Welcome to another edition of the 411 newsletter. Here are 4 thoughts, 1 quote, and 1 answer for you to consider this week. Enjoy!
4 THOUGHTS
1. Intravenous Oxygen Delivery?
"For example, oral vitamin C is absorbed in the small intestine…but intravenous vitamin C bypasses the gut, achieving blood and tissue concentrations that are markedly higher than those achieved with the oral form." - Dr. Rhonda Patrick
While reading this, I thought, nose breathing is like intravenous oxygen delivery. It improves your body’s ability to use the oxygen you breathe, increasing tissue concentrations by 10% compared to the "oral form." But we don’t need any fancy equipment. We just have to breathe the way our bodies were designed.
So for fun, we can imagine nasal breathing to be like an IV, "injecting" oxygen to the organs, tissues, and muscles that need it most.
2. The River of Breath and Chemoreceptor Flexibility
Most popular breathing methods focus on pushing carbon dioxide (CO2) to one extreme, whether it’s with hyperventilation (low CO2) or breath holds and reduced breathing (high CO2). But this misses the point. The goal is to return our breathing to its natural physiological levels, to make it optimal.
So instead of picking a side, I prefer the idea of "chemoreceptor flexibility." To adopt a concept from Dan Siegel, we can think of it like a river. On one side is low CO2 and on the other is high. We want the flexibility to occasionally push to either side. But, we’ll be most efficient when we’re flowing down the middle.
P.S. This also brings to mind James Nestor, who said, "Today, chemoreceptor flexibility is part of what distinguishes good athletes from great ones. […] All these people have trained their chemoreceptors to withstand extreme fluctuations in carbon dioxide without panic." - Breath, pg. 170
3. Breathing is a Communication Skill
"The quality of your breath lets dogs know if you are the one who has what it takes to be the leader, the one who can confidently lead them to food, safety and rest. That would be the belly breather." - Breathing is a Communication Skill
I love dogs. So even though this article isn’t strictly scientific or entirely correct (and even got a little woo-woo here and there), I enjoyed reading it.
Overall, it captures the essence of relaxed breathing and provides a unique idea of how our breathing communicates with our pets. Enjoy, fellow pet lovers!
4. The Best Slow Breathing Practice for You
The best slow breathing practice is the one you’ll commit to, the one you enjoy doing most. None of the science matters if you don’t put it into action.
So, I suggest you don’t worry about the "best practice" you read in a health book or on a website. Instead, just get started and be consistent with the one you enjoy most.
Extended exhales, box breathing, or ujjayi. One minute, two minutes, or twenty minutes. It can only help, and it’s the consistency that pays off.
1 QUOTE
"Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint."
- Mark Twain
1 ANSWER
Answer: The total length of the airways running through your lungs.
…
(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)
…
Question: What is 1,500 miles?
In good breath,
Nick