January 15, 2024

A Wild Sleep Study, Becoming Great, and Being More Human

January 15, 2024

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I hope the next 30’ish breaths are the most nourishing of your day.

4 THOUGHTS

1. Tickle Your Adrenals with this Therapeutic Breathing Exercise

“In the body, laughter serves an important purpose. It quite literally tickles the adrenals. The diaphragm is located just above the adrenal glands, which house our reactivity, our fear and anger, our apathy and hatred. When we laugh, we flex and release the diaphragm. This gives a light jiggle to the adrenals that I think of as a tickle. … In my experience, the adrenals are often quite relieved by the invitation to relax and let go.”
– Gladys McGarey, MD, The Well-Lived Life

This is your friendly reminder to laugh and “tickle your adrenals” today. Laughter is, after all, the most therapeutic breathing exercise 😊

2. Becoming More Human, Not Superhuman

“It’s very intuitive: If we breathe better…we can deliver more oxygen to our muscles and organs, including the heart and brain, and thus heighten our physical capacity. All we’re really doing is assisting the body in working the way it was meant to work in the first place.”
– Patrick McKeown, The Oxygen Advantage

That’s a great reminder that breathing (and other mind-body practices) are not hacks to boost our health to superhuman levels. They’re simply “assisting the body in working the way it was meant to work in the first place.”

We’re becoming more human, not superhuman.

3. A Mind-Blowing Study on Sleep: Is It All in Your Head?

Of course, sleep is critical to health, and if this study was performed over a long duration, its results would likely change. But this passage from Dr. Langer is an extraordinary reminder of the power of the mind:

“Our intervention was simple: We programmed a bedside clock to alter the amount of time that participants thought they had slept, irrespective of their actual sleep duration.

When the clock was sped up, such that people thought they had slept for eight hours but had slept only for five, their reaction times were quicker on an auditory psychomotor vigilance test as compared to their performance when knew they had five hours of sleep. Conversely, when people slept for eight hours but thought that they only slept for five, their performance was worse than when they had slept eight hours and thought they had slept eight hours. Clearly, our perceptions of how much we’ve slept, and not just the actual number of hours, matter.”

Here’s the link to the study. I highly encourage reading the first three sentences of the discussion 🤯

4. The Biggest Mistake in Breathing

The most common mistake in breathing is using the nose, lungs, and diaphragm, but not the heart.

1 Quote

“Everybody can be great because everybody can serve…You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.””

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Listen to it for deep inspiration.

1 Answer

Category: The Mind

Answer: Focusing on this, which literally translates to “tool of thought” or “mind tool,” can add a touch of mindfulness (and hence additional benefits) to a slow breathing practice.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

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Question: What is a mantra?

In good breath,

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

P.S. Libraries were a good start but…

Coaching

Breathing & Mindfulness 1-on-1 (I currently cannot take on new clients. But if you’re interested, please send me a message, and I’ll let you know when space opens.)

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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 13, 2023

weekly email, Batch 9

Build-a-Breath, How to Work with Emotions, and Carrying Great Power

Nicholas Heath

March 13, 2023

weekly email, Batch 9

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4 THOUGHTS

1. Build-a-Breath: Breath Stages and the Nervous System

“Vagal activity is enhanced during the postinspiratory period and inhibited during the postexpiratory period.” - Kromenacker et al. (2018)

When I read this somewhat unassuming sentence, it actually led to a pretty big “aha moment” for me. It means:

Inhalations: Sympathetic
Inhale-Pauses: Parasympathetic
Exhalations: Parasympathetic
Exhale-Pauses: Sympathetic (I had never actually thought about this one and just assumed it was parasympathetic.)

Let’s apply this to a real-world example: the popular 4-7-8 breath. Using the above relationships, we see that 4 seconds are spent in sympathetic and 15 parasympathetic—no wonder it’s so relaxing.

With this information, you can now assemble and tailor a breath to meet your needs using a simple app like Breathe: iPhone & Android.

The power is yours…have fun with it 🙏

2. One Way to Stop Overbreathing: Mouth Tape at Night

“Taping the mouth at night ensures the benefits of good breathing during sleep, allowing you to fall asleep more quickly, stay asleep longer, and wake feeling energized.”
– Patrick McKeown, The Oxygen Advantage

And if that’s not enough, it’s also one way (among many changes we need to make) to train our bodies to breathe less in general.

