It's Possible, Movement for Mindfulness, and Breath is Life

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Reading Time: 1 min 39 sec

I hope the next 20’ish breaths are the most nourishing of your day.

4 THOUGHTS

1. Remarkably, It’s Possible

“Remarkably, it’s possible to use your breath to train your body to react more healthily to stress, both in the moment and over the longer term, by virtue of the way that it changes the level of activity along the vagus nerve. Over time, practicing slow breathing can change your baseline level of stress reactivity to a point where you freak out less often and recover more quickly when you do.”
– Caroline Williams, Move

👏 👏 👏

2. Movement Aids a Mindful Life

“Without a balance between physical activity and meditation, for instance, we may become irritable or restless. Exercise—jogging, swimming, climbing, hard work, and so forth for young people, and walking for just about everybody—can help to solve some of the problems that come as you descend in consciousness.”
- Eknath Easwaran, Passage Meditation

Here, Easwaran reminds us that a mindful life doesn’t require sitting still all day; in fact, it’s the opposite. Physical activity reduces restlessness and eases the mind, helping us “solve some of the problems that come” when we do sit still to practice 🙏

3. Three Reminders that Breath is Life

1. “The fact is that when we focus on the breath, we are focusing on the life force…To contemplate breathing is to contemplate life itself.” - Larry Rosenberg

2. “Only with oxygen and some means of extracting it are all things possible—thinking, moving, eating, speaking, and loving. Life and the breath are synonymous.” – Michael J Stephen, MD

3. “Without the breath, what is there? It’s where you and I and everyone else began. It’s where all life begins.” - Wim Hof

4. This Breathing Exercise Is in Fact Good Medicine

“In conclusion, our results support the ancient knowledge that spontaneous laughter is in fact good medicine (preventive or therapeutic) being associated with greater reduction in cortisol levels as compared with usual activities.”
- PLOS ONE (2023)

Modern science and ancient wisdom agree: laughter is good medicine. Make sure you’re enjoying this most enjoyable of “breathing exercises” this week 😊

1 Quote

“While we cannot control life, we can learn to shape our response to it; conscious breathing is a valuable tool to support that.””

— Eddie Stern

1 Answer

Category: Breathing and the Core

Answer: This core muscle connects the spine to the femur and plays a role in breathing through its link to the diaphragm.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is the psoas?

In good breath,

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

P.S. the emotional diurnal cycle

A Path to Lasting Change

The Breath Learning Center integrates ancient wisdom with modern science to help us make lasting change.

You enjoy daily wisdom meditations, science and book reviews, workshops, and guided practices, all at your own pace.

The Breathing App for Diabetes

This is the first program specifically made for people with diabetes to help manage their stress through breathing and mindfulness practices. In addition to the amazing program inside the app, we have some really neat things coming up, so sign up now!

Amazon Associate Disclosure

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.

Nicholas Heath

August 19, 2024

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Flourishing, Four (more) Reminders, and Get More Brain Power

Nicholas Heath

August 19, 2024

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Reading Time: 1 min 47 sec

I hope the next 27’ish breaths are the most nourishing of your day.

4 THOUGHTS

1. Breathing for a Generous and Purposeful Life

“Life is movement, and our breath keeps us going every minute of the day…To bring awareness to that, and to begin to harness that power of movement towards understanding who we are, why we are here, and what we should be doing to live a purposeful, generous, grateful life, is all part of the practice of pranayama.”
– Eddie Stern, Healing Through Breathing

How good is that? Here’s to bringing awareness to the life-giving gift of breathing so we can direct it toward “understanding who we are, why we are here, and what we should be doing to live a purposeful, generous, grateful life.” 🙏

2. Flourishing Under Stress

“But as stress researchers realize, full health is more than just the absence of disease. It means a dynamic harmony of body and mind which allows us to live at our full physical, emotional, and spiritual potential. ... Instead of trying simply to survive stress, we should aim at flourishing under it, making use of anything life brings.”
– Eknath Easwaran, Original Goodness

And happily, this is precisely what breathing and meditation do: help build our resilience so we can flourish under stress and make use of anything life brings 🙏

3. Four Reminders of the Breath’s Power for the Heart

1. “You know that our breathing is the inhaling and exhaling of air. The organ which serves for this is the lungs which lie round the heart. Thus breathing is a natural way to the heart.” - Nicephorus the Solitary

2. “If you would foster a calm spirit, first regulate your breathing; for when that is under control, the heart will be at peace.” — Kariba Ekken

3. “Happiness lies in your own heart. You only need to practice mindful breathing for a few seconds, and you'll be happy right away.” - Thich Nhat Hanh

4. “Thank you from the bottom of my heart, which is, of course, my diaphragm.” - Jill Miller

4. Increase Brain Power with this “Breathing Exercise”

“You can increase your brain power three to fivefold simply by laughing and having fun before working on a problem.”
– Doug Hall

👏👏👏

1 Quote

“Breath is the beginning, the end, and the tether between us all…It’s the wiring between all living organisms that proves we’re not separated or disconnected, but rather that we are being routed through the same network.””

— Finnian Kelly

1 Answer

Category: Ancient Breathing

Answer: This, a combination of two words, refers to the lengthening, expanding, or directing of the vital life force via controlled respiration.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is pranayama?

In good breath,

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

P.S. imagine all the people 🎵

A Path to Lasting Change

The Breath Learning Center integrates ancient wisdom with modern science to help us make lasting change.

You enjoy daily wisdom meditations, science and book reviews, workshops, and guided practices, all at your own pace.

The Breathing App for Diabetes

This is the first program specifically made for people with diabetes to help manage their stress through breathing and mindfulness practices. In addition to the amazing program inside the app, we have some really neat things coming up, so sign up now!

Amazon Associate Disclosure

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.

Nicholas Heath

July 15, 2024

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Humor, How to Live Well, and the First Step Toward Self-Regulation

Nicholas Heath

July 15, 2024

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Reading Time: 1 min 48 sec

I hope the next 27’ish breaths are the most nourishing of your day.

