There are eight ways to practice the attribute of humility and each corresponds to a place on the body. (Moshe Cordovoro, Tamar Devorah)
The sixth practice is with one’s nose, as Cordovoro writes:
“Nary a breath of anger should ever be found in it. Rather it should contain the breath of life and good will and patience, even to those who are unworthy. Exhale forgiveness and pardon.”
In the Bible sometimes the wrath of God is described as fiery breath through the nose, like a dragon. People breathe this way too. I’ve see the breath of a dragon as a man yells sharply at his wife and I saw the breath of a dragon when a mother looked angrily into the eyes of her small child. The child felt the heat, I know.
Then once, I watched my granddaughter sleep when she was days old. Her breaths were soft, deep little puffs of spirit like an angel.
In Hebrew, the word for breath, n’shima, corresponds to the word for spirit, n’shama. In English too. When we breathe our last breath we expire. When we live, we have the potential to take in the spirit of the universe with each breath, we inspire. When we yearn for something greater, we aspire.
Teachers of breath tell us that intentional breathing brings us inner peace. Learning how to forgive and pardon in the exhale of breath will bring us closer to humility.