David Goggins

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Love, the Gift of Giving, and How Life Gets Measured

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Listen Instead of Reading

Sorry, no audio this week. I got sick on Saturday and couldn’t record. I hope to have it up by Tuesday or Wednesday.

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 😊

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Reading Time: 1 min 38 sec

I hope the next 24’ish breaths are the most nourishing of your day.


4 THOUGHTS

1. Any Effort We Put Toward Love

“Just as our bodies are born to breathe air, we are born to love. That's why although it's good to address our fear, it's even better to focus on our love. Any effort we put toward love—truly, any effort at all—will self-perpetuate, bringing joy, health, and well-being into our lives.”

– Gladys McGarey, MD, The Well-Lived Life

One more time: “Any effort we put toward love…will self-perpetuate, bringing joy, health, and well-being into our lives.”

Sounds good to me 🙏

2. How to Practice Right Effort (hint: start with love & joy)

“Without love and joy motivating your efforts, you're not practicing right effort.”

- George Mumford, The Mindful Athlete

You can apply breathing & mindfulness for the wrong reasons: to rob a bank, manipulate people, and so on. That’s why right effort is critical.

There are several elements of “right effort,” but Mumford provides a simple starting point: make sure love & joy are motivating your efforts. If they are, you’re likely on the right track 🙏

3. Why Healing Hurts (at first)

Here’s David Goggins discussing a race where he had to take a break to let his thyroid reset:

“I decided to rest with no idea how long that process might take. I’d already run 120 miles. Predictably, within an hour, my body reacted as if the race was over. I started to swell and tighten up as my muscles shifted into recovery mode. … This would be a problem.”

It’s a nice reminder that swelling & tightness usually occur when we stop to rest & recover. Not only in endurance events, but in life in general. Just remember that feeling this pain is part of the process.

4. The Gift of Giving: Two Breathing Metaphors to Apply to Life

Reverse Breath Cycle

Think of the breath cycle starting an exhale, not an inhale. Use this as a reminder to give before you receive.

Extended Exhales

Make your exhale slightly longer than your inhale. Use this as a reminder to always give more than you receive.

1 Quote

“Ultimately, your life will be measured by what you gave, not what you received. Don’t hold out on the rest of us—we need you to contribute.””
— Todd Henry

1 Answer

Category: Oxygen Absorption

Answer: Humans only absorb about this percentage of the oxygen they inhale with each breath.

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(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

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Question: What is 5%?

In good breath,

Nick Heath, T1D, PhD
“Breathing is the compound interest of health & wellness.”

P.S. Start off your new year right

Upcoming Workshops

Saturday, Dec 30: Breathing for Better Brain Health

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I’ve been recommending books for almost 6 years. Yet somehow, I just discovered that I could be an Amazon affiliate [face-palm]. In any case better late than never. Now, any Amazon link you click is an affiliate link. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. So, if you’d like to support my work, buying books through these links is helpful : )

* 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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3 Breaths Changed David Goggins’ Life (+ a free gift)

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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 😊

4 Thoughts



1. Three Breaths that Changed David Goggins’ Life

In his new book, Never Finished, David Goggins says that the first freezing wave that hit him in Hell Week almost sent him home:

“I was a half-step from voluntarily pulling the plug on a dream that had the power to change the course of my entire life.”

Enter the power of the breath:

“In order to think clearly, I needed oxygen. I took a deep breath and then another. … I took another breath as the next big wave swelled … I was done showing weakness. I was finished with fear.”

He goes on to say:

“When I was teetering on the brink, I was able to physically calm myself down with a few deep breaths, and that helped me see through the adrenaline rush. My heart rate was still elevated, and panic continued to creep in, but I’d regained enough of my composure to make a conscious, One-Second Decision to stay in the fight.”

That’s a powerful reminder that, whatever challenging life event we’re going through, our breath is always there—not to make it go away, but to help us align with our highest self and make that one-second decision to stay in the fight.

2. 2021 Study: Slow Breathing Reduces Blood Pressure

Effects of diaphragmatic deep breathing exercises on prehypertensive or hypertensive adults: A literature review (2021)

The most practical take-home from this review was that practicing slow breathing for at least 10 min daily for 4 weeks led to noticeable improvements in blood pressure.

If you want even more useful findings, I just released a Science 411 for this paper on Friday in the Breath is Life Learning Center.

3. Why Breathing is a Powerful Approach to Healing

“In this way, breathing techniques provide a portal to the autonomic communication network through which we can…send specific messages to the brain using the language of the body.”

- Richard Brown, MD, and Patricia Gerbarb, MD, The Healing Power of the Breath

And remember: “Of all the automatic functions of the body, only one can be easily controlled voluntarily—breathing.”

This means we can voluntarily send messages of healing to the brain using the language of the body. Let’s make sure we do more of that 🙏

4. When Air Becomes Breath

Adding a spiritual significance to the air—realizing it contains life itself—can only add value to your breath practice.

1 Quote

“Thus spirit = breath = life, the aliveness and power of your life, and to speak of your spirit (or soul) is to speak of the power of life that is in you.””
— Frederick Buechner
 

1 Answer

Category: Wim Hof Breathing

Answer: Counterintuitively, Wim Hof breathing is thought to reduce inflammation through release of this hormone and neurotransmitter.

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(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

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Question: What is adrenaline?

In good breath,

Nick Heath, T1D, PhD
“Breathing is the compound interest of health & wellness.”


P.S. This is exactly what happens when you go to heaven



HOmm HOmm HOmm 🎅

Try Out the Breath is Life Learning Center for Free

SquareSpace doesn’t allow me to have “free trials,” which many of you have asked for before signing up. So, I found a workaround by manually making a free mini member’s area.

You get 2 free Book 411s, 2 free Science 411s, and 10 free editions of The Breathing 1%. No catch. No additional sign-up. Plus, you can download the PDFs and audio of the 411s, so they’re yours forever.

Just click below to start living healthier & happier through the breath.

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P.S. I picked the most popular Book and Science 411s, so you’re guaranteed to love them—especially The Healing Power of the Breath.

 

* 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.

Sign Up For The Breathing 411

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.