weekly email

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3 Healing Breaths, a Celebration, and a Thought Experiment

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A Celebration (sort of)

Today marks 24 years with type-1 diabetes. Not exactly the present I wanted from Santa. But it was exactly what I needed to become the person I was meant to become.

My parents were obviously devastated. But, this did have an upside—they gave me some early presents 😂 😂 😂

 

Me in the hospital at age 11.

 

P.S. HOmm HOmm HOmm

Alright, on to this week’s 411…

 

4 Thoughts



1. Why Mind-Body Therapies (like breathing) Seem Like a Panacea: Part 3

“A certain mind body treatment may help hypertension, depression, or insomnia. At the same time, this treatment will counter the overall physical and mental manifestations of stress through the calming of brain activity and altering hormones and gene expression. The mind body treatment performs particular, reductionistic functions on specific health complaints and at the same time tends to the health of the entire biological system.” (my bold)

- Herbert Benson, MD, Relaxation Revolution

That’s incredibly powerful. It means we can use breathing for our individual needs (diabetes, for me) while strengthening all other aspects of our health at the same time. Quite panacea-ish, indeed 😊

P.S. Here are Part 1 and Part 2.

2. An Inverse Thought Experiment

Think of a time you got really mad or frustrated for a very brief period. Did it actually end when it ended? Or were you upset for another hour? Maybe the rest of the day?

OK, this is exactly how slow breathing works, just opposite. It’s a brief period of calm that lingers just like a brief period of anger does.

The difference: It’s easy to see how anger ruins our day, but sometimes harder to notice how a breathing practice brightens it.

3. Three Healing Breaths You Can Start Using Today

If you’d like to get all of the most powerful practices, guidelines, and science from one of the best breathing books, The Healing Power of the Breath, check out the Book 411 I just released on it.

It has everything you need to use their approach for better health.

Join the Learning Center for the full review. In the meantime, here are 3 core healing breaths from the book you can start using today:

1. Coherent Breathing® is taught as breathing at a rate of 5 breaths a minute with a 6-second inhale, and a 6-second exhale. “Coherent Breathing … calms the mind, slows the heart, lowers blood pressure, reduces inflammation, and strengthens stress resilience.”

2. Resistance Breathing is any technique that adds resistance to our breath. They have two practices for this, ujjayi (or ocean breath) and pursed-lips breathing: “Whether you choose to make a sound in the back of your throat like the ocean or to use pursed lips to create resistance to the flow of air, your practice of Resistance Breathing can amplify the benefits of Coherent Breathing.”

3. Breath Moving: “Breath Moving entails moving the breath in circuits to different parts of the body, moving upward on the inhale and downward on the exhale. … [It]…can be used to elevate energy as well as to relieve pain.”

(All above quotes come from the authors, Richard Brown, MD, and Patricia Gerbarg, MD.)

4. Study

Rather than study every aspect of life, we can study the breath, which can be applied in every aspect of life.

1 Quote

“Breathing involves a continual oscillation between exhaling and inhaling, offering ourselves to the world at one moment and drawing the world into ourselves at the next.”
— David Abram
 

1 Answer

Category: Oxygen Transport

Answer: Hemoglobin molecules have this many binding sites for oxygen molecules.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is four?

For Therapists: Anicca Wellness

“What if you can stay in sync with your breath, wherever you are, no matter what you are doing?”

- Edo Ceder, Anicca Wellness Co-Founder

If you’re a therapist, check out this opportunity to incorporate breathing into your practice using Anicca Wellness. One of the co-founders, Edo, is a 411 subscriber, friend, and just a genuinely good person.

I hope you’ll check it out.

In good breath,

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

P.S. I used to think adulthood was…

P.P.S. A Secret Breathing Santa

 

* 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.

 
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10 Percent More, Rich Inner Core, and My Kind of Equanimity

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4 Thoughts



1. The Famous 10-18% Nasal Breathing and Oxygenation Study

“We here show that arterial oxygenation is improved in healthy awake subjects during nasal breathing as compared with mouth breathing.”

- Lundberg et al. (1996)

Two take-homes from this oft-cited paper:

  • Nasal breathing increased tissue oxygenation by ~10% compared to mouth breathing in 6 of 8 healthy people.

  • Adding nasal air to a ventilator increased arterial oxygenation by ~18% in 6 of 6 mechanically ventilated people.

Deep dive of this paper:

This one was packed with fascinating results. If the take-home is all you need, stop there. But if you’re a serious breathing nerd, this one is a must-read/listen-to Science 411 (just released on Friday).

2. Use Your Diaphragm for Less Stress & Better Cognition

“Diaphragmatic breathing can directly lower cortisol levels, reducing the negative physiological responses to stress and improving cognitive function.”

- Patrick McKeown, The Breathing Cure

Sounds good to me. If we combine that with thought #1, we can also increase oxygenation while we’re at it 👏

3. Exercise Your Rich Inner Core for More Benefits (beyond abs or diaphragm)

“More and more, I became convinced that our bodies are wired to benefit from exercising not only our muscles but our rich inner, human core — our beliefs, values, thoughts, and feelings.”

- Herbert Benson, MD, Timeless Healing

What better way to exercise and express those than a daily self-care ritual? I like 20-30 min of morning breathing & gratitude, but anything you do to connect to your values, beliefs, and feelings will do.

Have fun exercising your rich inner core, this week 🙏

4. Equanimity

Equanimity is when the breather realizes they are the breath.

1 Quote

“If the spirit is circulating, the breath is circulating. If the spirit stays still then the breath remains, too.”
— The Primordial Breath, Volume I
 

1 Answer

Category: The Nervous System

Answer: Our parasympathetic nervous system uses this many of our 12 cranial nerves.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is four?

In good breath,

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

P.S. Enjoy brunch though

The Tip of the Iceberg

This newsletter & blog have been free for over 200 weeks. But they’re only the tip of the iceberg. When you join the Breath is Life Learning Center, you not only support the free content, but you also get access to a one-of-a-kind library of Book 411s, Science 411s, and The Breathing 1%.

Click here to find out what you’re missing.

 

* 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.

 
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Neat Breath Science, 3 Sentences to Live By, and it is a Panacea

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4 Thoughts



1. Neat Science: How to See If Slow Breathing is an Antioxidant

“…our results lead to the hypothesis that slow breathing may exert some antioxidant effect, possibly via parasympathetic stimulation.”

- Nature (2017)

The way they got to this hypothesis was pretty cool:

  1. They had people with type-1 diabetes inhale extra oxygen.

  2. After, they observed that arterial stiffness and blood pressure went up. This was likely due to excess oxidative stress.

  3. Then, they repeated the process, but participants breathed slowly at 6 breaths/min while inhaling oxygen.

  4. Slow breathing offset the harmful effects of extra oxygen on blood pressure and arterial stiffness.

Together, this suggests that slow breathing acts as a natural antioxidant.

***

P.S. If you want more neat findings like this, check out the Science 411s in the Breath is Life Learning Center.

2. Get 90% from 50% (or less): A Few Minutes Go a Long Way

“As you read any given sentence, you will probably get 90% of the meaning from 50% of the words…the rest of the words are unnecessary filler.”

- Peter Hollins, The Science of Self-Learning

This made me think of how, with breathing, we get a lot of psychological benefits from a small percentage of the breaths we take.

Example: A 20-minute morning breath practice might be less than 1% of your breaths. But, it may account for 90% of your equanimity.

Of course, all our other breaths aren’t just “fillers”—they’re critical to our wellness, too. But let’s remember that even a small investment in our breath can go a long way toward our health and happiness 🙏

3. Why Breathing Seems Like a Panacea: Part II

“In fact, any condition that is caused or exacerbated by stress can be helped by a well-designed mind body approach. Furthermore, because all health conditions have some stress component, it is no overstatement to say that virtually every single health problem and disease can be improved with a mind body approach.” (my bold)

- Herbert Benson, MD, Relaxation Revolution

Slow breathing is one of the fastest and most effective mind-body approaches to triggering the relaxation response and reducing stress.

