January 1, 2024

24 Ideas, Favorite Books of 2023, and the Secret to Healing

January 1, 2024

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Reading Time: 1 min 27 sec

I hope the next 22’ish breaths are the most nourishing of your day.

4 THOUGHTS

1. 24 One-Sentence Breathing Ideas for 2024

1. Breathing saves your life 20,000 times a day; mindfulness helps you appreciate this truth.

2. Breathing is 90% mental; the other half is physical.

3. The best healing breathing exercise is laughter.

Read all 24 thoughts here.

P.S. We’ve made it four years straight with this one-sentence idea. Here’s to many more 🙏

2. My Favorite Books of 2023

I read 50 books last year. I’ve made a list of all of them and also broke them into the following categories:

My Top 3 Overall
My Top 3 on Breathing
My Top 3 on Mindfulness
My Top 3 on Mindset

Read the lists here.

3. An Incredible Passage on the Power of Breathing to Start 2024

“If you breathe in calmly and hold your breath for a while before exhaling slowly, you will stimulate your vagus nerve, which in turn will have a soothing effect on your body and brain. That is why training in meditation breathing is a formidable tool for controlling and consciously inhibiting unconscious stress reactions. As such, it allows us to modify our brain activity (as we have demonstrated in our lab) to overcome anxiety, to lower blood pressure and sugar levels (and thus reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases), to strengthen the immune and metabolic systems, and to have a positive influence on numerous pathologies.”

- Steven Laureys, MD, The No-Nonsense Meditation Book

4. The Secret Ingredient to Healing (from a 102-year-old doctor)

“Healing, too, takes its own time. More often than not, time is the secret ingredient that allows healing to take place. Sometimes, while we're wishing things would hurry up, they're doing exactly what they should be doing.”
– Gladys McGarey, MD (102), The Well-Lived Life

Thats an excellent reminder that with healing, time is our ally, not enemy 🙏

1 Quote

“It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching.””

— Francis of Assisi

1 Answer

Category: Funny Breathing

Answer: The number one reason we do this breathing exercise is not because of jokes but actually to bond with others.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is laugh?

In good breath,

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

P.S. a gummy vitamin perhaps

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Breathing & Mindfulness 1-on-1

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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.

Nicholas Heath

October 30, 2023

weekly email, Batch 9

Heroes, the Healing Power of Breathing, and the Key to Living Longer

Nicholas Heath

October 30, 2023

weekly email, Batch 9

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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 46 sec

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

4 THOUGHTS

1. A 2023 Review: Mindfulness Slightly Improves HbA1c in Diabetes

“Previous systematic reviews and meta-analyses have shown that mindfulness interventions are effective in improving glycemic control in people with type 2 diabetes. The reduction in HbA1c levels is approximately 0.3%”
- Hamasaki (2023), Medicines

A 0.3% improvement is not super meaningful. However, they also found that mindfulness helped reduce stress, anxiety, and depression in people with diabetes. Together, that’s still pretty neat 👏

2. But Mindfulness Helps in Less Quantifiable Ways, Too

For diabetes (or any condition), mindfulness helps in less quantifiable ways, too. Perhaps the most important is that, with increased awareness, we begin to notice variability in our symptoms. This gives us back some control over our condition:

“Put plainly, paying attention to variability helps us see that symptoms come and go, which helps us home in on the situations and circumstances that might contribute to these fluctuations so that we might exert some control over them. Having that kind of increased control gives rise to solutions that otherwise would not be forthcoming, as well as more optimism and less stress, which give rise to greater health in general.”
- Ellen Langer, Ph.D., The Mindful Body

Sounds good to me 👏👏👏

3. Nasal Breathing while Walking: The Key to Living Longer?

I feel obliged to share this amazing passage I read on Thursday morning in 52 Ways to Walk (such a good book, too):

“Obsessed with notions of health, he was fascinated by his breathing. In fact, Kant developed a technique of breathing solely through his nose—250 years before scientists recognized the role of nasal breathing for good health. Kant was so determined to breathe only through his nose that he refused to walk with a companion, fearful that conversation might inadvertently make him inhale through his mouth. Kant lived to just short of his eightieth birthday, a phenomenal age in 1804.”

4. The Healing Power of Breathing

The healing power of breathing is less about actual physical healing (although it can do that) and more about giving us back agency.

