance to essential nutrients in the body.

Nose breathing is the way Nature designed you to breathe all the time… So why should breathwork be any different, especially when you are taking in up to 60% more oxygen and also retraining/reprogramming your lungs how to breathe during your resting, unconscious breath?

Thus, wouldn’t you want these increased oxygen levels to be filtered properly and your inhale to be of that which supports your overall health, vitality and wellbeing, not to mention deep, restorative body unwinding?

(we will learn more about this below)

Let’s move on to some holistic facts of science and physiology that your breathwork instructor may or may not be aware of…

The Ancient Biological Truths of Nasal Breathing:

1- Your body was intelligently designed to breathe through the nose, not the mouth. The nose is responsible for preparing, moistening, filtering and conditioning the air to core body temperature (warming or cooling depending on the temperature of one’s surrounding climate). It additionally supports essential bodily functions like blood oxygen levels, lung volumes, blood circulation and heart rate. Then what is the mouth for? Also known as the oral cavity, the mouth is the hollow cavity that allows food and water to enter the body in order to assimilate them into nutrients. The mouth contains many other organs — such as the teeth, tongue, and the ducts of the salivary glands — their primary purpose is to work together to aid in the ingestion and digestion of food.

“Nasal breathing (as opposed to mouth breathing), increases circulation, blood oxygen, slows the heart rate, and improves overall lung volumes.” (Swift, Campbell, McKown 1988 Oronasal Obstruction, Lung Volumes, and Arterial Oxygenation - Lancet 1, 73-75)

"The internal nose not only provides around 90% of the respiratory system air-conditioning requirement but also recovers around 33% of exhaled heat and moisture." (Elad, Wolf, Keck 2008 Air-conditioning in the human nasal cavity. Respiratory Physiology and Neurobiology 163. 121-127 )

… “The lungs actually extract oxygen from the air during exhalation, in addition to inhalation. Because the nostrils are smaller than the mouth, air exhaled through the nose creates a back flow of air (and oxygen) into the lungs.”

Finally, the lower lung is rich with the parasympathetic nerve receptors associated with calming the body and mind, whereas the upper lungs — which are stimulated by chest and mouth breathing — prompt us to hyperventilate and trigger sympathetic nerve receptors, which result in the fight or flight response.

Once the parasympathetic nervous system turns on, cortisol levels decline and the parasympathetic receptors slow the stress response by releasing hormones that relax the mind and body while inhibiting, or subduing, many of the high energy functions of the body. It produces a visceral feeling of calmness and relaxation within which [during breathwork] is key for meeting and releasing trauma, repressed emotions, early wounding and cellular imprinting. Through our breath, we can learn to trigger this parasympathetic response to immediately reduce any sense of anxiousness or stress in the body. This response also helps to lift our mood, strengthen our immune system, and reduce blood pressure in the moment. Conversely, the fight or flight response releases stress hormones and can cause long term oxidative stress in the body. It can additionally create “stimulant” effects, akin to a short-term high, but this not support the long-term picture of embodied healing and somatic unwinding.

2- Oxygen is absorbed more efficiently through the nose. The vasodilation by nitric oxide increases the surface area of alveoli, where oxygen is absorbed in the very end of bronchial tubes, which means more oxygen is absorbed more efficiently when you breathe through your nose.

3- Your nose is a filter to harmful bacteria. When you breathe in through your nose, the air is warmed, moistened, conditioned and mixed with nitric oxide, which performs two important functions- 1- it kills deadly bacteria and 2- it works as a vasodilator on the airways, your arteries, and capillaries. If you bypass your nose and breathe through your mouth, there is no stopping the harmful bacteria to reach inside your body. Nitric oxide also regulates blood pressure and boosts the immune system. There is a known saying: “breathing through the mouth is like drinking water from a stagnant pond, whereas breathing through the nose is like drinking fresh spring water.”

…“Your nose is the only organ which is enabled to properly "prepare" the air you breathe. Our nose is home to more than 50 species of bacteria – both beneficial and harmful – and unfortunately, there are more harmful bacteria present in the nose than beneficial. However, the small number of beneficial bacteria can persevere over the harmful ones within the nose itself, before the air is even taken in, preventing us from ingesting harmful bacteria at the first stage of breathing— inhalation.” (The mouth cannot do this at all.)

“Our body has a gene – T2R38, that stimulates nose’s receptors when you breathe through your nose which reacts with the chemicals that bacteria in the air use to communicate. It stimulates nitric oxide that kills harmful bacteria.” (Scientific American Sept 2014 Page 28)

*** Now… think about all the breathers in the breathwork room in a confined space (this is the case most of the time unless outside or in an indoor/outdoor space). If your instructor is teaching mouth inhales, think about all the recycled air being taken in, not filtered by the nose at all! It is no wonder people can get sick the next day! (Word to the wise… though it can be at times, it’s not always physical detox or “emotions moving” as some instructors will try to tell you. Often it is actually breathers deep mouth-breathing in confined spaces and transferring bacteria around…) ;)

4- You receive more oxygen through the nose which increases oxygen levels; increased oxygen allows you to experience heightened vitality and energy. Nose inhales allow for a deeper, richer breath and significantly more air on the inhale, delivering more oxygen throughout the body and brain overall. Conversely, by breathing through your mouth, you are negatively impacting your heart, brain, and all other organs by denying proper oxygenation. Even though you may have no cardiac disease symptoms, long-term mouth breathing (in daily life or in consistent mouth breathwork) could, over time, potentially lead to arrhythmias or other heart issues. And remember, the more mouth-inhale breathwork you do, the more you are training your body to breathe this way in waking life.

