Slow Gratitude, Breath Pole Vaulting, and Two Ways It Calms the Mind

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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 😊

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4 THOUGHTS

1. The Gratitude of Breathing

Slow breathing is to meditation what gratitude is to journaling.

2. A Benefit of Meditation: Slower Everyday Breathing

“Comparing each to a nonmeditator of the same age and sex, the meditators were breathing an average 1.6 breaths more slowly. And this was while they were just sitting still, waiting for a cognitive test to start.

…

As practice continues and breathing becomes progressively slower, the body adjusts its physiological set point for its respiratory rate accordingly. That’s a good thing. While chronic rapid breathing signifies ongoing anxiety, a slower breath rate indicates reduced autonomic activity, better mood, and salutary health.”

– Daniel Goleman, Ph.D. & Richard Davidson, Ph.D., Altered Traits

The more you meditate, the less you breathe, and the better mood and health you acquire 👏

P.S. A voluntary slow breathing practice by itself (which is a form of meditation, in my opinion 😊) can give similar results.

3. Two Ways Attending to the Breath Calms the Mind

“Physiologically, attending to the breath makes it slower and deeper and thereby stimulates the vagus nerve, which then launches the relaxation response. Psychologically, attending to the breath intensely brings the mind to the present, away from past and future, and so temporarily frees the mind from regret about the past and worry about the future.”*

- Chade-Meng Tan, Joy on Demand

That is all 👏

4. The Breathing Pole Vaulter: Letting Go at a Great Height

“Listening to them, one image that came to mind was that of the polevaulter. At first, the athlete needs a pole to propel him or herself to a great height. At a certain point, the athlete has to release the pole and just jump.”

– Larry Rosenberg, Three Steps to Awakening

This is an excellent analogy for any breath-focused contemplative practice (breathwork, meditation, yoga, etc.)

The breath is like the pole, boosting us to a great height where we can “let go” and discover our full potential.

A 9-Minute Podcast

I was honored to have a discussion with Tina Gilbertson, creator of the Reconnection Club and just an all-around amazing person. She condensed our conversation into a short & sweet 9-minute podcast.

I hope you enjoy it: Episode 146: Breathe

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1 Quote

“Breathing, the common, everyday act of inhaling and exhaling a breath, has the ability to be something that benefits not just me or you, it can benefit every person we encounter.” ”

— Rev. Duffy Peet

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1 Answer

Category: The Nostrils

Answer: Measurements reveal that the left-nostril breathing makes this branch of the autonomic nervous system more active, benefiting overall cardiovascular and autonomic health.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is the parasympathetic branch?

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In good breath,

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

P.S. how I said “here”

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The Garlic Breath of the Week

Here is the most-liked post this past week.

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* 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.

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Alzheimer’s, Nose vs. Mouth, and How to Find the Perfect Practice

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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 😊

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4 THOUGHTS

1. The Smiling of Breathing

Slow breathing is to breath exercises what smiling is to facial expressions.

2. Slow Breathing Might Reduce the Risk of Alzheimer’s

“As far as we can tell from the published literature and ClinicalTrials.gov searches, this study provides the first evidence of a behavioral intervention that reduces Aβ levels (measured with plasma, CSF or PET) compared to a randomized control group.”

– Nature Sci Rep (2023)

This recently-published study found that 20-40 minutes of daily slow breathing reduces levels of amyloid-β, a key Alzheimer’s biomarker, in younger and older adults, suggesting that it may reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s and promote healthy brain aging.

Pretty remarkable stuff 👏

3. How to Find the Perfect Practice

• If you studied basketball in great detail, you could probably find a lot of health benefits.

• If you studied surfing in great detail, you could probably find a lot of health benefits.

• If you studied tennis in great detail, you could probably find a lot of health benefits.

Likewise:

• If you study slow breathing in great detail, you’ll find a lot of health benefits.

• If you study mindfulness in great detail, you’ll find a lot of health benefits.

• If you study yoga in great detail, you’ll find a lot of health benefits.

The difference?

People choose sports based on joy and pleasure, but often choose a contemplative path just based on the science and health benefits. 

Let’s do our best to balance both, but emphasize joy.  If we focus on joy, the benefits of any practice will take care of themselves.

4. Nose vs Mouth: A Mindful Observation of Nature’s Design

You can have your mouth open or closed. But there’s no such thing as having your nose “opened or closed.” Your nose is always open, always ready to be breathed through.

There’s a lesson from nature in there…

***

P.S. Of course, this breaks down if you’re sick, have bad allergies, or have another medical condition blocking it. But you get the idea : )

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1 Quote

“Mindfulness lets us see things in a new light and believe in the possibility of change.””

— Ellen Langer, Ph.D.

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1 Answer

Category: Breathing & the Brain

Answer: Slow deep breathing impacts this fluid, which plays a critical role in “cushioning” the brain and spinal cord while also distributing nutrients and hormones.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)?

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In good breath,

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

P.S. There are two types of people

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The Garlic Breath of the Week

Here is the most-liked post this past week.

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* 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.

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The Best Morning Breathing Exercise, Air Candy, and Greater Calmness

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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 😊

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4 THOUGHTS

1. Air Candy

Gratitude turns an ordinary breath into air candy.

2. The Best Morning Breathing Exercise

The best morning breathing exercise is a good night’s sleep.

P.S. I had a few nights of poorer-than-normal sleep and noticed that my morning breathing was nowhere near as enjoyable or effective. Which inspired this purposefully playful sentence : )

3. Greater Calmness: How to Choose Effective Responses in Stressful Situations

“When we are mindful of our breathing, it automatically helps us to establish greater calmness in both the body and the mind. Then we are better able to be aware of our thoughts and feelings…And with this awareness comes a feeling of having more room to move, of having more options, of being free to choose effective and appropriate responses in stressful situations rather than losing our equilibrium and sense of self as a result of feeling overwhelmed, thrown off balance by our own knee-jerk reactions.”

- Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., Full Catastrophe Living

Beautifully said 👏👏👏

So the next time we need to choose an effective & appropriate response in a stressful situation, let’s first tune into our breath to “establish greater calmness in both the body and the mind,” allowing us to move forward with clarity.

4. This Will Help You in Anything You Set Out to Do

“Working memory is where you hold a goal in mind so you can move toward it. By goal…I mean the micro-intentions and deliberate aim of having a desired outcome for each and every task you engage in—all the decisions, planning, thinking, actions, and behaviors you do over the course of a day: anything you set out to do.”

– Amishi P. Jha, Ph.D., Peak Mind

Based on this description, having good working memory is pretty crucial since it plays a role in “anything you set out to do.”

But it’s relevant here because a 2022 study found that slow breathing significantly improves working memory.

Putting it together: By improving working memory, slow breathing may potentially help you with anything you set out to do 👏

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1 Quote

“At this very moment, whether you know it or not, each breath happens right here and right now. Little by little the question becomes, Are you intimate with this breath just as it is?””

— Larry Rosenberg

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1 Answer

Category: Breath-Heart Connections

Answer: The heart is connected to this muscle via the pericardium, which is a fluid-filled sac surrounding the heart.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is the diaphragm?

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In good breath,

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

P.S. It’s a common problem.

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The Garlic Breath of the Week

Here is the most-liked post this past week.

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* 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.

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More Joy, Long Beards, and Beating a New Type of Gravity

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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 😊

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Breathing for Better Mental & Emotional Health 4-Week Course

There are now 25 students enrolled in the course. Words can’t adequately express my gratitude and excitement 🙏

It begins this Sunday, May 7, so it’s not too late to join if interested.

Learn more and enroll here.

Hope to see a few more of you there!

4 THOUGHTS

1. More Joy: The Nose Should Be Considered Alongside the Vagus Nerve

“The emerging scenario strongly suggests that the effects of SNB [slow nasal breathing], beyond the relative contribution of vagal stimulation, are mainly ascribable to olfactory epithelium stimulation.”

– Zaccaro et al. (2022), Neural Correlates of Non-ordinary States of Consciousness in Pranayama Practitioners: The Role of Slow Nasal Breathing

This was a challenging & super fun paper to read. Here is my two-sentence summary of it:

Slow nasal breathing has significantly different effects on the brain than slow mouth breathing, which results in less physical and psychological tension, less anxiety, more joy, and a relaxed yet fully aware altered state of consciousness. Nasal stimulation should be considered alongside vagal stimulation as a primary mechanism behind the benefits of slow breathing.

2. Upward Spirals in Your Life that Lift You

“In fact, science documents that positive emotions can set off upward spirals in your life, self-sustaining trajectories of growth that lift you up to become a better version of yourself.”

– Barbara Fredrickson, Ph.D., Love 2.0

This is the real power of the breath.  By using your practice to regularly elicit positive emotional states—a hallmark feature of slow nasal breathing—you set off upward spirals that “lift you up to become a better version of yourself.” 👏

3. A New “Long Beard” and the Buddha’s Advice

“Years ago, a wonderful Hindu teacher, Swami Chinmayananda, who taught me the Vedanta, said, ‘The longer the beard, the bigger the fake.’ And he, himself, had a beard that almost touched the floor!”

- Larry Rosenberg, Three Steps to Awakening

That makes me laugh. But, it also makes me think of how, in today’s society, our version of “long beards” are our credentials touching the floor: Ph.D., MD, Psy.D., D.O., and on and on : )

We can apply ancient wisdom to handle this modern scenario:

“[T]he Buddha tells us to take the counsel of the wise. We would be foolish to overlook their immeasurable knowledge and skills. But he also tells us to test the teachings in the fire of our own lives. Listen to them, weigh them, and investigate them.”

Sounds reasonable to me…almost as if that Buddha person knew a thing or two : )

4. Beating the Stress of a New Type of Gravity

Gravity is a stressor. But because there’s no way out of it, our bodies have adapted, and we don’t even notice it.

I think we should start treating the external stressors of our modern world (emails, social media, news headlines) like gravity. There’s basically no way out of them at this point.

What we need to do is adapt such that we hardly notice them.

Conscious slow breathing exercises are that adaptation. They’re always available to counter the weight of our new gravity.

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1 Quote

“The breath is free from greed, hatred, delusion, and fear. When the mind joins with the breath, the mind temporarily becomes free from greed, hatred, delusion, and fear.””

— Bhante Henepola Gunarantana

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1 Answer

Category: Basic Breath Processes

Answer: During exhalation, these “folds” can come together and vibrate to create sound.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What are the vocal cords?

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In good breath,

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

P.S. Dog owners will know

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The Garlic Breath of the Week

Here is the most-liked post this past week.

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* 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.

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5 Great Apps, Less Work, and a Simple Way to Laugh More

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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 😊

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A New Breath-Based Stress-Reduction Protocol

A reminder that I’m leading a 4-week course starting May 7th called Breathing for Better Mental and Emotional Health.

Learn more about the course and enroll here.

The course is centered around a super simple yet extremely powerful protocol combining breathing, mindfulness, and remembered wellness.

4 THOUGHTS

1. Leading Mindfulness Researcher: Less Work, More Breathing

“[I]f you come away from this book with anything, I want it to be a clear sense of how important this is. We’re busy. We’re time-pressured. We are always under the gun. But twelve more minutes of work is simply not going to catch you up as much as sitting quietly, and on purpose, with your breath.”

– Amishi P. Jha, Ph.D., Peak Mind

I’ll repeat: “But twelve more minutes of work is simply not going to catch you up as much as sitting quietly, and on purpose, with your breath.” 👏👏👏

2. A Simple Way to Laugh More

“Laughing is the most therapeutic breathing exercise.”

I’ve been telling my wife I should make a self-deprecating breathing humor account on Instagram for like a year.

