The Nose

The nose, as we all know is used to smell...and of course breath!  And Prashant Iyengar writes in his article, Functionality and Emotionality of the Senses, "some people use their nose to poke into the matters of others." ;)

The nostrils help to warm and filter the air that goes into the lungs, helping to remove harmful bacteria and bring the breath to a temperature that is healthy for the lungs.
So, that is the function of the nose.  But, how does the nose express emotions. Taken from "The Smell Report", by Kate Fox "human sense of smell is feeble compared to that of many animals, it is still very acute. We can recognise thousands of different smells, and we are able to detect odours even in infinitesimal quantities."
These thousands of smells, depending on what they are will be expressed by our facial muscles.  The musculature of the face will change depending on the smell.  The smell of a skunk will definitely cause the face and body to act differently then the smell of a beautiful flower.  Prashant also writes that the place we smell something will affect us.  If we are not in a place where a particularly bad smell might be expected we will be affected more then if we were in, say a sewage treatment plant and know the smells might not be so great.

To quote Prashant,

"The human face changes its expression when feelings change.  Expressions differ according to the smell."

Why is this important to our exploration of yoga?  The musculature of the face will affect our state of being, our breath, our state of mind.
Consider this as you practice today. Keep both nasal passages relaxed, the facial muscles relaxed, the brain relaxed, the body relaxed and open.

Namaste.
Pamela Nelson
www.plnyoga.vpweb.com