Listen Instead of Reading
If you enjoy listening, you can subscribe to the audio version on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Audible so you don’t even have to look at the email 😊
Reading Time: 2 min 1 sec
I hope the next 30ish breaths are the most nourishing of your day.
4 THOUGHTS
1. Science of Breath: A Practical Guide
“There is no such thing as an involuntary system if the student learns to regulate the motion of the lungs. For by doing so, a vast portion of that system is brought under his voluntary control.”
– Swami Rama, Science of Breath
That is, in a nutshell, the science of breath. By controlling the breath, we gain control of involuntary processes (via our autonomic nervous system), giving us access to better physical, mental, and spiritual health 👏
***
P.S. Of course, there’s a lot more to the science of breathing. So, if you’re interested, I can’t recommend this book enough (I’m ashamed it’s taken me this long to read it). If you don’t have time to read all day, you can also sign up at BreathLearning.com to get my 6-page and 21-minute podcast summary of this one (and many others).
2. That’s a Smile of Enlightenment
“The moment you wake up, right away, you can smile. That’s a smile of enlightenment. You are aware that a new day is beginning, that life is offering you twenty-four brand-new hours to live, and that that’s the most precious of gifts.”
– Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace is Every Breath
I began doing this after reading the book, and it’s genuinely life-changing (even if it’s an awkward smile with my mouth tape, lol).
Try it tomorrow morning (or anytime, really) and see how you feel 🙏
3. Perfect Advice on Methods and Teachers
“While you practice a particular method, it can be helpful to believe that your technique—or your teacher or lineage or meditation center—is the best. You feel fortunate. This mobilizes energy and often inspires strong practice. But as you grow on the path, more ingenuity is called for. You have to become self-reliant and see what you need from moment to moment.”
- Larry Rosenberg, Three Steps to Awakening
This is so good. I love how Rosenberg acknowledges the power of believing your approach is the best…“This mobilizes energy and often inspires strong practice”…while simultaneously recognizing that it will eventually change 👏
I hope it helps you wherever you are on your path, too.
4. Our Intrinsic Wholeness is Still Here
“Wholeness and connectedness are what are most fundamental in our nature as living beings. No matter how many scars we carry from what we have gone through and suffered in the past, our intrinsic wholeness is still here…”
- Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D, Full Catastrophe Living
That is all 🙏
1 Quote
“It’s a mistake to think too much about the goal and to ask too often about it. I was happy on those hikes with my parents. ... Happy until the moment when I started asking how much farther it was.””
1 Answer
Category: Cellular Respiration
Answer: This is defined as the volume of CO2 produced divided by the volume of O2 absorbed during cellular respiration.
…
(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)
…
Question: What is the respiratory quotient?
In good breath,
Nick Heath, T1D, PhD
“Breathing is the compound interest of health & wellness.”
P.S. I will not be awkward today
Get Calm & Focused w/o Meditating
I take 1/2 a bottle of iCalm every morning, just before my first sip of coffee. It’s amazing.
In fact, although I don’t have much disposable income right now, I prioritize these each month because they’re so helpful.
If you’d like to try them, use the code NICK20 to get 20% off 🙏
* An asterisk by a quote indicates that I listened to this book on Audible. Therefore, the quotation might not be correct, but is my best attempt at reproducing the punctuation based on the narrator’s pace, tone, and pauses.