Well, I finally did it. Introducing: The Garlic Breath.

My wife thought of the name and made me a silly icon in like 30 seconds on Canva.

Go follow and share so we can make laughing a part of everyone’s day : )

3. Five Great Breathing Apps

Breathe: This is my current favorite because it lets you set breaths down to the 1/10th of a second. I’m weird and enjoy that kind of control. I use it to do 6-sec inhale and 8.6-sec exhale, which gets me to 4.11 breaths a minute. I’m kind of obsessed : ) (Apple) (Android)

Insight Timer: I use this one for background noise (I use the “Nature’s Melody” track based on what I learned about the power of water sounds in Blue Mind). I also use this app to insert bells periodically throughout my session so I know when to switch exercises without opening my eyes. (Apple) (Android)

The Breathing App: This one has my favorite sound on the planet. It’s so good. And it’s the easiest app to get started with. No emails, no nothing. Just download and start breathing. (Apple) (Android)

The Oxygen Advantage: Tons and tons of exercises and wisdom, all as a gift to the breathing community from Patrick 🙏 (Apple) (Android)

The Breath Source: This is a new one I haven’t used too often because I don’t like guided sessions that much. But if you do, it looks like one of the best ones out there. (Apple) (Android)

4. The Metaphorical Benefits of Belly Breathing for Emotional Stability

“Similarly, when we focus on our breathing down in the belly, we are tuning in to a region of the body that is far from the head and thus far below the agitations of our thinking mind. It is intrinsically calmer. So tuning in to the breath at the belly is a valuable way of reestablishing inner calmness and balance in the face of emotional upset or when you have a lot on your mind.”

- Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., Full Catastrophe Living

Although this analogy certainly isn’t true for everyone, I think it’s a neat way of framing the psychological benefits of belly breathing. We focus on the abdomen area because it’s “far from the head and thus far below the agitations of our thinking mind.”

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1 Quote

“The next step is crucial: you give relaxed, careful attention to respiration and to the obvious, often neglected fact that each one of us is breathing. In other words, you are alive! Did you know that?””

— Larry Rosenberg

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1 Answer

Category: Breathing Reflex

Answer: This breathing reflex typically has a deep inhale, a wide open jaw, and a shorter, more rapid exhale.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is a yawn?

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In good breath,

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

P.S. Fellow introverts, try this

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* 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.

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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 Breath, Three Components, and the Most Effective Stress Remedy

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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 😊

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A New Three-Component Protocol for Reducing Stress

A reminder that I’m leading a 4-week course starting May 7th called Breathing for Better Mental and Emotional Health.

Learn more about the course and enroll here.

The course is centered around a super simple yet extremely powerful protocol combining breathing, mindfulness, and remembered wellness.

As a 411 subscriber, you get a special 55% discount until April 23 using EARLYBIRD55.

You can also share the discount with any friends or family you think will benefit from the course 🙏

4 THOUGHTS

1. Stored Power: A Pretty Incredible Benefit of Slow Breathing

When you regularly practice slow breathing, you store its power away as potential energy in the form of vagal tone. It’s kind of like a bank account for slow breathing.

You then unconsciously draw from it throughout the day.

It might show up as a micro-moment of joy with the gas station attendant. Or randomly laughing with your spouse. Or having more patience with road construction. And on and on.

Thus, slow breathing has not only instant benefits, but also long-term physical and mental ones stored in vagal tone. Pretty incredible.

2. The Most Effective Stress Remedy

“[V]oluntary control of respiration patterns (breath control) is perhaps the oldest stress reduction technique known. It has been used for thousands of years to reduce anxiety and to promote a generalized state of relaxation.”

- Everly and Lating (2019)

This was from a chapter in a book called A Clinical Guide to the Treatment of the Human Stress Response.

It’s always amazing to see the power of the breath acknowledged in academic settings, but it was particularly neat to see in a book on the stress response.

Make sure you take advantage of the great gift we’ve been given—breath control—this week 🙏

3. Useful Links: Resistance Breathing Device + Airheads Breathwork Masterclass

Resistance Breathing:

Last week, I shared the Airofit breathing device. A reader responded and said this one is really good, plus it’s cheaper: Breather Fit.

Airheads Masterclass

A friend informed me of this Airheads Masterclass, which looks awesome. They’ve assembled quite an impressive list of rockstars…

***

P.S. Although I don’t know him IRL, I’m a huge fan of one of the hosts’ (one of the “Airheads,” Tom Granger) work with music and breathing. So, just wanna give that music a plug here.

4. A One-Breath Meditation: I’ve Never Seen This One Before

“This is a wonderful day. I’ve never seen this one before.”

- Maya Angelou

We can use a play on that quote as a one-breath meditation you can say silently in your head anytime, anywhere:

“This is a wonderful breath. I’ve never seen this one before.”

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1 Quote

“[A]s long as you are breathing, there is more right with you than there is wrong, no matter how ill or how hopeless you may feel.””

— Jon Kabat-Zinn

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1 Answer

Category: Breathing and the Brain

Answer: One way breathing may positively (or negatively) affect our emotions is through its influence on this brain region.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is the amygdala?

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In good breath,

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

P.S. The Meme-ing Diabetic?

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* 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.

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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 Favorite Breathing Products, 4 Favorite Newsletters, and the Here and Now

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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 😊

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4 THOUGHTS

1. The Power of Breath Awareness (a joyful abiding in the here & now)

“The breath accompanies you the full length of life’s road: you learn about the body, feelings, mental formations, the mind itself, and, finally, the lawfulness of impermanence and emptiness of a substantial self.”

- Larry Rosenberg, Three Steps to Awakening

This passage beautifully highlights the power of breath awareness.

And perhaps this power is why the Buddha formally practiced mindful breathing, even after attaining enlightenment:

“Even after full enlightenment, the Buddha himself set aside personal retreat time for the practice of mindfulness of breathing, calling it ‘a joyful abiding in the here and now.’”

