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4 Lessons in 4 Years, Behind the Scenes, and Establishing Inner Calm

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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 😊


A Special Week + Behind the Scenes

Today marks 4 years of sending this newsletter every week. That blows my mind. To mark the occasion, I have a “behind the scenes” look at the newsletter at the bottom of this edition.

Thank you for reading 🙏

4 Thoughts



1. Four Lessons from 4 Years of Writing this Newsletter

I think these can be applied in all aspects of life.

  1. Let Go of Expectations: I get so excited about these thoughts, so I just have to remind myself it's just a newsletter, and I have no clue what will resonate with you, the reader.

  2. Deadlines are Diamonds: Having a deadline (preferably self-imposed—I hate when people tell me what to do 😂) is the driving force behind completing anything.

  3. The Process Brings the Most Joy: Cliché but true. Putting together the newsletter is what brings me joy.

  4. Less is Always More.

2. When’s the Big Performance?

“[A]n observed quipped, ‘Practice, practice, practice! All you ever do is practice! When's the performance?’ After a muted wave of chuckles rolled through the meditation hall, our teacher went on to say that there is indeed a performance scheduled; it's called ‘Your Daily Life.’”

- Barbara Fredrickson, PhD, Love 2.0

That’s what all our breathing, meditation, exercise, yoga, etc., practice is all about. It’s training for the biggest performance we’ll ever be a part of: Our daily lives.

3. Flip Your Perspective to Understand Long-Term Benefits

“[J]ust as repeated activation of the fight-or-flight response can lead to sustained problems in the body and its mechanics, so too can repeated activation of the relaxation response reverse those trends and mend the internal wear and tear brought on by stress.”

- Herbert Benson, MD, Timeless Healing

 

It’s easy to see how chronic stress can add up to all sorts of health problems. 

But let’s not forget that the opposite is also true: repeated elicitation of positive states can reverse those negative trends.

4. Growing Grass or Pulling Weeds?

“When I was working for the St. Louis Rams, I asked the head groundskeeper, Scott Parker, how I could get rid of the weeds in my yard at home. With great confidence, he replied, ‘Grow more grass.’ Growing more grass chokes out the weeds.”

 - Drs Jason Selk & Ellen Reed, Relentless Solution Focus

 

This is a profound mindset shift. When trying to resolve a challenging problem or life situation, let’s ask: “Am I growing grass or pulling weeds?”

Become More You

“Paradoxically, it takes time to become what we already are.” – Rick Hanson, PhD

I think it takes ~30 minutes a week.

Here’s exactly how.

1 Quote

“Once you establish an inner calm, you will transmit it naturally to others.””
— Richard Brown and Patricia Gerbarg

1 Answer

Category: Nose

Answer: When the thin wall between your nostrils is displaced to one side, it’s called this.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is a deviated septum?

In good breath,

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


P.S. That’s not how averages work

Behind the Scenes of The Breathing 411

I’ve never posted about the newsletter itself, so for the 4th anniversary, here are some random things about it:

First Edition: January 27, 2019

(3 recipients: me, my other email address, and my wife, 😂 😂)

Subscribers as of Today: 1,372

(That’s probably awful for how long I’ve been doing it, lol. But, it makes me proud as hell because (1) you all are awesome, (2) I write about breathing, and (3) it’s all been word of mouth and w/o lead magnets, advertising, etc.).

Open Rates: 50-60+%

(I’m awful and don’t track things like I should, but this seems to be my average.)

Time I Spend on It: ~8 hours/week

(This doesn’t include all the background reading and research that goes into it. Eight hours is just writing and all the nonsense logistics.)

Hardest Part: Finding ideas for the “1 Answer” each week.

Best Part: When people reply and say what resonated with them.

(Sometimes I jump up and run around, and sometimes it brings tears to my eyes.)

Joy: I absolutely love writing this newsletter. Putting it together is one of my biggest sources of joy.

Support: If you enjoy these emails and would like to support them, share them with a friend.

