brain health

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Four Reminders, Alternate Nostril, and Tapping into the Life Force

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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 😊

Reading Time: 1 min 45 sec

I hope the next 26’ish breaths are the most nourishing of your day.


4 THOUGHTS

1. Tapping into the Life Force

“The most universal practice for tapping into the Life Force is really a number of practices—mediation, prayer, reading, journal writing, exercise—that make up the morning rituals that so many people swear by. Rather than preparing you for a single event, like a game, a play, or a public address, the rituals prepare you for the entire day to come.”

- Barry Michels and Phil Stutz, Coming Alive

How good is that? (Well, except that they left off breathing, ha!)

It’s a nice reminder that all our practices help us tap into our Life Force as holistic preparation for “the entire day to come.” 🙏

2. The Benefits of Alternate Nostril Breathing

“This technique provides high level evidence for positive outcomes for the autonomic nervous and cardiopulmonary systems. There is also high level of evidence regarding improvement in cognitive functioning with regular practice of alternate nostril breathing.”

– Ghiya (2017)

This review found that ANB improved nervous system and heart health, lung function, and cognitive ability, suggesting that it is an effective technique for boosting overall health & wellness 🙏

***

P.S. I just released a new Science 411 on this paper in the Breath Learning Center. Sign up for as little as $5 to read or listen now.

3. Four Reminders of the Breath’s Power for the Brain and Mind

1. “The brain, by regulating breathing, controls its own excitability.” – Journal of Physiology (1988)

2. “In other words, by changing the breath pattern one can induce a chosen state of mind.” — Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati

3. “Just as your mind influences the breath, you can influence the state of your mind through the breath as well.” –Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

4. “Messages from the respiratory system have rapid, powerful effects on major brain centers involved in thought, emotion, and behavior.” –Patricia Gerbarg, MD and Richard Brown, MD

4. Wash the Brain with this “Subtle Fluid”

“There seems to be a subtle fluid from humor and fun which penetrates the entire being, bathes all the mental faculties, and washes out the brain-ash and debris from exhausted cerebrum and muscles.”

– Orison Swett Marden, The Joys of Living

1 Quote

“The real meaning of simplicity is singling out what is worth living for, and then shaping our lives around what matters and letting go of everything else.””
— Eknath Easwaran

1 Answer

Category: The Brain

Answer: Between its more than 86 billion neurons, the human brain has over this many connections.

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(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

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Question: What is 100 trillion connections?

In good breath,

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

P.S. next time you want to spread some love

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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.

 
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10 Fun Thoughts, Meditation in a Bottle, and Whole-Life Slow Breathing

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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. The Greatest Skill in Breathing (plus 9 more random thoughts)

The greatest skill in breathing (like in life) is knowing when to go with the flow, and when to deliberately change it.

Click here for 9 more random breathing thoughts and quotes.

2. “Meditation in a Bottle” (random product recommendation)

That’s a tagline of this relaxation shot by iCalm.

I stumbled upon it online, decided to buy some, and really loved them. I take one almost every afternoon now.

I have no affiliation with them…just thought it was a cool product and that maybe some of you would like it too 🙏

***

P.S. When I bought it, they sent an email questionnaire…I filled it out (it took less than a minute), and they sent me a few additional bottles for free. It might be random, but be on the lookout, just in case.

3. Whole-Life Slow Breathing

Regularly engaging in any kind of contemplative practice that slows down our breathing increases our vagal tone.

The best description I’ve read of why that’s important comes from Barbara Fredrickson, Ph.D., describing people with higher vagal tone:

“Physically, they regulate their internal bodily processes more efficiently, like their glucose levels and inflammation. Mentally, they’re better able to regulate their attention and emotions, even their behavior. Socially, they’re especially skillful in navigating interpersonal interactions and in forging positive connections with others.”

Sounds good to me. Perhaps we should call slow breathing “whole-life breathing” instead 😊

4. Nasal Breathing, Brain Oscillations, and Better Cognition

“A key implication of our data is that the nasal route of respiration offers an entry point to limbic brain areas for modulating cognitive function.”

- Zelano et al. (2016)

This study found that nasal breathing synchronizes oscillations in the piriform cortex, amygdala, and hippocampus (those last two regions are critical to emotions, memory, and behavior). This coherence leads to improved cognitive function compared to mouth breathing.

The take-home: Breathe through your nose as much as possible, especially when learning or in emotional situations, to improve brain coherence and cognitive functioning.

***

P.S. This is one of many studies I’m drawing from for the Breathing for Better Brain Health Workshop I’m hosting this Saturday for just $50.

1 Quote

“There is no single more powerful – or more simple – daily practice to further your health and wellbeing than breathwork.””
— Andrew Weil, MD

1 Answer

Category: Brain Blood Flow

Answer: Every minute, this many liters of blood flow through the brain, which is about how much a standard wine bottle holds.

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(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

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Question: What is 750 ml?

