Aging, Wonderful Outcomes, and the Secret of an Unhurried Mind

1. The Secret of an Unhurried Mind

Since achieving a calmer mind and living more in the moment are almost universal outcomes of breathing and meditation, here’s a beautiful passage to contemplate as more motivation to practice:

“But gradually I understood that living completely in the present is the secret of an unhurried mind. When the mind is not rushing about in a hurry, it is calm, alert, and ready for anything. And a calm mind sees deeply, which opens the door to tremendous discoveries: rich relationships, excellence in work, a quiet sense of joy. It was a revelation. There was a door to the discovery of peace and meaning in every moment! All I needed to open it was a quiet mind.”

– Eknath Easwaran, Take Your Time

2. How Mindfulness Helps with Aging: An Alternative to Eternal Youth

“An alternative to seeking eternal youth was suggested by the famous baseball pitcher Satchel Paige: ‘Age isn’t a problem. It’s a question of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.’ Mindfulness practice helps us not mind so much.”

– Ronald Siegel, Psy.D., The Mindfulness Solution

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Dr. Siegel says mindfulness helps us “not mind so much” by teaching us that everything changes, all we have is the present moment, our thoughts aren’t reality, and we’re all connected.

So, here’s to living more mindfully to (somewhat paradoxically) not mind the aging process 🙏

3. Bound to Have Wonderful Outcomes

“As I’m fond of saying, small tweaks lead to big changes, and a little attention goes a long way. A few minutes of slow breathing is a small tweak—perhaps just one percent of our day—and that little bit of attention to the very thing that sustains our life is bound to have wonderful outcomes.” ​

– Eddie Stern, Healing Through Breathing

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​Here’s an excellent reminder to occasionally slow down and pay attention to the very thing that sustains life—your breath. As Eddie says, it’s “bound to have wonderful outcomes.”

4. How to Infuse with Life Force

“On a very basic level, when we're consciously aware of the in-breath and the out-breath we infuse ourselves with that life force and anchor ourselves in our own deep center space.”

- George Mumford, The Mindful Athlete

So. Good.

Here’s to infusing with our life force a little more this week 👏

"The body is solid material wrapped around the breath."

— — Ida Rolf

P.S. Thanks to Nerissa for sharing. It’s one of my new favorite quotes.

Category: Lung Alveoli

Answer: Surfactant reduces this within lung alveoli, which prevents them (especially smaller alveoli) from collapsing during exhalation.

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(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

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Question: What is surface tension?

In good breath,

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

P.S. They’re my new hero, too

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