Simple Actions To Regain Focus (Part 7) – Your Nose
Action 4: Put Water in Your Nose
“You know, it’s not the size of a nose that’s important, it’s what’s IN IT that matters.”
C.D. Bales (Steve Martin) “Roxanne”
Our nose is the first line of defense against all airborne bacteria and the exit through which all the “used” air we breathe leaves our body so that we can take in “fresh” air to keep things like our brain, heart, and lungs going.
However, we spend little to no time focusing on taking care of our nose during the course of our day.
The only time this vital filter gets any significant attention is when it’s either extremely dry or it’s completely stuffed.
Unfortunately, your nose is just like every other part of your body – it needs water.
For the most part your body supplies it with more than enough water and your nose absorbs moisture from the air that it needs during the course of the day.
There are circumstances where this daily “moisturizing” becomes more difficult: allergies, change in weather, taking certain medication, air conditioning, and…drum roll…stress.
Many, if not all of us at one time or another have noticed that when we are feeling stressed, we often have a decrease in saliva and as a result, experience a dry mouth.
What we are also experiencing is a drying in our nasal passage.
This drying often goes unnoticed by us but it serves as one of those small, chronic irritants that occur during the course of the day that, unbeknownst to us, is actually contributing to our feelings of tension and problems with concentration.
There are a number of products on the market to address chronic dry nose:
Neti pots
Saline drops,
and humidifiers…
to name a few.
But as with all the other actions, we are looking for something quick and this is as quick as it gets.
Here is what you do:
Put a little water on each of your index fingers and gently place them on the inside of each of your nostrils.
No, I am not advising you to pick your nose with a wet finger.
There is no insertion here.
Your fingertips are just bringing the water to your nostrils.
You do not need to take some dramatic inhale.
Just let the water settle for a minute then wipe any little drip that occurs.
Obviously, this is the easiest of the actions in this series…
But it is very effective in giving you a quick little moisture pick-me-up, which will actually serve to momentarily wake up your body and clear your mind.
If you find the action of putting your fingers anywhere near your nose to be “dirty” or “gross” keep in mind that your nose is a thousand times cleaner than your mouth or your fingers for that matter.
In the next part we’ll put the music back into you life…