4 THOUGHTS

1. A Humorous Breathing & Mindfulness Practice

“I think the next best thing to solving a problem is finding some humor in it.”
- Writer and cartoonist Frank A. Clark

Here’s a “breathing and mindfulness” practice to try:

Use mindfulness to find humor in a problem.
Use breathing to laugh at it (and yourself) 😊

2. How to Live Well: Loving Attention in the Breath

“Living well, therefore, is merely a game of learning how to steer our energy toward life. It requires us to direct our loving attention toward the pulse that ebbs and flows within us, finding the precise rhythm of how that energy moves and immersing ourselves in it. When we do so, life comes alive.”
- Gladys McGarey, MD, The Well-Lived Life

What better way to “direct our loving attention toward the pulse that ebbs and flows within us” than with conscious breathing?

As Jon Kabat-Zinn says, tuning into the breath “immediately anchors our awareness in the body, in a fundamental, rhythmic, flowing life process.” 👏

3. The First Step Toward Self-Regulation

“But one of the best reasons to breathe through our nose as a regular practice, and as a mindful practice, is that it helps us to slow and regulate our respiratory rate…This is the first step towards self-regulation.”
- Eddie Stern, Healing Through Breathing

The first step toward self-regulation: breathing primarily through our nose. This one step helps us slow down and regulate our breathing, which helps us slow down and regulate our mind and body 🙏

4. You Are Still Carrying Her

Here’s a Buddhist story (I found in Advice Not Given) of two monks crossing a river:

“The two men come upon a young woman who is having trouble getting to the opposite shore. One of the monks, despite his vows to never touch a woman, picks her up and deposits her on the other side of the water. As they continue on their way, the other monk, the one who has kept his vows and not touched her, can’t stop chastising his overly benevolent friend.

‘How could you do that?’ he asks. ‘You know touching a woman is against our vows. And you were holding her.’

‘I put her down long ago,’ replies the first monk. ‘You are still carrying her.’”

1 Quote

“By changing patterns of breathing we can change our emotional states, how we think, and how we interact with the world.””

— Patricia Gerbarg, MD

1 Answer

Category: The Nose

Answer: A significant portion of this food-related sensation (some say as much as 80%) is attributed not to the mouth but to nasal breathing.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is taste?

In good breath,

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

P.S. breath coaches be like…

Breathing, Reading, and Meditation for a Well-Lived Life

Learn to think, speak, and act in alignment with the person you want to be.

Start Today.

The Breathing App for Diabetes

This is the first program specifically made for people with diabetes to help manage their stress through breathing and mindfulness practices. In addition to the amazing program inside the app, we have some really neat things coming up, so sign up now!

Amazon Associate Disclosure

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.

Nicholas Heath

June 17, 2024

weekly email, Batch 9

Positive Stress, Open Heart, and a Poor Host for Disease

Nicholas Heath

June 17, 2024

weekly email, Batch 9

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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 29 sec

I hope the next 22’ish breaths are the most nourishing of your day.

4 THOUGHTS

1. Slow Breathing as a Positive Stressor

“Slow breathing is, in fact, a type of positive stress in and of itself, because you are making an autonomic function of your body intentional…sometimes, as you might notice, your nervous system might resist a little to the changes you are suggesting, because it is not used to being told what to do.”
– Eddie Stern, Healing Through Breathing

I love this shift in perspective. It reminds us that when we teach or practice slow breathing, there might be resistance. That’s normal. But as Eddie also says, that tension “will melt away with time, practice, patience, and a gentle approach to slow breathing.” 👏

2. An Important Thing to Remember in Learning Breath Practices

“In learning breath practices the most important thing to remember is to relax. … Self-judgment adds another layer of stress. The less you judge yourself, the easier it will be to relax and experience the benefits … Try not to evaluate or judge what is happening. Just go with it.”
- Richard Brown, MD, and Patricia Gerbarg, MD

This reminds me of another gem from another MD—Herbert Benson—discussing the relaxation response: “The less you worry about the results, the better. Just let it happen.” 🙏

3. A Poor Host for Disease

“…this is one of the grandest secrets of health…Research evidence today suggests that emotional immunity to negative states of mind may well be linked to physical immunity, even resistance to disease. A person who is even minded, who doesn’t get shaken if people speak ill of him or excited when they praise her to the skies – such a person, I submit, is a poor host for disease.”
– Eknath Easwaran, Original Goodness

Of course, this doesn’t literally mean we’ll never get sick or that all our ailments will suddenly vanish if we’re even minded. But, I love this idea of training our minds to be steadier—through meditation and breathing—so we can at least become “a poor host for disease.” 🙏

4. An Open Heart to Have Open Eyes

“Ancient meditation texts describe compassion and mindfulness as two wings of a bird—emphasizing that we need an open heart to have open eyes.”
- Ronald Siegel, Psy.D., The Mindfulness Solution

1 Quote

“This is the deepest paradox in all of meditation: we want to get somewhere—we wouldn’t have taken up the practice if we didn’t—but the way to get there is just to be fully here.””

— Larry Rosenberg

1 Answer

Category: Contagious Breathing

Answer: One study found that our brains responds to the sound of this “breathing exercise” by preparing our facial muscles to join in.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is laughter?

In good breath,

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

P.S. me but at my breath memes

Breath Science & Wisdom Meditations for a Well-Lived Life

Learn to think, speak, and act in alignment with the person you want to be.

Start Today.

The Breathing App for Diabetes

This is the first program specifically made for people with diabetes to help manage their stress through breathing and mindfulness practices. In addition to the amazing program inside the app, we have some really neat things coming up, so sign up now!

Amazon Associate Disclosure

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.

Nicholas Heath

June 10, 2024

weekly email, Batch 9

Five Minutes, How to Heal the Mind, and 15 versus 300

Nicholas Heath

June 10, 2024

weekly email, Batch 9

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Reading Time: 1 min 29 sec

I hope the next 22’ish breaths are the most nourishing of your day.

