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4 Thoughts
1. Presto, Instant Success: Breathing (and life) Values vs. Goals
“Values are ‘desired qualities of ongoing action.’ In other words, your values describe how you want to behave as a human being: how you want to act on an ongoing basis,
[…]
Goals are ‘desired outcomes.’ In other words, goals are what you want to get, complete, possess, or achieve. Goals are not ongoing. The moment you achieve a goal, you can tick it off the list;”
- Russ Harris, The Confidence Gap
This is a beautiful distinction between values and goals. And it highlights why we should focus on breathing values (nasal, quiet, deep, etc.) over goals.
Goals come and go, but values are always there. As Harris says, “in any moment, we can act on our values—yes, even if we’ve neglected them for years. Presto, instant success!”
Thus, anytime we act on our breathing values, no matter how long we’ve neglected them, we are instantly successful. So let’s do that, right now : )
2. Slow Breathing and Better Psychological Outcomes: 3 Shared Benefits of 15 Studies
After analyzing 15 studies, this systematic review found 3 common effects of slow breathing that were associated with positive mental outcomes:
Improved heart rate variability
Increased respiratory sinus arrhythmia
Enhanced alpha and decreased theta brainwave activity
The Take-Home Message: Breathe slowly, enhance HRV & RSA, modify brainwave activity, and feel better.
3. Diverse Tactics: The Benefits of Learning Many Methods
“So why learn to breathe other ways? Well, imagine just strolling. You can get most places and enjoy the outdoors with that stroll. But what if you want to cover ground quickly? Then you run. Or you want to reach a high tree branch. Then you jump. … For special purposes we need to learn special patterns of breathing…that fit the challenge of the moment.” (my emphasis)
- Gurucharan Singh Khalsa, Ph.D., and Yogi Bhajan, Ph.D.,
We don’t need any fancy breathing to optimize our health (quiet & nasal will do most of the work). But, as we’re reminded here, there are many ways we can use our breath for various tasks and to reach different states.
Remember, “For special purposes we need to learn special patterns of breathing…that fit the challenge of the moment.”
So here’s to keeping an open mind and learning a diverse set of methods so we can always match our breath to our challenge, mixed-breathing artist style.
4. Two More Tiny (but hopefully useful) Thoughts on Methods
If you know only one breathing method, then you really know none; if you understand one breathing method, then you really know them all.
Every method works when used correctly, but no method works for everybody.
1 QUOTE
“No one can build you the bridge on which you, and only you, must cross the river of life. … There is one path in the world that none can walk but you. Where does it lead? Don’t ask, walk!”
1 ANSWER
Category: Evolution
Answer: These are our most recent structure evolutionarily, developing roughly 350-400 million years ago.
…
(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)
…
Question: What are the lungs?
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.