This is an extract from Breath by James Nestor, published by Penguin Random House.The phenomenon, called nasal cycles, was first described in 1895 by a German physician named Richard Kayser. He noticed that the tissue lining one nostril of his patients seemed to quickly congest and close while the other would mysteriously open. Then, after about 30 minutes to 4 hours, the nostrils switched, or “cycled.” The shifting appeared to be influenced less by the moon’s mysterious pull and more by sexual urges.
The interior of the nose, it turned out, is blanketed with erectile tissue, the same flesh that covers the penis, clitoris, and nipples. Noses get erections. Within seconds, they too can engorge with blood and become large and stiff. This happens because the nose is more intimately connected to the genitals than any other organ; when one gets aroused, the other responds. The mere thought of sex for some people causes such severe bouts of nasal erections that they’ll have trouble breathing and will start to sneeze uncontrollably, an inconvenient condition called “honeymoon rhinitis.” As sexual stimulation weakens and erectile tissue becomes flaccid, the nose will, too.
After Kayser’s discovery, decades passed and nobody offered a good reason for why the human nose was lined with erectile tissue, or why the nostrils cycled. There were many theories: some believed this switching provoked the body to flip over from side to side while sleeping to prevent bedsores. (Breathing is easier through the nostril opposite the pillow.) Others thought the cycling helped protect the nose from respiratory infection and allergies, while still others argued that alternate airflow allows us to smell odours more efficiently.
What researchers eventually managed to confirm was that nasal erectile tissue mirrored states of health. It would become inflamed during sickness or other states of imbalance. If the nose became infected, the nasal cycle became more pronounced and switched back and forth quickly. The right and left nasal cavities also worked like an HVAC system, controlling temperature and blood pressure and feeding the brain chemicals to alter our moods, emotions, and sleep states.
The right nostril is a gas pedal. When you’re inhaling primarily through this channel, circulation speeds up, your body gets hotter, and cortisol levels, blood pressure, and heart rate all increase. This happens because breathing through the right side of the nose activates the sympathetic nervous system, the “fight or flight” mechanism that puts the body in a more elevated state of alertness and readiness. Breathing through the right nostril will also feed more blood to the opposite hemisphere of the brain, specifically to the prefrontal cortex, which has been associated with logical decisions, language, and computing.
Inhaling through the left nostril has the opposite effect: it works as a kind of brake system to the right nostril’s accelerator. The left nostril is more deeply connected to the parasympathetic nervous system, the rest- and-relax side that lowers temperature and blood pressure, cools the body, and reduces anxiety. Left-nostril breathing shifts blood flow to the opposite side of the prefrontal cortex, the right area that plays a role in creative thought, emotions, formation of mental abstractions, and negative emotions.
This is an extract from Breath by James Nestor, published by Penguin Random House, $35. Available to purchase now.