Here’s to using our breath to joyfully abide in the here and now a little more this week 🙏

2. Change How You Feel (almost instantaneously)

“Our breathing pattern can have an enormous effect on our psycho-physical state.  This means that changing the way we breathe can literally change the way we feel, almost instantaneously.  Want to be relaxed? Breathe like you already are.”

– Charlie Morley, Wake Up to Sleep

I’ve shared passages like this probably a dozen times now.  But it never gets old, because it’s the most powerful part of breathing: we can almost instantaneously change how we feel anytime, anywhere.

Make sure you use this amazing gift at least once today 🙏

3. My 4 Favorite Newsletters

If you’re looking to diversify your wisdom, here are four of my favorite newsletters. There are many I enjoy, but I always read these four:

1. Light’s Daily Dose: This is my favorite one. It’s just a small inspirational wisdom nugget each day. It’s amazing. (Sign Up)

2. James Clear’s 3-2-1: You probably know this one. And of course, I copied his format ~3 years ago to create the “411” 😊 (Sign Up)

3. Brain Food: Random life-changing wisdom. A must-read every Sunday. (Sign Up)

4. Josh Spector’s Daily Email: The shortest email you’ll get. Sometimes it’s an idea, but usually a link to a cool resource. (Sign Up)

4. Five Breathing Products I Love

Although it’s hard for me to believe, people occasionally send me free breathing stuff. Here are some cool products I’ve tried and loved, in no particular order:

ResBiotic: Daily probiotic that targets the gut-lung access for better lung health. (Learn More)

Airofit: A super sophisticated resistance breathing device. (The one I use) (Here’s a cheaper Version that does same thing, just no bluetooth)

AER Filters: Gives our nose filtering a little boost. (UK store.) (If you’re in the US, you can get them on Amazon here.)

Anicca: A mindful breathing device. Don’t think it’s for sale to the public yet, but if you’re therapist of any kind, check it out. (Learn More)

BeWell “Breathing is Cool” Sweatshirt: Do yourself a favor, and go buy one of these right now. It’ll support an amazing cause, and you’ll have one of the coolest sweaters out there 🙏 (Link to Buy)

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Breath is Life Learning Center

Learn & integrate different methods, philosophies, and approaches to breathing for better mental and physical health.

Join Today.

$14.99/month or $149/year

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1 Quote

“May your adventures be truly great for as long as you take another breath. And may you live long as you seek to discover the wonders and the benefits that each breath has to offer in this, the journey of life.””

— Rev. Duffy Peet

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1 Answer

Category: Sneezing

Answer: This reflex is characterized by successive sneezing as the result of exposure to bright light.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is the photic sneeze reflex?

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In good breath,

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

P.S. why do you have that thing?

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* 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.

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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.

Top 5 IG Accounts, “Embreathment”, and Breathing for Emotional Health

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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 😊

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4 THOUGHTS

1. The “Embreathment” Illusion

“This new way of inducing a respiratory bodily illusion, called “embreathment,” revealed that breathing is almost as important as visual appearance for inducing body ownership and more important than any other cue for body agency.”

- Monti et al. (2020)

This was such an awesome, fun-to-read study (and “embreathment” is possibly the coolest thing I’ve seen in a science paper).

They used virtual reality to assess how important breathing is for “corporeal awareness,” the feeling that we own a body, we have agency over that body, and that body occupies a location in space.

As the above quote illustrates, they found that, even without conscious awareness, breathing helps us feel more body ownership and, most significantly, a sense of body agency. Pretty crazy.

Those are the most important things, but this one had tons of other neat and practical results. If you’re interested, consider signing up for the Learning Center to get the full Science 411.

2. Endlessly Ending. Endlessly Renewed

“One of the most remarkable facts of existence is under our noses all of the time.  This is the Now of the present moment: endlessly ending, and endlessly renewed. Radically transient, yet always enduring.”

– Rick Hanson, Ph.D., Neurodharma

“Endlessly ending, and endlessly renewed. Radically transient, yet always enduring.”…just like each breath.

I suppose this is why humanity has always regarded breathing as our gateway to presence…because it is presence : )

3. A Thought & Action on Breathing for Better Emotional Health

Thought

We cannot control our emotions with our thoughts (at least, I’ve never been able to). We can, however, regulate them with our actions. And breathing is the most accessible action we can perform anytime to help manage our emotions.

(Related Quote: “The finding that we can change how we feel by using our breath is revolutionary.” - Emma Seppälä, Ph.D.)

Action

Stop and notice where you feel breath sensations in your body, in whatever position you are currently occupying. Note how observing the breath naturally slows it down. Do this for 1-3 breaths, and notice how much better your mind and body feel after.

This is always available to you.

4. Five Instagram Accounts I Love

Here are 5 IG accounts I genuinely enjoy, in no particular order (there are many more, but these were the first to come to mind).

1. HHPF: Best account for breathing studies.

2. abc.breathworkforkids: One of the coolest accounts out there if you have kids or work with them.

3. jaozolins: Brings life-changing wisdom to life with elegant yet simple designs (I could look at these posts all day).

4. op_e__n: Beautiful designs, lots of breathing posts, and inspiring quotes.

5. still.life: Awesome designs and inspirational content.

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Become the Bruce Lee of Breathing

Learn & integrate different methods, philosophies, and approaches to breathing for better mental and physical health.

Join Today.

$14.99/month or $149/year

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1 Quote

“Wherever you go, the breath is with you, providing an anchor. At moments that are right for you, you can turn to it just as you might turn to a good friend, to help you stay alert and cut down on the mind’s habitual, unnecessary thinking that often squanders so much energy.””

— Larry Rosenberg

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1 Answer

Category: Aquatic Mammal Breathing

Answer: Dolphins can exhale air up to this fast.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is 100 mph?

