Listen Instead of Reading
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4 THOUGHTS
1. In my Brain: 4 Random One-Sentence Breathing Thoughts
Slow breathing is air appreciation.
Fast breathing is air intoxication.
Breath holding is air imagination.
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.””
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?
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In good breath,
Nick Heath, T1D, PhD
“Breathing is the compound interest of health & wellness.”
* 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.