A respiration appliance (10), a system (40), and a method (62, 72, 86) for supporting the airway of a subject (12) as the subject (12) breaths are diclosed. The flow of gas from the lungs of the subject during exhalation is leveraged to provide support to the airway. In particular, a body (14) that encloses one or more external orifices of the subject (12) provides a resistance differential between inhaled gas flows and exhaled gas flows that supports the subject's airway.