Complexity Bias is the human tendency to look at simple situations as if they were too complex. It means, we prefer complexity. An example would be someone under a huge debt trying to improve their financial situation by reducing multiple bills but still overlooking their splurge on parties.
In a fast-paced life, many of us often feel exhausted or mentally fuzzy and end up jumping to pills and psychiatrists to feel better. It is exactly in these moments where the awareness of our complexity bias can work miracles. Just slow down and think if you are overlooking a simpler solution, like sleeping on time, drinking water, or breathing better.
For this mission, let’s continue the mastery of breathing.
Zen philosopher Lao Tzu once said, “A perfect man breathes as if he is not breathing.” On top of it, cultures across the world have deemed oral breathers as “dumb” and “repulsive” for ages. But today, almost half of the world’s population breathes from the mouth, and in the remaining half, most of the people are shallow breathers, taking around 18 breaths per minute. Should we bother or is this discrimination against oral breathing just another mistake of our predecessors among many others?
While changing the way you breathe might not fix all the problems, it surely is a major factor. As we saw earlier, Buddha learned from experience that breath was the key to calm, but science is on the same page. Research links oral breathing to increased stress and exhaustion. And not just in evidence, but also through actual body mechanisms:
Nasal breathing: Breathing through the nose moistens, filters, warms up, and pressurizes the air. This helps our body absorb up to 15% more oxygen and produce 6 times more nitric oxide (a common constituent in energy drinks as well). This improves blood circulation and in turn, we feel energized throughout the day
Deep breathing: A major part of how we feel depends on the balance of oxygen (O2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) in our bodies. Oxygen in the bloodstream is attracted to the cells with higher CO2 levels. When we breathe shallow, our cells produce less CO2, which in turn leads to lower O2 absorption. One of its results is that our brain oxygen levels drop, and we feel fuzzy, with reduced focus and higher chances of stress
In his book Breath, author James Nestor digs into the science of how breathing can change our life. Nestor became a guinea pig for his own experiments to see if oral breathing was as bad as claimed by society for ages. For 10 days, he plugged silicone implants in his nose, to ensure only mouth breathing. Within a few days, his stress and blood pressure shot up. After 10 days, he switched to nasal breathing. To keep it strict, he even taped his mouth before sleeping at night. He noticed a miracle. Not only did he get the expected results of lower stress and optimal blood pressure, but even his decades-old habit of snoring for 4 hours every night was reduced to just 10 minutes!
Thankfully, you do not need to go as extreme as Nestor. Breathing through the nose is the natural way for humans, but in case you have grown up as an oral breather due to any reason, it is never too late to switch back. Unless a medical condition restricts you, there is no reason to not practice nasal breathing.
To get the most out of your current mission, we suggest you integrate these two lessons into your breathing habit:
Breathe through the nose: Start where you are. Years of oral breathing can make nasal breathing difficult in the beginning, but only practice can get your nasal muscles back on track. As Nestor writes, “Nasal breathing begets more nasal breathing.”
Breathe less: Hahaha, this sounds evil, but it simply means the deeper you breathe, the lower your breath count. The ideal range is 6-10 breaths per minute
Have fun! Go slowww 😊