Why your nose is built for breathing
Your nose filters, warms and humidifies every breath, and your sinuses add a molecule your lungs like.
By Rhythm Breathwork Editorial · · 3 min read
Mouth breathing works in a pinch, but your nose was designed for the job. Every breath that travels through it gets filtered, warmed and humidified before it reaches the delicate tissue of the lungs.
A quiet chemical helper
In 1995, Swedish researchers discovered that the sinuses produce high levels of nitric oxide, a gas that helps blood vessels relax. When you breathe through your nose, some of it travels down into the lungs with the air. Breathe through your mouth and you skip it.
A natural speed limit
The nose offers more resistance than the mouth, which tends to slow the breath and make it deeper. That slower rhythm is exactly what most calming breathwork asks for.
Try it today
Notice how you breathe while you read, walk or work. If your mouth is open, gently close it and let the air come in through your nose. If your nose is blocked, do not force it.
Close your mouth. Let your nose do the work it was built for.
The research behind this
For education only, not medical advice. Check with a doctor if you have a health condition.