As Patrick says, “Spending a guaranteed eight hours breathing through your nose while you sleep is an opportune way to reeducate your respiratory center to adjust to a more normal breathing volume.” 👏 👏 👏

***

P.S. If you want more amazing wisdom from The Oxygen Advantage, I just released a Book 411 summary on it in the Learning Center.

3. How to Work with the Root of Emotional Imbalances

“No matter how out of control we feel, how low our energy is, or how large our problems seem to loom, wind energy training is an effective intervention for all emotional imbalances. When we work with the breath, we work with the root of the problem.”
- Anyen Rinpoche & Allison Choying Zangmo, The Tibetan Yoga of Breath

I have nothing to add except to repeat that last sentence: “When we work with the breath, we work with the root of the problem.” 👏

4. A Tiny Thought On Why Breathing Helps Everything

Since no bodily function can occur without breathing, it just makes sense that breathing, in some way, influences every bodily function.

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1 Quote

““For something so simple, automatic, and for most people, unconscious, breathing carries with it great power.””

— Al Lee & Don Campbell

1 Answer

Category: Breathing and Emotions

Answer: Using fMRI, researchers have found that breathing influences activity in this region of the brain, an area associated with emotional regulation and response.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

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Question: What is the cingulate cortex?

In good breath,

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

P.S. and I can finally be free

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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.

Nicholas Heath

March 6, 2023

weekly email, Batch 9

Why Breath Control Matters, -148°F, and Engaging Fully in Life

Nicholas Heath

March 6, 2023

weekly email, Batch 9

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4 THOUGHTS

1. A Remarkable Fact About the Upper Airways (-148°F)

“…the upper respiratory tract is able to warm and saturate inspired air so that in climates as cold as minus 100°C [-148°F] air entering the alveoli has attained body temperature and is saturated with water vapor.”
- Walker and Wells (1961)

My brain can’t fully grasp how remarkable that is over such a short distance…

Our airways are incredible.

2. Oral Posture and Nasal Breathing

“Try it for yourself: Open your mouth and place your tongue on your upper palate. Now try to breathe through your mouth. While it is possible to draw a wisp of air into the lungs, it will not feel right. It follows therefore that the tongue of a mouth breather will tend to rest on the floor of the mouth or suspended midway.”
– Patrick McKeown, The Oxygen Advantage

Patrick’s explanation here is perhaps the most commonsense reason for maintaining optimal oral posture: It promotes nasal breathing simply because breathing through your mouth is awkward when the tongue is against the roof of the mouth. 👏

3. Why Voluntary Breath Control Matters

“We can hold our breath, or breathe faster, or breathe slower, at any time, by choice. Why does this control matter? It matters because breathing is the link between our inner and outer experiences … It is also the link between the physical and emotional reactions we have to those experiences. In other words, what is happening within our bodies and minds is channeled through our breathing.”
- Anyen Rinpoche & Allison Choying Zangmo, The Tibetan Yoga of Breath

I have nothing to add except a few of these 🤯 🤯 🤯

4. A Neat Study on Slow Yogic Breathing and Vagal Stimulation

“These findings raise the possibility that mind-body techniques that use slow breathing at rest exert their breathing-related relaxation effects through vagal mechanisms.”
- Vagal Mediation of Low-Frequency Heart Rate Variability During Slow Yogic Breathing

This ingenious study separately blocked the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems and then measured HRV during slow yogic breathing. By doing this, they conclusively found that increases in HRV were primarily due to increased vagal activity.

In other words, slow breathing is vagus nerve stimulation 👏

***

P.S. You get the full Science 411 on this paper when you sign up for the Breath is Life Learning Center.

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1 Quote

“Mindful Breathing is a useful practice in its own right. … However, I’d like you to think of it as a versatile training tool to help you engage fully in every meaningful task in your life.””

— Russ Harris

1 Answer

Category: Diagnostic Breath Exercise

Answer: This physiological exercise is basically a forced exhale against a closed glottis, mouth, and nose.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

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Question: What is the Valsalva maneuver?