And since stress plays a role in basically every health condition, breathing can therefore help in basically every health condition.

Breathe slowly—> reduce stress—> improve virtually every health condition. Maybe it is a panacea, after all? 😊

***

P.S. See Thought #1 here for Part I.

4. Three Short Ancient Sentences to Live By

“Walk slowly! Talk little! Love breath!”

- The Primordial Breath, Volume I

Sounds like a perfect life-mantra to me 🙏

1 Quote

“And beyond improving stress resilience, breath practices can restore your sense of being genuinely who you are, of knowing what you feel, of recognizing what others feel, and of being able to experience deep and meaningful connections with people, with your values, and with all that is.”
— Richard Brown, MD, and Patricia Gerbarg, MD
 

1 Answer

Category: The Cardiovascular System

Answer: There are approximately this many miles of veins, capillaries, and arteries in an average adult.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is 60,000 miles?

In good breath,

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

P.S. Every. Single. Time.

 
 

Breath is Life Learning
Science and Books Made Simple

For each book and research paper I read, you get an easy-to-digest 411 summary:

  • Web-based text or downloadable PDF

  • Audio podcast version (also downloadable)

Plus, you get a super short daily email with a nugget of breathing wisdom. It only takes a few seconds to read, but it will set you up for a better day, every day.

P.S. 30-Second Science

For each Science 411, if you read the “1 Big Takeaway” followed by the “1 Practical Application,” you can get almost everything you need from a study in about 30 seconds.

P.P.S. Life-Changing Ideas

For each Book 411, you get “1 Life-Changing” idea from that book. Thus, even if you’re not interested in the book, you can open that section and get a quick idea to help you live a better life.

Here are a few of my favorites:

  • From Buddha’s Brain: Our Breath Moves Spirit Around Like Our Hearts Move Blood Around

  • From The Mindful Day: How to Live Longer (regardless of your age, lifespan, or healthspan)

  • From Breath by Breath: How it Should Be, and Letting Breath (and life) Unfold Naturally

  • From The Confidence Gap: No One is Perfect (and the solution)

  • From Stolen Focus: Mind-Wandering is a Superpower (and How to Do It Correctly)

 
 

* 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.

 
 
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Holotropic Breathing, a 6 bpm Prayer, and the Power of PNS

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4 Thoughts



1. Study: Prayer and Mantra Lead to ~5.5-6.0 Breaths a Minute

“Remark­ably, the regularity of breathing seen during recitation of the Ave Maria or of the mantra was similar to regu­larity during controlled breathing at 6/min, indicating that these methods could stabilise the respiratory rate as effectively as precisely timed control.”

- Effect of rosary prayer and yoga mantras on autonomic cardiovascular rhythms…

In this now somewhat famous study, reciting the Hail Mary prayer or a yoga mantra naturally led to a breath rate of almost exactly 5.5-6 breaths/min. Leading to the conclusion: “The rosary might be viewed as a health practice as well as a religious practice.” 👏

***

P.S. I released a Science 411 for this paper on Friday as part of my new Breath is Life Learning Center. You still have two days to get this & tons of wisdom for just $11/month or $110/year (27% off forever) 🙏

2. The Power of the PNS and How to Nourish It

“Parasympathetic activation is the normal resting state of your body, brain, and mind. If your SNS were surgically disconnected, you’d stay alive (though you wouldn’t be very useful in an emergency). If your PNS were disconnected, however, you’d stop breathing and soon die.”

- Rick Hanson, Ph.D., Budhha’s Brain

That’s crazy. And since our PNS is so vital, I think it’s safe to say we should nourish it every chance we get. So how do we do it?

Here are two (of several) exercises Dr. Hanson suggests:

  1. Diaphragmatic Breathing: Place a hand on your stomach and look down at it. Then, breathe slowly, and try to “breathe into your hand with real oomph, so that it travels back and forth half an inch or more with each breath.”

  2. Big Exhales: “Inhale as much as you can, hold that inhalation for a few seconds, and then exhale slowly while relaxing.”

Better yet, combine the two, and enjoy stimulating and nourishing your PNS a little more this week : )

3. The Healing Power of (different) Breaths

“Each breath form is taught for its own special healing purposes. Just as you use different exercises for different muscle groups, you gain more by using a variety of breathing practices that each has their own unique effects.”

- Richard Brown, MD, and Patricia Gerbarg, MD, The Healing Power of the Breath

Just an excellent reminder that one of the key healing powers of the breath is that we can use it in different ways for different outcomes.

We “gain more by using a variety of breathing practices that each has their own unique effects.” <— Let’s do that 👏

4. Are All Breathing Practices Holotropic?

Discussing the word “holotropic:”

“This composite word means literally ‘oriented toward wholeness’ or ‘moving toward wholeness’ (from the Greek holos = whole and trepein = moving toward or in the direction of something).”

- Stanislav & Christina Grof, Holotropic Breathwork

Based on that, I’d say we practice “holotropic” breathing—moving toward wholeness—every time we stop and breathe consciously.

So regardless of what methods we use, let’s all orient toward wholeness a little more, this week 🙏

***

P.S. I’m releasing a Book 411 on Holotropic Breathwork this Friday. Although it’s somewhat controversial to some, I absolutely loved the book (and its bold claims). I hope you’ll consider signing up to get it.

1 Quote

“All persons going to sleep should think, not of their business, not of their riches or poverty, their pains or their pleasures, but, of what are of infinitely greater importance to them, their lungs; their best friends, that have kept them alive through the day.”
— George Catlin
 

1 Answer

Category: The Nervous System

Answer: The nervous system can transmit information up to this many miles per hour.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is 268 mph?

In good breath,

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

P.S. A brosecco

 
 

Breath is Life Learning Center Now Open

I made the Learning Center for you. The person who reads these posts all the way to the bottom; that loves learning as much as I do 😊

It’s literally my dream come true, and I hope that shines through in the amount of material I’ve added and continue adding every day.

I hope you’ll consider signing up to get all of it for just $11/month or $110/year if you pay annually (less than 40 cents a day in either case). Your price will never go up. This intro offer ends on Dec. 1.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading and supporting my work over the years 🙏

 
 

* 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.

 
 
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One Minute Stress Relief, Taste the Soup, and Positive Feelings

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4 Thoughts



1. Wim Hof’s 1-Minute Stress Relief (no hyperventilation needed)

“What I do for stress is one minute of humming and breathing. This always works for me. It taps into your parasympathetic nervous system—where the peace is inside—and calms down your hectic sympathetic nervous system.”

- Wim Hof, The Wim Hof Method

It’s not all big breathing for Wim. He says to deal with stress, we can simply set a timer for one minute, breathe in deeply, and hum in any way we’d like during the exhalation. Repeat until the timer goes off. Easy and highly effective 👏

2. Moving from Self-Explanation to Self-Expression

In learning, self-explanation is a powerful tool. Explaining a topic in your own words makes you think deeply and discover what you really understand about it.

In breathing, self-expression is paramount. It’s less about words, and more about expressing concepts through you, in your unique way, to feel beyond the words.

So here’s to less explanation, and more expression, this week 🙏

3. Taste the Soup: Breathing as a Can-Opener for the Life Force

“So how do you access the Life Force? You need tools. Imagine a can of soup. If you want to know what the soup tastes like, reading the side of the can won't help; you need to actually taste it. Unless you have the hand strength of a superhero, this is impossible without a can opener.”

- Barry Michels and Phil Stutz, Coming Alive

Breathing exercises are like can openers for the life force all around us.

