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 😊
Reading Time: 1 min 23 sec
I hope the next 21ish breaths are the most nourishing of your day.
4 THOUGHTS
1. Without Wind, There Would Be No Waves
Imagine if we tried to understand ocean waves by studying the internal makeup of the water (without first examining the winds).
Yet we often try to understand the body by looking at all its intricate details (without first examining the breath).
Without winds, there would be no waves to study. Without breath, there would be no body to marvel.
2. The Well-Being Equation
In this eloquent equation (created by philosopher Arne Næss), “glow” refers to passion or fervor. It’s squared. This means a slight increase in glow will drown out increases in physical and mental pain.
It’s a nice reminder that, instead of always focusing on what’s bad, sometimes it’s better to simply create more good 🙏
3. There’s Something about Breathwalking
“There's something about walking to the rhythm of one's own breath, as if we can walk on and on, into the horizon and beyond.”
- Annabel Streets, 52 Ways to Walk
This book had an excellent chapter on the power of breathwalking (called “Afghan walking”). The above quote summarizes it nicely: By synchronizing our breath and steps, we feel we can walk forever.
Give it a try next time you walk around the office or to and from your car: Inhale 4 steps, exhale 4 steps (or whatever pace is comfortable for you). Simple yet extremely powerful.
4. One Could Spend a Lifetime
“Hence it is that one can spend decades, or even a lifetime, delving into the subtleties and implications of the process of breathing.”
Thank you for joining me on this seemingly endless journey 🙏
1 Quote
“So the problem is not so much to see what nobody has yet seen, as to think what nobody has yet thought concerning that which everybody sees.” ”
1 Answer
Category: The Nose
Answer: This represents the natural congestion of one nostril and reciprocal decongestion of the other occurring throughout the day.
…
(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)
…
Question: What is the nasal cycle?
In good breath,
Nick Heath, T1D, PhD
“Breathing is the compound interest of health & wellness.”
iCalm for Focused Relaxation
Not trying to sound salesy, but if you haven’t tried iCalm yet, you should. It’s amazing. I take 1/2 shot with my coffee and absolutely love it. So much so that it’s the first time I’ve ever become an affiliate. We have the same mission, but different approach (and they are honestly some of the nicest people on the planet running it).
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.