If you’d like to help even more to keep the newsletter around, join the Learning Center or purchase the Breathing for Diabetes Course 🙏

* 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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How to Be Irreplaceable, Coffee or Breath, and the Most Important Study Yet

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4 Thoughts



1. Breathwork for Stress: The Most Important Paper To Date

“Research on breathwork could be likened to that of meditation, which received an unprecedented surge in scientific exploration two decades ago. We may be at a similar cusp with breathwork and anticipate considerable growth in the field.”

 - Nature Scientific Reports (2023)

 

IMHO, this is the most important breathing publication to date. Nothing is perfect, but this is a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials—basically the best scientific analysis that can be performed.

It’s a mind-blower…here are a few key takeaways:

  • Breathwork is as effective as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), meditation, mindfulness, and acceptance of emotions for reducing stress.

  • Breathwork is as effective as physical exercise for reducing anxiety and depression symptoms.

  • Whether breathwork is self-learned remotely, taught 1-on-1, or taught to a group doesn’t impact the above results.

I have a new Science 411 with all the details, if you’re interested. If you sign up, I highly recommend the 17-min podcast version because I add a lot of context, which is too much for written form.

2. A Humble Reminder for Thought 1

“Many ancient practices and rituals have been rejected by modern science, only to be resurrected from the grave by that same science!”

- Herbert Benson, MD, Relaxation Revolution

Let’s not forget that, although modern science is powerful, breathing exercises have something even more potent behind them: thousands of years of practice.

3. Coffee or Breathwork? Here’s My Lighthearted Take On It

“By replacing your morning coffee with breathwork, you can lose up to 87% of what little joy you still have left in your life.”

I’m late with this joke, but I recently saw that sentence (with green tea instead of breathwork), and I thought it was amazing.

Personally, I don’t plan on replacing my coffee with breathing. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with doing that; I just love coffee.

Instead, I think of my morning breathing as a no-sugar coffee creamer. It makes my coffee that much better, with no blood sugar spikes : )

4. A Tiny Thought On Methods (a play on a Thich Nhat Hanh quote)

Breathing methods come and go like clouds in the sky. Principles are my anchor.

Want to Become a Unique and Irreplaceable Breath Coach?

It takes just 30 minutes a week.

Here’s exactly how.

1 Quote

“Here, the need for healing was not synonymous with brokenness. It was part of life.””
— Lisa Miller, Ph.D.

1 Answer

Category: Alveoli

Answer: These holes allow communication between two adjacent alveoli.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What are the Pores of Kohn?

In good breath,

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


P.S. SECRETS TO SUCCESS

How Focus Words and Breathing Can Help You Relax and Heal

I recently wrote a guest blog for ResBiotic on focus words and breathing. It includes 7 steps for using the relaxation response in your life. Enjoy!

* 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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My New Favorite Therapy, Self Love, and Your Breathing Headphones

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4 Thoughts



1. Reading Can Produce Healing (my new favorite word & therapy)

“Bibliotherapy is based on the assumption that the simple act of reading can produce healing of various health conditions, including depression. The definition of bibliotherapy has broadened over the years to include using any type of reading material that is uplifting or emotionally sustaining.”

 - Herbert Benson, MD, Relaxation Revolution

 

As someone obsessed with reading, bibliotherapy might be my new favorite word and therapy : ) However, I’ve always thought that reading alone is not enough; we must also act. 

Maybe I’m wrong…

As Dr. Benson says, one study found “Therapeutic reading ranked toward the top of the interventions, along with CBT and supportive-expressive groups, as a highly effective method of decreasing depressive symptoms.” <— 🤯

I hope these 411s serve as bibliotherapy for you 🙏

2. The Relaxation Response for Stress-Related Diseases

“Taken together, the RR has been shown to be an appropriate and relevant therapeutic tool to counteract several stress-related disease processes and certain health restrictions, particularly in immunological, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative diseases/mental disorders.”

- Esch et al. (2003)

This study found that regularly eliciting the relaxation response can counter the adverse effects of stress and serve as a free therapeutic tool in many chronic diseases, especially immunological, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative/mental disorders.

Want to use it in your life? Here’s a short video showing you how.

***

P.S. If you want to use the relaxation response to conquer stress, check out the latest Science 411 on this paper or the new Book 411 on Relaxation Revolution, released this past Friday.

