In Through the Nose...

It's list time! People love reading columns with lists!

In the interest of playing nicely, I won't spoil the whole book for you, but here's a link to "Breath" by James Nestor. A dear family member recommended it to me. There's more good content to consider making choices with, but I'm giving you my discoveries when it comes to the first crucial task.

Repeatedly, Nestor implores us to breathe in through the nose with the mouth closed. I've been working on this for weeks. Here are a few things I've noticed:

1: My nose might be clearer than it has been. Perhaps the constant use of the nostrils is keeping the pathway clear as particles get ushered along. However, I can't isolate the breathing as the cause because I also started cutting back on allergy pills around the same time.

2: I'm, well, smelling things. Again, we can't be sure it's the change in breathing practices. But I often don't notice scents unless they're right in my face. It seems that the olfactory range has increased to a much larger radius.

3: I need less to drink, I think. I find this one the most surprising. I'm not surprised that I need to take in less water; that's intuitive since I'm not exhaling through the mouth hardly at all. So, it's not the fact that it's less necessary that's suprising. No, the strange thing is realizing how much liquid I have historically taken in. I'm still imbibing fluids out of a longtime tendency. But, like, dear Reader, you gotta understand I'm used to basically always sipping on something. Finding that that's less necessary might be changing my whole perception of what it means to sit still. What do you do when you don't need a drink to pass the time? Get a fidget spinner?

4: The right nostril is waking up. Now, this one is almost assuredly due to the improved breathing, even if we can't be certain of the cause of the more open airway. I simply struggled to breathe through my right nostril when this journey began; I have structural issues. But, over the last few days, I've found myself naturally, if with a slight airy noise, taking the invisible floating ambient chemicals in through the problem nostril.

5: Tingles. I have zero idea why I experience the following sensation, but when I breathe in fully through my nose and then exhale with a slightly fervent force, I seem to get a tingle in my toes, a little shot of possibly-improved circulation.

(Possible) 6. I do not know if anything has changed with my voice, so I may advise the Reader on this aspect if I, say, record myself singing and notice any changes.

Doing good things has unpredictable positive outcomes.