P.S. I found this one in Breath by James Nestor.

In good breath,

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


P.S. ignorance is bliss

* 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.

 
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Better Learning, Life's Lifeline, and How We Breathe is Who We Are

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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. How We Breathe is Who We Are

“Breathing is about much more than simple gas exchange or even cardiorespiratory fitness. We exhale and inhale more than twenty thousand times per day, and the way in which we do so has tremendous influence on how we move our body, and even our mental state. How we breathe, as Beth puts it, is who we are.”

- Peter Attia, MD, Outlive

I have nothing useful to add here, except a few of these 👏👏👏

P.S. The Beth mentioned was one of his colleagues, Beth Lewis.

2. Science or Prayer, Medicine or Meditation

A profound aspect of breathing is that, depending on our disposition, we can treat it like science or prayer, like diet or exercise, like medicine or meditation.

And the best part: No approach is right or wrong.

3. Alternate Nostril Breathing Improves Learning & Retention

“Our findings indicated that a single 30-minute session of deep alternate-nostril breathing significantly facilitated the retention of a newly acquired motor skill. Better retention was evident immediately, as well as 24 hours after breathing practice, suggesting that such simple practices can be exploited as an effective tool to enhance both short term and somewhat longer term retention of skilled movements.”

– Deep Breathing Practice Facilitates Retention of Newly Learned Motor Skills

I’ve shared this one before. However, I revisited it recently and thought I’d share it again.

The take-home is that we can use slow alternate nostril breathing immediately after learning a motor skill to improve that skill’s short and long-term retention.

Check out these 9 slides that describe the study with images.

4. It’s Made Simple by Simplified Controls

This is a genuinely mind-blowing analogy for all breathing practices:

“For example, consider a car. We hardly give it a second thought when we climb into a car and drive off to an appointment. … All we have to do is press on the gas pedal and hold the steering wheel, and away we go. Simple, yes? No, not simple at all, but it has been made simple by virtue of the simplified controls that enable us to effortlessly transform a volatile substance, gasoline, into a speedy and safe ride to our appointment.

Pranayama is like that. In fact, all effective spiritual practice is like that. We can take complex principles of transformation found in the human nervous system and, with a series of simple procedures, apply these for great spiritual benefit.”

- Yogani, Spinal Breathing Pranayama

1 Quote

“By developing the simple profound practice of mindful breathing, you have a lifeline that ties you to every dimension of your life.””
— Al Lee and Don Campbell

1 Answer

Category: Breathing 101

Answer: The amount of air left after a maximum exhalation, known as this, helps to ensure the alveoli do not collapse.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

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Question: What is residual volume?

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In good breath,

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


P.S. This is everything I hoped for

* 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.

 
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4 Thoughts, Reaching Blissful States, and Breathing and Brain Health

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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. In my Brain: 4 Random One-Sentence Breathing Thoughts

  1. Slow breathing is air appreciation.

  2. Fast breathing is air intoxication.

  3. Breath holding is air imagination.

  4. And all breathing is air medicine.

P.S. Here are 10 more random thoughts people seemed to enjoy.

2. Reaching Blissful States

Discussing advanced yogis that reach elated states during meditation:

“Their remarkable meditation skills bespeak what’s technically known as a “state by trait interaction,” suggesting the brain changes that underlie the trait also give rise to special abilities that activate during meditative states.”

– Daniel Goleman, Ph.D. & Richard Davidson, Ph.D., Altered Traits

These findings mean: the longer you practice, the more your brain changes, and the more likely you are to be physiologically capable of having profound meditations. They’re a “state by trait” effect, and they’re available to all of us—we just have to keep practicing 🙏

3. Slow Yogic Breathing and Brain Health

“To our knowledge, our study is the first report demonstrating the impact of a mind–body approach such as yogic breathing to modulate CSF dynamics”

– Immediate impact of yogic breathing on pulsatile cerebrospinal fluid dynamics

This study found that slow, deep, yogic breathing increased cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow toward the brain by 16-28%.

CSF plays crucial roles in cushioning the brain & spine, delivering nutrients & hormones to the brain, and removing waste from the brain.

Thus, CSF dynamics may be one way slow breathing techniques improve brain health 👏

4. The Power of Belly Breathing

The power of belly breathing is not in making your belly move with each breath. It’s in relaxing the belly, so it naturally rises & falls with the movement of the diaphragm.

1 Quote

“That’s life: starting over, one breath at a time.””
— Sharon Salzberg

1 Answer

Category: Respiratory Pressure Changes

Answer: During inhalation, the diaphragm contracts down and increases this pressure, which may play a role in modulating CSF flow up the spine.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is intra-abdominal pressure?

This week’s newsletter is brought to you by BreathLearning.com

If you like this newsletter, you’ll love BreathLearning.com.

Click Here to Learn More

In good breath,

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


P.S. I need to adopt this practice

* 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.