It’s fun to read the ingredients, but tasting the soup is even better 😊 🍲

4. The Most Valuable Resource to Our Species (plus a gratitude breathing meditation)

“Oxygen, in fact, is the most valuable resource to our species. … Consider the last time you thought to yourself while taking a breath, ‘This is great! I have an abundance of the most valuable resource known to our species, and I don't even have to work that hard to get it.’”*

- Drs Jason Selk and Ellen Reed, Relentless Solution Focus

Try using that phrase next time you start a breathing practice, or anytime you need a break from all the negative mental chatter: “I have an abundance of the most valuable resource known to our species, and I don’t even have to work that hard to get it.” <— 👏👏👏

1 Quote

“The breath is also our life force. No organ in the body can function without the supply of oxygen we get from the cycle of breathing in and breathing out.”
— Bhante Henepola Gunarantana
 

1 Answer

Category: Positive Feelings

Answer: Positive feelings (such as awe & gratitude) occur more frequently and easily when this is higher, providing a physiological reason why slow breathing helps us have more positive emotions.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is respiratory sinus arrhythmia?

In good breath,

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

P.S. I have a headache

Breathing for Diabetes Online Course ($99):

If you love learning about breathing, want to live a healthier life, or just want to support my work, I think you’ll really enjoy this class (diabetes or not).

 
 

* 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.

 
 
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Wim Hof & the Ocean, Presencing, and a Long, Good Life

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4 Thoughts



1. A Borrowed Rule from Nutrition that Applies to Breathing

What you remove is far more valuable than what you add.

When you remove habitual mouth breathing, it’s like removing ultra-processed foods. You’ll feel amazing, and everyone will agree it was a good call.

From there, it becomes like a diet. All breathing methods work in some capacity, and each has its own unique benefits (and group of zealots 😊).

But the key is to find—in a safe and enjoyable way—which one works best for you at this moment in your life.

2. Breathing for Presencing

“Otto Scharmer…suggests that identifying and letting go of our restricting inner voices can help us become more open and present, and thus more creative and collaborative. Scharmer uses the term ‘presencing’—combining ‘present’ with ‘sensing’—to describe the process of coming into the moment and activating full, uninhibited awareness.”

Laurie J Cameron, The Mindful Day

Presencing. I love that word. And what better way to be ‘present’ and ‘sensing’ than with mindful breathing? It’s literally the definition of presencing.

So here’s to tuning into our breath to activate full, uninhibited awareness a little more this week 🙏

***

P.S. The ultimate benefit of presencing: You live longer.

3. The Best Prescription for a Long, Good Life (applied to breathing)

“The best-odds prescription for a long, good life is a baseline of mainly PNS arousal with mild SNS activation for vitality, combined with occasional SNS spikes for major opportunities or threats.”

- Rick Hanson, Ph.D., Buddha’s Brain

Although Dr. Hanson is talking about life in general, I think we could apply this wisdom to designing a breathing routine:

  • Baseline of Mainly PNS Arousal: Most of our time is spent on slow breathing exercises and nasal breathing 24/7

  • Mild SNS Activation: Some of our time is spent on fast-breathing and/or breath-hold practices

  • Occasional SNS spikes: A smaller percent of our time is spent on methods like Wim Hof or similar

That seems like a reasonable framework, but remember: it ultimately comes down to what’s suitable for you in this moment of your life—see Thought #1 : )

Note: SNS/PNS = sympathetic/parasympathetic nervous system

4. The Ultimate Value of a Breathing Practice is This

“From my standpoint, the ultimate value of art is in nourishing the soul. Everything else is residual.”

- John Toki

I think we could equally say:

The ultimate value of a breathing practice is in nourishing the soul. Everything else is residual.

So make sure you nourish yours a little more this week 🙏

1 Quote

“The breath is as big as the ocean. … It is the sea itself. It’s where we came from, who we are. It is bigger than us because it is us.”
— Wim Hof
 

1 Answer

Category: Word Etymology

Answer: The word for this organ literally means “light” (in terms of weight).

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is the lung?

In good breath,

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

P.S. Happens every time

Breathing for Diabetes Online Course ($99):

If you love learning about breathing, want to live a healthier life, or just want to support my work, I think you’ll really enjoy this class (diabetes or not).

 
 

* 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.

 
 
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Effective Non-Breathing Tool, Equanimity, and an 8 Breath Protocol

,

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 😊

If You Have Diabetes…

Would you mind taking a quick survey? I try to avoid stuff like this, but it will genuinely help me with a project I’m a part of. Thank you!

 

4 Thoughts



1. The Perfect Word for How You Feel from a Breathing Practice

“Equanimity is neither apathy nor indifference: you are warmly engaged with the world but not troubled by it. Through its nonreactivity, it creates a great space for compassion, loving kindness, and joy at the good fortune of others.”

- Rick Hanson, Ph.D., Buddha’s Brain

Equanimity. That’s the perfect word to describe what you get from a breathing practice. It’s what you feel immediately after a session, and it’s a state that gradually becomes a bigger part of who you are.

So here’s to experiencing a little more of it, today.

***

P.S. Of course, I’m nowhere near a permanent state of equanimity (just ask my wife 😂), but it has certainly become more a part of me than it was before.

2. Breathing Got the Best Feedback (+ Dr. Weil’s 8 Breath Protocol)

“Over the years, I would say that of all the techniques that I recommended to people for improving health, the single technique that I get most feedback about in a positive way is the breathwork that I'm going to teach you in this program.”

- Andrew Weil, MD, Breathing: The Master Key to Self Healing

That’s an insanely powerful statement when you consider how many people Dr. Weil has helped and all the tools he has at his disposal.

And here were three exercises he taught in the program that stood out the most:

  1. Breath Awareness: “The very simplest form of breathwork is doing nothing other than paying attention to your breath.”

  2. The Relaxing Breath: This is the infamous 4-7-8 breath. Watch a video demonstration here.

  3. The Stimulating Breath: This is the bellows breath. Watch a video demonstration here.

As a bare minimum, Dr. Weil recommends four rounds of the 4-7-8 breath twice daily. That’s 8 breaths. It doesn’t get any simpler than that, folks. 👏

3. One of the Most Helpful Non-breathing Things I Learned in PTT

Close your eyes and rub your palms together vigorously for a few seconds to create heat. Then, place them over your eyes.

Do it anytime, but especially at the end of a breathing practice. It’s amazing.

***

P.S. This wasn’t really part of the pranayama teacher training (PTT), just a side note that I found unbelievably helpful. If you’re interested in pranayama, I wholeheartedly recommend Eddie and Robert’s training.

4. My Twice-Yearly Rant (with helpful tools, at least)

I’m pretty laidback 99% of the time (equanimity for the win). But nothing frustrates me more than the time change—even the good one, like yesterday.

But instead of ranting like I normally do on how awful the whole idea is, let’s focus on something we can do to support our sleep: yoga nidra.

Here are a few tracks you might find helpful for better sleep or midday resets:

1 Quote

“Since earliest history, virtually every major psychospiritual system seeking to comprehend human nature has viewed breath as a crucial link between the material world, the human body, the psyche, and the spirit.”
— Stanislav & Christina Grof
 

1 Answer

Category: The Airways

Answer: This portion of the upper airways is part of both the digestive and respiratory systems because it carries both food and air.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is the pharynx?

In good breath,

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

P.S. An undeniably valid concern/question

Breathing for Diabetes Online Course ($99):

If you love learning about breathing, want to live a healthier life, or just want to support my work, I think you’ll really enjoy this class (diabetes or not).

 
 

* 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.

 
 
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Is Resonance Overrated, Breathing 3.0, and Feeling More this Week

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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 ROI for Our Daily Morning Self-Care Practice

“Think of mindful meditation as a smart investment of your time, offering such returns as being less reactive, less stressed, and more alert, grateful, and content. All of these will help you optimize the rest of your morning and whatever else the day brings.”

