Why You Should Be Breathing Out of Your Nose

Recently I was listening to Laird Hamilton on The Joe Rogan Experience. & they had THE most interesting conversation. They talked about cryotherapy, ice baths, saunas, muscle recovery, working out in the pool, & steam rooms. They also discussed BREATH.

They really dove deep & got into it. If you don’t know who Laird Hamilton is: he’s an American big wave surfer, co-inventor of tow-in surfing, & considered the major influence behind stand up paddle boarding & hydrofoil boarding. Surfer Magazine named him ‘The World’s Most Complete Surfer.’

Anyway he went on & on about how important it is to breathe, obviously duh, we all know that. But he took it a step further & said it’s so much better for you if you breathe out your nose. In fact, he said that breathing through your nose could strengthen a deviated septum & really got into some benefits:

♡ Can help reduce the incident of colds. 

So those tiny little hairs ( that I’m always trying to shave off ) can trap pathogens, so when you’re breathing in & out, you’re reducing the risk of colds because it’s moving those hairs.

♡ It improves your stamina, so you’re able to workout harder & longer.

The next time you’re on a treadmill try breathing only through your nose & notice how much better you’ll feel. 

♡ The nose is meant for breathing!

The nose hair filters out the particles in the air.

The mucous has an enzyme that kills viruses & bacteria

The turbinates & sinuses warm & condition the air & produce nitric oxide—> which improves lung function ( & overall lung volume ), sexual health & cardiovascular health.

♡ A bit more on nitric oxide….

Nitric Oxide is made in the nostrils of humans. When we breathe IN, the nitric oxide will go all the way through the airways & into the deep lungs. It contributes to relaxation & expansion of the blood vessels & nitric oxide can kill bacteria & viruses.

So, after learning all of that a couple months ago, OF COURSE I’ve been trying to breathe out my nose, & it’s something you really need to practice & think about. It doesn’t just come naturally.

If you think about it, most people breathe through their mouth when they sleep. Michael always makes fun of me because I sleep with my mouth wide open ( catching flies, you know? LOL ) & when you breathe with your mouth wide open you’re getting bad oxygen. Actually it has been found that people who breathe heavily out of their mouths will see these 3 problems:

♡ Lower Co2 levels in the lungs.

♡ Lower Co2 concentration in the blood.

♡ Restricted o2 flow to the brain & other tissues.

If you’re breathing out of your mouth for 8 hours, you want to use the other hours in the day to breath out of your nose. It only makes sense.

Laird says that breathing through the mouth causes your blood vessels to become inflamed & enlarged. Sometimes people end up taping their mouth shut at night so they breathe through their nose, WHICH IS JUST CRAZY, but after knowing all the benefits how could you not?

You should also know that nose breathing causes you to slow down naturally & if you’ve ever been to a Bikram yoga class you’ll know that they encourage nasal breathing through most of the postures.

It’s also incredible calming to the mind & body. This is something I really noticed when I started to pay attention. When you’re upset or feel emotional about something, it’s very calming to breathe through your nose & tap into the mind body connection.

If you’re interested in breathing better like I am, there are some specific yoga poses that can help with this: camel, seated twists, & gentle backbends that open up the lungs.

Personally, I’ve really started thinking about breath, whether it’s in meditation, or sitting still, or dealing with something upsetting. The other day, I had something jarring happen to me, & instead of reacting to it, I practiced Tony Robbins’ 90 second rule where you only get upset about something for 90 seconds then you move on. & through his 90 seconds rule, I used my breath ( through my nose ), & calmed down. ( I’ve noticed that when I’m anxious I hold my breath, as I’m sure many do ).

Call me crazy guys, but I just had to share a new thing that I’ve been practicing every day. It’s these little tiny things that all add up & make up the big picture. I’m always trying to be 1% better every day, & if breathing a little differently is going help, then I’m gonna do it!

My next thing to explore is the William Hof method. I’ve heard so much about this, but I need to examine it first. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, Namaste. You’ll catch me breathing through my nose.

If you have anything to say about breath please comment below. There must be something to it if deep breathing techniques are used during child labor?… yes? no? Weigh in! I wanna hear it all. Hopefully this post can get at least 15 people breathing through their nose. Tell a friend.

x, lauryn

+ if you like this post you’ll love the one on tongue scraping.

++ read all about why you need a chic humidifier here.

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