Sovereign

Art Of Being Wise, Not Most People, and Deep Psycho-Physical Changes


Reading Time: 1 min 41 sec

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


4 THOUGHTS

1. Most People Don’t Realize This

“…most people don’t realize the profound potential the breath has for mental health.

How we breathe impacts our heart rate, blood pressure, emotions, and memory. Our breathing patterns influence the function of many critical areas of the brain. Breathing influences how we perceive the world, think, pay attention, remember, and feel.

Our neurons respond to the rhythm of our breath: When we alter our breathing, we can control the activity of our brain cells. Research shows you can rapidly change your emotions using just your breath.”

– Emma Seppälä, Ph.D., Sovereign

Of course, if you’re reading this, you’re not most people—and you probably know most of this. But it’s always refreshing to read it from a slightly different perspective 👏

2. Try to Be Better?

“It is easier to try to be better than you are than to be who you are.”

– Marion Woodman, found in Meditations for Mortals

What a perfect reminder: Instead of always striving to improve ourselves, we can instead seek to simply be ourselves. That is, after all, what breathing, meditation, and mindfulness are all about 🙏

3. Deep Physical and Psychological Changes

“As the breath is the link between the body and mind, it can intervene in the activities of either level. With increased awareness and control of the subtle aspects of breathing, these interventions can affect deep physical and psychological changes.”

– John Clarke, MD, Science of Breath

I’ve shared this one before, but it’s an excellent reminder: Because the breath connects body and mind, it can elicit powerful changes in both.

4. Enjoying the Symphony

“Do you want to enjoy a melody? Do you want to enjoy a symphony? Don’t hold on to a few bars of the music. Don’t hold on to a couple of notes. Let them pass, let them flow. The whole enjoyment of a symphony lies in your readiness to allow the notes to pass.”

– Anthony de Mello, Awareness

Same with life 🎵


1 Quote

The art of being wise is knowing what to overlook.”
— William James

1 GOOD BOOK

Passage Meditation by Eknath Easwaran

If you’re tired of reading the same old things about meditation, here’s an approach I can almost promise you haven’t encountered. And even if you don’t adopt Easwaran’s 8-point program, his profound yet practical wisdom is sure to change how you think and live 🙏


In good breath,

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

Enjoy these posts? Donate to say thanks!

P.S. Imagine hating on me and…

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!

Learn more here.


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.


 

MBSR Course, Reducing Anxiety, and a Funny Quote about Negative Feelings


Reading Time: 1 min 54 sec

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


4 THOUGHTS

1. MBSR 8-Week Course Starting Soon

“Mindfulness is a way of befriending ourselves and our experience.”

- Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D

My good friend, mentor, and all-around awesome human Paul Hunt is leading an 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course starting on April 15th.

MBSR is a world-renowned program that changed Paul’s life, so now he shares it out of genuine care and passion. He even offers a pay-what-you-can option to ensure finances don’t hold you back.

If you’ve ever been curious about learning MBSR, this is a perfect way to begin.

Click Here to Learn More

2. Less Caught Up in the Noise of the World

“When you’ve immersed yourself in meditation, silence, breathing, and wisdom, then you’ll find it is so much easier not to get caught up in the noise of the world, the agendas, stories, and opinions. And even when you do get caught, you’re rarely fully entangled because there’s a part of you that notices you’re getting caught. So you can extricate yourself more easily.”

– Emma Seppälä, Ph.D., Sovereign

Just a reminder that when you immerse yourself “in meditation, silence, breathing, and wisdom” (like what we do here 😊), you become naturally shielded from the world’s noise. And with that security, you find a little sense of sovereignty.

3. Slow Breathing Helps Anticipatory Anxiety

“Through slow breathing exercises, participants’ responses to the emotional stimuli of an impending uncertain threat were diminished. It may be that slow breathing prepares the individual physically and psychologically for future anxious events.

Nature Scientific Reports (2025)​

​A new study found that just 30 seconds of slow breathing helps with anticipatory anxiety—the worry we feel before something stressful actually happens. In the experiment, slow breathing lowered self-reported anxiety, reduced heart rate, and slowed brainwaves, all of which may help the mind and body better handle uncertainty 👏

4. On Other’s Actions Controlling Your Feelings

“You’d better behave as I have decided, or I shall punish myself by having negative feelings.”

