The Power of Breath – Clear Air, Clear Mind

During my time in Vietnam, I became deeply aware of how important clear air is to me. The warm, humid air there taught me something essential — how much I value the feeling of freshness and clarity when I breathe. Here, where we have four seasons, I appreciate that even more. Now in October, the air feels so pure — not too cold, just crisp and full of life. I love being outside, feeling that freshness in my lungs.
I go jogging along the same route — always the same path, always in the morning air. It’s my ritual before my yoga practice. That run helps me wake up, ground myself and connect with my breath. And it’s also where I still need to focus the most: keeping my mouth closed while I run. Sometimes it’s tempting to open it, especially when I get tired, but I really try to stay with my nasal breathing. When I manage to keep that flow — the rhythm of my steps and my breath moving together — it feels amazing. It’s like everything inside me synchronizes.
Breathing through the nose is essential. The nose filters, warms and cleans the air before it enters the lungs. When I breathe in, I imagine the fresh, clear air circulating through my body, cleansing every cell and filling me with energy. It’s such a beautiful feeling — light, fresh and purifying.
I’ve also learned how deeply the breath influences both body and mind. When I inhale longer, the parasympathetic system activates, bringing calm and relaxation. When I exhale longer, it gently energizes and awakens the body. 
One of my favorite breathing techniques is what I call balancing breath: inhaling for four counts and exhaling for four. It immediately brings harmony and focus. When I want to calm my mind even more, I inhale for five or six counts and exhale for four. It’s a simple yet powerful way to come back into balance.
I also learned something important during my yoga practice: whenever I move into a pose that feels tight or slightly uncomfortable — not painful, but challenging — I focus on slow, long exhalations. Each breath out helps me to soften, to release resistance and to move a little deeper into the stretch. It’s incredible how the breath can guide the body to open.
And then there’s the other side — the fire breath.
When I’m running, jumping, or dancing, my breathing naturally becomes faster and more dynamic — almost like Kapalabhati, the “breath of fire.”
This rhythmic nasal breathing activates the sympathetic system and stimulates the vagus nerve through the steady movement of the diaphragm.
It creates warmth, focus, and vitality — and often leads me into what I call the runner’s bliss, that same elevated state I once experienced during the 108 sun salutations in my yoga training.
It’s a powerful, joyful flow where the body, the breath, and the rhythm become one — the mind quiets and there’s only energy and movement.
Whether I’m running in the morning air or dancing freely, this faster, rhythmic breathing fills me with happiness, lightness and pure connection.
Keeping the mouth closed remains key. Constant mouth breathing disrupts the natural rhythm and can even affect the structure of the face over time — what’s called long-face syndrome. When the mouth is gently closed, the tongue rests at the roof of the mouth, supporting natural, healthy nasal breathing.
The right breath is soft, quiet, and steady — you can hardly hear it. For me, it’s a silent meditation, a cleansing from within. Every inhale brings clarity and every exhale lets go of what I no longer need.
So simple — and yet so profound.

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