You Can Laugh But Can You Breathe?

Learning to breathe, literally and figuratively

Jan 16, 2020

Did you know that you’re supposed to breathe through your nose?

Ok, to be fair I’ve known this for a bit. Unless one has a problem with their nose or an issue with jaw alignment, the nose is far better at taking in and processing oxygen. It also increases the amount of teeth-saving saliva that I, as a mouth breather, lack and desperately need.

Another fun fact: it’s really hard to change the way you breathe. Sure, I can do it for 10 minutes during a guided meditation. But you can bet the moment I’m sitting in front of a computer I’m back to the bad kind of breathing once again.

I made a helpful chart to show what benefits can be gained by switching to a nose breathing plan. As you can see, I’d be silly not to switch if the price is the same.

So how do I do that? Well there are many face straps, special plastic lips, and other helpful tools resembling torture devices one can buy on Amazon.

But you know what works just as well?

Good old-fashioned tape.

Ok, mine is adorable washi tape, decorated with back cats. Still, it works.

So now whenever I sit down to write something, including this newsletter, I am forced to breathe through my nose for an hour or so while my mouth is taped shut. I feel ridiculous, but also strangely calm.

Apparently when stressed we breathe through our mouths and this actually makes it harder to stop the spiral of anxiety that one can get trapped in.

I’d rather look dumb than be as stressed as I was my first month back in the states. Learning to breathe through my nose is hard, but learning to take a breath and relax when things are looking bleak is even harder. Yet I have tape and patience, so I believe things are looking up.

Keep an eye out for your next audio reading of a story this Friday!