Optimising Nasal Breathing: A Simple Way to Regulate Your Whole System

We all breathe. All day, every day. Without needing to think about it, we take over 20,000 breaths in a single day. But how often do we pay attention to how we’re breathing?

I’m not talking about the occasional deep breath or sigh — I’m talking about the everyday, background rhythm of the breath. Where it’s happening. Whether it’s through the nose or the mouth. Whether it’s fast or slow. Shallow or deep. Whether it’s keeping us steady… or keeping us stuck.

One of the most powerful and accessible tools we have for calming the mind, settling the body, and coming into presence is something we’re already doing — it’s just a matter of optimizing it. And that starts with the nose.

Your Breath and Your Nervous System Are Always Talking

The body is always listening. And the breath is often what it’s listening to most closely.

You may already know this, but just to ground us here: your nervous system has two main gears — the sympathetic (fight/flight/freeze) and the parasympathetic (rest/digest). Both are needed. Both are working in the background, moment to moment.

But we live in a world that tends to keep us more often in the “on” position — always doing, reacting, striving, scrolling. Many of us live from a nervous system that is over-stimulated, over-wired, under-rested.

This is where nasal breathing — conscious, intentional nasal breathing — comes in. It’s not just about relaxation. It’s about regulation. It’s about learning how to talk back to the body, to tell it: “You’re safe now.”

When we breathe through the nose, especially slowly and deeply, we are activating the parasympathetic system — the one that tells the body to exhale, to digest, to feel.

The Science Beneath the Subtle

There are many reasons why nasal breathing works so well, and while modern research is confirming ancient wisdom, let’s not get lost in data. Here are a few simple truths about why the nose matters:

• Nasal breathing filters and warms the air, protecting the lungs and creating a smoother, more supportive breath.

• It slows your breath rate, which immediately supports your heart, digestion, and emotional regulation.

• It enhances oxygenation by maintaining a healthy balance of carbon dioxide (CO₂) — and this matters. CO₂ isn’t waste; it’s the messenger that tells your cells to receive oxygen. It helps release oxygen from hemoglobin so it can actually reach your tissues. When you breathe through your nose, you avoid dumping CO₂ too quickly, allowing oxygen to be delivered where it’s needed — helping your whole system function with more ease and clarity.

• The nasal passages produce nitric oxide, which is a vasodilator — it helps your blood vessels open, your circulation improve, and your immunity strengthen.

Put simply, nasal breathing is more efficient. More intelligent. More in tune with how the body is designed to thrive.

The Yogic Lens

In yoga, we speak of prāṇa — the life force. Breath becomes the bridge between the outer world and the inner world, a way of tuning in. A way of working with the subtle body — the part of you that lives beneath skin and muscle, where energy moves, emotions stir, and awareness begins to wake up.

Practices like Mabho Mudra, where the tongue rests just behind the upper front teeth, help create a seal that naturally encourages nasal breathing. This is a simpler variation of Khechari Mudra, in which the tongue is placed along the upper palate and drawn as far back as the practitioner can manage. Both are said to support healing in the body — and both guide the breath solely through the nose, which activates many of the body’s restorative qualities.

Pranayama practices like Nadi Shodhana (alternate nostril breathing) are designed to balance not just the left and right nostrils, but also the subtle energy channels linked to the nervous system: Ida and Pingala. Moon and sun. Rest and activation.

One study (you can read it here) showed that even a few minutes of alternate nostril breathing increased parasympathetic activity — the state of rest, digest, and inner regulation.

But truly, no amount of science or studies can make us feel this.

Try it.

Exhale smoothly, blowing gently through your lips, and then allow your mouth to close. Place the tip of your tongue just behind your front teeth. Let your lips relax — either softly closed or slightly apart — and feel the breath slowly pull in through your nose, then slowly release through your nose.

Even if your breath feels constricted, stay calm. Let the gases dance with each other. Let them find harmony with every breath.

Try to remain here for a few minutes, knowing you are safe.

Eventually — now or at a later time — you may feel called to extend your right hand in front of you. Curl your index and middle fingers into the palm (or gently rest them between your eyebrows if that feels more natural). Place your thumb softly over your right nostril.

Breathe in through the left nostril.

Breathe out through the left.

Breathe in through the left again, then gently close it with your ring finger. Open the right nostril and breathe out.

Breathe in through the right, then breathe out.

Use your natural rhythm of inhale and exhale.

Don’t worry about perfect technique — let yourself play with alternating back and forth, and finish on whichever side feels best to you in the moment.

Then sit and observe.

Did one side feel blocked or constricted?

Did they feel balanced?

Simply notice — no narrative. Just presence.

A Practice, Not a Performance

There’s nothing to perfect here. This isn’t about always nasal breathing, or doing it right every time. It’s about reclaiming a more natural way of breathing — and realizing how much support your body can receive when you do.

You might start by just noticing when you breathe through your mouth. Notice when you’re holding your breath. When you’re rushing it.

And then, as often as you can: come back to the nose. Let it be the way you come back to your body. Back to presence. Back to regulation.

Back to now.