“Nose breathing imposes approximately 50 percent more resistance to the air stream in normal individuals than does mouth breathing, resulting in 10-20 percent more O2 uptake.” (Cottle, 1972: Rohrer, 1915) 

5- The nose houses olfactory bulbs, which are direct extensions of part of the brain called the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus is responsible for many functions in our bodies, particularly those that are automatic, such as heartbeat, blood pressure, thirst, appetite and sleep cycles. The hypothalamus is also responsible for generating chemicals that influence memory and emotion.

6- Mouth-breathing is akin to hyperventilation on a physiological level. If carbon dioxide is lost too quickly, as in mouth breathing, oxygen absorption is decreased. If we want a more optimal breathing experience, we must stop over-breathing (hyperventilation), i.e. mouth breathing. Breathing through your mouth causes depleted carbon dioxide levels too fast too soon, reduces blood circulation, and can even cause spells of dizziness.

…”Researchers have additionally pointed out how mouth breathing and associated hyperventilation causes and exacerbates oxidative stress, asthma, high blood pressure, heart disease and other health problems. Chronic mouth breathing also causes the muscles that open the sidewalls of the nose to weaken causing narrowing of airways.” 

*** We have heard stories of individuals teaching shorter 30 minute mouth-inhale breathwork journeys starting out too fast too soon and, at times, breathers almost passing out from such a quick onset of depleted carbon dioxide! Conversely, nose inhale cycles allow for an intentional, safe, and gradual building of oxygen levels to enter into the expanded states of awareness induced by breathwork.

7- Mouth breathing can lead to snoring. Our nasal passages have afferent stimuli— the nerves that regulate breathing. Air that we inhale through the nose passes through the nasal mucosa, which stimulates the reflex nerves that control breathing. Mouth breathing, however, bypasses the nasal mucosa and makes regular breathing difficult, which can lead to snoring, breath irregularities and sleep apnea.

Additional information on mouth breathing:

…“Mouth breathing can further produce an anterior open bite, a longer face, and some suggest that because of poor sleep quality produces a baggy appearance under the eyes.”

…”Mouth breathing can accelerate water loss increasing possible dehydration.”

…”Also, when you breathe in the mouth, the lungs are overstimulated with oxygen but the airways become dried and vaso-constricted, so an inefficient amount of oxygen is actually absorbed through the alveoli in the lungs.”

To conclude, science and physiology are both vital in understanding our inhale of choice, yet this is only the beginning… As discussed above, on a deeper level, we are activating full-bodied presence and nervous system regulation through the nose-inhale cycle, which more powerfully supports the breathwork process on a multidimensional level. 

To be considered in breathwork:

Remember, nose-inhales engage the lower portion of the lungs which, in turn, activate the parasympathetic nervous system (relaxation/calming response). This is the direct opposite of the “fight or flight” stress response (or “quick high”) via the sympathetic nervous system triggered by mouth-inhales. Think of fast mouth-inhales like the immediate adrenaline rush from strong coffee. It may have favorable short-term benefits i.e. an immediate rush of artificial energy and increased attention span… but what are the long-term effects of too much coffee? They could include: adrenal burnout, fatigue, dependency on caffeine, anxiety, insomnia, digestive issues, high blood pressure, elevated heart rate, and others. This is not so different than any other stimulant, and the same could be theorized for short-term “mouth inhale highs.”

Thus, it is imperative as breathwork teachers and leaders that we look at the larger picture and long-term perspective of what healing really means. This work should never be about “quick” releases or immediate states attained. Rather, we should instill a holistic approach to somatic unwinding and nervous system regulation. It should be fully understood that mouth-inhales (and shorter, faster breathwork journeys) create oxidative stress in the body over time alongside activating the fight or flight sympathetic response. Yet, nose-inhales promote the parasympathetic relaxation response, which is essential to support trauma release and deep unwinding. Nose=inhales also allow for more oxygen to be taken in and serve as an air filter for the body.

A masculine and “yang” approach to breathwork (including mouth inhales and going too fast without easing in) can become an entry point for the re-traumatization of the breather and, without a doubt, can create additional stress in the body over time. So can being pulled out too soon before a complete catharsis takes place, which is what is happening with the 30 minute breathwork workshops we see popping up all over. Please understand that we cannot heal through the same energy which caused the initial traumas and imprints in the first place. We must genuinely look at this if we are to be leaders of this movement.

So… let us take the time to know our craft inside and out. And strive to all-ways… Be ethical. Be in integrity. Be informed. 

- Kaya Leigh, Founder of Sacred Breath Academy and Creator of the Sacred Breath Method