In good breath,

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

P.S. literally me every time

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Nicholas Heath

February 27, 2023

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Good Stress, Self Love, and Breathing for Happiness and Wisdom

Nicholas Heath

February 27, 2023

weekly email, Batch 9

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4 Thoughts

1. On & Off: The Stress-Reducing Effects of Fast Breathing

“Breathing really fast and heavy on purpose flips the vagal response the other way, shoving us into a stressed state. It teaches us to consciously access the autonomic nervous system and control it, to turn on heavy stress specifically so that we can turn it off and spend the rest of our days and nights relaxing and restoring, feeding and breeding.”
- James Nestor, Breath

Although I talk about slow breathing 99.9% of the time, this is an excellent description of the benefits of occasionally practicing fast breathing: We consciously turn on stress so we can then turn it off. 👏

***

P.S. If you’re interested, I just released a Book 411 on Breath. Sign up for the Breath is Life Learning Center to get immediate access 🙏

Featured

Jun 16, 2023

The Stress Prescription: Seven Days to More Joy and Ease

Jun 16, 2023

What You’ll Learn:

1. What Meditation Is & Its Overall Goal

2. Well-Being, Telomerase, and Adaptive Functioning

3. The Emotional Benefits of Meditation

4. Brain Changes from Meditation

1 Life-Changing Idea

How to End a Breathing, Meditation, Reading, or Really Any Contemplative Practice

Jun 16, 2023

2. Breathing for Happiness, Love, and Wisdom

Thought #1 reminded me of this amazing quote from Rick Hanson, Ph.D., in Buddha’s Brain:

“Happiness, love, and wisdom aren’t furthered by shutting down the SNS [sympathetic nervous system], but rather by keeping the autonomic nervous system as a whole in an optimal state of balance.”

So here’s to using our breath—our remote control to our nervous system—to achieve an optimal state of balance and find a little more happiness, love, and wisdom this week 🙏

***

P.S. We also have a Book 411 on this one in the Learning Center : )

3. The Breath of Life Influences Everything

“Chronic overbreathing leads to loss of health, poor fitness, and compromised performance and also contributes to many ailments including anxiety, asthma, fatigue, insomnia, heart problems, and even obesity. It may seem strange that such a disparate range of complaints can be caused by or worsened by overbreathing, but the breath of life influences literally every aspect of our health.”
– Patrick McKeown, The Oxygen Advantage

And fortunately, this is also why improving our breathing can help with so many issues—because “the breath of life influences literally every aspect of our health.” 👏

4. The Best Definition of a Breathing Practice is…

Self-love. It covers all benefits for the body, mind, and spirit.

So don’t forget to show yourself some, this week.

1 Quote

“Remember that every time you bring yourself back to full presence, you reap major rewards: you become more impactful, more memorable, and come across as more grounded. You’re laying the foundation for a charismatic presence.””

— Olivia Fox Cabane

1 Answer

Category: Blood Reservoir

Answer: At rest, these organs contain approximately 10% of the total circulating blood volume.

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(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What are the lungs?

In good breath,

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

P.S. sorry Jerry I was in a jam

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Nicholas Heath

February 20, 2023

weekly email, Batch 9

Free OA App, 60 Seconds of Joy, and Breathing Improves Cognition

Nicholas Heath

February 20, 2023

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 😊

4 Thoughts

1. Slow Breathing Improves Cognition: A 2022 Study

“Finally, at the applied level, these findings may have implications for individuals looking for a quick and easy method to alter their executive functions, for example, to better execute cognitively demanding tasks in their jobs.”
- J. Psychophysiology (2022)

This recent study found that 15-min of slow breathing:

Improved attention control
Improved working memory
Increased cognitive flexibility

Take-home: slow breathing helps you plan, monitor, and execute your goals.

***

P.S. If you’re interested, there’s a new Science 411 for this one that goes through all the details.

2. Meditation, Yoga, and the Healing Touch of Prayer

Here’s a memorable passage from Breath, where James Nestor offers an eloquent summary of the benefits of slow breathing:

“In many ways, this resonant breathing offered the same benefits as meditation for people who didn't want to meditate. Or yoga for people who didn't like to get off the couch. It offered the healing touch of prayer for people who weren't religious.”

Sounds good to me 🙏

***

P.S. Note that the key words are “in many ways”; not “in all ways.” Breathing isn’t a one-to-one replacement for these other powerful health practices. But, it is a nice option that covers many bases.