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In good breath,

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

P.S. I’m too witty for this class

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* 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.

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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.

Emotional Balance, Why Mindfulness, and Moving Beyond a Calm Mind

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4 THOUGHTS

1. Improve Emotional Balance with the Breath-Wind-Mind Connection

“Each time a gust of wind blows over the ocean, ripples and waves cause movement and agitation on the water’s surface. However, when the air is calm, so is the water. It is just so with the mind. The more often we breathe, the more agitated the energy of body and mind becomes. By breathing less frequently, we begin to achieve elemental harmony.”

- Anyen Rinpoche & Allison Choying Zangmo, The Tibetan Yoga of Breath

This beautiful analogy reminds us that the calmer we breathe, the more peaceful our minds. For this reason, the authors also say:

“As the [breath] is brought into balance and becomes more stable, neurotic tendencies lessen and even begin to disappear.”

Balance our breath, and we balance our emotional states.

***

P.S. Ironically, I find not balancing my breath the most balancing. For example, I often use slightly longer exhales and left-nostril breathing to elicit emotional equanimity. So play with it and find what works for you 🙏

2. The Liberating Power of Breath Awareness

“Breathing awareness is not just about calming the mind—a common assumption among meditators not familiar with this method. Rather, the breath helps you maintain full attention, enabling you to see with greater clarity and accuracy the true nature of all forms: everything that arises passes away. The implications of such insightful seeing can be profound and liberating.”

- Larry Rosenberg, Three Steps to Awakening

Here’s an excellent reminder that breath awareness—the most foundational of all mindfulness techniques—can be used to go beyond just “calming the mind.” It can help us “to see with greater clarity and accuracy the true nature of all forms.”

That sounds like a worthy goal to me 🙏

3. Why Mindfulness is a Part of All Breathing Practices

Almost all breathing practices start with breath awareness (this usually annoys me because I just want to get to the “good stuff,” lol).

But here’s why it’s so important: Without mindfulness, the benefits of the breathing practice will be minimal at best.

• We need mindfulness to notice when we actually need breathing.

• We need it to observe how our breathing reflects our emotions.

• We need it to notice if the practice is actually helping in our lives.

Embrace mindfulness, and watch the power of any breathing method you use grow exponentially.

4. Abraham Maslow’s Teaching Philosophy (how can you use it?)

“Maslow viewed the role of the teacher, therapist, and parent as horticulturists, whose task is to ‘enable people to become healthy and effective in their own style.’ To Maslow, this meant that ‘we try to make a rose into a good rose, rather than seek to change roses into lilies. . .It necessitates a pleasure in the self-actualization of a person who may be quite different from yourself. It even implies an ultimate respect and acknowledgement of the sacredness and uniqueness of each kind of person.’”

- Scott Barry Kaufman, Ph.D., Transcend

I absolutely love this, especially: “We try to make a rose into a good rose, rather than seek to change roses into lilies.” 👏👏👏

How might you apply this philosophy in your life, or in your role as a teacher or parent?

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1 Quote

“And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.””

— Rainer Maria Rilke

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1 Answer

Category: Breath Awareness

Answer: Bringing awareness to your breathing uses this sense, which means something like “sensing internal signals from your body.”

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is interoception?

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In good breath,

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

P.S. That is such a great deal

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* 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 Let Go, Breathing for Better Emotions, and Loving Life

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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 😊

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4 THOUGHTS

1. Breathing to Reduce Negative Emotions

“In view of the close association between respiration, ANS activity, and emotions presented, it is apparent that individuals possess the ability to alter emotional states using the voluntary control of breathing and mindset.”

- Self-Regulation of Breathing as a Primary Treatment for Anxiety

Over the years, the most rewarding benefit of my breath practice has been better mental health. This paper helps explain why.

They propose that slow breathing alters cell excitability by activating the parasympathetic nervous system, making you physiologically less susceptible to negative emotions. That’s pretty neat.

If you’re interested, you can get all the details in the Learning Center.

***

P.S. To apply these findings in your life, consistently use virtually any slow breathing practice to activate the parasympathetic nervous system and increase overall vagal tone 🙏

2. How to Let Go: Brush Your Teeth and Heal

“Try to think of the practice as you would the daily ritual of brushing your teeth … Let your body heal itself without the interference of mind-generated doubts, criticism, and appraisals. … You wouldn’t critique your toothbrushing so don’t analyze this exercise either.”

- Herbert Benson, MD, Timeless Healing

Whether it’s breathing, meditation, or another wellness practice, a reoccurring theme I hear is that we need to let go of expectations. We need to simply perform the exercises without judgment. Judgment and self-appraisals will only take away from their healing potential.

That’s really easy to say, but harder to actually do. That’s why I love this analogy. Each time we find ourselves judging our practice, we can think: “You wouldn’t critique your toothbrushing so don’t analyze this exercise either.” Then, just get back to the practice.

Simple yet powerful 🙏

3. The Power of Breathing in Everyday Life

“[Breath] training not only results in extraordinary wisdom and realization…but it also results in ordinary worldly wisdom. When we have the qualities of calm and relaxation in body, speech, and mind, we are able to accomplish more, and with better-designed plans. We make clear and thoughtful decisions and have more harmonious relationships. We avoid doing things that are at odds with our personal goals and integrity, and do not sabotage our own growth. We avoid making impulsive decisions, or speaking impulsive words, ones we may regret later. When we lack chaos on the inside, the world outside reflects our sense of inner harmony.”

- Anyen Rinpoche & Allison Choying Zangmo, The Tibetan Yoga of Breath

This is a perfect description of how a consistent breathing practice can help our everyday lives in meaningful (yet often immeasurable) ways 👏

4. Loving Life

To genuinely fall in love with life, fall in love with breathing.

***

P.S. I know that sounds cheesy (it even feels cliche writing it), but it’s absolutely true.