4 THOUGHTS

1. The Entire Purpose of the Human Brain

“The entire purpose of the human brain is to produce movement. Movement is the only way we have of interacting with the world.”
– Daniel Wolpert, Ph.D., from The Joy of Movement

And the most fundamental movement the brain produces to interact with the world? The movement of air—our breathing 😊

2. Five Minutes for Meaningful Change

“The lack of significant association between effectiveness and session durations >= 5 min indicates that any session duration beyond 5 min can be effective…simply engaging in a breathing practice provides benefits, with sessions as short as 5 min yielding comparable benefits to longer sessions.”
– Bentley et al. (2023), Brain Sciences

This was the most surprising yet welcome result of this excellent paper: We only need five minutes of slow breathing practice to see significant improvements in stress and anxiety.

Of course, longer sessions can have different benefits. But if our goal is lowering stress (or we’re short on time), we can be pretty confident that even five minutes will make a meaningful difference in our day 🙏

3. It Isn’t Really a Wonder

“There are quite a few validated, scientific findings that suggest that controlled breathing has a wide range of beneficial effects…This makes a lot of sense…it isn’t really a wonder that the thing that keeps us alive also impacts how we experience life.”
- Eddie Stern, Healing Through Breathing

“It isn’t really a wonder that the thing that keeps us alive also impacts how we experience life.” That’s so good, so obvious, and so logical, which is why it’s so easy to overlook 👏

4. A House a Home, a Cup a Drink

Like how the space inside a house makes it a home, or the emptiness within a cup makes it useful for drinking, it is the breath inside the body that makes it so remarkable for living.

1 Quote

“Your mind cannot heal without laughter.””

— Catherine Rippenger Fenwick

1 Answer

Category: The Best Breathing Exercise

Answer: Children do this about 300-400 times a day while adults only do it about 15 times a day.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is laugh?

In good breath,

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

P.S. three day recovery period

Breath Science & Wisdom Meditations for a Well-Lived Life

Learn to think, speak, and act in alignment with the person you want to be.

Start Today.

The Breathing App for Diabetes

This is the first program specifically made for people with diabetes to help manage their stress through breathing and mindfulness practices. In addition to the amazing program inside the app, we have some really neat things coming up, so sign up now!

Amazon Associate Disclosure

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.

Nicholas Heath

June 3, 2024

weekly email, Batch 9

Breathing Guidelines, Free Sci 411, and How to Make Tomorrow Good

Nicholas Heath

June 3, 2024

weekly email, Batch 9

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Reading Time: 1 min 31 sec

I hope the next 23’ish breaths are the most nourishing of your day.

4 THOUGHTS

1. Practical Breathing Guidelines and a Free Science 411

“This knowledge can and should provide a sense of freedom for individual practitioners and program developers alike in tailoring programs to meet their needs for stress reduction effectiveness.”
– Bentley et al. (2023), Brain Sciences

That sentence came near the end of an incredible study led by HHPF that was published in Brain Sciences. It’s one of the most important breath studies published to date.

In fact, it’s so significant (especially if you’re a breath coach) that I have made my Science 411 of the paper free to everyone. Click here to read or listen to it. I hope you find it helpful 🙏

2. Can Only Add Value to Your Practice

Although not necessary, adding a deeper meaning to each breath—for example, cultivating awareness that air literally sustains all of life—can only add value to your practice.

3. Why Slow Breathing Naturally Cultivates Awareness

“The pace of our breathing influences many aspects of our lives including our bodily rhythms, emotions, and mood, and so a slow and deliberate breathing pattern can allow for a slower-paced and more aware lifestyle.”
- Eddie Stern, Healing Through Breathing

This is one reason why, even without trying, slow breathing naturally cultivates mindfulness. It slows our bodies, minds, and emotions, allowing us to more easily bring awareness into our daily living 🙏

4. How to Make Tomorrow Good

“If you live today completely in love—hating no one, hurting no one, serving all—then tomorrow has to be good, whatever comes.”
– Eknath Easwaran, Original Goodness

After reading this, a new goal I have is to use my breathing and wisdom practices to live like this daily daily (even if only for a few minutes at a time—baby steps, lol). I hope you’ll join me 🙏

1 Quote

“When you blow a whistle or a bubble or a horn, it is followed by an echo or a pop or a song.

Listen.

For this is the ballad of your own breathing.””

— Rebecca Kai Dotlich

1 Answer

Category: Breathing and Movement

Answer: The synchronization of breathing with stepping that occurs in many vertebrates is referred to as this.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is locomotor-respiratory coupling (LRC)?

In good breath,

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

P.S. frankly that is none of my business

Nurture Your True Self

Everything you read in this newsletter comes from the Breath Learning Center. So, if you enjoy this newsletter, check it out. It’s cheap and full of life-changing wisdom and practices for discovering your true self. Start Today.

The Breathing App for Diabetes

This is the first program specifically made for people with diabetes to help manage their stress through breathing and mindfulness practices. In addition to the amazing program inside the app, we have some really neat things coming up, so sign up now!

Amazon Associate Disclosure

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.

Nicholas Heath

May 20, 2024

weekly email, Batch 9

Movement, Heart and Lung Vacation, and My Teacher is Best

Nicholas Heath

May 20, 2024

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Reading Time: 1 min 34 sec

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

4 THOUGHTS

1. The Most Empirically Supported Way

“The most empirically supported way that contemplative practices confer their psychological and physiological benefits is by lowering threat arousal through shifting the autonomic nervous system to parasympathetic dominance via slowed and/or regulated breathing.”
- Crosswell et al. (2024), Psychological Review

Of course, contemplative practices go beyond breathing, drawing upon mind and body to uniquely benefit each person who practices.

But, this is a powerful scientific statement. It reminds us that because breath is both our spirit—the essence of our being—and our direct connection to the nervous system, it plays a key role (intentionally or unintentionally) in all contemplative practice 🙏

2. Give Your Heart and Lungs a Vacation by Practicing This

“In other words, patience is not only a mental virtue; it is an asset even for physical health. I’m sure you are aware of the way your heart races when you get impatient. Perhaps you have noticed, too, that your breathing becomes faster and more shallow. Doesn’t it seem reasonable that if you can strengthen your patience to such a degree that other people’s behavior never upsets you, your heart, lungs, and nervous system will be on vacation?”
– Eknath Easwaran, Original Goodness

That does seem reasonable : ) Here’s to cultivating a little more patience so that we may give our hearts, lungs, and nervous systems a vacation every day 🙏

3. Movement

Physical activity moves your body.

