cilia — Blog — The Breathing Diabetic

Listen to this post:

Hello fellow breathing nerds,

Here are 4 thoughts, 1 quote, and 1 answer for this week. Enjoy!

4 Thoughts

1. The Satisfaction Treadmill, and Why We Forget How Good Breathing Makes Us Feel

“In addition to being aware of the hedonic treadmill, we should also be wary of the satisfaction treadmill. This is the double whammy of adaptation. Not only do we adapt to a given experience so that it feels less good overtime, but we can also adapt to a given level of feeling good so that it stops feeling good enough.”
- Barry Schwartz, The Paradox of Choice

I thought treadmills couldn’t get any worse, but alas: the satisfaction treadmill.

It’s the reason you still enjoy your breathing or meditation practice, but aren’t sure why it doesn’t feel as good as it used to. It’s why you eat healthily, but still get excited about the latest “superfood” or supplement.

You have adapted to your new level of feeling good, which means it’s not good enough anymore. I say this confidently because I do it all the time—just ask my wife : )

This is, of course, not the best way to live, with breathing or anything else. And things like gratitude and prayer are clearly invaluable. But, in my experience, just having an awareness of the satisfaction treadmill is helpful.

Having awareness gives you space. You can decide if something really isn’t working anymore, or if you’ve simply adjusted to a new level of feeling good.

Here’s to slowing down (or even stepping off) the treadmill today.

2. Breathing as a Metronome for Centering Yourself

“Now consider your breathing like a metronome, consistently and rhythmically connecting you to your own source, and providing you with a regular mechanism for re-centering yourself.”
- George Mumford, The Mindful Athlete

Building on last week’s trampoline thought, here’s another way of looking at slow breathing. You can consider your breathing to be like a metronome, setting the tempo for many rhythms in the body.

Slow down the metronome, and you slow down and synchronize these other rhythms.

And the best part about it? You are the conductor, and the breath is always available, “providing you with a regular mechanism for re-centering yourself.”

***

P.S. I listened to this book, so my apologies to George Mumford if my transcription has punctuation errors.

3. Babies Do It. So Do Fitness Trainers. Now Scientists Say It Might Even Improve Memory.

“The results showed that when the participants breathed through their noses between the time of learning and recognition, they remembered the smells better.”
- Forbes, Babies Do It. So Do Fitness Trainers…

Here’s an excellent article from Forbes. It starts out discussing memory and nasal breathing, but then goes into many other aspects of the nose.

They also provide 3 breathing exercises recommended by Dr. Andrew Weil. Of course, we all know 4-7-8, but the “Breath Counting” one was neat too.

Enjoy the great read.

***

Related Quote: “In other words, mouth breathing can create fragility while nasal breathing can create resiliency.” - Tim Anderson in The Breathing Cure

4. Breathing Graffiti on 28 Famous Quotes, Sayings, and Idioms

“To breathe, or not to breathe: that is the question.”
“Don’t put all your breaths in one basket.”
- No One Ever

When I wake up low at night, I sometimes use breathing to help me fall back asleep (after eating glucose, of course). Other times, I accept that I won’t be sleeping for a while, and I just let my mind wander and laugh at my thoughts.

This thought came on one such night, Thursday, March 11th, to be specific. It seemed especially cheesy, so I decided to go with it : ) Some of them I actually found pretty funny, others I had to stretch a bit…

Shoot me an email if you have any good ones I didn’t think of so I can add them in.

P.S. #11 is my favorite.

***

1 Quote

“What I wear is pants. What I do is live. How I pray is breathe.”

—Thomas Merton

Thanks to great friend E.S. for this one. Absolutely love it.

1 Answer

Category: Nasal Airways

Answer: These tiny hair-like structures oscillate at rates as high as 16 beats per minute.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What are cilia?

P.S. I learned this in Ch. 3 (pg. 45) of Breath .

In good breath,

Nick Heath, T1D, PhD
Diabetes is Tiny. You are Mighty.

P.S. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves

Sign Up For The Breathing 411

Each Monday, I curate and synthesize information from scientific journals, books, articles, and podcasts to share 4 thoughts, 1 quote, and 1 answer (like "Jeopardy!") related to breathing. It’s a fun way to learn something new each week.

For each scientific paper I read, I ask myself,

“What practical takeaways can my readers and I apply in our lives today based on these results?”

I usually get similar answers: (1) Breathe slowly, (2) breathe through your nose, or (3) hold your breath. (This is how I discovered the three breathing principles.)

Feeling Like Bill Murray in Groundhog’s Day

These common answers can be frustrating because I often feel like a broken record. Each paper I read is full of awesome, nerdy information. But, from a practical perspective, it’s all really simple stuff.

For example, the paper I’m sharing this week reviews the latest science on nasal nitric oxide (including two new things I hadn’t read anywhere before). But, the take-home message is simple: Breathe through your nose.

Let’s look at this excellent paper, and then I’ll explain how Jim Rohn helped me work out my frustration.

Recent Advances on Nitric Oxide in the Upper Airways

(Click Here For Full Summary)

Journal: Current Medicinal Chemistry, Volume 23, Issue 24, 2016

Since we’ve reviewed the beneficial effects of nasal nitric oxide several times, let’s focus on the two new things from this paper:

1. Nitric Oxide Plays a Role in Warming Incoming Air

A study showed that increased nasal NO release was associated with increased temperature in the nasal airways. There precise mechanism for this was unclear, but interesting nonetheless.

(If this interests you, please send me an email and I’ll share some of my speculation as to what is happening.)

2. Nasal NO Enhances Cilia Functioning

Cilia are tiny little hairs in your upper and lower airways. They move back and forth to push inhaled particles out of your airways and back out through your nose. They are your lungs' main line of defense against inhaled pathogens.

Nasal nitric oxide enhances the functioning of these cilia, and low levels of NO have been associated with weakened cilia movement. Here is yet another way that NO defends us against airborne pathogens.

Jim Rohn and His Combination Lock

Again, the take-home message from this paper is: breathe through your nose to harness the benefits of nasal nitric oxide. Which brings me to Jim Rohn’s wisdom:

“Ideas can change your life. And sometimes all you need is just one more good idea in a series of good ideas. It’s like dialing the numbers of a combination lock. After you’ve dialed five or six numbers, the lock may not come open. But you probably don’t need five or six more numbers. Maybe you need just one more number, one more idea.”

Although I feel like a broken record, this passage reminded me that broken records are necessary for learning.

I hope the (repetitive) ideas shared here help you breathe through your nose more today.

In good breath,
Nick

P.S. Can’t wait for grandchildren.

Treadmills, Metronomes, and Breathing Graffiti on 28 Famous Quotes & Idioms