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 20’ish breaths are the most nourishing of your day.
4 THOUGHTS
1. A Clearer and More Vivid Life
“Think about a digital photograph. The vividness and clarity of the image depend on the number of pixels. Likewise, the vividness and clarity of the meditation object depend on the number of perceiving moments of attention whose content is the meditation object.”
Although it’s about meditation, this analogy is perfect for life as a whole. The more “perceiving moments of attention” we bring to what’s happening (aka mindfulness), the more “pixels” we’ll add to our life image, and the clearer and more vivid they will become 👏
2. Tuning Out from Reality (and skipping with fairies)
“If you are already breathing at a normal rate, slowing it down further still can change your state of mind to the point where you tune out from reality and skip happily away with the fairies.”
– Caroline Williams, Move
This quote made me laugh. It’s a fun reminder that, although the breath is a gateway to mindfulness, we can also use slow breathing as a mini retreat from life, allowing us to “tune out from reality and skip happily away with the fairies.” 😊
3. Three Random Thoughts
1. Breathing, with awareness, is gratitude.
2. If you follow your breath, you may actually end up where you’re going.
3. Right now, to get a fresh perspective, you can view the breath cycle as starting on an exhale rather than an inhale. The insight comes from remembering that we can do this with almost everything in life.
4. Be Weird
“We’re able to connect with life best when we get juice from multiple places. A puzzle piece doesn’t just click in on one side; it clicks in on two, three, or four. What that looks like varies from person to person.”
- Gladys McGarey, MD (103-years-old)
A reminder that breathing and mindful living are not about sitting cross-legged all day or becoming a zen master. They’re about becoming more us: allowing ourselves to be weird, embracing our varied interests, and connecting with life’s bigger puzzle on multiple sides 👏
1 Quote
“There is a calmness to a life lived in gratitude, a quiet joy.””
1 Answer
Category: Skin and Nervous System
Answer: Slow breathing helps to reduce this skin-associated measure, which is thought to be a marker of nervous system activity.
…
(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)
…
Question: What is skin conductance?
In good breath,
Nick Heath, T1D, PhD
“Breathing is the compound interest of health & wellness.”
P.S. a haunted house but…
There Is No Path
“Traveler, there is no path. The path is made by walking.” – Antonio Machado
Your breath, your mind, and your awareness are your most powerful tools for living a fulfilled life. Don’t limit yourself to one method or feel guilty about your varied interests—these are what make you, you. Embrace your curiosity and explore different teachings, understand their core principles, and forge your own path. Learn more.
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.