3. Breathing as Spiritual Headphones

Breathing exercises are like spiritual headphones: You can tune in, not bother anyone, and no one will ever know what you’re “listening” to.

4. Breathing is Self-Love, a Pre-Requisite for Loving Others

Last week, we learned that high vagal tone = high loving potential; thus, slow breathing increases our loving potential.

But the key word there is “potential:”

“While these activities do not directly create positivity resonance, they can set the table for an eventual feast of love. … They condition your mind, heart, eyes, and ears to be more prepared for positivity resonance when true connections become possible.”

- Barbara Fredrickson, Ph.D., Love 2.0

So, we might say that a daily breathing practice is self-love, which prepares your heart and mind to love others.

1 Quote

“We must meet hate with love. We must meet physical force with soul force.””
— Martin Luther King, Jr.

1 Answer

Category: Stress

Answer: When free radical production exceeds antioxidant defenses, it creates this kind of stress.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is oxidative stress?

P.S. The relaxation response helps counter this stress, too.

In good breath,

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


P.S. I’ve been really missing my friends

* 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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More Loving Potential, Cold Showers, and the Healing Power of Mind

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4 Thoughts



1. How to Improve Your Loving Potential

“High vagal tone, then, can be taken as high loving potential. … Compared to people with lower vagal tone, those with higher vagal tone experience more love in their daily lives, more moments of positivity resonance.”

- Barbara Fredrickson, Love 2.0

High vagal tone = high loving potential. That’s pretty awesome.

And fortunately, we can immediately increase our vagal tone with just a few minutes of slow breathing. We can also improve our baseline vagal tone with just 10-20 minutes of slow breathing every day.

So breathe less, love more.

2. Do Cold Showers Improve Breathing Efficiency? (my guess is yes)

“It’s very simple. A cold shower a day keeps the doctor away.”

- Wim Hof, The Wim Hof Method

Wim also tells us that when we practice cold exposure, we exercise our “sixty-two thousand miles of veins, arteries, and capillaries,” ultimately improving blood flow.

This matters because we need adequate blood flow to get oxygen and nutrients to the cells. Thus, better blood flow = better breathing.

So, in addition to keeping the doctor away, we might guess that a cold shower a day keeps us breathing in an efficient way…

Learn more cold benefits in the Book 411 and Science 411s available as part of the Wim Hof Wisdom Bundle.

3. One Reason (of many) We Began Habitually Mouth Breathing

There are lots of reasons why mouth breathing is so prevalent, but this is one I hadn’t heard that makes a lot of sense:

“Of course it's often tough to avoid mouth breathing, especially since we started living much of our lives indoors. … Enclosed spaces are areas where allergens (substances that cause allergies) tend to concentrate. … In turn these allergy-friendly environments increased the odds that children would early on develop upper respiratory problems.”

- Sandra Kahn & Paul Erhlich, Jaws

4. A Small Thought on Adding Meaning

Your birthday, January 1st, or any holiday are all just ordinary days.

What makes them so fun is that we add meaning to them.

And what’s amazing is that we can use this power of meaning anytime we want.

We can make an ordinary breath practice extraordinary by adding meaning to it.

We can make anything extraordinary by adding meaning to it.

Being with Diabetes: Meditation as Medicine

Just a quick reminder from last week. The Diabetes Sangha’s Being with Diabetes course starts January 15th.

I hope you’ll check it out if you have diabetes or live/work with people that do 🙏

Here’s the 20% discount code they graciously offered 411 readers/listeners:

Discount Code: BREATHE-20

Click Here to Learn More

1 Quote

“Gradually, study after mind body study, carried out with the most careful scientific protocols, produced incontrovertible evidence that the mind can indeed influence—and heal—the body.””
— Herbert Benson, MD

1 Answer

Category: Airway Anatomy

Answer: The roof of the mouth can equally be called the floor of this.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is the nasal cavity?

In good breath,

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


P.S. New Year’s resolution off to a good start

* 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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30 Seconds, Wim Hof Wisdom, and 23 One-Sentence Breathing Ideas

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4 Thoughts



1. Warm Up Your Mind & Spirit with the Wim Hof Wisdom Bundle

“There’s nothing mystical or abstract about it. It’s physical. Your breath is your life-force, right here, right now. It could not be any simpler. Just breathe and reclaim your soul.”

