Tip 77: Close the gap, breath through your nose

I am always reminded by my wife to not open the gap in my mouth when not talking. I have a habit of leaving a very small gap between my lips. Maybe 1cm or less. Got used to humming a tune or whispering something I read to better memorize or learn something. Its the vocal person in me, where what I both see and hear stays in memory longer. So for pressumably more refined etiquette, I comply and try to smile more often and stick my lips together. I recently saw on Japanese TV that breathing through the nose and not through the mouth reduces the risk of diseases. I was then reminded of why I ought to be closing my gap ... its not just for style ... though, I am more convinced that leaving the gap open is surely not elegant. I realized I have a habit of breathing through my mouth half the time (or at least a quarter). So, I am now making a more conscious effort to breath through my nose (even as I blog now) and try aim for 99% nasal/nose breathing. Its probably not easy since I even read aloud sometimes the words I type. Then, as I google a great site on nose breathing - there are just too many scientific reasons why nose breathing is far more superior than mouth breathing. And it has nothing to do with new age mentality, yoga and the sort. The links above are neutral health sites.

This post seems like common sense. But, only when you reflect and evaluate how often you open your mouth and how much mouth breathing you do as opposed to nose breathing, then you will make it a point to nose breath more especially after reading the links above. As I make more conscious efforts to nose breath all the time, I can feel the difference where my lungs work harder, my brain gets stimulated more by my conscious breathing and hopefully more germs get stuck on my nostril instead of my throat. If the Japanese live longer because of this ... I am just going to start now before my lungs get lazy to nose breath. Hey, even snoring is reduced when one consciously make it a habit to nose breath during the day, so that you subconsciously close your mouth even in sleep. I do not snore (but since I do mouth breathing sometimes during sleep ... its not entirely quiet compared to nose breathing). Hahaha ... this post has too vivid details on the nose but the breath of life is something not to be underestimated. Breath in, breath out, be happy and be filled with love and good health.

I'm just curious... how many percent do others breath through their mouth? Do you breath through your mouth when you speak? For me, maybe its 70% nose, 30% mouth now. Still trying to track this consciously to switch to a full nose breathing regime.