Controlling our breath shows us that we can control our mental and physical state, and this provides a sense of agency in all of life.

By controlling our breath, we become our own healers (and heroes).

1 Quote

“In order to heal, you may wish to become your own hero.””

— Gabor Maté, MD

1 Answer

Category: Slow Breathing & Pain

Answer: Slow breathing is thought to increase the release of these, which help explain its pain-reducing effects.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What are endorphins?

In good breath,

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

P.S. thank u for coming to my ted talk

iCalm for Focused Relaxation

If you haven’t already, try iCalm. They called it “meditation in a bottle”…I gave in and bought…and now I use it almost daily, lol. Use discount code NICK20 for 20% off.

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Nicholas Heath

January 3, 2022

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An Unexpected Truth, 22 One-Sentence Ideas, and the Best Part of Breathing

Nicholas Heath

January 3, 2022

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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. 22 One-Sentence Breathing Ideas for 2022

1. Demonstrations of breathing are small compared with the great thing that is hidden behind them.
2. Breathing doesn’t heal you; it gives your body the environment it needs to heal itself.
Keep going…

Let’s continue the tradition this year. Here are 22 one-sentence breathing ideas to kick off 2022. Enjoy!

***

2. A Unexpected Truth: Use Your Heart to be More Objective

“I feel like I process information more objectively. If there's a bad call, or a player does something unexpected on the court, I can inhibit my reaction and quickly determine what needs to happen next with less effort.”
- Client of Leah Lagos, excerpt from Heart Breath Mind

This was the result of heart rate variability (HRV) training via slow breathing. As counterintuitive as it might sound, current science tells us that the more we train our hearts, the more objective we become.

It’s actually our pesky (albeit valuable, lol) brains that trick us into excess emotional reactivity, anxiety, stress, rumination, and on & on.

So to be more rational, use your heart, not your head : )

***

3. Why You Should Practice Abdominal Nose Breathing

“However, when we breathe through the nostrils and into the abdomen, not only do we breathe less frequently, but our exhalations are prolonged. What this means is that abdominal nose breathing not only makes more oxygen available to our bodies in a more efficient manner, but it also stimulates the sympathetic nervous system less frequently.”
- The Tibetan Yoga of Breath

That is all : )

4. The Best Part about Breathing

The best part about breathing is that we can satisfy our craving to read and learn while also applying that wisdom in our lives. There’s no abstraction. It’s as easy as “sit down and breathe like this for a few minutes and see how you feel.”

Sure, I write to try to make it fun and philosophical. But when it comes down to it, you just sit there and breathe. No one can take it away from you, and you don’t need any special training. You just do it.

1 QUOTE

"There's nothing mystical or abstract about it. It's physical. Your breath is your life-force, right here, right now. It could not be any simpler. Just breathe and reclaim your soul."
- Wim Hof

1 ANSWER

Category: The Airways and Ancient Yoga

Answer: The trachea, a key component of breathing, is also referred to as this.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is the windpipe?

P.S. Yantra Yoga techniques were called “Wind Energy Training,” which sounds kind of woo-woo. But let’s not forget modern science refers to our main breathing tube as the “windpipe” : )

In good breath,

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

P.S. a workplace revolutionary tbh

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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.

Nicholas Heath

January 1, 2022

Blog

22 One-Sentence Breathing Ideas for 2022

Nicholas Heath

January 1, 2022

Blog

Let’s continue the tradition this year. Here are 22 one-sentence breathing ideas to kick off 2022. Enjoy!

***

1. Demonstrations of breathing are small compared with the great thing that is hidden behind them.

(Inspired by a Khalil Gibran Quote)

2. Breathing doesn’t heal you; it gives your body the environment it needs to heal itself.

3. We can be lost in breath, without knowing we have been breathing.

(Inspired by The Things You See Only When You Slow Down)

4. If you know only one breathing method, then you really know none; if you understand one breathing method, then you really know them all.

