philosophy

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Applied Elegance, a Gift of Breathing, and How to Practice Philosophy

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Listen Instead of Reading

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4 Thoughts



1. Applying the Lung's Elegant Structure to All Aspects of Our Lives

“While the heart has dense striated muscle, and the brain its conglomerated networks of communicating neurons, the lung is a thin, graceful structure of interconnecting fibrous tissue that is beautifully held together with a foamy substance that lubricates its functions in a quiet and effortless manner. It is an organ of elegance, not brute strength.”

- Michael J Stephen, Breath Taking

Our most important organ is designed to be graceful and flexible, not rigid and strong. To be of elegance, not strength.

Something for us to consider in all aspects of our lives…

2. Practical over Perfect: A Simple Way to Start a Breathing or Meditation Session

“Breath priming means that you take a few conscious breaths to set up the flow of breathing. … We prime our breath so it can function at a higher level.”

- Gurucharan Singh Khalsa, Ph.D., and Yogi Bhajan, Ph.D.

Breathwalk

I love this idea of “breath priming,” and I use it every day.

It’s pretty straightforward to do:

  1. Pick a breath that will set you up for whatever you’re about to do (for example, I use alternate nostril breathing before meditating).

  2. Other good options: breath of fire, humming, or a few physiological sighs.

  3. Do this breath for 1-3 minutes.

  4. Then start your session.

And, in my opinion, we don’t need to add more time. For a 10 min meditation, I use 2 min for priming and 8 min for meditation. Practical over perfect.

3. Breathing is Philosophy: Transforming Emotions and Living Better Lives

“That’s what the teachers depicted in The School of Athens once provided: they taught their students how to transform their emotions, how to cope with adversity, how to live the best possible lives.”

- Jules Evans, Philosophy for Life and Other Dangerous Situations

That sentence is exactly why I think breathing is the most direct path to practicing philosophy in our lives. With two added bonuses:

  1. Breathing is also physiology. It changes our body, allowing us to truly transform our emotions instead of just “thinking our way out of it.”

  2. There is no abstraction. You just breathe in preset patterns (like 4:6 or 4:4:4:4), see what works for you, and ignore the rest.

So here’s to being breathing philosophers, applying this stuff every day, and using our breath to help us become the best version of ourselves.

4. Internal vs External Stimuli, and a Gift of Breathing Exercises

External stimuli cause opposite or similar internal reactions, for example:

  • Our body responds to a hot environment with internal cooling.

  • But it responds to a stressful environment with internal stress.

Conversely, internal stimuli generally trigger similar external reactions:

  • Our body responds to slow breathing by interpreting the external environment as safe.

  • Our body responds to fast breathing by interpreting the external environment as dangerous.

This reveals a gift of breathing exercises. They don’t change our situation, but they do change how we interpret it, which may be just as powerful.



1 QUOTE

“The breath can command the brain, and the brain can regulate our moods. This gives us a way to practically direct moods.”
— Breathwalk

1 ANSWER

Category: Drive to Breathe

Answer: Your drive to breathe comes from this portion of the brain, which monitors blood pH and sends a signal to breathe when CO2 rises too high.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is the medulla oblongata?

In good breath,

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

Available Now:

THE BREATHING FOR DIABETES SELF-PACED WORKSHOP

If you like geeking out on breathing, or just want to live an overall healthier life, you might really enjoy the workshop, diabetes or not.

It’s packed with easy-to-understand science and super practical breathing advice that you can immediately implement. I hope you’ll check it out.

 
 

* 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.

Sign Up For The Breathing 411

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.

 
 

Wim Hof vs. Wim Hof, the Three P's, and Breathing like Journalists

 
 

🎧 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. The 3 P’s of Breathing

  1. Physiology: The impact breathing has on your body.

  2. Psychology: The impact breathing has on your mind and emotions.

  3. Philosophy: The impact breathing has on how you live your life.

***

P.S. You can’t have any one P without the others : )

2. A Revolutionary Finding: The Two-Way Street of Breathing and Emotions

“Lo and behold, the participants started to feel the emotions that corresponded to the breathing patterns. In other words, when they took deep, slow breaths, the participants felt calm. And when they took rapid, shallow breaths, they felt anxious or angry. The finding that we can change how we feel by using our breath is revolutionary.” * (my emphasis)

- Emma Seppälä, Ph.D., The Happiness Track

We know that how we feel affects our breathing. However, research tells us it’s a two-way street: We can change our breathing to change how we feel.

Quite revolutionary, indeed.

***

P.S. This falls into the the 1st and 2nd “Ps” above. And if you apply it regularly, then the 3rd one as well : )

3. Wim Hof vs. Wim Hof: Which of His Components is Most Important?

A 2020 study that’s still in preprints (so it hasn’t undergone peer review yet) shed light on the individual components of the Wim Hof Method (WHM).

Here’s what they did:

  • One group practiced the breathing only.

  • One group practiced cold exposure only.

  • One group practiced cold and breathing.

  • One group was trained by Wim Hof.

  • One group was trained by a researcher.

Then, all the groups were injected with endotoxin, like the first WHM study.

Here are a few of the key findings:

  • Breathing by itself reduced inflammation significantly, but did not reduce flu-like symptoms.

  • Cold by itself reduced flu-like symptoms, but did not reduce inflammation. (This doesn’t mean cold exposure doesn’t reduce inflammation in general. It just means it didn’t lessen the acute ramp-up of inflammation brought on by the endotoxin.)

  • The combination of cold and breathing reduced inflammation even more. (So, cold exposure wasn’t helpful on its own for inflammation, but added a boost when combined with the breathing.)

