breathing

i have disappeared recently down a rabbit hole, sent there by a book called breathing. it’s written by a competitive free-diver who got interested in breathing as part of his practice of swimming as deeply into the ocean as he could, then back, on one lungful of air. but his big takeaway is that mammals are meant to be nose breathers, and too many humans have recently become mouth breathers, with all sorts of negative consequences. so, yes, i have taken to taping my mouth shut at night, and convinced my husband to do the same, which has cured his lifelong snoring, and we both wake up more rested than we can remember. something about the longer pathway into the lungs, and the conditioning of the breath that happens through the nostrils and sinuses tells the body that everything is OK, and prepares the air to enter the lungs. it’s utterly fascinating. these waterlillies open up during the day, and then close down at night, and i now think of it as taking one long daytime breath, and exhaling all night long, and i envy them such centered simplicity.

american water-lily