A breath practice moves your spirit.

And reading timeless wisdom moves your soul.

They all need movement to stay energized and robust.

4. My Teacher is the Best

“One Zen student said, ‘My teacher is the best. He can go days without eating.’
The second said, ‘My teacher has so much self-control, he can go days without sleeping.’
The third said, ‘My teacher is so wise that he eats when he’s hungry and sleeps when he’s tired.’”

1 Quote

“When we begin to take up breathing practices, we temporarily make an involuntary, life-sustaining function voluntary, and in that can make dramatic shifts to our state of mind and the state of our nervous system.””

— Eddie Stern

1 Answer

Category: The Diaphragm

Answer: To facilitate communication of vital information, the diaphragm has three major ones of these.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What are three major openings?

In good breath,

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

P.S. worrying works!

Nurture Your True Self

“Sometimes you have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself.”
– Miles Davis

Learn to think, speak, and act in alignment with the person you want to be. Start Today.

P.S. Along with the pay-what-you-can option, I also just added a 2-day pass to make it more accessible 🙏

The Breathing App for Diabetes

This is the first program specifically made for people with diabetes to help manage their stress through breathing and mindfulness practices. In addition to the amazing program inside the app, we have some really neat things coming up, so sign up now!

Amazon Associate Disclosure

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.

Nicholas Heath

April 29, 2024

weekly email, Batch 9

Connection, a Wordless Mantra, and 4 Thoughts on Nose Breathing

Nicholas Heath

April 29, 2024

weekly email, Batch 9

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 😊

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Reading Time: 1 min 48 sec

I hope the next 27’ish breaths are the most nourishing of your day.

4 THOUGHTS

1. A Wordless Mantra

A wordless mantra you can always come back to is your breath.

2. We Are All Connected, not Just Figuratively but Literally

“The air I inhale enters my body and becomes part of me.
The air that I exhale moves into someone else and becomes part of her.
Just by looking at how the air moves, we realize we are all connected to one another, not just figuratively but also literally.”
- Haemin Sunim, The Things You Can See Only…

I’ve shared this before, but it’s always worth revisiting timeless wisdom like this 🙏

3. You Can’t Live There: A Mountain Story to Consider

“I was once talking with the teacher Steve Armstrong, who had trained as a monk in Asia. I asked him if he could tell me about nibbana. He looked at me intently and then got a faraway look and said something I’ve thought about many times since: ‘It’s as if you live in a deep valley surrounded by mountains. Then one day you’re standing on top of the highest peak. The perspective is amazing. Still, you can’t live there. And so you come back down to the valley. But what you’ve seen changes you forever.’”
- Rick Hanson, Ph.D., Neurodharma

Of course, not many of us will reach nibbana (I even had to look it up to make sure it was the same as “nirvana” 😂😂).

But, this story is an excellent reminder that we can’t prolong peak experiences forever, whether they’re from meditation, surfing, running, yoga, etc. “You can’t live there…But what you’ve seen changes you forever.”

4. Four Tiny Thoughts on Nasal Breathing

Slow, nasal breathing is like driving a Tesla; fast, mouth breathing is like driving a Hummer.

Most of the time: the nose is part of the respiratory system; the mouth is part of the digestive system.

Nasal breathing doesn’t make you feel better: It makes you feel how you’re supposed to feel.

“There’s the saying that sometimes when we go looking all over the world for answers to our life questions, that the answers were there, right under our nose, the whole time. In the case of breathing, it’s literally true.” - Eddie Stern

1 Quote

“Laughter is the language of the young at heart and the antidote to what ails us. No drugstore prescription is required; laughter is available to anyone at any time.””

— Barbara Johnson

1 Answer

Category: Brain Function

Answer: Slow breathing has consistently been found to improve this functioning of the brain, allows us to better plan, monitor, and execute our goals.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is executive functioning?

In good breath,

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

P.S. me haggling:

Nurture Yourself: Breath Science & Wisdom Meditations for a Better Life

Learn to think, speak, and act in alignment with the person you want to be.

The Breathing App for Diabetes

This is the first program specifically made for people with diabetes to help manage their stress through breathing and mindfulness practices. In addition to the amazing program inside the app, we have some really neat things coming up, so sign up now!

Amazon Associate Disclosure

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.

Nicholas Heath

April 22, 2024

weekly email, Batch 9

Breathing Heals, Memory, and 4 Thoughts on Gratitude and Love

Nicholas Heath

April 22, 2024

weekly email, Batch 9

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 😊

Enjoy These Posts?

Reading Time: 1 min 31 sec

I hope the next 23’ish breaths are the most nourishing of your day.

4 THOUGHTS

1. One Way Breathing Heals (…is that it doesn’t)

“In sum, an incredible amount of cellular energy is spent navigating states of moderate threat arousal, energy that could otherwise be used for other health-promoting biological processes such as cellular restoration.”
- Crosswell et al. (2024)

Here’s one way slow breathing heals. By reducing stress, it allows energy that would be used on stress processes to be redirected toward healing processes.

Thus, we might say: Slow breathing isn’t healing; it allows healing.

2. A Heuristic for How Slow Breathing Helps Memory

“The degree of slowness is directly proportional to the intensity of memory; the degree of speed is directly proportional to the intensity of forgetting.”
– Milan Kundera

Although Kundera isn’t discussing breathing, that’s a perfect heuristic for understanding how slow breathing helps cognitive function: Slowing down intensifies memory; speeding up intensifies forgetting.

3. Only You Know the True Scientific Results

“On the one hand, researchers mainly take a third-person approach—they study the states of the brain using various techniques—and a second-person approach—they use a questionnaire about what participants in the experiment have experienced. Yet only the meditator themselves is in a position to offer true interpretations of the scientific data from their first-person perspective.”
- Matthieu Ricard, Buddhist monk and scientist

Although understanding the science is paramount (and just plain fun), this is an excellent reminder that only you can interpret what it means for you through your first-person experience 🙏

4. Four Tiny Thoughts on Breath, Gratitude, and Love

Breathing saves your life 20,000 times a day; mindfulness helps you appreciate this truth.

A daily breathing practice is self-love, preparing your heart and mind to love others.

