The Nose Knows
Giving props to your proboscis Anyone who can breathe can do yoga. Breath is central to yoga, and any practice that disrespects the breath is without life, because breath is life. -- Krishnamacharya During a discussion of pranayama (breath exercises), my teacher, Lauren Maher of Breathe Deep Yoga, had the following suggestion for the class: Love your nose hairs. It seems in her years of teaching yoga she has discovered that many students have an aversion to nose hair. Uh, yeah, so? Her statement (which made me laugh so hard I wrote it down and vowed to use it in a future Yoga Bits) was intended to promote the value of breathing in and out through the nose. This breath is standard default "procedure" during yoga class, yet many people have a lot of trouble adjusting to it.  Medical issues and conscious or unconscious habits may be responsible for a tendency to breathe totally or partially through the mouth. My own habit was formed mainly in my grade-school years as a result of severe allergies. Breathing through my nose often was not possible, so I didn't. Other people inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth after years of fitness training advising them to do so. Then there are those who have become so disconnected from their bodies, they have no idea "how" they are breathing.
But breathing in through the nose brings two important respiratory benefits: it filters airborne impurities through the nose hairs (yes, that's why we love them!) and it warms and humidifies the air before it reaches the lungs. Exhaling through the nose automatically slows the breath. It's anatomically impossible to exhale through the nose as quickly as exhaling through the mouth. That difference matters because the rate of breathing has a direct impact on our mental state and physical health. Rapid breath induces wakefulness but, unchecked, can lead to agitation or panic. Slower breathing calms the mind as well as the central nervous system, which means our brain and body can relax. With a little bit of attention to the breath, you can shift the quality of your health and your life. You can begin to reap the benefits of conscious breathing by simply guiding your inhale and your exhale through the nose for one minute. If that feels like too much, initiate your awareness by trying one inhale through nose and one exhale through the nose while sitting in traffic, waiting on hold for customer service or a attending a business meeting. Look at that! You're doing yoga. | 
