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I hope the next 28’ish breaths are the most nourishing of your day.
4 THOUGHTS
1. Breathing is Self-Expression, Helping You Discover Who You Are
“It may not be possible to know who you are without somehow expressing it.”
- Rick Rubin, The Creative Act
That’s so good.
And fortunately, we’re always expressing ourselves through our breathing; the state of our body, mind, and spirit are articulated in every breath. When we tune into it, it helps us discover who we are.
2. How Slow Breathing Sends Calm Messages to the Body and Mind
“When we breathe slow and steady, with the abdomen rising and falling with the breath, the messages that get sent to the brain through the vagus nerve are messages of steadiness, evenness, rhythmicity, safety, and control. The brain will receive these messages, and then respond in kind, sending messages back down to the body and releasing hormones and neurotransmitters that are a response to safety. The body will relax, and homeostasis will be supported.”
- Eddie Stern, Healing Through Breathing
That sounds pretty amazing, but it’s even better when you experience it yourself. Go give it a try for 5 minutes and see how you feel 🙏
P.S. And be sure to get Eddie’s great new book, if you haven’t already.
3. How to Live Well: Immerse Yourself in the Breath
“Living well, therefore, is merely a game of learning how to steer our energy toward life. It requires us to direct our loving attention toward the pulse that ebbs and flows within us, finding the precise rhythm of how that energy moves and immersing ourselves in it. When we do so, life comes alive.”
– Gladys McGarey, MD, The Well-Lived Life
This is exactly what we do when we focus on our breath: we immerse ourselves in “the pulse that ebbs and flows within us, finding the precise rhythm of how that energy moves.” And life comes alive.
So here’s to immersing ourselves in the breath to live well, today 🙏
4. Ignoring Our Minds in Mindfulness
In many ways, mindfulness is actually about learning to ignore our minds and, instead, listen to our hearts.
Meaning that with mindfulness, you learn that your mind thinks thoughts. You learn to allow them to occur without much judgment. You actually ignore your mind so you can cultivate more of your heart.
1 Quote
“Being alive is a miracle. Just sitting there, enjoying your in-breath and out-breath is already happiness. Since you’re breathing in and out, you know that you’re alive. That’s something worth celebrating.””
1 Answer
Category: Breath-Heart Connection
Answer: During inhalation, changes in chest and abdominal pressures increase this, which is a critical component of overall cardiovascular circulation that ensures the blood gets reoxygenated.
…
(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)
…
Question: What is venous return (blood flow back to the heart)?
In good breath,
Nick Heath, T1D, PhD
“Breathing is the compound interest of health & wellness.”
P.S. the most universal breathing exercise (sound on)
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Amazon Associate Disclosure
I’ve been recommending books for almost 6 years. Yet somehow, I just discovered that I could be an Amazon affiliate [face-palm]. In any case better late than never. Now, any Amazon link you click is an affiliate link. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. So, if you’d like to support my work, buying books through these links is helpful : )
* An asterisk by a quote indicates that I listened to this book on Audible. Therefore, the quotation might not be correct, but is my best attempt at reproducing the punctuation based on the narrator’s pace, tone, and pauses.