Slow breathing is air appreciation.

“It is enough to be grateful for the next breath.” - Brother David

1 Quote

“We can take a wonderful vacation in spirit, even though we are obliged to stay at home, if we will only drop our burdens from our minds for a while.””

— Laura Ingalls Wilder

1 Answer

Category: Emotions

Answer: Experiencing this emotion is associated with “elevated vagal tone, reduced sympathetic arousal, increased oxytocin release, and reduced inflammation—all processes known to benefit mental and physical health.”

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is awe?

In good breath,

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

P.S. productivity hack

Breath Science & Wisdom Meditations for a Better Life

Learn to think, speak, and act in alignment with the person you want to be.

The Breathing App for Diabetes

This is the first program specifically made for people with diabetes to help manage their stress through breathing and mindfulness practices. In addition to the amazing program inside the app, we have some really neat things coming up, so sign up now!

Amazon Associate Disclosure

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.

Nicholas Heath

April 15, 2024

weekly email, Batch 9

Living Better, Loving-Kindness, and 4 Reminders to Laugh

Nicholas Heath

April 15, 2024

weekly email, Batch 9

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 😊

Enjoy These Posts?

Reading Time: 1 min 37 sec

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

4 THOUGHTS

1. Why Slow Breathing Helps Us Live Better

Slow breathing is like creating healthy soil in your body.

With it, latent seeds, which are common to every human—those of kindness, goodwill, forgiveness, and confidence—begin growing.

And new seeds of wisdom you encounter are met with fertile ground, allowing them to flourish in your daily living.

2. Switching Channels in Your Mind

“You train your mind to do this by switching your attention just as you change the channel on your TV set. There are many injurious channels in the mind, negative channels like anger, greed, arrogance, fear, and malice. But for every negative emotion there is a positive emotion, and you can learn to change channels.”
– Eknath Easwaran, Take Your Time

Of course, negative emotions are okay and part of being human. But when we do want to change channels, breathing can be helpful. By slowing our breath, we can slow our minds, which can help us change emotional channels more effectively 🙏

3. The Power of Loving-Kindness Meditation

“The research of Barbara Fredrickson, for example, has shown that practicing Loving-Kindness meditation improves heart rate variability, baroreceptor sensitivity, and vagal tone, leading to an ‘upward spiral’ of positive emotions. Simply by having loving thoughts, directed at various people, you can improve your heart health. The positive thoughts release a cascade of electrical and chemical reactions in your nervous and endocrine system that are associated with healing and cellular repair.”
- Eddie Stern, Healing Through Breathing

Controlling our breath is usually easier than controlling our minds. But when we do put aside time to deliberately have loving thoughts, the benefits for body and mind are profound ❤️🙏

4. Four Reminders to Laugh (it’s the most healing breathing exercise)

“The human race has only one really effective weapon and that is laughter.” ― Mark Twain

“I don't trust anyone who doesn’t laugh.” ― Maya Angelou

“I honestly think it’s the thing I like most, to laugh. It cures a multitude of ills. It's probably the most important thing in a person.” ― Audrey Hepburn

“Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.” ― Victor Borge

1 Quote

“When the heart is at ease, the body is healthy.””

— Chinese Proverb

1 Answer

Category: Cell Energy

Answer: Breathing supplies oxygen to the mitochondria, which produce this substance, creating energy that sustains life.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is adenosine triphosphate (ATP)?

In good breath,

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

P.S. tax day

Breath Science & Wisdom Meditations for a Better Life

Learn to think, speak, and act in alignment with the person you want to be.

The Breathing App for Diabetes

This is the first program specifically made for people with diabetes to help manage their stress through breathing and mindfulness practices. In addition to the amazing program inside the app, we have some really neat things coming up, so sign up now!

Amazon Associate Disclosure

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.

Nicholas Heath

April 1, 2024

weekly email, Batch 9

4 Tiny Thoughts, 3 Ways to Success, and What the Buddha Lost

Nicholas Heath

April 1, 2024

weekly email, Batch 9

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 😊

Enjoy These Posts?

Reading Time: 1 min 49 sec

I hope the next 27’ish breaths are the most nourishing of your day.

4 THOUGHTS

1. One Reason Your Breathing Changes when You Observe It

“You might notice that as soon as you begin to observe your breath, it changes a little. Perhaps it gets a little longer, or fuller. That’s ok. It’s the nature of the observer and the observed, that whatever you observe responds to you, changes, or lets you know what it needs.”
– Eddie Stern, Healing Through Breathing

I’ve never been able to “observe my breath without changing it.” This is one of the best passages I’ve found on why that happens 🙏

2. Don’t Fake a Smile, Activate One

“I don’t like to think of this exercise as faking or forcing a smile, but rather as activating a smile. When we activate a smile, a neurological reaction takes place that lifts our mood and makes everything seem less foreboding.”
– Annabel Streets, 52 Ways to Walk

I love this reframing of ‘activating’ over ‘faking,’ which we can use across domains:

Activate a smile; don’t fake it.
Activate some slow breathing; don’t fake it.
Activate gratitude; don’t fake it.

It reminds us that these are natural states, literally hardwired into our bodies and minds for growth and restoration. We shouldn’t fake them; we should activate them.

3. The Buddha Gained ‘Nothing at All’ through Meditation

“Someone once asked the Buddha skeptically, ‘What have you gained through meditation?’
The Buddha replied, ‘Nothing at all.’
‘Then, Blessed One, what good is it?’
‘Let me tell you what I lost through meditation: sickness, anger, depression, insecurity, the burden of old age, the fear of death. That is the good of meditation…”
– Eknath Easwaran, The Dhammapada

This is one of the biggest paradoxes of breathing and meditation practices. While we often focus on what we’ll get, the things we lose are usually most important. 🙏

4. Four Tiny Thoughts

1. Breathing exercises are like brain-canceling headphones.

2. By practicing mindfulness, you become a thought meteorologist.

3. Laughter is the only breathing exercise transcending age and cultural boundaries, present everywhere, appreciated by everyone.

4. It may sound paradoxical, but the point of a breathing practice is to no longer need a breathing practice.

1 Quote

“There are three ways to ultimate success:
The first way is to be kind.
The second way is to be kind.
The third way is to be kind.””

