Breathing Exercise To Unblock Your Nose Naturally

Breathing Exercise To Unblock Your Nose Naturally

Your nose is blocked, runny and itchy. You know about the importance of nasal breathing for your sleep quality, mental clarity and physical performance. Still, your nose is so blocked that you can't breathe through it. 

I feel you! 

This article aims to give you powerful tools to open that nose once and for all. 

Use it or lose it

It's spring in Australia, and many people are struggling with hayfever. Stuffy and blocked noses are some of the most common symptoms, and it's bloody tough to breathe through your nose if your nose is congested. 

The paradox is that the only way to reduce your allergies permanently is to breathe through your nose.

See, the nose is not just a face ornament.

The nose is an air conditioner. The nose warms, humidifies and purifies the air that you breathe. 

The mouth does not do that. When you breathe through your mouth, you draw dry and cool air into your lungs. The dry air sucks the moisture out of the airways. When the airways dry up, they become more susceptible to insults from the external world and inflammation. Inflammation of the airways leads to more mucous production, which leads to more nasal congestion, which leads to more mouth breathing.

The other thing is that if you always breathe through your nose, there is a constant flow of air pressing against the soft tissues that make up the nasal passages. Over time the tissues yield, and the nasal passages become broader, and airflow becomes easier. 

Therefore, it will be easier to breathe through your nose in the future if you breathe through your nose. If you don't breathe through your nose, it will be harder to breathe through your nose in the future. 

Use it or lose it is the name of the game.

Spring in the air. Literally.

The Nose Protects You

As I said, the nose warms and humidifies the air entering your body, and it also purifies the air you breathe. 

The purification process starts in the nose. Believe it or not, but those fine hairs inside your nostrils are not just for decoration. They serve as the body's first-line defence mechanism against airborne pathogens, particles and allergens, such as pollen. Further, in the nasal cavity cilia, tiny hairlike projections catch even more particles trying to enter your body via air. 

Nitric oxide

Nitric oxide is the next line of defence. Nasal nitric oxide is always pooling in the nasal cavity. When you breathe through the nose, you draw nitric oxide laden air into your lungs. 

Nitric oxide is a potent antiviral agent. It has been shown to reduce respiratory tract viral infections by inactivating viruses, and trials are underway to see if nitric oxide could be used to prevent and treat COVID-19. (1).

Nitric oxide is also a vasodilator and a bronchodilator. Vasodilation means that it opens up blood vessels and improves oxygen delivery to your brain, muscles, organs and cells. Bronchodilation means that it opens up the airways. Asthma is bronchoconstriction, and bronchodilation is the opposite. We want to have open airways so that it's easy to breathe. We also want to do anything we can to improve oxygen delivery because that is the whole point of breathing in the first place. Did you know that the brain uses 20% of all the oxygen that you breathe?

 Open wide, come inside.

You Are Not A Whale

I'm sure you've seen how blue whales catch their food. They open up their massive mouths and launch themselves into a school of fish or krill, and everything that's floating around gets swallowed in one scoop. 

Now, think about yourself walking around with your mouth open. Pollen, dust, or anything else you might be allergic is harvested into your lungs without the nose's filtration. Can you see how mouth breathing is only going to make your allergies worse?

The other thing is that it's not only pollen and dust that's in the air. There are pathogens such as airborne viruses and bacteria wherever you go, and walking around with your mouth open is a great way to invite all of them to party inside your lungs. Not a good idea. 

Finally, airborne microparticles are capable of causing massive problems if they enter your lungs. According to a study by Harvard University, more than 8 million people died in 2018 from microparticles created from fossil fuel pollution. The researchers estimated that exposure to microparticles floating in the air accounted for a whopping 18% of total global deaths in 2018. (2)

I'm not suggesting that there wouldn't be as many deaths from microparticles if everyone switched to full-time nasal breathing. However, I am hard-pressed to think that it definitely wouldn't hurt to use the body's natural defence mechanisms to their fullest potential. 

Nose Unblocking Exercise

Let's now open that nose up once and for all by taking advantage of nitric oxide's airway opening properties.

DISCLAIMER: Do not do this exercise if you are pregnant or have a high or low blood pressure history.

Written cues: ( Video link below)

1. Sit upright, breathe silently through the nose for three breath cycles.
2. On the fourth cycle, exhale and pinch your nose after you've exhaled all the way. Note that the exhale should be as silent as possible.
3. Hold your breath and start nodding your head up and down. 
4. Hold.
5. Hold.
6. Hold.
7. Hold until you experience a mild sensation of air hunger. This should take about 15-30 seconds.
8. Unpinch and inhale as slowly and silently as possible.
9. Let your breath settle into a calm rhythm, and rest for 30-60 seconds. Repeat five more times. 

There are a few more advanced cues, and I go through the cues in this video. Feel free to jump to 3:30 on the video. You will get the best results if you sit tight for the total duration of the exercise. 

I would love to hear if the exercise works for you, so make sure to leave me a comment on Youtube or send me a direct message on Instagram @ coachpyry.

Conclusion

The Nose Unblocking Exercise is one of the powerful breathing tools I teach in the Breathing Foundations course.

There are tools that : 
✅ Prime your body for a great night's sleep every night.
✅ Improve tolerance to physical and cognitive stress.
✅ Improve oxygen delivery & blood flow to all tissues within minutes.
✅ Improve posture and movement potential.
✅ Improve the muscle tone of your face and neck.
✅ Reduce the likelihood of snoring and obstructive sleep apnea.
✅ Reduce breathlessness during physical activity
✅ Reduce anxiety within minutes.

Please share this resource with someone struggling with allergies or who is always complaining about a stuffy nose. 

Your friend and coach,

Coach Pyry