3. Patrick McKeown & the New Free OA App

Patrick McKeown and the Oxygen Advantage® team released a new app. It’s got a TON of guided breathing exercises and educational videos—and it’s all free!

It’s an incredible gift from someone who, after 20+ years, still loves sharing breathing with as many people as possible 🙏

Go check out the app and enjoy all of the free OA exercises.

4. Sixty Seconds of Joy

For every minute you practice conscious breathing you gain sixty seconds of joy.

***

P.S. This is a play on an Emerson quote I saw on Insight Timer: “For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.”

1 Quote

“It is quite a striking example of evolutionary balance and beauty that the trees around us that give off oxygen and the trees in our lungs that absorb it share a similar structure.””

— Patrick McKeown

1 Answer

Category: Oxygen Carrying Capacity

Answer: Our kidneys produce this hormone to help us maintain a healthy level of red blood cells (breath holds can amplify this process to boost oxygen carrying capacity).

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is erythropoietin?

In good breath,

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

P.S. I’ve done this writing blogs, emails, etc.

Sign Up For The Breathing 411

Nicholas Heath

September 13, 2021

Blog

How I Trained for Altitude (it's not what you might think)

Nicholas Heath

September 13, 2021

Blog

View of Mount Audubon from Mitchell Lake

“Everyone has a plan 'till they get punched in the mouth.”
- Mike Tyson

I live in Florida, basically below sea level : ) So when my best friend invited me to hike up to 13,200 ft, I put a ton of pressure on myself to do it. I thought, “I’m The Breathing Diabetic. I better be able to handle some altitude.”

But I didn’t train how you might think. Of course, I initially started with more breath holds. But I realized that the issue at altitude is lower air pressure. To breathe, our lungs expand, the pressure decreases in our lungs, and air flows in from the atmosphere due to the pressure difference. However, at altitude, the lower air pressure will make that process harder.

If each breath is harder, your diaphragm and other breathing muscles will fatigue quicker, and you’ll feel out of breath. Maybe I’m wrong, but that seemed like the biggest issue when I considered everything I’ve learned.

So I decided to focus on lung capacity. With greater lung capacity, the lungs can expand more, pressure can decrease more, and breathing can be easier at altitude. Is this proven? I don’t know. But it made sense to me.

So I did a lot of Wim Hof breathing, a lot of work with the Oxygen Advantage Sports Mask, and a lot of extended exhalations. I also used ocean breathing during my morning breathing practice for added resistance.

Did it work? I’m not sure since I don’t have a control to compare against. But I made it. It was extremely challenging, and all of my plans went out the window once we hit about 11,000 ft. The winds were insane, my hands were freezing, and the continuous uphill was way more brutal than I expected.

To cope, I did some periodic breathwalking, and every few minutes, I took 10 massive Wim Hof style breaths. Going up, I was probably around 40% nasal, 60% mouth breathing (I went into it not caring which hole I used, as long as I made it). Going down was about 90% nasal and 10% mouth.

When I got to the summit, my oxygen saturation was steadily 81-85%. Crazily, my blood sugar was 404 mg/dL (!), which wasn’t helping the situation. But I made it. Mission accomplished.

If you have any thoughts about altitude or my training approach, please send me an email at nick@thebreathingdiabetic.com with the subject “High Altitude.” It was my first time, so I have no clue if what I’m saying makes sense : )

More Pictures

SpO2 was hovering around 81-85% right when we reached the summit. This was with normal nasal breathing.

“Strategically” giving my diaphragm a rest before we started one of the last pushes. I wasn’t tired, just meditating 😂😂😂

Me (left) and James (right) at the peak hiding from the insane winds. Gusts felt like they were over 60 mph.

Nicholas Heath

January 25, 2021

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More Breathing in Less Time

Nicholas Heath

January 25, 2021

weekly email

Greetings,

This week’s 411 is brought to you by espresso, curiosity, my appreciation for your readership, and espresso. Enjoy!

4 THOUGHTS

1. Use Breathing Instead of Thinking

"Social psychologists now know that the truth lies in the opposite direction. People need to change their actions and their minds will follow." – Sean D Young, Stick With It

Experts tell us it’s hard to think our way out of thinking. We need to act and let the mind follow. I believe this is what makes breathing so powerful. It gives you an action you can perform anytime to trick your mind into following.