— Fred Rogers

1 Answer

Category: Nasal Breathing and Speech

Answer: This muscular organ helps maintain nasal breathing while also being critical to speech.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is the tongue?

In good breath,

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

P.S. me neither

Breath Practices and Wisdom Meditations for a Better Life

Timeless Wisdom and Modern Science to Help You Align What You Think, Say, and Do with the Person You Want to Become.

The Breathing App for Diabetes

This is the first program specifically made for people with diabetes to help manage their stress through breathing and mindfulness practices. In addition to the amazing program inside the app, we have some really neat things coming up, so sign up now!

Amazon Associate Disclosure

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.

Nicholas Heath

March 25, 2024

weekly email, Batch 9

How Breathing Heals, Life’s Storms, and the Power of Love

Nicholas Heath

March 25, 2024

weekly email, Batch 9

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 😊

Enjoy These Posts?

Reading Time: 1 min 38 sec

I hope the next 25’ish breaths are the most nourishing of your day.

4 THOUGHTS

1. Openings and Limitations

“Any framework, method, or label you impose on yourself is just as likely to be a limitation as an opening.”
– Rick Rubin, The Creative Act

Here’s an excellent idea to contemplate: Are you using any methods (with breathing or elsewhere) that may actually be serving as a limitation? Or, are there any areas of your life where adopting a new method might serve as an opening?

2. Weathering Life’s Storms Gracefully

“We can learn to say to life, ‘It doesn’t matter what you bring today. If you bring something pleasant, I will flourish; if you bring something unpleasant, I will still flourish.’…We can face whatever comes to us calmly and courageously, knowing we have the flexibility to weather any storm gracefully. This is living in freedom, the ultimate goal of training the mind.
– Eknath Easwaran, Conquest of Mind

And I’d say it’s also the ultimate goal of training the breath. By using our breath to increase the adaptability of our nervous system and mind, we learn to weather all of life’s storms more gracefully 🙏

3. How Slow, Conscious Breathing Heals

“What conscious breathing can do is…help shift our nervous system into what is called the healing response…Conscious breathing can enhance levels of sensitivity in our nervous system to handle and manage stress, and to support the restoration of balance. Conscious breathing can create enduring states of focus, presence, and mindful observation, so that life’s challenging situations do not completely highjack us, allowing a greater degree of control. While we cannot control life, we can learn to shape our response to it; conscious breathing is a valuable tool to support that.”
– Eddie Stern, Healing Through Breathing

That sums it up nicely (and goes perfectly with Thought #2 above) 👏

4. A Good Laugh

As I like to say, laughter is the most therapeutic breathing exercise. Scroll through these breathing memes (sound on) to get your daily dose of healing 😊

1 Quote

“Laughter without love is cold and cruel. Laughter with love is joy and happiness.

Labour without love is drudgery. Labour with love is bliss.

Listening without love is empty sound. With love, it’s understanding.””

— Gladys McGarey, MD (103 years old)

1 Answer

Category: Spontaneous Breath Exercise

Answer: Although adults, babies, and animals do this spontaneously, we still don’t know precisely why we do it.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is yawn?

In good breath,

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

P.S. same tattoo, only bigger

How to Train (and change) Your Mind

Breathing exercises train your mind.
Wisdom meditations change your mind.

Used together, they help you discover who you are and become the person you want to be.

The Breathing App for Diabetes

This is the first program specifically made for people with diabetes to help manage their stress through breathing and mindfulness practices. In addition to the amazing program inside the app, we have some really neat things coming up, so sign up now!

Amazon Associate Disclosure

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.

Nicholas Heath

March 18, 2024

weekly email, Batch 9

Better Results, Seeds of Joy, and What it Truly Means to be Alive

Nicholas Heath

March 18, 2024

weekly email, Batch 9

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 😊

Enjoy These Posts?

Learn more about it here.

Reading Time: 1 min 35 sec

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

4 THOUGHTS

1. Breathing & Mindfulness Work Together for Better Results

Slow breathing promotes optimal blood circulation, and mindfulness promotes optimal psyche circulation. Used together, they restore each of us to better physical and mental health and well-being.

2. A Short Period of Quiet Inspiration

“Even a short period of quiet inspiration in the morning will anchor the rest of your day; and at night, particularly after a hectic day, there can be no better preparation for sleep.”
– Eknath Easwaran, Take Your Time

Easwaran is referring to reading uplifting material. But, I think a more literal interpretation works too: A short period of quiet, mindful inspiration (aka a breath practice 😊) each morning will anchor the rest of your day, and “there can be no better preparation for sleep.”

3. Watering Your Seeds of Happiness

“So, I planted in myself a number of seeds of happiness. I know that this is very important because if I do not have enough happiness within myself, I shall not be able to help other people, other living beings. So that is why every day to practice in order to water the seed of your happiness, of your joy, is very important.”
– Thich Nhat Hanh, The Art of Mindful Living Talk

Make sure you’re taking time to water the seeds of your own joy and happiness. Without it, you will not be able to help anyone else 🙏

4. This Always Brings Openness and Joy

“To be happy, it’s not necessary to expend great effort so we get somewhere else.
Instead, relax into the present moment while finding humor in your life.
With humor, life becomes light and leisurely.
And laughter always brings people to experience openness and joy.”
- Haemin Sunim, The Things You Can See…

As I like to say, laughter is the most therapeutic breathing exercise. Don’t forget to get your daily dose of healing this week 😊

1 Quote

“What if we consider breath not only as a biological marker of being alive but also as a reflector of what it truly means to be alive?””

— Eddie Stern

1 Answer

Category: The Lungs

Answer: Lung function is generally assessed by these three categories of measurements.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What are dynamic flow rates, static lung volumes, and gas exchange efficiency? (source)

In good breath,

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

P.S. what the Buddha meant by mindful listening

Breath Learning Center: Breathing, Wisdom Meditations, and Workshops

The Breath Learning Center helps you become the person you want to be through three resources:

Breathing and Meditation Practice
Wisdom Meditations
Workshops for Deeper Learning

The Breathing App for Diabetes

This is the first program specifically made for people with diabetes to help manage their stress through breathing and mindfulness practices. In addition to the amazing program inside the app, we have some really neat things coming up, so sign up now!

