love

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Love, the Gift of Giving, and How Life Gets Measured

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Listen Instead of Reading

Sorry, no audio this week. I got sick on Saturday and couldn’t record. I hope to have it up by Tuesday or Wednesday.

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 😊

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Reading Time: 1 min 38 sec

I hope the next 24’ish breaths are the most nourishing of your day.


4 THOUGHTS

1. Any Effort We Put Toward Love

“Just as our bodies are born to breathe air, we are born to love. That's why although it's good to address our fear, it's even better to focus on our love. Any effort we put toward love—truly, any effort at all—will self-perpetuate, bringing joy, health, and well-being into our lives.”

– Gladys McGarey, MD, The Well-Lived Life

One more time: “Any effort we put toward love…will self-perpetuate, bringing joy, health, and well-being into our lives.”

Sounds good to me 🙏

2. How to Practice Right Effort (hint: start with love & joy)

“Without love and joy motivating your efforts, you're not practicing right effort.”

- George Mumford, The Mindful Athlete

You can apply breathing & mindfulness for the wrong reasons: to rob a bank, manipulate people, and so on. That’s why right effort is critical.

There are several elements of “right effort,” but Mumford provides a simple starting point: make sure love & joy are motivating your efforts. If they are, you’re likely on the right track 🙏

3. Why Healing Hurts (at first)

Here’s David Goggins discussing a race where he had to take a break to let his thyroid reset:

“I decided to rest with no idea how long that process might take. I’d already run 120 miles. Predictably, within an hour, my body reacted as if the race was over. I started to swell and tighten up as my muscles shifted into recovery mode. … This would be a problem.”

It’s a nice reminder that swelling & tightness usually occur when we stop to rest & recover. Not only in endurance events, but in life in general. Just remember that feeling this pain is part of the process.

4. The Gift of Giving: Two Breathing Metaphors to Apply to Life

Reverse Breath Cycle

Think of the breath cycle starting an exhale, not an inhale. Use this as a reminder to give before you receive.

Extended Exhales

Make your exhale slightly longer than your inhale. Use this as a reminder to always give more than you receive.

1 Quote

“Ultimately, your life will be measured by what you gave, not what you received. Don’t hold out on the rest of us—we need you to contribute.””
— Todd Henry

1 Answer

Category: Oxygen Absorption

Answer: Humans only absorb about this percentage of the oxygen they inhale with each breath.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is 5%?

In good breath,

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

P.S. Start off your new year right

Upcoming Workshops

Saturday, Dec 30: Breathing for Better Brain Health

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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.

 
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My Top 5 Breath Books, Unconditional Love, and a Life Changing Outro

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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. My 5 Favorite Breathing Books & the Order I’d Read Them if I Started Over

  1. Full Catastrophe Living: Teaches the power of mindful breathing, which is the starting point of all breathing practices.

  2. Breathing: The Master Key to Self Healing (audio only): One of the most accessible and practical intros to breathing.

  3. The Healing Power of the Breath: One of the best for learning how slow breathing techniques help all aspects of life.

  4. Breath: This is a must-read for anyone interested in breathing.

  5. The Oxygen Advantage: Now that you’re a true breath nerd, you’re ready to dive into all Patrick’a life-changing wisdom.

Major Caveat: This changes based on where I am in life and the new books I read 😊

2. Moving Toward Our Better Nature

“As we see it, the most compelling impacts of meditation are not better health or sharper business performance but, rather, a further reach toward our better nature.”

– Daniel Goleman, Ph.D. & Richard Davidson, Ph.D., Altered Traits

I think this is true of any contemplative practice: meditation, breathing, yoga, or even just reading.

So here’s to choosing our favorite one and inching closer toward our better nature, today 🙏

3. Life-Changing: How to End a Breathing, Meditation, or Really Any Contemplative Practice

Say this to yourself silently:

“even if I have been distracted, … is there something that has moved me, and that I would like to keep? Is there something that I would like to take with me and use to nourish myself?”

– Dr. Cathy Blanc, The Healing Power of Meditation

Then, silently wish that you can put whatever moved you into practice to bring more peace, humanity, and love to the world 🙏

P.S. If you feel so inspired, try it at the end of this email : )

4. Unconditional Love

The other day, I worked on breathing research all day. Yet come afternoon, I realized I’d barely actually checked in with my own breath (the irony, I know, lol).

But like a puppy waiting on its human to get home from work, the second I remembered, the breath was right there, holding no grudges or hard feelings, just simply grateful for my attention.

1 Quote

“If we can simply realize the fullness of this moment, of this breath, we can find stillness and peace right here.””
— Jon Kabat-Zinn

1 Answer

Category: Breathing 101

Answer: Like winds in the atmosphere, air flowing into and out of our lungs is driven by these.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

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Question: What are pressure gradients?

In good breath,

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


P.S. I show affection for my pets by…

* 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.

 

Breathing & Love, Rising Above the Clouds, and 4 Years in 4 Points

 
 

Listen Instead of Reading

 
 
 

4 Thoughts


1. Demonstrations of Breathing & Love

“Demonstrations of love are small, compared with the great thing that is hidden behind them.”

- Khalil Gibran

Call it what you’d like, prana, qi, & so on, but the same is true: Demonstrations of breathing are small compared with the great thing that is hidden behind them.

2. Breathing for Diabetes: 4 Years in 4 Bullet Points

Based on about 4 years of research and self-practice, the 4 key ways that regular breathing practices help diabetes are by:

3. Breathing for (non) Diabetics: “Raising Our Heads Above the Clouds”

“But many of the same interventions that can help us get our heads above water can just as effectively be devoted to raising our heads above the clouds.”

- Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire

This is unquestionably true for breathing. Although everything I read, practice, and share is focused on keeping my “head above the water” as a diabetic, they can also “raise your head above the clouds” if you’re not diabetic.

Interesting side note: it’s typically broken people that find supplemental modalities like breathing—I guess because we need them the most : ) But if you’re not broken, all the benefits of breathing will be even more helpful.

So here’s to using our breathing to stay afloat, or rise above the clouds, today.

4. The Buddha, 20 Years after Enlightenment

Did you know that the Buddha was still meditating 20 years after his enlightenment? (I guess it never ends, folks 😄)

What kind of meditation, you might wonder? “Mindfulness of breathing.”

Extra Thought: Take High Altitude Yoga Alongside Me One Last Time

My wife is moving on to a new yoga adventure 🎉. But, she’ll be teaching the High Altitude Yoga class we designed together one last time.

The class incorporates slow breathing, breath holds, and yoga into a challenging but fun 45-min flow.

It’s $8 and happening tomorrow morning (Tuesday, Dec 14) at 6:15 a.m. EST. I’ll be there, and I hope you’ll join me in taking it!

 
 
 
 

1 QUOTE

“Relaxing the breath, breathe in. Relaxing the breath, breathe out. Then joy arises naturally.”

- Bhante Gunarantana

The Four Foundations of Mindfulness in Plain English

 
 
 
 

1 ANSWER

Category: The Diaphragm

Answer: This organ rests on the top of the diaphragm.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is the heart?

P.S. This was inspired by Jill Miller’s amazing line: “Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Which is of course, my diaphragm.” (Makes me laugh every time.)

In good breath,

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

P.S. and I’ve never respected anything more

 
 
 

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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.