- Laurie Cameron, The Mindful Day

Those returns sound good (& really apply to any daily self-care practice you do).

And remember, by being less reactive, less stressed, more alert, and more grateful, everyone you interact with will also profit. 👏

2. Breathing 3.0: Directing our Own Lives

“Motivation 3.0 is all about intrinsic motivation. It’s spurred by Pink’s belief that ‘the secret to high performance isn’t our biological drive or our reward-and-punishment drive, but our third drive—our deep-seated desire to direct our own lives, to extend and expand our abilities, and to make a contribution.’” (my emphasis)

- Peter Hollins, The Science of Self-Learning

This made me think we should create Breathing 3.0: It’s not focused on any one benefit or method. Instead, it’s about “our deep-seated desire to direct our own lives, to extend and expand our abilities, and to make a contribution.”

What better way to do all those than with our body’s most important function?

3. Slow Breathing With or Without Resonance Gives Similar Benefits

“Within the context of this study, we found that breathing at RF or RF + 1 induced significant hemodynamic and autonomic changes but we were unable to detect any differences between the two breathing schemes. This raises the question as to whether precise measurement of the RF is essential for the reported beneficial clinical effects of individualized RF or a standardized paced breathing at 5–7 breaths per min is all that is required.” (my emphasis)

Acute effects of resonance frequency breathing on cardiovascular regulation

Two key points from this paper:

  1. We each have a personal resonance frequency (RF) breathing rate theorized to maximize the benefits of our slow breathing practice.

  2. However, slow breathing at, or close to, our RF gives similar beneficial cardio-autonomic outcomes.

My less scientific but practical takeaway for our daily practice:

  • Don’t stress over finding your “perfect” rate. Just use a comfortable pace that’s less than 7 breaths/min, and enjoy the power of slow breathing.

4. Breathing’s Biggest Benefit is…

“But for me, and for millions of people everywhere, the best and biggest benefits of water are all emotional …. Try as we might, no amount of scientific data, fMRI scans, EEG readings, or carefully designed research projects can really show us exactly what we feel at those moments.” (my bold)

- Wallace J Nichols, Blue Mind

Likewise, I think the same is true for our breathing (or really any contemplative) practice we might use: The best benefits are emotional.

Try as we might, nothing can show us exactly how we feel in those moments.

So make sure you feel more of them, this week 🙏

1 Quote

“I think it’s fair to say that when you have your attention on your breath, it’s in a safe place. It’s like putting your consciousness in neutral.”
— Andrew Weil, MD
 

1 Answer

Category: Breathing Forces

Answer: Our breathing muscles and airways don’t actually move air, but instead create differences in this between the atmosphere and lungs, which forces air into (inhalation) or out of (exhalation) the lungs.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What are differences in air pressure?

In good breath,

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

P.S. My worst nightmare

Breathing for Diabetes Online Course ($99):

If you love learning about breathing, want to live a healthier life, or just want to support my work, I think you’ll really enjoy this class (diabetes or not).

 
 

* 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.

 
 
,

How to (actually) Live Longer, Point A to B, and Breathing for Spirit

,

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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. How to Get from Point A to Point B

“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. The way to get from point A to point B is really to be at A.” (my emphasis)

- Larry Rosenberg, Breath by Breath

To get from point A to point B, we just have to be fully at A.

Although that reframe is life-changing by itself, here’s another mind-blower:

Point A is the breath.

2. How Long Should You Practice Breathwork Each Day?

“I think the amount of time that you spend on this work is not that important. …[W]hat is important here is the regularity of doing this work. You want to do this every day without fail because you are attempting to change rhythms in your nervous system, and it's the constancy of the input, it's the regularity of the input, that is going to produce these changes over time.”

- Andrew Weil, MD, Breathing: The Master Key to Self Healing

Of course, we can use scientific findings to find a reasonable dose (which is about 10 min/day for slow breathing).

But, an even better approach is what Dr. Weil says here. Simply focus on consistency. We’re trying to rewire our nervous systems, and “it’s the regularity of the input that is going to produce these changes over time.”

Amen to that 🙏

3. How to Live Longer (regardless of your age, lifespan, or health span)

“Harvard researchers found that 47 percent of the time, people are thinking about something other than what they're doing. That's nearly half of our day.”

- Laurie J Cameron, The Mindful Day

We’re not present about half the time. That’s nuts. It made me think, what’s the point of trying to live a long, healthy life if we’re not actually experiencing it?

Enter the power of the breath. By learning to come back to our breath—back to Point A—we learn presence. And we instantly (and truly) live longer.

As Cameron says, “It amounts to having a longer, richer life, because you’re present for much more of it. And we can all do this.” <— Let’s do that 👏

4. Breathing for the Spirit

The foods we eat influence our bodies.

The thoughts we think influence our minds.

The breaths we breathe influence our spirits.

Let’s feed them all well, this week 🙏

1 QUOTE

“From time to time we should take a breath and notice the silence between sounds.”
— Haemin Sunim
 

1 ANSWER

Category: Breathing Mechanics

Answer: These organs are actually passive during breathing—they don’t create any movement associated with inhalation and exhalation.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What are the lungs?

In good breath,

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

P.S. Did a little self-diagnosing over the weekend

Breathing for Diabetes Online Course ($99):

If you love learning about breathing, want to live a healthier life, or just want to support my work, I think you’ll really enjoy this class (diabetes or not).

 
 

* 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.

 
 
,

Four Qualities to Develop, and Why Breathing Might Be a Panacea

,
 

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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. Why Breathing Seems Like a Panacea

“Your body has numerous major systems, including the endocrine (hormone), cardiovascular, immune, gastrointestinal, and nervous systems. If you want to use the mind-body connection to lower your stress, cool the fires, and improve your long-term health, what’s the optimal point of entry into all these systems? It's the autonomic nervous system (ANS).” (my emphasis)

- Rick Hanson, PhD, Buddha’s Brain

And what’s the optimal point of entry into the ANS? The breath.

As Deb Dana says, “Breath is a direct, easily accessible, and rapid way to shape the state of the nervous system.”

When we change the breath, we change all the major systems of the body.

2. The Four Qualities of Breath We Want to Develop to Feel Better

“One of the essential techniques that I distill from this body of knowledge about pranayama is that the qualities of breath that you want to develop are to make it deeper, slower, quieter, and more regular.”

- Andrew Weil, MD, Breathing: The Master Key to Self Healing

This has become my new mantra.

Waiting in line at the grocery store: deeper, slower, quieter, & more regular.

At the park with my daughter: deeper, slower, quieter, & more regular.

Anywhere we find ourselves: deeper, slower, quieter, & more regular.

Why are these four qualities so powerful?

“When your breathing is deeper, slower, quieter, and more regular, you are feeling better, in both mind and body. Your nervous system is functioning more smoothly, and all your organs are operating more harmoniously as a result.”

Sounds good to me 🙏

3. It Only Makes Sense that the Breath is So Profound

“The act of breathing begins our life as we come out of the womb; in our last moment, when we cease breathing, our life is over. It only makes sense that the breath should also have a profound influence on all the moments in between.”

- Larry Rosenberg, Breath by Breath

Whenever all this breathing stuff just seems too good to be true, remember: It’s not (talking to myself here 😅). In fact, “it only makes sense” that breathing should have a “profound influence” on all aspects of our lives. 👏

4. Knowing Doesn’t Change Your Life; Doing Does

“But knowing something doesn't change your life. Doing something does. … [T]here's a huge difference between acquiring information and understanding it. And there's an even wider gap between understanding it and implementing it, or actually doing it.”

- Dr. Jason Selk & Tom Bartow, Organize Tomorrow Today

This is a perfect reminder that, although learning is incredible, practice is what changes our lives.

As Jon Kabat-Zinn says, “Try it for a few years and see what happens.”

