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 😊

4 THOUGHTS

1. My 5 Favorite Breathing Books & the Order I’d Read Them if I Started Over

Full Catastrophe Living: Teaches the power of mindful breathing, which is the starting point of all breathing practices.
Breathing: The Master Key to Self Healing (audio only): One of the most accessible and practical intros to breathing.
The Healing Power of the Breath: One of the best for learning how slow breathing techniques help all aspects of life.
Breath: This is a must-read for anyone interested in breathing.
The Oxygen Advantage: Now that you’re a true breath nerd, you’re ready to dive into all Patrick’a life-changing wisdom.

Major Caveat: This changes based on where I am in life and the new books I read 😊

2. Moving Toward Our Better Nature

“As we see it, the most compelling impacts of meditation are not better health or sharper business performance but, rather, a further reach toward our better nature.”
– Daniel Goleman, Ph.D. & Richard Davidson, Ph.D., Altered Traits

I think this is true of any contemplative practice: meditation, breathing, yoga, or even just reading.

So here’s to choosing our favorite one and inching closer toward our better nature, today 🙏

3. Life-Changing: How to End a Breathing, Meditation, or Really Any Contemplative Practice

Say this to yourself silently:

“even if I have been distracted, … is there something that has moved me, and that I would like to keep? Is there something that I would like to take with me and use to nourish myself?”
– Dr. Cathy Blanc, The Healing Power of Meditation

Then, silently wish that you can put whatever moved you into practice to bring more peace, humanity, and love to the world 🙏

P.S. If you feel so inspired, try it at the end of this email : )

4. Unconditional Love

The other day, I worked on breathing research all day. Yet come afternoon, I realized I’d barely actually checked in with my own breath (the irony, I know, lol).

But like a puppy waiting on its human to get home from work, the second I remembered, the breath was right there, holding no grudges or hard feelings, just simply grateful for my attention.

1 Quote

“If we can simply realize the fullness of this moment, of this breath, we can find stillness and peace right here.””

— Jon Kabat-Zinn

1 Answer

Category: Breathing 101

Answer: Like winds in the atmosphere, air flowing into and out of our lungs is driven by these.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What are pressure gradients?

In good breath,

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

P.S. I show affection for my pets by…

* 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.

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.

My Top 5 Breath Books, Unconditional Love, and a Life Changing Outro