Many professionals and researchers, including the ancient yogis, have made it clear that breathing through nose is certainly most optimal way to take in oxygen. Not only our body is designed taking oxygen from nose but also our entire health is dependent upon how consistently we breathe through nose. Most of us are regular mouth breathers, while either being stressed out or exercising. Certainly, this habit started taking roots since our childhood.
However, if we are to monitor the breathing process throughout the day, we can find that oral breathing is more in quantity than nasal breathing. Most of the time, this takes place unknowingly. In reality, leaving aside emergency situations, we all are supposed to breathe through our nose. Let us now find out why!
Why Nasal Breathing is Right?
Unlike mouth, the nose has different defense mechanisms for keeping impurities and chilled air at bay. The hairs lining our nostrils traps and remove dust and dirt particles along with tiny germs that are actually risky for lungs if inhaled through mouth.
In case of too much accumulation of such particles on the nasal membranes, the body secretes mucus automatically so that they are expelled through sneezing or are trapped to prevent their further entry in the body. Located at the nose’s entrance, a long snaky passage flanked with mucus membranes, where chilled air is warmed and tiny dust particles escaping the hairs at the nasal entrance are trapped.
Inside the nose, a few strong glands successfully remove any bacilli that might have escaped the aforementioned defenses. The inner nose also has the smell organ that senses any poisonous gas that can injure our health. According to the yogis, this organ also has the power to absorb Prana (life force or vital energy) from air, which is essential for overall welfare. In case you breathe from mouth most of the time, you are making your body starve of this free but vital energy. This starvation is the major cause of reduced resistance to the diverse impairs and diseases. Further, mouth breathing negatively affects the growth of the Thyroid Gland as well as mental development in kids.
Another reason to breathe through nostrils is to maintain the right balance of carbon dioxide and oxygen in blood. While breathing through the mouth, inhaling and exhaling happens swiftly in big volumes. This results in hyperventilation marked by breathing too fast. What we need to know is that the amount of carbon dioxide controls our breathing. Therefore, releasing it too quickly results in constricting the blood that the arteries and vessels transmit to the cells, including in our brain. As a result, the lack of sufficient oxygen in brain results in anxiety, tension, and depression.