open heart

Blue Mindfulness, Worry & Hurry, and a Natural Way to the Heart


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 49 sec

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



4 THOUGHTS

1. Blue Mindfulness

“What science is also revealing is that there’s an additional simple, watery means to mindfulness. Indeed, think of it as Blue Mindfulness.”

– Wallace J Nichols, Blue Mind

This refers to the idea that being around water (and nature in general) can invoke mindfulness. And even if you can’t make it into nature, it turns out that just listening to the sound of water can elicit some of its benefits.

So, this is your nudge to get out into nature or put on some ocean noises during your next breathing or meditation practice to get a little extra “blue mindfulness” 😊

2. A Water Breathing Walk

“Importantly, rain washes away the vestiges of pollution. Air is always cleaner during and immediately after a downpour…As rain tumbles through the atmosphere, each drop attracts hundreds of pollutant particles…Leaving the air bracingly fresh, scrubbed clean.”

- Annabel Streets, 52 Ways to Walk

I’ve shared this one before, but it felt right to re-share after the previous thought. Consider getting out and breathing some freshly cleaned air after the next rain—it’s an effortless “breathing exercise” 😊

3. Why Worry Goes With Hurry

“Worry goes with hurry because people in a hurry don’t have time to think clearly and make clear decisions, so they are always worried about results. … If you slow down enough to think clearly and act wisely, you have no need to worry because you know you are doing your best.”

– Eknath Easwaran, Original Goodness

One way to slow down enough to think clearly and act wisely? Slow, mindful breathing, which slows body and mind, thus reducing worry.

***

P.S. Of course, thinking clearly and acting wisely doesn’t mean we’ll make perfect decisions. It just means we won’t have to worry as much because we’ll know we’re doing our best with what we have 🙏

4. Some Advice to Follow (for the rest of our lives)

“Receive wisdom skillfully. Try it on for size and see how it fits. Incorporate what’s useful. Let go of the rest. And no matter how credible the source, test and tune in to yourself to discover what works for you.”

– Rick Rubin, The Creative Act

Ironically, that advice goes for this passage, too 😊


1 Quote

You know that our breathing is the inhaling and exhaling of air. The organ which serves for this is the lungs which lie round the heart. Thus breathing is a natural way to the heart.”
— Nicephorus the Solitary

1 Answer

Category: Synchronization

Answer: This refers to the measurement of the interaction between lungs and the heart during sleep.

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

Question: What is cardiopulmonary coupling?


In good breath,

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

P.S. We didn’t think everyone would bring a bag!

Breath Science & Wisdom Meditations for a Well-Lived Life

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

Start Today.

The Breathing App for Diabetes

This is the first program specifically made for people with diabetes to help manage their stress through breathing and mindfulness practices. In addition to the amazing program inside the app, we have some really neat things coming up, so sign up now!

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.


 

Positive Stress, Open Heart, and a Poor Host for Disease


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 29 sec

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



4 THOUGHTS

1. Slow Breathing as a Positive Stressor

“Slow breathing is, in fact, a type of positive stress in and of itself, because you are making an autonomic function of your body intentional…sometimes, as you might notice, your nervous system might resist a little to the changes you are suggesting, because it is not used to being told what to do.”

– Eddie Stern, Healing Through Breathing

I love this shift in perspective. It reminds us that when we teach or practice slow breathing, there might be resistance. That’s normal. But as Eddie also says, that tension “will melt away with time, practice, patience, and a gentle approach to slow breathing.” 👏

2. An Important Thing to Remember in Learning Breath Practices

“In learning breath practices the most important thing to remember is to relax. … Self-judgment adds another layer of stress. The less you judge yourself, the easier it will be to relax and experience the benefits … Try not to evaluate or judge what is happening. Just go with it.”

- Richard Brown, MD, and Patricia Gerbarg, MD

This reminds me of another gem from another MD—Herbert Benson—discussing the relaxation response: “The less you worry about the results, the better. Just let it happen.” 🙏

3. A Poor Host for Disease

“…this is one of the grandest secrets of health…Research evidence today suggests that emotional immunity to negative states of mind may well be linked to physical immunity, even resistance to disease. A person who is even minded, who doesn’t get shaken if people speak ill of him or excited when they praise her to the skies – such a person, I submit, is a poor host for disease.”

– Eknath Easwaran, Original Goodness

Of course, this doesn’t literally mean we’ll never get sick or that all our ailments will suddenly vanish if we’re even minded. But, I love this idea of training our minds to be steadier—through meditation and breathing—so we can at least become “a poor host for disease.” 🙏

4. An Open Heart to Have Open Eyes

“Ancient meditation texts describe compassion and mindfulness as two wings of a bird—emphasizing that we need an open heart to have open eyes.

- Ronald Siegel, Psy.D., The Mindfulness Solution


1 Quote

This is the deepest paradox in all of meditation: we want to get somewhere—we wouldn’t have taken up the practice if we didn’t—but the way to get there is just to be fully here.”
— Larry Rosenberg

1 Answer

Category: Contagious Breathing

Answer: One study found that our brains responds to the sound of this “breathing exercise” by preparing our facial muscles to join in.

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

Question: What is laughter?


In good breath,

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

P.S. me but at my breath memes

Breath Science & Wisdom Meditations for a Well-Lived Life

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

Start Today.

The Breathing App for Diabetes

This is the first program specifically made for people with diabetes to help manage their stress through breathing and mindfulness practices. In addition to the amazing program inside the app, we have some really neat things coming up, so sign up now!

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.