awe

Soul Physiology, Laughter Heals, and a Great Zen Master


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Reading Time: 1 min 41 sec

I hope the next 25’ish breaths are the most nourishing of your day.



4 THOUGHTS

1. Nurturing Our Body and Soul’s Physiology

1. The way we nurture our body’s physiology is through breathing.

2. The way we nurture our soul’s physiology is through love.

Thus, we can perform a breath practice followed by loving-kindness meditation as a simple yet deeply restoring way to start each day 🙏

2. A Technical (yet elegant) Reminder of the Power of the Breath

“The parasympathetic and sympathetic systems are tonically active, with efferent pathways extending from the brainstem and hypothalamus to all major peripheral organs and afferent nerves from the lungs, airways, and heart, projecting to the brainstem and to the hypothalamus and higher order neural regions. Because of this anatomical connectivity, changes in breathing rate are quickly signaled to the brain, allowing the brain to interpret that the body is in a relaxed, calm state, and safe state.”

- Crosswell et al. 2024

Be sure to take advantage of this “anatomical connectivity” this week 🙏

P.S. Don’t forget to check out the Science 411 on this one too.

3. There is No Hedonic Adaptation to This

“You might have thought that when we more often experience awe in the wonders of life, those wonders lose their power. This is known as the law of hedonic adaptation, that certain pleasures…diminish with their increased occurrence. Not so with awe. The more we practice awe, the richer it gets.”

– Dacher Keltner, Awe: The New Science of…

“The more we practice awe, the richer it gets.” This excellent idea explains why daily practices like breathing, meditation, time in nature, or reading timeless wisdom never lose their potency.

Each of these brings awe, connecting us closer to our true selves, and there is no hedonic adaptation to that 🙏

4. A Great Zen Master Was Once Asked

“A great Zen master renowned for his wisdom was once asked, ‘What’s the most remarkable thing you’ve learned in all of your years of meditation and study?’ He answered, ‘The most remarkable thing is that we’re all going to die but we live each day as though it weren’t so.’”

– Ronald Siegel, Psy.D., The Mindfulness Solution


1 Quote

Wholehearted, ready laughter heals, encourages, relaxes anyone within hearing distance.”
— Eugenia Price

1 Answer

Category: Heart-Brain Connection

Answer: The heart might be able to communicate with the brain through the vagus nerve via the firing of these, sometimes referred to as “the little brain of the heart.”

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

Question: What are intrinsic cardiac neurons?


In good breath,

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

P.S. Alright Sam has command of the board

Discover Your True Self

“Paradoxically, it takes time to become what we already are.”

– Rick Hanson, PhD

Learn to think, speak, and act in alignment with the person you want to be. Start Today.

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.


 

See the World, Deep Rest, and a Simple Step for Profound Effects


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?

Donate to support my research.


Reading Time: 1 min 48 sec

I hope the next 27’ish breaths are the most nourishing of your day.



4 THOUGHTS

1. A Lens Through Which We See the World

“How do emotions guide our actions?

The first is this: emotions transform how we perceive the world. … Each emotion is a lens through which we see the world.”

– Dacher Keltner, Awe: The New Science of…

“Each emotion is a lens through which we see the world.” This unintentionally yet beautifully explains the power of breathing. By giving us access to our emotions, breathing exercises can quite literally put a new lens on life, providing more clarity, focus, and joy.

Be sure to take advantage of this power this week 🙏

2. How All Contemplative Practices Work (deep rest)

“In conclusion, contemplative practices are a powerful tool for enhancing health. Routinely practicing a contemplative technique may reduce harmful stress-related threat arousal, promote cellular-level healing and restoration, and ultimately promote positive mental and physical health.”

- Deep Rest: An Integrative Model of How Contemplative Practices Combat Stress…

This paper could be the “science mascot” of my life 😂

It’s unique because it doesn’t favor one approach; instead, it offers a unifying framework—called deep rest—explaining the benefits of all contemplative practices (but slow breathing does play a crucial role).

If you feel so inspired, go give it a read. Or, read my 2 min 49 sec review (or listen to the podcast version) for as little as $5.

3. A Tiny Thought on Breathing Methods

Every method works when used correctly, but no method works for everybody.

4. Two Ideas to Contemplate on Breathing & Connection

“The heaven, the earth and I share one breath, but each manages it individually.” – Lao-Tzu

“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 Quote

The pace you set first thing in the morning is likely to stay with you through the day. If you get up early and set a calm, unhurried pace, it is much easier to resist getting speeded up later on as the pressures of the day close in on you. This simple step has profound effects.”
— Eknath Easwaran

1 Answer

Category: Emotions

Answer: Across different people, these show similar patterns for different emotions and may be one way to distinguish states of joy, anger, fear, and sadness.

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

Question: What are breathing patterns?


In good breath,

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

P.S. how to send emails

Nurture Your True Self

Learn to think, speak, and act in alignment with the person you want to be.

Start Today.

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.