  • The results were the same whether Wim trained them or not (this was most surprising to me).

As a breathing nerd, this paper was super satisfying to read.

But remember it’s still in preprints, so it could turn out there was a major flaw or bad data or something. But, still fun to geek out on nonetheless : )

4. Breathing Like Journalists: Slow Breathing for Everyday Life

“I call this approach, in which you fit deep work wherever you can into your schedule, the journalist philosophy. This name is a nod to the fact that journalists…are trained to shift into a writing mode on a moment’s notice”

- Cal Newport, Deep Work

Let’s adopt this journalist philosophy to our slow deep breathing practice, fitting it into our schedules wherever we can. This will allow us to flip the switch on our physiological and emotional state anytime, anywhere (see thoughts 1 & 2).

Here’s to becoming breathing journalists, today : )

Bonus Thought: Join a Breathing Experiment

My good breathing friend AJ Fisher is looking for participants for a breathing and exercise experiment. Essentially, you get her 8-week Breathography Course for free in exchange for some pulse oximeter measurements (that’s it!).

If you’re interested, you can learn more and sign up here:

Learn More about the Experiment

And, you can learn more about AJ and the amazing things she does here:

AJ’s Corectology Website

 
 
 
 

1 QUOTE

“There is a force within that gives you life. Seek that.”

- Rumi

 
 
 
 

1 ANSWER

Category: Designed for Breathing

Answer: Paradoxically, the narrower passages of the nose reduce this during sleep.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is upper airway resistance?

In good breath,

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

P.S. Me for the next 3 months:

P.P.S. ☝️My wife will attest that this is actually quite accurate for me…

 
 
 

* 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.

Sign Up For The Breathing 411

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.

 
 

22 One-Sentence Breathing Ideas for 2022

Let’s continue the tradition this year. Here are 22 one-sentence breathing ideas to kick off 2022. Enjoy!

***

Related: 21 One-Sentence Breathing Ideas for 2021

1. Demonstrations of breathing are small compared with the great thing that is hidden behind them. 

(Inspired by a Khalil Gibran Quote)

 

2. Breathing doesn’t heal you; it gives your body the environment it needs to heal itself.

 

3. We can be lost in breath, without knowing we have been breathing.

(Inspired by The Things You See Only When You Slow Down)

 

4. If you know only one breathing method, then you really know none; if you understand one breathing method, then you really know them all.

 

5. Breathing is the most direct path to practicing philosophy in our lives.

 

6. If breath is life, then optimal breathing is optimal living.

 

7. Science is timely; personal experience is timeless.

 

8. Every method works when used correctly, but no method works for everybody.

 

9. What one teacher says is essential, another will say is useless.

 

10. Breathing is a pair of leather shoes for life.

(Idea from The Tibetan Yoga of Breath)

 

11. The most practical tip for breathing is this: make it quiet and subtle. 

 

12. To breathe in a “quiet and subtle way” takes deliberate practice—effort leads to effortlessness.

 

13. Breathing may be my 70% solution but only your 20% solution.

 

14. Breathe less, sometimes more; breathe slow, sometimes fast.

 

15. We breathe through each nostril separately so they function better together as a whole.

 

16. Read about breathing but, most importantly, embody that education through practice.

 

17. Start by starting; one minute is always better than none-minutes.

 

18. A simple rule for getting started: 40% of your breath should be inhaling, 60% should be exhaling.

 

19. Holding implies tension and effort; pausing is natural and effortless.

 

20. Breath and mind are inseparable: This means you can use your breath, to change your mind, to change your breath for the better.

(A play on this line from Neurodharma: “Neurons that fire together, wire together. This means that you can use your mind, to change your brain, to change your mind for the better.”)

 

21. The goal of a breathing practice is better mindless breathing.

 

22. The joy of breathwork is breathing.

What an Ancient Philosopher Can Teach Us About Breathing

 
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I am clearly a big fan of theory. I love to read and learn how things work (especially breathing). And since you are reading this, I am guessing you do too.

Something I constantly struggle with is the balance between theory and practice. I get joy from reading, but everything I learn would be useless if I did not practice it.

Which begs the question: What is more important, theory or practice? Where do you draw the line between theorizing and practicing? Let’s go back a couple thousand years and see what a philosopher named Musonius Rufus can teach us (my bold for emphasis):

“Theory which teaches how one must act assists action and logically precedes the practice, for it is not possible for something good to be accomplished unless it is accomplished in accordance with theory. But as a matter of fact, practice is more important than theory because it more effectively leads humans to actions than theory does.”

So we need theory to guide our practice. We need sound principles and a foundation based on science. But practice requires action, and action is where we get results.

It’s easy to read a paper and tell you that slow breathing will do this or that. But what’s more important is that you practice and see for yourself. Theory is good, but practice is better.

Let’s use Musonius’ wisdom for inspiration this week. Not just with breathing, but with anything you learn. Use the theory to guide your practice, but focus on the practice.

“Likewise, the man who wants to be good must not only learn the lessons which pertain to virtue but train himself to follow them eagerly and rigorously.”

In good breath,
Nick

P.S. This idea was copied from another one of Brian Johnson’s +1’s. He is one of my favorite teachers. His wisdom helped get me through graduate school and boosted me into my career as a research meteorologist. He is a living embodiment of everything he teaches.

P.P.S. If you don’t know where to start with your breathing practice, I have a “Get Started” page that might help. Or even easier, just spend 5 minutes each morning breathing at 6 breaths/minute. Try it for 5 days and see how you feel.