Count me in. I hope you’ll join me 🙏

1 QUOTE

“By breathing less frequently, we begin to achieve elemental harmony.”
— Anyen Rinpoche & Allison Choying Zangmo
 

1 ANSWER

Category: Breathing Mechanics

Answer: The contraction of the diaphragm is controlled by this nerve.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is the phrenic nerve?

Extra: Ways to Decide if Breathwork Is Right for You

I wrote another guest blog post for ResBiotic titled Ways to Decide if Breathwork is Right for You.

It’s a 5-min read to help you pick which type of breathwork is right for you.

Enjoy!

In good breath,

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

P.S. welcome to the team

P.P.S. Slower, deeper, quieter, and more regular

Breathing for Diabetes Online Course ($99):

If you love learning about breathing, want to live a healthier life, or just want to support my work, I think you’ll really enjoy this class (diabetes or not).

 
 

* 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.

 
 
,

Nose or Mouth, 23 Years Ago, and How to Make Spiritual Progress

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4 Thoughts



1. How to Make Spiritual Progress

“[B]reath is the animated, nonphysical aspect of your being. So that when you look in the direction of breath, when you focus your attention on your breath, you are really looking at your spiritual self.”*

- Andrew Weil, MD, Breathing: The Master Key to Self Healing

This is why Dr. Weil also says that “if you do nothing other than pay attention to your breath today, for a few seconds more than you did yesterday, you have increased your spiritual awareness. You have made spiritual progress.”*

Sounds good to me 🙏

P.S. My New #1 (and 23 Years Ago)

This tape, Breathing: The Master Key to Self Healing (released 23 years ago!), will now be my #1 recommendation for anyone beginning with breathing.

It’s not “perfect,” but it’s less than 2 hrs and has basically everything we need to start a breath practice. It was one of my favorite listens in a really long time 🙏

2. Should We Exhale through Our Nose our Mouth?

This is one of the most common questions I receive. There’s no perfect answer, but here are my rules of thumb, which you might find helpful:

  • Nasal exhales: This should be the default breathing we use most of the time.

  • Mouth exhales: This can be used for (1) deeper relaxation during slow breathing, (2) learning to extend your exhales, and (3) during exercise.

3. Strengthen the Inflammatory Reflex with Slow Breathing

“It was proof that as well as slowing the heart, the vagus nerve can act as a powerful brake on inflammation. Tracey called this the ‘inflammatory reflex.’ … If the brain detects a signal via the vagus nerve that inflammation has been activated in the body, it swiftly fires a return signal to calm it down again.”

- Jo Marchant, Cure: A Journey into the Science of Mind Over Body

Here’s another reason why a regular slow breathing practice, which increases vagal tone, is so powerful: it might strengthen our “inflammatory reflex.”

Here’s to using our breath to put the brakes on inflammation, today : )

4. Two Breaths at Once

You can’t breathe two breaths at once.

So focus on this one.

And watch your mindfulness and spiritual awareness grow.

1 QUOTE

“Of all the techniques that I have investigated for reducing stress and increasing relaxation, it is breathwork that I have found to be the most time-efficient, the most cost-efficient, and the one that most promotes increased wellness and optimal health.”
— Andrew Weil, MD
 

1 ANSWER

Category: Breathing-Related Reflexes

Answer: Another critical reflex that is modified by our breathing rate is this, which keeps blood pressure within safe limits.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is the baroreflex?

In good breath,

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

P.S. I think I’ve got her on the ropes

Breathing for Diabetes Online Course ($99):

If you love learning about breathing, want to live a healthier life, or just want to support my work, I think you’ll really enjoy this class (diabetes or not).

 
 

* 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.

 
 
,

Breath is Heart, How it Should Be, and the Breathing Benefits of Water

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4 Thoughts



1. Breathing Blue: Why Being In or Near Water is Good for Your Breath

I usually include blog posts as an extra, but I’m super excited about this one, so I’m including it as a full thought. It’s a short 5-min read, but here are the key takeaways in case you don’t have time right now:

  • Being in water is natural resistance breathing;

  • Being near water may naturally trigger the relaxation response;

  • Just hearing water might help you relax deeper and easier.

Breathing Blue: Why Being In or Near Water is Good for Your Breath

2. Separation of the Heart & Lungs is “an interesting historical question”

“The cardiovascular and respiratory systems exist in series with the lungs, situated between the right and left sides of the circulation. Thus, breathing directly effects the cardiovascular system. How the circulation and respiration became separated into different “systems,” disciplines of study, and specialties in clinical medicine is an interesting epistemological and historical question…”

- Michael Joyner, MD & Sarah Baker, PhD, 2021

A nice reminder from the Journal of the American Heart Association that breath is heart, and heart is breath.

And since it was written by an MD and PhD in JAHA, it’s one to keep in your back pocket to explain the power of breathing to people who are new to it 🙏

3. How it Should Be, and Letting Breath (and life) Unfold Naturally

“Our tendency is to ride the breath, push it along, help it out, especially when we hear that the breath is part of this marvelous sutra, that it is the life force itself and can lead us to enlightenment. … We hear that a deep breath relaxes the body and figure that an accomplished meditator will be breathing deeply all the time, so—sometimes very subtly—we try to make the breath a little deeper.”

- Larry Rosenberg, Breath by Breath (my emphasis above)

I felt like Larry was looking directly at me when he wrote this last sentence 😂 I definitely find myself trying to breathe certain ways, because that’s how The Breathing Diabetic “should be breathing.”

But more generally, I think we can interpret breathing in this passage as a metaphor for all aspects of life.

We might ask: In what ways am I trying to make something “the way I think it should be” rather than accepting it how it is? (I have about a million.)

Then, we can use Larry’s advice, literally or metaphorically:

“If we can learn to allow the breath to unfold naturally without tampering with it, then in time we may be able to do that with other aspects of our experience: we might learn to let the feelings be, let the mind be.”

4. Practice is an Art and Science

Every breathing practice rests somewhere between an art and a science.

The goal is to find an enjoyable sweet spot for you.

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: Water and Breathing

Answer: Because water is about 800 times denser than air, it exerts pressure on the chest wall that makes breathing about this much harder.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is 60% harder?

In good breath,

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

P.S. sorry I didn't answer your call

Breathing for Diabetes Online Course ($99):

If you love learning about breathing, want to live a healthier life, or just want to support my work, I think you’ll really enjoy this class (diabetes or not).

 
 

* 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.

 
 
,

Nutritious Breathing, a Touch of Mindfulness, and Why Resonance Works

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4 Thoughts



1. Nutritious Breathing

Practicing low & slow nasal breathing is like eating a nutrient-dense, whole-food meal. We get more with less and always feel nourished afterward.

P.S. This was inspired by Katy Bowman’s Nutritious Movement.

2. Relaxed & Alert and Why Coherent (or Resonant) Breathing Works

“Within a very short time, breathing at five breaths a minute will synchronize the electrical rhythms of the heart, lungs and brain, which is very beneficial and leads to a state in which we are both relaxed and alert. It's unusual to be both relaxed and alert at the same time, but Coherent Breathing creates this sweet spot.”

- Dr. Patricia Gerbarg, from Wake Up to Sleep

Here’s an excellent description of why resonant breathing (aka Coherent or just “slow” breathing) works. It synchronizes the electrical rhythms of the heart, lungs, and brain, leaving us “relaxed and alert.” <— Sounds good to me 🙏

Give it a try: Breathe 6 seconds in and 6 seconds out. Or 5 seconds in, 7 out.

3. But You Don’t Have to Control Your Breathing, Just Touch it with Mindfulness

“Something happens when mindfulness touches breathing. Its quality changes for the better. […] The breath becomes pleasant; it is enjoyable just to sit and breathe. […] The body, the mind, and the breath begin to coalesce. They each partake of the other, so that it is difficult to distinguish among them.”