- Wim Hof, The Wim Hof Method

If you enjoy Wim’s philosophy (like me) or practicing his method, check out the wisdom bundle I just added to the Learning Center.

You get all the science and inspiring quotes condensed into 62 minutes of podcast audio and 22 PDF pages.

Here’s to a happier, healthier, and stronger new year 🙏 ❄️ 🧊

2. 23 One-Sentence Breathing Ideas for 2023

A few of my favorites this year:

#1. You don’t have to meditate; breathing meditates you.

#12. Our breath moves spirit around like our hearts move blood around.

#13. Breath is to body what Brandy is to wine.

#22. Breathe hearter, not smarter.

Read them all here.

3. A 30-Second Thought Experiment That is Bound to Improve Your Life

(it genuinely changed mine in 2022)

(1) Bring to mind someone you would die for—no hesitation, no questions asked.

(2) Now ask yourself: Would you live for this person? Would you start that one thing you know you should be doing? (Yes, that one.) Would you give up that one thing you know you shouldn’t be doing? (Only you know which one.)

It’s easy to say you’d die for someone. What’s harder is really living for them instead.

***

P.S. This was inspired by a beautiful book titled The Gift by Dr. Edith Eger, a Holocaust survivor with an incredibly tragic yet deeply humbling and inspiring story.

4. A Tiny Thought on Problems

A breathing practice won’t stop problems—health or otherwise—from occurring in 2023 (or any other year).

These are part of being human.

A breathing practice will, however, give you the mental, physical, and spiritual strength you need to deal with and bounce back from those challenges as they occur.

(EXTRA) Being with Diabetes: Meditation as Medicine

Diabetes Sangha, a non-profit meditation community for type-1 diabetics, is launching their first course, which brings “meditation to diabetes & diabetes to meditation.”

I’ve spoken to their community twice, and they’re just genuinely great people. Kind and compassionate, yet honest and open. It’s almost like they meditate a lot or something…

But dad jokes aside, they’re offering 411 readers 20% off (this isn’t an affiliate link, just a kind gesture on their behalf).

I hope you’ll check it out if you have diabetes or live/work with people that do 🙏

Discount Code: BREATHE-20

Click Here to Learn More

1 Quote

“Each new breath creates a unity of life as all people share the nourishment that the earth’s atmosphere freely offers.””
— Barbara Fredrickson, Ph.D.

1 Answer

Category: Saving Breaths

Answer: If you spent 20 minutes a day breathing at 6 breaths per minute every single day in 2023, you’d save approximately this many breaths (assuming 15 breaths/min is average).

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is ~65,700? (or about 3 days worth of breaths)

In good breath,

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


P.S. The cutest blueberries you’ll ever see

* 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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23 One-Sentence Breathing Ideas for 2023

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1. You don’t have to meditate; breathing meditates you.

P.S. This was inspired by this excellent quote in Blue Mind: “This is the huge advantage of water: you don’t need to meditate to take advantage of its healing effects because it meditates you.”

2. Physically, wherever you find your breath, you find yourself; spiritually, whenever you find your breath, you find your self.

3. The best and most therapeutic form of mouth breathing is laughter.

4. Most of the time: the nose is part of the respiratory system; the mouth is part of the digestive system.

5. Put your breath where your heart wants to be.

P.S. This was inspired by Steven Pressfield’s more explicit line: “Put your ass where your heart wants to be.” : )

6. Our greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one breath over another.

P.S. This is a play on a William James quote I saw on Insight Timer: “The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.”

7. Try it out, find what works for you, and enjoy the timeless (and timely) wisdom of the breath.

8. When we’re in a challenging life event, our breath is always there—not to make it go away, but to help us align with our highest self and make a one-second decision to stay in the fight.

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

10. Equanimity is when the breather realizes they are the breath.

11. Adding a spiritual significance to the air—realizing it contains life itself—can only add value to your breath practice.

