The Tibetan Five Rites: Should We Breathe Through the Nose or the Mouth When We Practice Them?

You should breathe only through the nose. The nose is designed for breathing. The nose is the first line of defense, warning you of harmful smells, and trapping and filtering out particles and bacteria.

When you breathe through your nose, it is easier to regulate your breathing rate and depth. When you breathe slowly and deeply it stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system associated with digestion, assimilation, calm and relaxation.

When you breathe rapidly into the upper chest you stimulate the sympathetic nervous system associated with ‘flight or fight’ response of the body. By controlling your breathing you can initiate the ‘relaxation response’ of the body which reduces stress.

An expert on breathing whilst exercising is Dr John Douillard whose breathing techniques have been used by dozens of world-class athletes, including tennis greats Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King.

He is a great advocate backed by research who says we should bring the intensity of our exercise down to a point where we can breathe through our nose. He has shown that this improves performance, stamina, focus, and coordination.

He believes that we should breathe through our nose when exercising because it stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system associated with regeneration and rejuvenation. When we exercise to intensity whereby we breathe through the nose in a rapid upper chest type emergency breath, this degenerates us and causes stress to the body.

He says ...”In Ayurveda, the first requirement for health, fitness and longevity is that the body’s life force or “prana” must flow effortlessly into every cell of the body. This is accomplished primarily via the breath. It is the proper use of the breath during exercise that will bring harmony between the mind and body and create a measurable experience of calm and rejuvenation in each workout.

Exercise can act as a double edge sword where it can either incur stress or remove it depending on the quality of the breath. The best way to consistently breathe into the lower lobes of the lungs is by nasal breathing. The nose is really an intricately designed breathing apparatus that will prepare the air perfectly for access into the lower lobes. In short the nose filters, moistens and rarifies the air before it penetrates the lower lobes.

Probably the most unusual feature lies in the turbinates of the nose, which act as turbines to swirl the air into vortices that drives the incoming air into the small and distal alveoli of the lungs. It is when these distal lobes are fully perfused that the body produces a neurological state of composure even while under extreme stress - thus the eye of the hurricane."...

He quotes tennis great Billie Jean King saying, ...“I would transport myself beyond the turmoil of the court to a place of total peace and calm."...

The Importance of Correct Breathing

Breathing well is incredibly important, because a number of clinical studies have proven that how well you breathe is literally an indicator of how long you will live

Poor breathing patterns can seriously affect your physical health as well as your mental and emotional well being.

With a high percentage of raw foods the respiratory system is responsible for eliminating approximately 70% of your metabolic waste. The remainder should be eliminated through defecation 3%, urination 8% and perspiration 19%. So, if you think that going to the bathroom every day is important, or that of working up a sweat now and then is healthy - think again about the value of full free optimal breathing!

If you want to find how well you breathe – try breathing expert & contributor to T5T®’s breathing techniques; Mike White whose free online breathing tests – have been done by around 50,000 people so far.

To get the most out of any type of healing work and more importantly life - developing optimal breathing habits is one of the most valuable things you can do.

T5T® has incorporated breathing with the Five Tibetan Rites because it supercharges their effects by boosting your vitality & improving health & wellbeing.

If you are taking the time to do a daily energy raising exercise routine like The 5 Tibetans– it makes perfect sense to include natural full breathing with the movements. Breathing in fills your body with life-giving oxygen; and breathing out eliminates toxins and wastes.

T5T® teaches you how to breathe slower, deeper, fuller and with less tension. Our ‘Energy Breathing Technique’ is completed 3 times between each Rite. Plus we instruct you on how to breathe correctly while performing the Rites.

..."Breathing slower, deeper and easier is vital for longevity, health and vitality. I believe that T5T can help most people become more conscious of their breathing. It can also release tension in their breathing, and often gradually expand their breathing capacity as well as slow their breathing rate. T5T will help many people to achieve the above, however there are those who may have an undetected dysfunctional breathing or what I call UDB whose next step would be my Optimal Breathing Techniques."... Michael Grant White, “The Breathing Coach” - Executive Director of www.breathing.com and the Optimal Breathing School

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Copyright (c) 2005 Carolinda Witt - author T5T - The Five Tibetan Exercise Rites (Penguin/Lantern 2005) and The 10-Minute Rejuvenation Plan (Random House/Three Rivers Press 2007)