There is a question I hear often: where to start?
Among so many practices, so many methods, so much information — what is the first step?
The most honest answer I have is also the simplest: breathe through the nose.
It’s not an answer that seems sufficient. But the data tells a different story.
What science has found
A study published this year in the journal Frontiers in Physiology tested something very simple — what happens when patients with heart diseases breathe through the nose instead of the mouth during exercise.
The results surprised even the researchers.
93% of patients with heart failure and 80% of patients with chronic coronary syndrome significantly improved their respiratory efficiency just by changing from mouth breathing to nasal breathing — without any other intervention.
But there is an even more remarkable fact.
The improvement achieved with a single session of nasal breathing was comparable to the effect of six months of a specific heart medication for this condition.
Six months of treatment. Replaced, largely, by a free, immediate choice with no side effects.
Why the nose makes this difference
Mouth breathing tends to increase the respiratory rate and reduce the volume of each breath — a pattern that overloads the heart and reduces the efficiency of gas exchange.
Nasal breathing does the opposite: it slows down the rate, increases the depth of each breath, and directly improves how oxygen and carbon dioxide circulate in the body.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the lung has a curious name — the chancellor. It is the organ closest to the heart, the emperor, responsible for regulating what comes in and what goes out. An efficient chancellor organizes the body’s borders with the outside world. A well-used lung does exactly that — regulates, filters, protects.
Mouth breathing bypasses this chancellor. Nasal breathing restores its function.
The most accessible gate there is
No equipment is needed. No experience is needed. No extra time in the day is needed.
Only one choice is needed, repeated — to breathe through the nose instead of the mouth whenever you remember.
During exercise. In a tense meeting. While watching your favorite series. Sleeping. On a walk.
It’s the simplest practice I know — and, according to this data, one of the ones with the greatest direct impact on cardiovascular health.
If you are just starting out and don’t know where — here is the answer.
This is the simplest gate. But if you want to go further — build a consistent breathing practice, with structure and guidance — the Seasonal Breathing and Alignment program is still available.
This week I added two new practice audios and one guided practice.
See you next week.
Good practices
Lourenço de Azevedo
Source of the study: Frontiers in Physiology, “Improved exercise ventilatory efficiency with nasal compared to oral breathing in cardiac patients”, 2024