- Larry Rosenberg, Breath by Breath

I’m guilty of thinking controlled slow breathing exercises are best.

But let’s not forget that a touch of mindfulness is similarly powerful, causing the body, mind, and breath to coalesce. <— Sounds good to me (again) 😊

***

P.S. That “coalescing” sounds a lot like the synchronization of electrical signals from the heart, brain, and lungs described for resonance breathing…

4. Direct vs. Indirect Slow Relaxed Breathing: Pick Which Suits You Best

Thoughts 2 & 3 bring up two important concepts:

  • Direct Slow Breathing: Using an app (or counting) to deliberately breathe slowly at a set pace (like five breaths a minute).

  • Indirect Slow Breathing: Using mindfulness or a relaxation technique (like yoga nidra) to inadvertently slow your breathing.

Of course, they have slightly different benefits, but either will be an effective way to improve your health & wellness, so pick the one that suits you best 🙏

1 QUOTE

“Bringing awareness to our breathing, we remind ourselves that we are here now, so we might as well be fully awake for whatever is happening.”
— Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D.
 

1 ANSWER

Category: The Nose

Answer: These bony structures, which are surrounded by tissue and a mucous membrane, play a critical role in warming and humidifying incoming air as well as modulating airflow.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What are nasal turbinates?

In good breath,

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

P.S. how I am now

Breathing for Diabetes:

If you love learning about breathing, or just want to live an overall healthier life, I think you’ll really enjoy this class (diabetes or not).

 
 

* 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.

 
 
,

Head and Heart, Best Advice, and Why All Breathwork Works

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4 Thoughts



1. Why All Breathwork Works: The Brain, Lungs, and Speed Dial

“Over thousands of years of evolution, fast and powerful pathways between the respiratory system and the brain have been established. If breathing stops, death occurs within minutes, and so the brain prioritizes messages from the lungs above all others.”

- Charley Morley, Wake Up to Sleep
(Thanks to D.A. for this excellent recommendation)

This idea has been said in many different ways, but this version resonates profoundly with me. And, it concisely summarizes why all breathwork works: “the brain prioritizes messages from the lungs above all others.”

2. For Breathing, We Need Emotion and Science, Head and Heart

“It’s time to drop the old notions of separation between emotion and science—for ourselves and our future. Just as rivers join on their way to the ocean, to understand Blue Mind we need to draw together separate streams: analysis and affection; elations and experimentation; head and heart.”

- Wallace J Nichols, Blue Mind

This is a beautiful passage, and it couldn’t be any truer for breathing, too: we need “analysis and affection; elations and experimentation; head and heart.”

Breathing is where all these rivers join and flow into the ocean of life.

3. Resonance Breathing for Sleep: A Real-World Example

“I have found that just a few minutes of resonance breathing each day has improved my sleep, and my ability to fall asleep much more quickly. … Resonance breathing has helped me to get in touch with the parasympathetic branch of the nervous system that rules rest. When I lie down to sleep at night, I can sense sleep much more readily, and I can give into it.”

- Eddie Stern, One Simple Thing

A few weeks ago, we discussed a study showing that slow breathing before sleep improves sleep quality and vagal tone.

But better than any study, here’s a real-world example from Eddie Stern. In fact, it was so powerful for Eddie that he went and created a resonance breathing app.

Use it tonight for better sleep.

4. The Best Advice I’ve Read for Our Daily Practice

“The practice itself has to become the daily embodiment of your vision and contain what you value most deeply. It doesn't mean trying to change or be different from how you are, calm when you're not feeling calm, or kind when you really feel angry. Rather, it is bearing in mind what is most important to you so that it is not lost or betrayed in the heat and reactivity of a particular moment.” (my emphasis)

- Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., Wherever You Go There You Are

It’s taken me 5 years of daily practice to even begin to understand this statement.

No matter how long you are into yours, I hope this hits home for you too 🙏

1 QUOTE

“The practices of breathing and working with your body are about re-empowering you. They’re about connecting you with your own mind, your own body, your own will and your ability to live and to value your life.”
— Daniel Libby, Ph.D.
 

1 ANSWER

Category: Brain-Lung Communication

Answer: One of the ways in which the brain has the lungs on “speed dial” is through information sent & received from this nerve.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is the vagus nerve?

P.S. I know this was a softball for many of you, but it fit too good with Thought #1 to leave off here : )

Two Extras: A Speaking Event and a Blog

1. Breathe Your Way to Better Health: A Presentation Format of The Breathing 411

I’m honored to be speaking at the Ziva Lifestyle Summit: Your Health Begins with You. For talks, I always draw from this newsletter to combine a variety of sources in a fun and (hopefully) useful way. So, if you like this newsletter, I think you’ll enjoy it.

Here are the event details. I hope to see you there!

2. Reduce Stress with Slow Deep Breathing

Here’s another guest blog I wrote for ResBiotic titled Reduce Stress with Slow Deep Breathing. I hope you enjoy it!

In good breath,

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

P.S. 6 months since I joined the gym

Breathing for Diabetes:

If you love learning about breathing, or just want to live an overall healthier life, I think you’ll really enjoy this class (diabetes or not).

 
 

* 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.

 
 
,

Eloquent Exhales, 3 Books, and Adding Sound for More Benefit

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4 Thoughts



1. A More Eloquent Way to Say “Extend Your Exhale”

Here’s a more eloquent way to say, “extend your exhale,” which applies to all aspects of life: Give more than you receive.

***

P.S. This was inspired by two of my favorite teachers, Eddie Stern & Emily Hightower. See the audio version above at the 38-sec mark for the full story.

2. Get More Benefits Out of Your Practice with No Added Effort

“Petr Janata…is a cognitive neuroscientist and expert on music in the brain. He theorizes that the low frequency of the sound of water, coupled with its rhythmic nature, is similar to the frequency and rhythm of human breath. Sound, Janata contends, ‘affects our brain and influences our emotions. If I ask you to close your eyes and turn on a recording of the ocean, I can change your mood immediately.’”

- Wallace J Nichols, Blue Mind

Here’s a simple way to increase the benefits of your breathing or meditation practice: add the sound of water. You can use headphones or sit outside near a body of moving water if you’re lucky enough to have one nearby.

Here’s a playlist I have been using and enjoying. I hope you do too 🏝

3. Slow Breathing is My Favorite, but Here’s Why Most Methods Work

“Differences in the effects of various stress management approaches are minor compared to the general goal of inducing a relaxation response. For more than fifty years, Harvard’s Professor Herbert Benson, author of The Relaxation Response, demonstrated that almost any type of relaxation inducer—prayer, meditation, rhythmic breathing, visualization, or biofeedback—can rapidly reverse the more than five hundred genes that are turned on by stress. In addition, those who regularly practice a relaxation method have better long-term health, recover faster from health challenges, and use fewer medical services.”

- Wayne Jonas, MD, How Healing Works

Sounds good to me 🤯

4. One Overarching Goal for Our Breathing

“Learn to do less, but more often.”

- Dr. Jason Selk & Tom Bartow, Organize Tomorrow Today

A perfect overarching goal for our breathing is:

Learn to breathe less, but more often.

P.S. to Thoughts 2, 3, and 4

These three books, Blue Mind, How Healing Works, and Organize Tomorrow Today, have significantly changed my life over the past few months. If you’re looking for something to read, I can’t recommend them enough.


1 QUOTE

“Western science is now finally catching up to the fact that controlled breathing practices can at least ‘enhance immunity, improve cardiovascular fitness, modulate chronic disease and increase longevity’, and at most lead to almost superhuman feats.”
— Charlie Morley
 

1 ANSWER

Category: Deep Breathing & the Lungs

Answer: Deep breathing stretches the alveoli and increases their surface area, which reduces this and leads to better gas exchange in the lungs.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is dead space ventilation?

In good breath,

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

P.S. Your call is very important to us.