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1 Quote

“Waking up is becoming more alive. The aliveness that’s available to all of you is already here in this moment. It’s life in the form of breathing.””

— Larry Rosenberg

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1 Answer

Category: Breathing and Emotions

Answer: Contemplative practices like breathing, meditation, and yoga may influence emotions by increasing this neurotransmitter.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

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Question: What is GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid)?

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In good breath,

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

P.S. Meditation in real life

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* 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.

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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.

Build-a-Breath, How to Work with Emotions, and Carrying Great Power

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4 THOUGHTS

1. Build-a-Breath: Breath Stages and the Nervous System

“Vagal activity is enhanced during the postinspiratory period and inhibited during the postexpiratory period.” - Kromenacker et al. (2018)

When I read this somewhat unassuming sentence, it actually led to a pretty big “aha moment” for me. It means: 

• Inhalations: Sympathetic

• Inhale-Pauses: Parasympathetic

• Exhalations: Parasympathetic 

• Exhale-Pauses: Sympathetic (I had never actually thought about this one and just assumed it was parasympathetic.)

Let’s apply this to a real-world example: the popular 4-7-8 breath. Using the above relationships, we see that 4 seconds are spent in sympathetic and 15 parasympathetic—no wonder it’s so relaxing.

With this information, you can now assemble and tailor a breath to meet your needs using a simple app like Breathe: iPhone & Android.

The power is yours…have fun with it 🙏

2. One Way to Stop Overbreathing: Mouth Tape at Night

“Taping the mouth at night ensures the benefits of good breathing during sleep, allowing you to fall asleep more quickly, stay asleep longer, and wake feeling energized.”

– Patrick McKeown, The Oxygen Advantage

And if that’s not enough, it’s also one way (among many changes we need to make) to train our bodies to breathe less in general.

As Patrick says, “Spending a guaranteed eight hours breathing through your nose while you sleep is an opportune way to reeducate your respiratory center to adjust to a more normal breathing volume.” 👏 👏 👏

***

P.S. If you want more amazing wisdom from The Oxygen Advantage, I just released a Book 411 summary on it in the Learning Center.

3. How to Work with the Root of Emotional Imbalances

“No matter how out of control we feel, how low our energy is, or how large our problems seem to loom, wind energy training is an effective intervention for all emotional imbalances. When we work with the breath, we work with the root of the problem.”

- Anyen Rinpoche & Allison Choying Zangmo, The Tibetan Yoga of Breath

I have nothing to add except to repeat that last sentence: “When we work with the breath, we work with the root of the problem.” 👏

4. A Tiny Thought On Why Breathing Helps Everything

Since no bodily function can occur without breathing, it just makes sense that breathing, in some way, influences every bodily function.

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1 Quote

““For something so simple, automatic, and for most people, unconscious, breathing carries with it great power.””

— Al Lee & Don Campbell

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1 Answer

Category: Breathing and Emotions

Answer: Using fMRI, researchers have found that breathing influences activity in this region of the brain, an area associated with emotional regulation and response.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is the cingulate cortex?

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In good breath,

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

P.S. and I can finally be free

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* 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.

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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.

Why Breath Control Matters, -148°F, and Engaging Fully in Life

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4 THOUGHTS

1. A Remarkable Fact About the Upper Airways (-148°F)

“…the upper respiratory tract is able to warm and saturate inspired air so that in climates as cold as minus 100°C [-148°F] air entering the alveoli has attained body temperature and is saturated with water vapor.” 

- Walker and Wells (1961)

My brain can’t fully grasp how remarkable that is over such a short distance…

Our airways are incredible.

2. Oral Posture and Nasal Breathing

“Try it for yourself: Open your mouth and place your tongue on your upper palate. Now try to breathe through your mouth. While it is possible to draw a wisp of air into the lungs, it will not feel right. It follows therefore that the tongue of a mouth breather will tend to rest on the floor of the mouth or suspended midway.”

– Patrick McKeown, The Oxygen Advantage

Patrick’s explanation here is perhaps the most commonsense reason for maintaining optimal oral posture: It promotes nasal breathing simply because breathing through your mouth is awkward when the tongue is against the roof of the mouth. 👏

3. Why Voluntary Breath Control Matters

“We can hold our breath, or breathe faster, or breathe slower, at any time, by choice. Why does this control matter? It matters because breathing is the link between our inner and outer experiences … It is also the link between the physical and emotional reactions we have to those experiences. In other words, what is happening within our bodies and minds is channeled through our breathing.”

- Anyen Rinpoche & Allison Choying Zangmo, The Tibetan Yoga of Breath

I have nothing to add except a few of these 🤯 🤯 🤯

4. A Neat Study on Slow Yogic Breathing and Vagal Stimulation

“These findings raise the possibility that mind-body techniques that use slow breathing at rest exert their breathing-related relaxation effects through vagal mechanisms.”

- Vagal Mediation of Low-Frequency Heart Rate Variability During Slow Yogic Breathing

This ingenious study separately blocked the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems and then measured HRV during slow yogic breathing. By doing this, they conclusively found that increases in HRV were primarily due to increased vagal activity.

In other words, slow breathing is vagus nerve stimulation 👏

***

P.S. You get the full Science 411 on this paper when you sign up for the Breath is Life Learning Center.

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1 Quote

“Mindful Breathing is a useful practice in its own right. … However, I’d like you to think of it as a versatile training tool to help you engage fully in every meaningful task in your life.””

— Russ Harris

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1 Answer

Category: Diagnostic Breath Exercise

Answer: This physiological exercise is basically a forced exhale against a closed glottis, mouth, and nose.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is the Valsalva maneuver?

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In good breath,

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

P.S. literally me every time

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* 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.

---

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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.

Good Stress, Self Love, and Breathing for Happiness and Wisdom

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4 Thoughts

1. On & Off: The Stress-Reducing Effects of Fast Breathing

“Breathing really fast and heavy on purpose flips the vagal response the other way, shoving us into a stressed state. It teaches us to consciously access the autonomic nervous system and control it, to turn on heavy stress specifically so that we can turn it off and spend the rest of our days and nights relaxing and restoring, feeding and breeding.”