Amazon Associate Disclosure

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.

Nicholas Heath

March 11, 2024

weekly email, Batch 9

Aging, Wonderful Outcomes, and the Secret of an Unhurried Mind

Nicholas Heath

March 11, 2024

weekly email, Batch 9

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 😊

Enjoy These Posts?

Reading Time: 1 min 48 sec

I hope the next 27’ish breaths are the most nourishing of your day.

4 THOUGHTS

1. The Secret of an Unhurried Mind

Since achieving a calmer mind and living more in the moment are almost universal outcomes of breathing and meditation, here’s a beautiful passage to contemplate as more motivation to practice:

“But gradually I understood that living completely in the present is the secret of an unhurried mind. When the mind is not rushing about in a hurry, it is calm, alert, and ready for anything. And a calm mind sees deeply, which opens the door to tremendous discoveries: rich relationships, excellence in work, a quiet sense of joy. It was a revelation. There was a door to the discovery of peace and meaning in every moment! All I needed to open it was a quiet mind.”
– Eknath Easwaran, Take Your Time

2. How Mindfulness Helps with Aging: An Alternative to Eternal Youth

“An alternative to seeking eternal youth was suggested by the famous baseball pitcher Satchel Paige: ‘Age isn’t a problem. It’s a question of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.’ Mindfulness practice helps us not mind so much.”
– Ronald Siegel, Psy.D., The Mindfulness Solution

Dr. Siegel says mindfulness helps us “not mind so much” by teaching us that everything changes, all we have is the present moment, our thoughts aren’t reality, and we’re all connected.

So, here’s to living more mindfully to (somewhat paradoxically) not mind the aging process 🙏

3. Bound to Have Wonderful Outcomes

“As I’m fond of saying, small tweaks lead to big changes, and a little attention goes a long way. A few minutes of slow breathing is a small tweak—perhaps just one percent of our day—and that little bit of attention to the very thing that sustains our life is bound to have wonderful outcomes.”
– Eddie Stern, Healing Through Breathing

Here’s an excellent reminder to occasionally slow down and pay attention to the very thing that sustains life—your breath. As Eddie says, it’s “bound to have wonderful outcomes.”

4. How to Infuse with Life Force

“On a very basic level, when we're consciously aware of the in-breath and the out-breath we infuse ourselves with that life force and anchor ourselves in our own deep center space.”
- George Mumford, The Mindful Athlete

So. Good.

Here’s to infusing with our life force a little more this week 👏

1 Quote

“The body is solid material wrapped around the breath.””

— Ida Rolf

P.S. Thanks to Nerissa for sharing. It’s one of my new favorite quotes.

1 Answer

Category: Lung Alveoli

Answer: Surfactant reduces this within lung alveoli, which prevents them (especially smaller alveoli) from collapsing during exhalation.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is surface tension?

In good breath,

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

P.S. They’re my new hero, too

Breath Learning Center

The goal of the breath learning center is to help you use breathing and mindfulness to become a better person. To experience more joy, love, laughter, and wholeness.

If that sounds good to you, you can learn more here.

The Breathing App for Diabetes

This is the first program specifically made for people with diabetes to help manage their stress through breathing and mindfulness practices. In addition to the amazing program inside the app, we have some really neat things coming up, so sign up now!

Amazon Associate Disclosure

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.

Nicholas Heath

March 4, 2024

weekly email, Batch 9

Why We Suffer, Power of Humming, and a Celebration of Life

Nicholas Heath

March 4, 2024

weekly email, Batch 9

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 😊

Enjoy These Posts?

Reading Time: 1 min 49 sec

I hope the next 27’ish breaths are the most nourishing of your day.

4 THOUGHTS

1. Why We Suffer from Pain

In The Mindfulness Solution, Ronald Siegel, Psy.D., presents a conceptual equation for suffering:

Suffering = Pain x Resistance

This symbolic relationship means, for any given amount of pain:

If our resistance to it is zero, we won’t suffer.
If our resistance to it is high, we’ll suffer a lot.

Of course, if you’re a normal human like me, it’s impossible to have zero resistance. But this is an excellent reminder that much of our suffering comes from resisting the pain, not the pain itself.

2. Give Your Practice an Energetic Charge

Here is Rick Rubin discussing having an intention for art:

“It is not an exercise of thought, a goal to be set, or a means of commodification. It is a truth that lives inside you. Through your living it, that truth becomes embedded in the work. If the work doesn’t represent who you are and what you’re living, how can it hold an energetic charge?”

Similarly, this is why having an overarching intention for your contemplative practice(s) is so powerful. It allows your practice to “represent who you are and what you’re living,” giving it an enormous energetic charge in your life 🙏

3. The Power of Humming

“Humming induces brainwave entrainment, and since the sound of a hum is long and sustained, it has calming effect on the brain. It also helps us to naturally extend our exhalation without making much of an effort to do so…Humming is also a spontaneous sound of joy, like after we’ve eaten a delicious tasting food…We hum in agreement with people, or things we read, and children naturally hum when they are happy. Humming is both good for you and we vocalize a hum when we experience good things.”
- Eddie Stern, Healing Through Breathing

That’s an excellent reminder to hum a little more this week 🙏

4. Why I Love Mindful Slow Breathing So Much

Here’s why I think adding mindfulness to slow breathing (‘mindful slow breathing’) is one of the best practices:

Slow breathing alters brain function to support mindfulness.
Mindfulness alters biochemistry to enhance slow breathing.

Combined, they give you two of the most validated mind-body exercises in one simple practice. Give it a try and see how you feel 🙏

1 Quote

“The greatest of all miracles is to be alive, and when you breathe in, you touch that miracle. Therefore, your breathing can be a celebration of life.””

— Thich Nhat Hanh

1 Answer

Category: Blood Pressure

Answer: The systolic pressure of this system is about 18-25 mmHg, about 1/5th or less of the body’s blood pressure.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is the pulmonary circulation?