P.P.S. Happy Birthday LP!

Breathing for Diabetes:

If you love learning about breathing, or just want to live an overall healthier life, I think you’ll really enjoy this class (diabetes or not).

 
 

* 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.

 
 
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Easy & Natural Resistance Breathing, Flow, and How to Fall Back Asleep

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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. How to Deal with Distraction (a method that actually works)

“I realized then that to recover from our loss of attention, it is not enough to strip out our distractions. That will just create a void. We need to strip out our distractions and to replace them with sources of flow.”

- Johann Hari, Stolen Focus

When we talk about focus, we hear a lot of the same advice. Put away your phone. Delete apps. It’s your own fault; you just need discipline.

However, Hari provides a better approach: “Seeking out flow, I learned, is far more effective than self-punishing shame.”

There are lots of ways we can do this, but my favorite is to use a focusing breathing technique to put us in a flow-like state. Then, we get to work.

Remember: Don’t shame yourself for lack of discipline. Instead, create flow.

2. Natural Resistance Breathing: Aquatic Exercise Strengthens Breathing Muscles

“The lungs are receiving a greater volume of blood as well, which, combined with the pressure that water exerts on the chest wall, makes them work harder to breathe—approximately 60% harder than on land. This means that aquatic exercise can strengthen the respiratory muscles and improve their efficiency.”

- Wallace J Nichols, Blue Mind
(I can’t recommend this book enough.)

If you don’t have a device for resistance breathing, here’s a free alternative: aquatic exercise. You get the calming effects of the water while also strengthening your breathing muscles. A natural and soothing win-win 🙏

3. Breath Counting, Worry, and Falling Back to Sleep

“Counting is handled by the same area of the brain that’s responsible for worrying. It’s difficult to do both at the same time, so counting is exceptionally effective at crowding out stress, calming a busy brain, and enhancing focus.”

- Leah Lagos, Psy.D., Heart Breath Mind

It’s hard to count and worry at the same time. So, when we wake up, and our minds start worrying about things, breath counting is particularly helpful.

Here’s how to use it: simply count in your head each time you exhale. Count up to 10, and then restart at one until you fall asleep. Simple & highly effective.

4. Great-Great-Grandchildren & the Ultimate Goal

“When we’re shooting hoops, my grandson—John Wooden’s great-great grandson—will use the backboard on a shot and say, ‘That’s what Paw-Paw wanted me to do.’”

- Jim Wooden, Foreword to Organize Tomorrow Today

After reading this, my new life goal is to have my great-great-grandchildren breathing through their noses, saying, “that’s what paw-paw wanted me to do.”

Maybe it’s not breathing for you, but it’s fun to ask yourself this question: What do you want your great-great-grandchildren doing because of the life you lived?


1 QUOTE

“A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.”
— Maya Angelou
 

1 ANSWER

Category: Breathing Reflexes

Answer: This reflex, bearing two people’s names, is generally what prevents the lungs from over-inflating.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is the Herring-Breuer reflex?

In good breath,

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

P.S. Tom Reasonable

Breathing for Diabetes:

If you love learning about breathing, or just want to live an overall healthier life, I think you’ll really enjoy this class (diabetes or not).

 
 

* 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.

 
 
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Therapeutic Mouth Breathing, Focus, and My Favorite Breathing Parable

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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. How Breathing Gets You Focused: The Noradrenaline Sweet Spot

“Noradrenaline is also released, though in different amounts, during times of intense focus, curiosity, or passion, promoting the growth of new connections in the brain. Researchers…found that slow, controlled, deep breathing helps the brain nail the noradrenaline “sweet spot,” heightening attention and getting people laser focused.”

- Leah Lagos, Psy.D., Heart Breath Mind

Next time we need to get laser focused, let’s breathe slowly and deeply to hit our “noradrenaline sweet spot.” Simple and highly effective 🙏

***

Related: Why Breathing Gets You Focused (and 5 ways to do it)

2. The Best (and most therapeutic) Form of Mouth Breathing Is…

Laughter.

Lately, I’ve been spending 10-20 min/day listening to comedy. It’s my new favorite “breathing exercise” 😊

Give it a try, and enjoy a little more laughter therapy this week.

3. Why Slow Breathing Helps Reduce Blood Pressure

“The connection between stress and blood pressure is the autonomic nervous system, which regulates the tone of the smooth (involuntary) muscle that lines the walls of arteries. The sympathetic branch of that system constricts arteries, increasing blood pressure, while the parasympathetic branch relaxes them, lowering pressure.”

- Andrew Weil, MD, Mind Over Meds

Slow breathing activates the parasympathetic branch of our nervous system. As we learn here, this relaxes our arteries and lowers blood pressure.

And with regular practice, we increase the tone of the parasympathetic nervous system, leading to long-term reductions in blood pressure.

4. My Favorite Breathing Parable

From Larry Rosenberg in Breath by Breath:

“An ancient teaching from India points to this truth. There was a conference of all the human faculties, all the senses, which in the Indian tradition are six. The five senses plus the mind. As at many meetings, they first had to decide who would be in charge. Sight popped up and put in its bid, creating beautiful images that had everyone enraptured. Smell arose and created powerful and haunting aromas that left everyone tingling with anticipation. But taste could top that with astounding and delectable flavors from all the world's cuisines. Hearing created exquisite harmonies that brought everyone to tears, and the body brought on physical sensation that had everyone in ecstasy. And the mind spun out intellectual theories that took on beauty by the depths of the truth they expressed. Along came the breath, not even one of the senses, and said it wanted to be in charge. All it could present was the simple in and out breath. Not terribly impressive in the face of everything else. No one even noticed it. The other senses got into a tremendous argument about which one of them would be chosen. The breath, in its disappointment, began walking away. And the images began to fade. The tastes lost their savor. The sounds diminished. “Wait!” the senses called out. “Come back! You can lead, we need you.” And the breath came back and took its proper place.”*


1 QUOTE

“The soul is the child of the breath, and breath is the mother of the soul. Soul and breath follow each other just as form and shadow do.”
— The Primordial Breath
 

1 ANSWER

Category: Breath & Biology

Answer: Breathing is part of a larger biological idea called this, which broadly represents our ability to adapt for optimal functioning within a defined biological system.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is symmorphosis?

Extra: How to Easily & Effectively Build Breathing Exercises Into Your Daily Routine

Here’s another guest blog I wrote for ResBiotic. If you’re looking for some simple ways to include breathing into your day, I think you’ll find it helpful. Enjoy!

How to Easily & Effectively Build Breathing Exercises Into Your Daily Routine

In good breath,

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

P.S. Me neither…

Breathing for Diabetes:

If you love learning about breathing, or just want to live an overall healthier life, I think you’ll really enjoy this class (diabetes or not).

 
 

* 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.

 
 
,

Elevated Mood, Tremendous Breath Energy, and How to Move a Ship

,
 

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. State vs. Trait Breathing

  • State Breathing: How your breathing changes during and immediately after an experience (e.g., breathwork, yoga, a stressful event, etc.).

  • Trait Breathing: Your everyday breathing. How you breathe when you’re not thinking about it.

The goal is to purposefully use our state breathing to improve our trait breathing.

***

P.S. This thought was inspired by this Optimize +1 on states vs. traits.

2. Applying Ancient Greek Philosophy to Our Breathing

“And that was what ancient Greek philosophy did. It involved a two-fold process: first make the habitual conscious, then make the conscious habitual. … Philosophy is a training, a set of daily mental and physical exercises that become easier with practice. … After enough training, we naturally feel the right emotion in the right situation, and do the right thing.”

- Jules Evans, Philosophy for Life and Other Dangerous Situations

Speaking of states vs. traits, here’s how the ancient Greeks applied that concept to practicing philosophy. We’re essentially using their process for our breathing:

  • When we become aware of our breathing, we’re “making the habitual conscious.”