5. Breathing is the most direct path to practicing philosophy in our lives.

6. If breath is life, then optimal breathing is optimal living.

7. Science is timely; personal experience is timeless.

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

9. What one teacher says is essential, another will say is useless.

10. Breathing is a pair of leather shoes for life.

(Idea from The Tibetan Yoga of Breath)

11. The most practical tip for breathing is this: make it quiet and subtle.

12. To breathe in a “quiet and subtle way” takes deliberate practice—effort leads to effortlessness.

13. Breathing may be my 70% solution but only your 20% solution.

14. Breathe less, sometimes more; breathe slow, sometimes fast.

15. We breathe through each nostril separately so they function better together as a whole.

16. Read about breathing but, most importantly, embody that education through practice.

17. Start by starting; one minute is always better than none-minutes.

18. A simple rule for getting started: 40% of your breath should be inhaling, 60% should be exhaling.

19. Holding implies tension and effort; pausing is natural and effortless.

20. Breath and mind are inseparable: This means you can use your breath, to change your mind, to change your breath for the better.

(A play on this line from Neurodharma: “Neurons that fire together, wire together. This means that you can use your mind, to change your brain, to change your mind for the better.”)

21. The goal of a breathing practice is better mindless breathing.

22. The joy of breathwork is breathing.

Nicholas Heath

October 25, 2021

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The Joy of Breathwork is _________, and The 3 Best Ways to be Consistent

Nicholas Heath

October 25, 2021

weekly email

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4 Thoughts

1. The Joy of Breathwork is _________

If you’ve read any books on breathwork, or heard any podcasts, or taken any classes, you’ve inevitably heard some incredible stories of healing.

People use different breathing methods to help various health conditions under different settings. They all seem to work, and there’s no one-size-fits-all.

It highlights a simple yet profound truth: The joy of breathwork is breathing.

***

Quote that inspired this thought: “I realized: These were tears of joy, and the joy of movement is moving.” - Kelly McGonigal, PhD, The Joy of Movem ent

2. The 3 Best Ways to be Consistent with Your Breathing Practice

“A small daily task, if it be really daily, will beat the labours of a spasmodic Hercules.”
– Anthon y Trol lope

1. Start very tiny. Even if it's 1 breath or 30 seconds. Just pick something so small you can't fail.

2. Do it at the same time every day. Pick a consistent cue (e.g., brushing your teeth, etc.) that will trigger your tiny practice.

3. Celebrate. This is most important. Do something silly that you find rewarding (fist bump, etc.). Celebration releases dopamine, which will trick your brain into looking forward to your practice.

***

P.S. Here’s my celebration: “That’s like me to do another breathing session!”

P.P.S. These concepts come from the excellent book Tiny Habit s.

3. Marginal Gains: Why Being Consistent Matters

“It is so easy to overestimate the importance of one defining moment and underestimate the value of making small improvements on a daily basis. … Meanwhile, improving by 1 percent isn’t particularly notable—sometimes it isn’t even noticeable—but it can be far more meaningful, especially in the long run.”
- Jam es Clear

And there’s why being consistent is so important. Those tiny 1% gains are far more meaningful in the long run than they might at first seem. As my favorite teacher Bri an Johnson says, “when you aggregate and compound enough of those tiny little incremental optimizations MAGIC happens.” 🙏

***

Related Quote: “Any practice, whether spiritual, physical, or artistic, only begins to pay off when it is done with regularity and sincerity.” - Eddie Stern, One Simple Thi ng

4. The Pleiotropic Benefits of Breathing

“Eating well, exercising, getting enough sleep, and managing stress will always be the foundational pillars of health and wellness. One reason for this is that these interventions are what scientists call pleiotropic—they provide a wide range of benefits that aren’t limited to a particular health condition.”
– Chris Kresser

Breathwork is also pleiotropic: it provides wide-ranging benefits, which aren’t limited to one health condition. (That’s also why it often seems like a panacea.)

Combining this idea with Thoughts 2 & 3, we see why breathing is the compound interest of health and wellness: When done consistently, the marginal gains from its wide-ranging, “pleiotropic” benefits aggregate into magic.

Sounds good to me : )

1 QUOTE

“The breath is something that is readily available to us simply because we are human beings. We do not need anything else to qualify. How marvelous!”
- The Tibetan Yoga of Breath

1 ANSWER

Category: Nasal Breathing

Answer: Nitric oxide, which is one of the most important benefits of nasal breathing, is produced in this region of the upper airways.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What are the paranasal sinuses?

In good breath,

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

P.S. Nothing like cha nging your appea rance