12. Our breath moves spirit around like our hearts move blood around.

13. Breath is to body what Brandy is to wine.

14. Our bodies respond to slow breathing practices by interpreting the external environment as safe.

15. Breathing exercises don’t change our situation, but they do change how we interpret it, which may be more powerful.

16. Breathing is life-force translated through you into action.

17. Breathing is the most direct way to practice science and philosophy in our lives.

18. Every breathing practice lies somewhere between an art and a science; the goal is to find the right sweet spot for you.

19. You can’t breathe two breaths at once—so focus on this one—and watch your mindfulness and spiritual awareness grow.

20. 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.

21. Expanding your breath makes space for your problem.

22. Breathe hearter, not smarter.

23. Before the internet, before you could major in positive psychology, before life coaches and Harvard studies, there was the breath. Breathing is the ultimate self-improvement tool.

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3 Breaths Changed David Goggins’ Life (+ a free gift)

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4 Thoughts



1. Three Breaths that Changed David Goggins’ Life

In his new book, Never Finished, David Goggins says that the first freezing wave that hit him in Hell Week almost sent him home:

“I was a half-step from voluntarily pulling the plug on a dream that had the power to change the course of my entire life.”

Enter the power of the breath:

“In order to think clearly, I needed oxygen. I took a deep breath and then another. … I took another breath as the next big wave swelled … I was done showing weakness. I was finished with fear.”

He goes on to say:

“When I was teetering on the brink, I was able to physically calm myself down with a few deep breaths, and that helped me see through the adrenaline rush. My heart rate was still elevated, and panic continued to creep in, but I’d regained enough of my composure to make a conscious, One-Second Decision to stay in the fight.”

That’s a powerful reminder that, whatever challenging life event we’re going through, our breath is always there—not to make it go away, but to help us align with our highest self and make that one-second decision to stay in the fight.

2. 2021 Study: Slow Breathing Reduces Blood Pressure

Effects of diaphragmatic deep breathing exercises on prehypertensive or hypertensive adults: A literature review (2021)

The most practical take-home from this review was that practicing slow breathing for at least 10 min daily for 4 weeks led to noticeable improvements in blood pressure.

If you want even more useful findings, I just released a Science 411 for this paper on Friday in the Breath is Life Learning Center.

3. Why Breathing is a Powerful Approach to Healing

“In this way, breathing techniques provide a portal to the autonomic communication network through which we can…send specific messages to the brain using the language of the body.”

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

And remember: “Of all the automatic functions of the body, only one can be easily controlled voluntarily—breathing.”

This means we can voluntarily send messages of healing to the brain using the language of the body. Let’s make sure we do more of that 🙏

4. When Air Becomes Breath

Adding a spiritual significance to the air—realizing it contains life itself—can only add value to your breath practice.

1 Quote

“Thus spirit = breath = life, the aliveness and power of your life, and to speak of your spirit (or soul) is to speak of the power of life that is in you.””
— Frederick Buechner
 

1 Answer

Category: Wim Hof Breathing

Answer: Counterintuitively, Wim Hof breathing is thought to reduce inflammation through release of this hormone and neurotransmitter.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is adrenaline?

In good breath,

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


P.S. This is exactly what happens when you go to heaven



HOmm HOmm HOmm 🎅

Try Out the Breath is Life Learning Center for Free

SquareSpace doesn’t allow me to have “free trials,” which many of you have asked for before signing up. So, I found a workaround by manually making a free mini member’s area.

You get 2 free Book 411s, 2 free Science 411s, and 10 free editions of The Breathing 1%. No catch. No additional sign-up. Plus, you can download the PDFs and audio of the 411s, so they’re yours forever.

Just click below to start living healthier & happier through the breath.

***

P.S. I picked the most popular Book and Science 411s, so you’re guaranteed to love them—especially The Healing Power of the Breath.

 

* 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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3 Healing Breaths, a Celebration, and a Thought Experiment

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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 😊

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.

 
,

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

,

Listen Instead of Reading

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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.

 
,

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.

 
 
,

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

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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. 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.

 
 
,

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.

 
 
,

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.

 
 
,

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

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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 😊

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.

 
 
,

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

,

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 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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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.

 
 
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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.

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

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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 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.

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

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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. 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.

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

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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. 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.