  • When we use breathing exercises regularly, we’re “making the conscious habitual.”

With enough training, hopefully we’ll breathe optimally in every situation.

***

P.S. If you’re like me, this process won’t happen quickly…it might even take the rest of our lives <— you can obviously count me in 😂. I hope you’ll join me 🙏

3. Elevate Your Mood and Command Your Energy Levels with this Practice

“Breathwalk is the science of combining specific patterns of breathing synchronized with your walking steps and enhanced with the art of directed, meditative attention. … By learning how to consciously breathe and walk, you can elevate your mood, command your energy levels, and shift your mental gears, as you need.”

- Gurucharan Khalsa, Ph.D., & Yogi Bhajan, Ph.D., Breathwalk

Just a quick reminder of how easy and powerful breathwalking is.

There are countless ways of doing it, but you can start with a 4:4 or 8:8 cadence: inhale 4 (or 8) steps, exhale 4 (or 8) steps. Adjust as needed.

Enjoy elevating your mood and energy levels with this simple practice.

4. How to Sustain an Unusual Life: Tremendous Breath Energy

“Having breath energy in a body is like having water in a river: the same water can both topple a boat and carry a boat. The breath energy can both build and destroy a body. When there are deep waters, unusually large ships can be carried. When tremendous breath energy is accumulated, unusual life can be maintained.”

- The Primordial Breath, Volume II

Here’s to building “tremendous breath energy” so we can sustain unusually optimal lives 🙏


1 QUOTE

“It’s not the towering sail, but the unseen wind that moves the ship.”
— Proverb
 

1 ANSWER

Category: Breathwalking

Answer: If you took 10,000 steps per day, you could circle the earth this many times over an average lifetime.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is ~4-5 times?

P.S. This assumes 10,000 steps is about 4-5 miles and a 70-year life span.

P.P.S. “Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time.” - Steven Wright

In good breath,

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

P.S. ideal routine before going out

Breathing for Diabetes:

If you love learning about breathing, or just want to live an overall healthier life, I think you’ll really enjoy this class (diabetes or not).

 
 

* 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.

 
 
,

5 Breaths for Focus, Better Sleep, and Your Own Finely Crafted Program

,
 

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. Thirty Days to Better Sleep and Higher Vagal Tone

“Taken together, our results suggest that slow-paced breathing performed before sleeping may enhance restorative processes at the cardiovascular level during sleep.”

- Laborde et al. (2019), Journal of Clinical Medicine

Here’s another excellent study from Laborde & colleagues, with lots we could cover. But the take-home messages were that 15 min of slow breathing (6 breaths/min) before sleep for 30 days led to:

  • Significantly better subjective sleep quality

  • Significantly higher nighttime vagal tone (via HF-HRV)

  • Higher (but not significant) morning vagal tone

Not bad for just 15 minutes a night 👏

2. The Centering Breath (and 5 Breaths for Better Focus)

“[B]reathe in for six seconds, hold that breath for two seconds, and then breathe out for seven seconds. When you modulate your breathing this way, you're controlling your state of arousal and corralling your body's natural response to stress.”

- Dr. Jason Selk & Tom Bartow, Organize Tomorrow Today

Here’s a nice breath to try whenever you need to re-center. In for 6, hold for 2, exhale for 7. Even just one of those is enough to reset your focus.

***

P.S. Here’s a guest blog I recently wrote for ResBiotic all about breathing & focus: Why Breathing Gets You Focused (and 5 ways to do it)

3. Perfect Advice for Applying the Power of Breathing in Your Life

“It’s not difficult to experience the psychological and social benefits of movement. … There’s no training formula you have to follow. There is no one path or prescription except to follow your own joy. If you’re looking for a guideline, it’s this: Move. Any kind, any amount, and any way that makes you happy. Move whatever parts of your body still move, with gratitude.” (my emphasis)

- Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D., The Joy of Movement

Although Dr. McGonigal is talking about movement, this is also the absolute perfect advice for breathing:

Breathe. Any kind, any amount, and in any way that makes you happy. And breathe with gratitude for this beautiful life we have, thanks to the breath.

4. Your Own Finely Crafted Breathing Program

“The Craftsman Approach to Tool Selection: Identify the core factors that determine success and happiness in your professional and personal life. Adopt a tool only if its positive impacts on these factors substantially outweigh its negative impacts.”

- Cal Newport, Deep Work

And to piggyback on Thought #3, here is the perfect way to choose which breathing practices (or any self-improvement practices) we perform.

Here’s to finely crafting our own unique breathing programs, this week 🙏


1 QUOTE

“[W]e must seek awareness, and that can begin with the awareness of your breath, the foundation of your totality as a human being.”
— Al Lee and Don Campbell
 

1 ANSWER

Category: Nasal Breathing

Answer: Nasal breathing not only synchronizes electrical activity in the olfactory bulb, but also in these two areas, helping explain why it influences our emotional state.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What are the amygdala and hippocampus?

In good breath,

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

P.S. any other thing I can help with today?

Breathing for Diabetes:

If you love learning about breathing, or just want to live an overall healthier life, I think you’ll really enjoy this class (diabetes or not).

 
 

* 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.

 
 
,

Vagal Tone, Perfect Advice, and How to Experience More Joy

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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. Breathing, and the Key to High-Level Success

“The key to high-level success is to pick one thing to change—yes, just one—and master it.”

- Dr. Jason Selk & Tom Bartow, Organize Tomorrow Today

Since breath is life, I can’t think of any better “one thing” to master.

2. Extend Your Exhalation to Increase Vagal Tone

“findings showed that CVA [cardiac vagal activity] is higher when the exhalation phase lasts longer than the inhalation phase”

- Laborde et al. (2019)

There is a lot we could cover from this study, but the take-home message is super practical: By slightly extending our exhale, we increase vagal activity.

Here’s a simple formula for doing it: 40% of your breath should be inhaling, and 60% should be exhaling. Simple, easy, and effective.

***

P.S. Thanks for 411 reader B.W. for sending me this paper 🙏

3. How to Experience More Awe, Gratitude, & Joy

“University of North Carolina psychologists Barbara Frederickson, PhD, and Bethany Kok, PhD, demonstrated this beautifully when they asked 52 adults to track their positive emotions—awe, gratitude, joy—for 9 weeks. They found that the higher a subject’s HRV was at the beginning, the easier and more quickly he or she could experience positive feelings over the next 9 weeks.”

- Leah Lagos, Psy.D., Heart Breath Mind

Do you want to experience more awe, gratitude, and joy? (who doesn’t?! 😂) Research suggests that having higher baseline HRV will let you.

And the best way to increase your baseline HRV? See #2 above…

***

Related: Perrin White and I recently discussed breathing and joy on her Breath to Breath podcast. You can jump right to it here. My explanation was different from this one…but it’s all interrelated : )

4. Perfect Advice for the Rest of the Week (and the rest of our lives)

“So look for those little ways in the flow of life to feel a bit more relaxed, protected, strong, and at ease…and a little more grateful, glad, and successful…and a little more cared about and caring, and a little more loved and loving. One breath at a time, one synapse at a time, you can gradually develop an increasingly unshakable core inside yourself. The more often and deeply you do this, the greater the results.”

- Rick Hanson, Ph.D., Neurodharma

Sounds good to me 🙏


1 QUOTE

“We might say (every pun intended) that the richness lies right beneath our noses in any and every moment.”
— Jon Kabat-Zinn (foreword to Breath by Breath)
 

1 ANSWER

Category: Etymology

Answer: This word is derived from a Greek word generally meaning “something that divides” or “a barrier.”

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is diaphragm?

In good breath,

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

P.S. By the time you’re 30 you should have…

Breathing for Diabetes:

If you love learning about breathing, or just want to live an overall healthier life, I think you’ll really enjoy this class (diabetes or not).

 
 

* 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.