patience

Going Inward, a New Practice, and Remembering Oneself


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Reading Time: 1 min 48 sec

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



4 THOUGHTS

1. Going Inward to Bring it Outward

“But none of this is the final destination of spinal breathing. We are going in so we can come back out and enjoy our inner qualities in the outside world of our everyday living. So spinal breathing is a practical technique. It is not something we do to escape. It is something we do to arrive completely in the presence of who and what we are. Then we are in a position to live life to the fullest.”

- Yogani, Spinal Breathing Pranayama

Although this is about “spinal breathing pranayama,” it applies perfectly to all contemplative practices. We go in “so we can come back out and enjoy our inner qualities in the outside world of our everyday living.” 🙏🙏🙏

2. Patience Means Slow, Deep Breathing

“Patience means slow, deep breathing; impatience means poor lungs and irregular breathing. … When you are patient, all the vital processes work smoothly.”

– Eknath Easwaran, Passage Meditation

And let’s not forget that it’s a two-way street: When we practice slow, deep breathing, we create conditions that support us being more patient. This will not only help our breathing and lung health, but also help us live more easily in our overly-rushed world.

3. Remembering to Key an Eye on Oneself

“First used in an English translation of a Buddhist text in 1881 at the height of the British colonization of South Asia, the term ‘mindfulness’ came into general acceptance in the Western world thereafter. But the term is a Western invention. The original word in the language of the Buddha’s time was sati. Sati means remembering. Right Mindfulness—or Right Sati—means remembering to keep an eye on oneself.

– Mark Epstein, MD, Advice Not Given

“Remembering to keep an eye on oneself.” That’s an awesome (and super practical) definition of mindfulness.

So here’s to using our breath and daily reading as a way of “keeping an eye on ourselves” so we can continue to cultivate a well-lived life 🙏

4. Laughfulness

If mindfulness means “remembering to keep an eye on oneself” (see Thought #3), then I propose a new practice:

Laughfulness: remembering to laugh at oneself.

It may be the best contemplative approach to mastering the art of living 😊


1 Quote

Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing.”
— Redd Foxx

1 Answer

Category: Breathing and the Brain

Answer: This gas is critical to breathing but also has a direct impact on brain blood flow, with some studies suggesting that brain blood flow reduces 2-3% for every 1 mmHG reduction in it.

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

Question: What is carbon dioxide?


In good breath,

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

P.S. Get your priorities straight science.

Breathing, Reading, and Meditation 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.


 

Movement, Heart and Lung Vacation, and My Teacher is Best


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Reading Time: 1 min 34 sec

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



4 THOUGHTS

1. The Most Empirically Supported Way

“The most empirically supported way that contemplative practices confer their psychological and physiological benefits is by lowering threat arousal through shifting the autonomic nervous system to parasympathetic dominance via slowed and/or regulated breathing.

- Crosswell et al. (2024), Psychological Review

Of course, contemplative practices go beyond breathing, drawing upon mind and body to uniquely benefit each person who practices.

But, this is a powerful scientific statement. It reminds us that because breath is both our spirit—the essence of our being—and our direct connection to the nervous system, it plays a key role (intentionally or unintentionally) in all contemplative practice 🙏

2. Give Your Heart and Lungs a Vacation by Practicing This

“In other words, patience is not only a mental virtue; it is an asset even for physical health. I’m sure you are aware of the way your heart races when you get impatient. Perhaps you have noticed, too, that your breathing becomes faster and more shallow. Doesn’t it seem reasonable that if you can strengthen your patience to such a degree that other people’s behavior never upsets you, your heart, lungs, and nervous system will be on vacation?”

– Eknath Easwaran, Original Goodness

That does seem reasonable : ) Here’s to cultivating a little more patience so that we may give our hearts, lungs, and nervous systems a vacation every day 🙏

3. Movement

Physical activity moves your body.

A breath practice moves your spirit.

And reading timeless wisdom moves your soul.

They all need movement to stay energized and robust.

4. My Teacher is the Best

“One Zen student said, ‘My teacher is the best. He can go days without eating.’

The second said, ‘My teacher has so much self-control, he can go days without sleeping.’

The third said, ‘My teacher is so wise that he eats when he’s hungry and sleeps when he’s tired.’”


1 Quote

When we begin to take up breathing practices, we temporarily make an involuntary, life-sustaining function voluntary, and in that can make dramatic shifts to our state of mind and the state of our nervous system.”
— Eddie Stern

1 Answer

Category: The Diaphragm

Answer: To facilitate communication of vital information, the diaphragm has three major ones of these.

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

Question: What are three major openings?


In good breath,

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

P.S. worrying works!

Nurture Your True Self

“Sometimes you have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself.”

– Miles Davis

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

P.S. Along with the pay-what-you-can option, I also just added a 2-day pass to make it more accessible 🙏

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.