- James Nestor, Breath

Although I talk about slow breathing 99.9% of the time, this is an excellent description of the benefits of occasionally practicing fast breathing: We consciously turn on stress so we can then turn it off. 👏

***

P.S. If you’re interested, I just released a Book 411 on Breath. Sign up for the Breath is Life Learning Center to get immediate access 🙏

2. Breathing for Happiness, Love, and Wisdom

Thought #1 reminded me of this amazing quote from Rick Hanson, Ph.D., in Buddha’s Brain:

“Happiness, love, and wisdom aren’t furthered by shutting down the SNS [sympathetic nervous system], but rather by keeping the autonomic nervous system as a whole in an optimal state of balance.”

So here’s to using our breath—our remote control to our nervous system—to achieve an optimal state of balance and find a little more happiness, love, and wisdom this week 🙏

***

P.S. We also have a Book 411 on this one in the Learning Center : )

3. The Breath of Life Influences Everything

“Chronic overbreathing leads to loss of health, poor fitness, and compromised performance and also contributes to many ailments including anxiety, asthma, fatigue, insomnia, heart problems, and even obesity. It may seem strange that such a disparate range of complaints can be caused by or worsened by overbreathing, but the breath of life influences literally every aspect of our health.”

– Patrick McKeown, The Oxygen Advantage

And fortunately, this is also why improving our breathing can help with so many issues—because “the breath of life influences literally every aspect of our health.” 👏

4. The Best Definition of a Breathing Practice is…

Self-love. It covers all benefits for the body, mind, and spirit.

So don’t forget to show yourself some, this week.

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1 Quote

“Remember that every time you bring yourself back to full presence, you reap major rewards: you become more impactful, more memorable, and come across as more grounded. You’re laying the foundation for a charismatic presence.””

— Olivia Fox Cabane

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1 Answer

Category: Blood Reservoir

Answer: At rest, these organs contain approximately 10% of the total circulating blood volume.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What are the lungs?

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In good breath,

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

P.S. sorry Jerry I was in a jam

---

* 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.

Free OA App, 60 Seconds of Joy, and Breathing Improves Cognition

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4 Thoughts

1. Slow Breathing Improves Cognition: A 2022 Study

“Finally, at the applied level, these findings may have implications for individuals looking for a quick and easy method to alter their executive functions, for example, to better execute cognitively demanding tasks in their jobs.”

- J. Psychophysiology (2022)

This recent study found that 15-min of slow breathing:

• Improved attention control

• Improved working memory

• Increased cognitive flexibility

Take-home: slow breathing helps you plan, monitor, and execute your goals.

***

P.S. If you’re interested, there’s a new Science 411 for this one that goes through all the details.

2. Meditation, Yoga, and the Healing Touch of Prayer

Here’s a memorable passage from Breath, where James Nestor offers an eloquent summary of the benefits of slow breathing:

“In many ways, this resonant breathing offered the same benefits as meditation for people who didn't want to meditate. Or yoga for people who didn't like to get off the couch. It offered the healing touch of prayer for people who weren't religious.”  

Sounds good to me 🙏

***

P.S. Note that the key words are “in many ways”; not “in all ways.”  Breathing isn’t a one-to-one replacement for these other powerful health practices.  But, it is a nice option that covers many bases.

3. Patrick McKeown & the New Free OA App

Patrick McKeown and the Oxygen Advantage® team released a new app. It’s got a TON of guided breathing exercises and educational videos—and it’s all free!

It’s an incredible gift from someone who, after 20+ years, still loves sharing breathing with as many people as possible 🙏

Go check out the app and enjoy all of the free OA exercises.

4. Sixty Seconds of Joy

For every minute you practice conscious breathing you gain sixty seconds of joy.

***

P.S. This is a play on an Emerson quote I saw on Insight Timer: “For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.”

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1 Quote

“It is quite a striking example of evolutionary balance and beauty that the trees around us that give off oxygen and the trees in our lungs that absorb it share a similar structure.””

— Patrick McKeown

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1 Answer

Category: Oxygen Carrying Capacity

Answer: Our kidneys produce this hormone to help us maintain a healthy level of red blood cells (breath holds can amplify this process to boost oxygen carrying capacity).

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is erythropoietin?

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In good breath,

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

P.S. I’ve done this writing blogs, emails, etc.

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* 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.

Big Tech vs. Gandhi, Breathing is Self-Love, and Syncing w/ the Heart

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4 Thoughts

1. The Breath-Love Connection: Safety, Self-Love, and Upward Spirals

Here is a summary of my recent dive into the breath-love connection:

Breathing is self-love: It increases vagal tone and helps us feel safe, allowing us to experience more love-love. Experiencing more love, then, will reshape our lives for the better, triggering an upward spiral that lifts us to become the best versions of ourselves we can become.

2. The Breath-Heart Connection: Entrainment

“‘Entrainment’ is the term for when two oscillations become synchronized—like when two tuning forks come to vibrate at the same frequency or two pendulums begin to synchronize and swing at the same tempo.”

- Lisa Miller, Ph.D., The Awakened Brain

Although this passage wasn’t about breathing, I thought “entrainment” was the perfect word to describe the breath-heart connection.

When we breathe at about 4-7 breaths/min, our breathing rate entrains our heart rate. They “synchronize and swing at the same tempo.”

This makes everything run more efficiently. As Tree Meinch says, “our respiration has the potential to optimize the rhythm of various mechanisms and align them with our heart rate.” 👏

3. Big Tech vs. Gandhi

“‘[O]ne of the ironies is there are these incredibly popular workshops at Facebook and Google about mindfulness—about creating the mental space to make decisions nonreactively—and they are also the biggest perpetrators of non-mindfulness in the world.’”