If you’re anxious, you can breathe slowly, which will calm your nervous system and lead to calmer thoughts. If you’re tired, you can breathe rapidly and stimulate your nervous system, increasing your heart rate and alertness.

There are many ways to use actions to control your emotions and thoughts. But breathing is free and easy. Stop thinking, begin breathing.

2. Post-Meal Breathing for Better Blood Sugars & Digestion

Relaxing breathing methods have been shown to reduce blood sugar spikes associated with meals and glucose tolerance tests. In Breath (pg 43), James Nestor also tells us that right nostril breathing heats up the body and aids in digestion. Together, it seems like a post-meal breathing practice might be a good idea.

I have been testing this in a simple and practical way. Specifically, I’ve been spending ~3 to 5 minutes performing either alternate nostril or diaphragmatic breathing (or their combination) after lunch.

The results have been quite noticeable. My sugars are much better (and even get low sometimes) in the hour following the meal. And these short minutes are especially helpful midday to focus my mind and get me back to work quickly.

Science + Practicality = Better Living

Even if you don’t have diabetes, adding this tiny habit after eating might help with digestion and improve energy levels. Not bad for just a few minutes.

3. More Breathing in Less Time

Brian Johnson is my favorite teacher. Long-time readers are probably sick of me talking about him : ) His motto: More wisdom in less time. In that spirit, here are a few excellent summaries Brian has made of some of the best breathing books:

A 15-minute summary of Patrick McKeown’s the Oxygen Advantage
A 21-minute summary on Anders Olsson’s The Power of Your Breath
A 15-minute summary of Belisa Vranich’s Breathe
A 21-minute summary of James Nestor’s Breath

Enjoy!

Thanks to new 411 reader W.G. for inspiring this thought.

4. The Best Advice You Can Give Someone Interested in Breathing

"Start now. Optimize later. Imperfect starts can always be improved." - James Clear

The Oxygen Advantage, Wim Hof, The Art of Breath, Buteyko, Breatheology, SKY, ujjayi, and on and on. They are all phenomenal for different reasons.

But the most important thing is to choose one and start—experience for yourself how simple and powerful these practices are. You can optimize later.

1 QUOTE

In my own experience, a deep breath is always a good first reaction to a first report. Try to let the potato cool a bit before you pick it up.
— General Colin Powell, It Worked For Me

1 ANSWER

Answer: This "nasal nerve" is the first one emerging from the brain.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is the olfactory nerve?

In good breath,
Nick

P.S. Preach

Nicholas Heath

July 13, 2020

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The Breathing 4.1.1. - Harder Breathing Techniques and Molecules of Air

Nicholas Heath

July 13, 2020

weekly email

Welcome to the second edition of "The Breathing 4.1.1."

Below, I share 4 thoughts, 1 quote, and 1 answer (think "Jeopardy"). Enjoy!

4 THOUGHTS

1. We Don’t Need Harder Breathing Techniques

I recently finished the two-part interview with David Bidler on the Bravest Podcast. I highly recommend listening to both episodes. My favorite idea from David was this: We don’t need harder breathing techniques, we need to apply simple breathing methods to harder challenges. Well said.

Episode 1

Episode 2

2. HHPF High School Slow Breathing Program

Speaking of using simple breathing practices in hard situations, the Health & Human Performance Foundation (HHPF) partnered with Girard High School to implement a slow breathing program for the students. The program improved the students' tolerance to CO2 and decreased their anxiety. Pretty amazing stuff.

1 QUOTE

"By voluntarily changing the rate, depth, and pattern of breathing, we can change the messages being sent from the body’s respiratory system to the brain."

- Richard Brown & Patricia Gerbarg, from "The Healing Power of the Breath"

1 ANSWER

Answer: The number of molecules in each breath we take.

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(Cue the Jeopardy music.)

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Question: What is 25 sextillion? [1]

(Note: That’s 25,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 molecules!)

In good breath,
Nick

P.S. $98,000. (Ages 3 & Up.)

[1] Worrall S., “The Air You Breathe Is Full of Surprises,” National Geographic, Aug.13, 2012. View Article Here

(I found this through "Breath: The New Science of A Lost Art")