metabolic health

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Science Talk, Stress, and 3 Exercises to Heal Any Ailment

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


4 THOUGHTS

1. Science Talk for “Breath is Life”

“We must continuously breathe precisely to bring oxygen to mitochondria to fuel oxidative phosphorylation, to charge our mitochondria, which sustain cellular life, brain activity, and consciousness.”

- Crosswell et al. (2024), Psychological Review

That’s a scientific way of saying: Breath is life.

So, let’s use this passage as inspiration to occasionally take a mindful breath, remembering that each one sustains “cellular life, brain activity, and consciousness.”

2. Stress, Inflammation, and a Valuable Tool for Coaches

“Stress-reduction techniques may serve as cost-effective interventions for preventing and treating metabolic disease.”

– Jurgens et al. (2023), Brain, Behavior, & Immunity​

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The results of this paper suggest that stress-lowering exercises (like slow breathing) may reduce inflammation and, consequently, improve metabolic function. 👏

***

P.S. If you’re a coach, implementing these findings in your practice is straightforward; all you need is a Google Form. Join the Breath Learning Center: Sign Up -> Click Science 411s -> Click the top one and you’ll see exactly how (plus a Google Form you can copy).

3. Take a Breath Pilgrimage

“With pilgrimage you literally walk a physical path, have a clear goal—your destination—and a means of reaching it: walking. The simplicity...may be the secret to finding inner-direction.”

- Dr. Guy Hayward

That sounds a lot like a breath practice. You breathe a specific way, have a clear goal, and a way of achieving it: your breath. “The simplicity may be the secret to finding inner-direction.”

The best part? You don’t even have to leave your house 😊

4. Three Breathing Exercises that Will Heal Any Ailment

There are three breathing exercises that will heal any ailment:

  • The first one is to laugh.

  • The second one is to laugh.

  • The third one is to laugh.

(Inspired by last week’s quote from Mr. Rogers.)

1 Quote

“Stress is basically a disconnection from the earth, a forgetting of the breath.””
— Natalie Goldberg

(Thanks to Insight Timer for sharing this one.)

1 Answer

Category: Animals Breathing

Answer: According to one study, at least 65 different species of animals perform their own version of this breathing exercise, which you might have thought was uniquely human.

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(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

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Question: What is laugh?

In good breath,

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

P.S. all nervous…

Breath Science & Wisdom Meditations for a Better Life

Learn to think, speak, and act in alignment with the person you want to be.

Get started today.

Four Seminars by Eddie Stern and Me

If you subscribe to The Breathing App for Diabetes before April 11th, you’ll be automatically enrolled in a four-part webinar series from me and Eddie Stern.

  • April 11 @ 6 p.m. EST: New Findings in Breathing Research Relevant to Diabetes

  • April 13 @ 2 p.m. EST: Exercise Light Stretches to Increase Your Lung Capacity

  • April 18 @ 6 p.m. EST: Advanced Practices in Breathing (Suitable for All Levels)

  • April 20 @ 2 p.m. EST: Deep Dive into Mindfulness and Metacognition

Recordings will be made available for anyone who can’t join live. And even if you don’t have diabetes, you will find these seminars helpful and engaging 🙏

Learn more here.

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.

 

Phil Mickelson, and How Modern Science Helps Explain 2000-Year-Old Wisdom

 
 

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Hey,

Here are 4 thoughts, 1 quote, and 1 answer for this week. Enjoy!

 
 
 
 

4 Thoughts


1. The Real Lesson from Phil Mickelson: For Diabetes, and Life in General

Phil Mickelson used controlled breathing throughout the PGA Championship. So, when he won, it was an exciting moment for the breathing community.

But do you know what happened for the next tournament? He played poorly.

Of course, with sports, we accept that this is just part of the game. Even with his focused breathing, no one can win them all.

But do you apply this concept in your life, especially if you have diabetes?

Do you remember that life is more complex than sports? There’s no “one thing” that will ensure you always win.

But, and this is important, Phil still finished that next lousy round of golf. He didn’t just walk off the course because he wasn’t winning.

And that’s what we have to do. A high blood sugar doesn’t mean we should give up on our protocol. A poor night of sleep doesn’t mean this breathing stuff doesn’t work. Life is hard, and we all have off days. But, that’s precisely when we need our fundamentals the most.

Here’s to knowing we’ll have bad days and weeks, and finishing anyway, knowing we’ll eventually be on top again.

***

P.S. I know nothing about golf, so thanks to my dad for pointing out how bad Mickelson played when we hung out on Father’s Day, sparking this thought : )

2. Breathing is a Scalpel to Your Brain and Emotions

In 2017, a group of Stanford researchers discovered a small cluster of neurons that control your breathing—the breathing “pacemaker neurons.”

It turns out that these neurons extend to other parts of the brain that control emotions, and it’s a two-way street: The emotional areas can influence your breathing, but your breathing can also influence them.

On a recent RadioLab Podcast (aptly titled “Breath”), after learning this, Molly Webster likened her breathing to a scalpel to her brain and emotions:

“I feel like, in a way, he almost gave me like a scalpel to get inside my own brain and control it…If I actually change my breathing, it will change this breath pacemaker region, and it will send an ‘I’m chill’ signal to the fight or flight directly, and it will calm down.”

This brought a massive smile to my face. What a perfect analogy.

Practically and scientifically, you can know that when you take control of your breath, you take control of a small cluster of neurons that talk to other regions of your brain. So the scalpel is right there in your nose. Use it when needed.

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P.S. Thanks to one of my best friends, Capt J.G., for sending me this podcast.

3. “Breathing Exercises for Better Metabolic Health”

“Research shows that controlled breathing can positively impact our nervous system, reducing stress and maybe even improving glucose control.”

- Levels, Breathing Exercises for Better Metabolic Health

This article is a perfect synthesis of research and practical advice on how breathing might help with blood sugars. It’s basically my entire website summarized into a 6-minute read…I feel rather long-winded now : )

Please read and share this one!

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Related: My recent conversation with Evan Sorkoa, author of Yoga Therapy for Diabetes, on all things breathing, yoga, and diabetes.

Related: The Lesser-Known Benefits Of Nasal Breathing, Designed For Diabetes

Related: Why Slow Breathing is Beneficial for Diabetes

4. Moderate Breathing, in Moderation

“All breathing in moderation, including moderate breathing.”

A reader helped me add this one to the list of “Breathing Graffiti.” Thanks, M. Night Larry. It’s clever, and it has lots of practical wisdom too.

Remember that we take over 20,00 breaths a day. So Wim Hof is OK now and then. Breath holds are OK now and then. (If you’re in good health, of course.)

All breathing in moderation, even moderate breathing. That’s a simple and valuable principle to live by.

 
 
 
 

1 Quote

“When the mental state is disturbed, the life energy (prana) gets unbalanced and this leads to irregular breath; hence to regulate the mental state the yoga practitioner should regulate the breath.”

Hatha Yoga Pradipika, 300 A.D., from Role of respiration in mind-body practices: concepts from contemporary science and traditional yoga texts

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P.S. This was from almost 2000 (!) years ago. The neurons controlling how this works (Thought #2) were only discovered in 2017. The paper linked above provides additional insight into the science behind this ancient wisdom.

 
 
 
 

1 Answer

Category: Breathing in History

Answer: The healing power of the breath was recognized this far back.

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(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

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Question: What is 7000 BCE? (pg. 58)

In good breath,

Nick Heath, T1D, PhD
Diabetes is Tiny. You are Mighty.

P.S. You know. Like a book.

 
 
 

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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.