- Anthony de Mellow, Awareness

Ha! So good. Let’s do our best to stop punishing ourselves for the ways others act 😊


1 Quote

It is easier to give up our material clutter than to shed our psychological baggage. Pride, ego, fear, and anger clutter our souls and minds in the same way that piles of clothes, furniture, and other belongings clutter our homes.”
— Satish Kumar

1 GOOD BOOK

Breath by Breath by Larry Rosenberg

Even if you’re not into meditation, this book is worth the read for all the great quotes, stories, and analogies about the breath. It’s one of the first “non-breathwork” breathing books I read many years ago that opened my eyes to the power of the breath as an analogy for life.


In good breath,

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

Enjoy these posts? Donate to say thanks!

P.S. Technology has gone too far

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!

Learn more here.


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.


 

I Had No Idea, 14% More Endurance, and Breathing to Help Yourself


Reading Time: 2 min 19 sec

I hope the next 28’ish breaths are the most nourishing of your day.


4 THOUGHTS

1. I Had No Idea the Impact

“I had no idea the impact a simple, gentle walk would have on my life. The impact comes not only from the actual physical walking but also from the discipline, the practice, the commitment. This MorningWalk has ignited my sense of curiosity, satiated my everlasting wanderlust and been the most powerful tool for inspiration in my life.

– Libby DeLana, Do Walk

When I read this, I thought, “I could say the same about my morning breath practice.” It’s a great reminder that there’s no perfect approach: the way I feel about breathing is the same way someone else feels about walking and how another person feels about dancing or creating art. What’s important is finding what works best for you 🙏

2. Subliminal Smiles and 14% More Endurance

“As the cyclists pedaled, a screen in front of them periodically flashed images of happy or sad faces in imperceptible 16-millisecond bursts, ten to twenty times shorter than a typical blink. The cyclists who were shown sad faces rode, on average, for just over 22 minutes. Those who were shown happy faces rode for three minutes longer and reported a lower sense of effort at corresponding time points. Seeing a smiling face, even subliminally, evokes feelings of ease that bleed into your perception of how hard you’re working at other tasks.

– Alex Hutchinson, Endure

If an imperceptible smile can help someone pedaling to exhaustion go ~14% longer, imagine what a genuine smile might do for someone you pass on the sidewalk or a store clerk having a rough day. So, let’s use this as our reminder to mindfully smile at those we encounter—it may help them more than we know 😊

3. Thoughts on Laughter (the best breathing exercise)

1. “Laughter is the soul’s health.” - James Henry Potts

2. “We need laughter in our lives. Laughter is carbonated holiness. It’s like the cavalry arriving to help us get our sense of humor back.” - Anne Lamott

3 “A person who knows how to laugh at himself will never cease to be amused.” - Shirley MacLaine

4. You’re Helping Yourself

“One of the most appealing aspects of a breathing practice is that you’re helping yourself. You’re not dependent on someone else. You’re in charge of your own healing. You’ve got this. You’ve got sovereignty.”

– Emma Seppälä, Ph.D., Sovereign

A great reminder that one of the most therapeutic aspects of breathing is the heightened sense of agency it cultivates. You feel in charge of your own healing, and this mindset carries into other areas of life, providing you with more sovereignty in your daily living 👏


1 Quote

It’s quite amazing: we can control our breath, which means we can control the state of our autonomic nervous system and even our state of consciousness.”
— Elissa Epel, Ph.D.

1 GOOD BOOK

I was struggling to come up with a good trivia question this week, so I decided to switch it up with a book recommendation.

This is a children’s book about Fabi, a now 7-year-old girl, who underwent heart surgery last year. She used breathing, meditation, and prayer to face it with courage and calmness. And in true warrior fashion, she wrote a book to support other kids facing similar challenges. It’s an inspiring and humbling short story; if you have kids, consider getting a copy!


In good breath,

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

Enjoy these posts? Donate to say thanks!

P.S. I would do anything…

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!

Learn more here.


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.