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4 Thoughts
1. Micro Breathing Moments—Cliché but True
“Try stopping, sitting down, and becoming aware of your breathing once in a while throughout the day. It can be for five minutes or even 5 seconds…Then, when you're ready to move, moving in the direction your heart tells you to go mindfully and with resolution.”
- Jon Kabat-Zinn, Wherever You Go There You Are
It’s that simple. Five seconds, 5 minutes, or anywhere in between. It’s always available if you need a quick reset and recovery.
2. Perform Better Under Stress: Another Reason to Practice Slow Breathing
“HRV is also strongly associated with our ability to perform at our best during times of increased stress or challenge. In fact, HRV is one of the best metrics of psychophysiological health and ability to perform we currently have.”
- Inna Khazan, Ph.D.
Research tells us that higher HRV is associated with better performance during stressful and challenging times <—sounds good to me 💪
And fortunately, training our HRV is as simple as doing some slow breathing for about 10-20 minutes a day (see next thought).
So let’s grab an app, set the pace to 4-6 breaths/min, and get started enhancing our “ability to perform at our best during times of increased stress,” today.
3. A Slow Breathing Protocol based on 29 Studies
Based on 29 studies, this systematic review gave the following guidelines for slow breathing and HRV biofeedback. You can apply these straightforward guidelines for slow breathing without biofeedback.
Best results: 4-12 supervised sessions plus daily home practice for ~20 min/day.
Minimum effective dose: One supervised practice followed by home practice for 10 min/day for 4 weeks.
During supervised practice, trainees should learn to breathe slowly without it causing stress.
Supervised practice should also include instructions to help people avoid overbreathing to compensate for the slower rate.
Use abdominal breathing with nasal inhales and pursed-lips exhales.
The breathing ratio should have a slightly longer exhale (I like the 40/60 approach: 40% inhaling, 60% exhaling).
Use them for yourself, your clients, or your loved ones 🙏
4. Two Paradoxical (but equally true) Breathing Statements
Greater lung capacity is associated with a longer life.
Taking big breaths is detrimental to your health.
Reminds me of this gem: “Almost every wise saying has an opposite one, no less wise, to balance it.” - George Santayana
1 QUOTE
“Life is absurd. But you can fill it with ideas. With enthusiasm. You can fill your life with joy.”
- Reinhold Messner
Speaking of Joy…
I wrote another guest blog for Resbiotic titled The Joy of Breathwork and 3 Super Easy Ways to Be Consistent. Enjoy the 3-minute read!
1 ANSWER
Category: Wim Hof’s Joy
Answer: Scientists hypothesize that Wim’s method activates regions of the brain that release these, partially explaining why it promotes a sense of euphoria and well-being.
…
(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)
…
In good breath,
Nick Heath, T1D, PhD
“Breathing is the compound interest of health & wellness.”
* 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.
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Each Monday, I curate and synthesize information from scientific journals, books, articles, and podcasts to share 4 thoughts, 1 quote, and 1 answer (like "Jeopardy!") related to breathing. It’s a fun way to learn something new each week.