In good breath,

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

P.S. welcome to breathing competition

Breath Learning Center

The Breath Learning Center offers a unique approach to health, wholeness, and personal flourishing through the breath. Immerse yourself in timeless wisdom, modern science, and breath-focused practices to improve your physical, mental, and spiritual well-being.

The Breathing App for Diabetes

This is the first program specifically made for people with diabetes to help manage their stress through breathing and mindfulness practices. In addition to the amazing program inside the app, we have some really neat things coming up, so sign up now!

Amazon Associate Disclosure

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.

Nicholas Heath

February 26, 2024

weekly email, Batch 9

How to Get True Health, Extended-Release Calm, and a New Personality

Nicholas Heath

February 26, 2024

weekly email, Batch 9

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 😊

Enjoy These Posts?

Reading Time: 1 min 44 sec

I hope the next 26’ish breaths are the most nourishing of your day.

4 THOUGHTS

1. An Extended-Release Calm Pill

Practicing slow breathing upon waking is like taking an extended-release calm pill each morning.

It will work throughout the day to help you be more resilient to stressors, experience more joy, and have more overall fulfillment 🙏

2. Creating Wholeness with Attention to Overlooked Moments

“Breath awareness is one method that can help you develop full attention to otherwise easily overlooked moments of daily life. Using this practice throughout the day transforms many small and simple activities into meaningful chances to develop a mind that is focused, calm, and alert.”
– Larry Rosenberg, Three Steps to Awakening

Here’s a great reminder that breath awareness can help us notice moments we usually overlook. Although these moments may not start out as much, I’ve learned that when you bring your full attention to them, it often creates wholeness 🙏

3. It’s Important to Practice When You’re Not Stressed

“It's important to have tools when it comes to dealing with stressful situations. If we haven’t practiced them, absorbed them, and made them work for us outside of a crisis situation, they might be harder to draw on when we need them in real time. That’s why it’s important to to practice them at times of the day when you are not in a crisis-situation. That way when you need to manage a stressful situation, your nervous system will already be attuned to what it feels like to be safe.”
- Eddie Stern, Healing Through Breathing

This is such good advice: Practice when you’re not stressed so it works when you are. 👏👏👏

4. A New Personality?

A wonderful passage to contemplate on mindfulness:

“In my early days of practice I hoped that it would give me a whole new personality. I've discovered that instead mindfulness practice has actually helped me enjoy the one I have.”
- Ronald Siegel, Psy.D., The Mindfulness Solution

1 Quote

“Each of us came here to do something. And as I see it, true health has nothing to do with diagnosing a disease or prolonging life just for the sake of it; it’s about finding out who we are, paying attention to how we’re called to grow and change, and listening to what makes our heart sing.””

— Gladys McGarey, MD, 103 Years Old

1 Answer

Category: Frog Breathing

Answer: Outside of water, frogs use this breathing system, which is opposite of humans and involves gulping air and pushing it into the lungs.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

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Question: What is positive pressure breathing?

In good breath,

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

P.S. support group for procrastinators

P.P.S. Check out The Breathing App for Diabetes.

Coaching

I can currently work with one more person if you can meet on weekends. Just send an email to nick@thebreathingdiabetic.com, and we can discuss it further 🙏

Amazon Associate Disclosure

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.

Nicholas Heath

February 19, 2024

weekly email, Batch 9

A Fulfilling Life, How to End, and How to Meditate without Meditating

Nicholas Heath

February 19, 2024

weekly email, Batch 9

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 😊

Enjoy These Posts?

Reading Time: 1 min 56 sec

I hope the next 29’ish breaths are the most nourishing of your day.

4 THOUGHTS

1. There is No Single Path to a Fulfilling Life

“It may be helpful to receive advice from more experienced artists, but as information, not as prescription…
Established artists generally draw from their personal experience and recommend the solutions that worked for them. These tend to be specific to their journey, not yours. It’s worth remembering that their way is not the way.
Your path is unique, for only you to follow. There is no single route to great art.”
- Rick Rubin, The Creative Act

Likewise, the methods experienced breathing and mindfulness teachers use are specific to their journey, not yours. There is no single path to a fulfilling life.

2. Soak It In: How We End Our Practice Matters

“The way we finish a practice is as important as the doing of it itself. So, as we do the practices in this audio, try to let each breath be an opportunity to practice awareness, and at the end of each practice, take a moment to soak it in, like liquid into a sponge, and that transformative state will then become assimilated within you.”
- Eddie Stern, Healing Through Breathing

That last part is so good for any contemplative practice: “take a moment to soak it in, like liquid into a sponge, and that transformative state will then become assimilated within you.”

If you feel so inspired, give it a try after your next session 🙏

3. Let Nature Meditate You

“This is the huge advantage of water: you don’t need to meditate to take advantage of its healing effects because it meditates you.”
– Wallace J Nichols, Blue Mind

“You don’t need to meditate…because it meditates you.” That’s so good. And it applies to basically any time in nature, not just water.

So, let that excellent quote be motivation to get out in the environment a little more this week 🙏

4. Breath Awareness vs. Breath Control

Breath observation shows you who you are. Breath control shows you who you can be.

Meaning that breath awareness allows us to tune into the state of our body, mind, and spirit. But breath control reminds us that, in many circumstances, we can radically transform how we feel.

1 Quote

“When you learn to stay with the breathing, to sink deep within your consciousness, you find that there is an intrinsic happiness there that has nothing to do with sensual pleasures, and it gives your life a whole new balance.””

— Larry Rosenberg

1 Answer

Category: Blood Circulation

Answer: These are so narrow that red blood cells must travel single file to pass through them, which also helps maximize contact with air.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What are the capillaries surrounding the alveoli?

In good breath,

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

P.S. scroll through for funny breathing memes

P.P.S. Check out The Breathing App for Diabetes to have Eddie Stern and me guide you through a 28-day slow breathing program.

Coaching

I can currently work with one more person if you can meet on weekends. Just send an email to nick@thebreathingdiabetic.com, and we can discuss it further 🙏

Amazon Associate Disclosure

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.

Nicholas Heath

February 12, 2024

weekly email, Batch 9

Clouds, Humming Under Water, and Two Practices for Today

Nicholas Heath

February 12, 2024

weekly email, Batch 9

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 😊

Enjoy These Posts?