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I hope the next 24’ish breaths are the most nourishing of your day.
4 THOUGHTS
1. The Power of Intention
“Intention plays an important role in each moment of consciousness: it determines the objects of subsequent moments of consciousness. The stronger our intention to attend to a particular object, the more moments of attention will subsequently be focused on that object.”
Although this was discussing meditation, it applies perfectly to life in general. When we intend to be good people, or intend to live more joyfully, or intend to be more caring and compassionate, then “more moments of attention will subsequently be focused” on cultivating these qualities, and they’ll gradually become part of who we are 👏
***
P.S. If you’re a breath or meditation coach, this is a powerful tool. Helping people clarify their intentions can motivate them to practice. So, rather than focusing solely on results, you focus on intention, and the outcomes take care of themselves.
2. Helping You Deal with All of Life’s Challenges
“I think that working with the breath can be a very powerful technique to center the mind, to help you work more effectively, to help you deal with all of the challenges that life throws in your way every day, and to really turn your direction away from the material world toward the non-physical world.”
– Andrew Weil, MD, Breathing: The Master Key to Self Healing
Here’s a powerful reminder that the breath can “help you deal with all of the challenges that life throws in your way.”
So, whether it’s through breath awareness or deliberate breath control, make sure you put this power to good use this week 😊
3. Gratitude, 10 Breaths, and Spirit Circulation
1. Gratitude turns an ordinary breath into air candy.
2. Don’t take ten breaths; take one breath, ten times.
3. Our breath moves spirit around like our heart moves blood around.
4. A Prescription for a Good Life
“A well-known physician who has made a specialty of nerve diseases, not getting satisfactory results from the prescription of drugs, tried the experiment of inducing his patients to smile under all circumstances—to compel themselves to laugh whether they felt like it or not. ‘Keep the corners of your mouth turned up,’ is his prescription for those suffering from melancholia. It works like a charm.”
– Orison Swett Marden, The Joys of Living
I’m not sure if there was a doctor who really did this, and I’m not a fan of faking emotions. BUT, I can wholeheartedly get behind a “prescription” to smile and laugh for living a good life 😊
1 Quote
“There is another word for self-discipline. It is patience.””
1 Answer
Category: Breath and Meditation
Answer: Many forms of meditation focus on breath sensations in this part of the nose, also known as the nasal vestibule.
…
(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)
…
Question: What is the inside of the nostrils?
In good breath,
Nick Heath, T1D, PhD
“Breathing is the compound interest of health & wellness.”
P.S. a rug made of legos
A Better Approach to Breathing
While I love just about everything about breathing and meditation, there’s one thing I feel could use more balance: Specialization.
Specializing to become “the best at this” or “the go-to person for that” certainly has its place and value. But for real-life, complex, messy humans (not speaking from experience or anything 😂), blending and adapting principles from a variety of practices, sciences, and traditions often works best.
This is the art of being a generalist, or what I playfully call being a “Mixed Mindful Artist.”
If you’re looking to build a truly beneficial personal practice or have a broader impact on those you teach, the generalist approach of becoming a mixed mindful artist might resonate with you.
You can learn more about it 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.