A Note from Camie
The mouth exhale is not a mistake.
The nose is for building, filtering, sustaining. The mouth is for releasing. The key is knowing which one the moment is asking for. In connective tissue work, in deep stretch, in emotional release: the open mouth exhale is your body’s most honest tool. Trying to keep it quiet, trying to keep it nasal, can actually work against the release you are there for. Sometimes you need the sound.
The sounds.
Sssssss. Run your tongue behind your upper teeth and exhale through the gap. Feel your the muscles between your ribs engage and wring out. This sound expels stale air from the bottom of the breath, and activates the muscles that hold your ribcage together.
Haaaaaaa. Open your mouth, drop your jaw, and let it fall out. This is the letting go breath. It releases heat from the body, softens the throat, and creates an almost immediate drop in tension. In yoga we use it to release the grip on a pose or on a thought. Louder is often better.
The sigh. An audible exhale, activates the vagus nerve directly through vibration in the throat. Your body already knows, it sighs involuntarily when the nervous system needs to discharge. When you do it on purpose, you are giving your nervous system explicit permission to let something go.
Lion’s Breath. Inhale deeply through the nose. Then open your mouth wide, stick out your tongue, and exhale everything out with a strong “HAAA” from the back of the throat. Eyes wide or rolled up. All of it. Lion’s breath releases tension in the face, jaw, and throat. Three of the places we hold the most and release the least. It stimulates the vagus nerve, clears stagnant energy, and has the bonus effect of making everyone in the room laugh, which is its own kind of medicine. We do not apologize for it.
So here is the full picture.
Inhale through your nose. Build, filter, sustain. Collect the nitric oxide.
Exhale through your nose when you want to regulate, to steady, to extend the calm.
Exhale through your mouth when you need to release, to let go, to discharge, to make a sound that your body has been holding.
Your breath is a conversation. Learn to listen to what it is asking for.
Try it right now. Three times. Notice how much more empty your lungs feel after.
Keep Breathing,
Camie