- Aza Raskin, from Stolen Focus by Johann Hari

I’ve often thought it was cool to hear that big tech companies have meditation pods and mindfulness events. How neat, right?

Well, maybe not. As this passage points out, these companies are also the “biggest perpetrators of non-mindfulness in the world.” (🤯 never thought of it like that).

Of course, no one person or company is perfect—we’re all just trying to do the best we can.

But this reminded me of a Gandhi quote: “One…cannot do right in one department of life whilst…doing wrong in any other department. Life is one indivisible whole.”

So here’s to doing our best (accepting we’ll never be perfect) to lead with our hearts and live up to our values in all areas of our lives 🙏

4. Science Offers Only Glimpses

“This highlights a weakness in what otherwise might seem quite impressive findings on the yogis: these data points are but glimpses of the altered traits that intensive, prolonged meditation produces. We do not want to reduce this quality of being to what we happen to be able to measure.”

- Daniel Goleman & Richard Davidson, Altered Traits

I think the idea applies perfectly to breathing, too. It’s a nice reminder that, while we should value scientific findings, we must also remember they’re only a glimpse of the benefits based on “what we happen to be able to measure.”

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Day 1: The Four Paths of a Generalist

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Day 3: How to Find Science Papers Worth Reading

Day 4: How to Decide Which Books and Papers to Read

Day 5: Become More You, Become Irreplaceable

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1 Quote

“Love—like taking a deep breath…—not only feels great but is also life-giving, an indispensable source of energy, sustenance, and health.””

— Barbara Fredrickson, Ph.D.

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1 Answer

Category: Breath Speed

Answer: A nasal exhale travels at a maximum of about this many miles per hour.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is 3 mph?

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In good breath,

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

P.S. this one’s gonna be huge for me

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* 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.

---

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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.

Free 5-day Course, an Inspiring Study, and the Heart of Life

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4 Thoughts

1. Yoga Breathing Helps Cancer Chemotherapy Symptoms (+ free science 411)

“Pranayama may be helpful for improving sleep disturbance, anxiety, and mental QOL [quality of life] among patients undergoing chemotherapy.”

- Dhruva et al. (2012)

This is an inspiring pilot RCT that found that a simple breathing practice can help reduce the harmful side effects of chemotherapy.

The study wasn’t perfect and pranayama didn’t magically solve all their problems. But it helped. That’s all we can hope for.

I’ve also made the Science 411 on this paper free for everyone 🙏

***

P.S. Some of you may know that I lost my sister to cancer. I remember how hard chemo was for her. So—even as someone obsessed with breathing—it’s difficult to review a study suggesting that patients should “just breathe,” and it will help. But this study was done over 1 year, and the classes had almost 100% attendance, making me believe the patients found it valuable, which matters the most.

2. Breathing is the Heart of All Life

“In addition, the mental component of breath is a sense of rhythmic expansion and contraction, and I think that connects us to every other living thing because all living organisms breathe. So that same rhythm is at the center of the heart of all life.”

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

Just an elegant reminder that breathing connects us to all living things. It’s the heart of all life 🌎

3. Optimal Mouth Posture at Rest

“The correct oral posture, the one that appears most conducive to jaw development, is (when not speaking or eating) holding the mouth closed with teeth in light contact and the tongue resting on the roof of the mouth.”

- Sandra Kahn and Paul Erhlich, Jaws

I struggle following these guidelines all day, but here is the most succinct description I’ve found on optimal mouth posture at rest.

Maybe it will inspire you to notice your mouth posture more today 🙏

4. It’s Not the Highs; It’s Who You Become

“It's not the highs along the way that matter. It's who you become.”

- Daniel Goleman & Richard Davidson, Altered Traits

That’s a perfect rule of thumb for any contemplative practice (like breathing).  Experiencing highs & improving biomarkers of health and wellness is meaningful, but it’s who you become that matters most.

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Day 1: The Four Paths of a Generalist

Day 2: How to Read Books Efficiently

Day 3: How to Find Science Papers Worth Reading

Day 4: How to Decide Which Books and Papers to Read

Day 5: Become More You, Become Irreplaceable

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1 Quote

“If you would foster a calm spirit, first regulate your breathing; for when that is under control, the heart will be at peace; but when breathing is spasmodic, then it will be troubled.””

— Kariba Ekken

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1 Answer

Category: Breathing and Brain

Answer: This neural network is critical to generating breathing rhythm.

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(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

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Question: What is the Pre-Bötzinger complex?

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In good breath,

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

P.S. Google Maps every time

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* 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.

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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.

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

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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 😊

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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 🙏

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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?”

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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.

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1 Quote

“Once you establish an inner calm, you will transmit it naturally to others.””

— Richard Brown and Patricia Gerbarg

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1 Answer

Category: Nose

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

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(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

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Question: What is a deviated septum?

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In good breath,

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

P.S. That’s not how averages work

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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 🙏

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* 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.

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

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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 😊

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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.

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Want to Become a Unique and Irreplaceable Breath Coach?

It takes just 30 minutes a week.

Here’s exactly how.

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1 Quote

“Here, the need for healing was not synonymous with brokenness. It was part of life.””

— Lisa Miller, Ph.D.

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1 Answer

Category: Alveoli

Answer: These holes allow communication between two adjacent alveoli.

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(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

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Question: What are the Pores of Kohn?

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In good breath,

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

P.S. SECRETS TO SUCCESS

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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!

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* 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.

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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.

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

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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 😊

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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.

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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.

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1 Quote

“We must meet hate with love. We must meet physical force with soul force.””

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

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1 Answer

Category: Stress

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

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(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

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Question: What is oxidative stress?

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

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In good breath,

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

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

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* 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.

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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.

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

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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 😊

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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.

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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

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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

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1 Answer

Category: Airway Anatomy

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

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(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

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Question: What is the nasal cavity?

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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

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* 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.

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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.