Hello, and Happy Monday. Here are 4 thoughts, 1 quote, and 1 answer that I hope you enjoy this week.
4 THOUGHTS
1. Cure Your Hangover: Why We Can’t Always Wait on Science
"If you have a hangover…if you do 20 minutes of this breathing, then you have no hangover anymore. You are learning to detox yourself in 20 minutes."
- Wim Hof, *October 21, 2015*
A study recently published in Nature - Scientific Reports about breathing and alcohol is receiving a lot of attention. People are excited to learn that controlled hyperventilation might help cure their hangover.
It’s rather amazing, but let’s not forget that Wim Hof has been talking about this for over 5 years. He didn’t know the science. He just figured it out.
And yes, I might have used his method a time or two myself : )
I’m a huge advocate of science in both my professional and personal life. But in some cases, we can’t wait on science. We must trust our intuition.
"I knew that there was no book. The book was me. The book was the interaction with the nature." - Wim Hof, FoundMyFitness, January 3, 2016
2. Why You Will Forget About Breathing
"It’s much easier to sell 'Look what I did for you' than 'Look what I avoided for you.'"
- Nassim Taleb, Antifragile
Some of us experience profound benefits from breathing. Some of us don’t. But even for those who do, life still happens. You get sick. You still get anxious. Despite your diligent practice, your energy levels still aren’t always perfect.
You might decide this "breathing" stuff isn’t working after all or that there must be something else you’re missing. So you move on and forget about breathing.
Fortunately, you’ve already laid the foundation. You can "forget" about breathing, but still reap most of the benefits. (It’s quite amazing, actually.)
Unfortunately, we will never know what it saved us from. Yes, we still got sick. Yes, we still got anxious when life got stressful. But we will never know how much worse it might have been without our breathing practice…
3. "You are Probably Breathing Wrong"
"Training yourself to breathe correctly isn't complicated, but it can help you beat back stress, sleep better, stop snoring, get fitter, avoid asthma and allergies, and even focus more easily. That's a lot of positive change for such a small intervention."
Here’s a quick read from Inc. Magazine with a great title: "You are probably breathing wrong. Fixing it could change your life."
I was pleasantly surprised to find several embedded links to other Inc. articles about breathing. Enjoy!
4. Un-Flaunt Your Breathing
"Flaunt: display ostentatiously, draw attention to, make a (great) show of, put on show, put on display, parade"
- Apple Thesaurus
Your breathing should be the exact opposite. It should be subtle and quiet. Here’s how: breathe through your nose and make sure you cannot hear your breathing, even internally.
1 QUOTE
"The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing."
- Walt Disney
1 ANSWER
Answer: In your nose, this gas can reach the maximum permissible concentrations (25 ppm) set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
…
(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)
…
Question: What is nitric oxide?
In good breath,
Nick