The cold air rushing straight into my lungs

Last time this year, I had a cold and cough which wouldn‘t shift and my airways became hypersensitive again, as they‘d been before I started breath work. I got the cough after I‘d cycled very fast on a surprisingly cold day and even though I was breathing only through the nose, I felt the cold air rushing straight into my lungs, as if I were breathing through an open mouth. For weeks afterwards, I still had that cold sensation in my chest and my airways felt raw. Breathing felt like standing on the corner of two avenues in New York. The outside air was invasive and I walked around with a scarf in front of my face. I kind of wished that I could stop breathing alltogether or minimize it, at least. Only when the weather became warmer did my airways relax.

It made me realise that it wasn‘t enough to only breathe through the nose. In cold conditions, I needed to only exert myself to a level where I could breathe through the nose comfortably. When I was cycling I‘d exerted myself so much that my body was pulling the air in forcibly and my heart was pumping hard. It was a real learning curve for me and a reminder to build up fitness gradually and regularly and to respect my body‘s limitations.