Hello, and happy Monday. Here are 4 thoughts, 1 quote, and 1 answer for you to consider as we wrap up October.
4 THOUGHTS
1. Is this Stuff Really in Textbooks?
Carbon dioxide (CO2) and the Bohr effect have motivated almost all the interest in breathing for health and performance.
CO2 is said to loosen the bond between oxygen and hemoglobin, allowing more efficient release into the tissues (the Bohr effect). Thus, counterintuitively, by breathing less (retaining more CO2), we actually get more oxygen.
It is often stated that this is just basic (but underappreciated) physiology that is in all the medical textbooks. Luckily, I find joy in reading medical books I don’t fully understand : ) Here’s what I have found:
- “Hemoglobin’s affinity for oxygen is also influenced by pH, carbon dioxide concentration, and body temperature…it releases it more readily under conditions of…increased carbon dioxide concentration." - Essentials of Pathophysiology, pg. 534
- “The shift of the curve to the right may be seen as a compensation that results in greater release of oxygen to the tissues…Temperature affects the relationship (increases in body temperature shift the curve to the right), as do carbon dioxide." - Respiratory Physiology, A Clinical Approach, pg. 110
- “Most of the effect of PCO2, which is known as the Bohr effect, can be attributed to its action on H+ concentration. A rightward shift means more unloading of O2 at a given PO2 in a tissue capillary." - Respiratory Physiology, The Essentials, pg. 91
So yes, this is basic physiology. It’s nothing new. But knowledge is only potential energy. What we’re doing is applying this knowledge in a simple way. Breathe less, get more.
2. A New Nose-Unblocking Exercise
Patrick McKeown’s nose unblocking exercise is phenomenal. It’s simple, and you feel it immediately. However, no one knows precisely how it works. My hypothesis is that it’s primarily due to nasal nitric oxide (but have no way of testing this, except on myself).
It just so happens that last week we discovered a way of breathing that increases nasal nitric oxide (nose in - mouth out). It also just so happens that I got a terribly stuffy nose during that same time.
So, here was my N=1 test. If the unblocking exercise works due to NO, it would stand that performing nasal-in, mouth-out breathing would help clear my nose.
So here’s what I did. I inhaled through my nose, pinched my nose, slowly exhaled through my mouth as long as I could comfortably, and repeated. And, lo and behold, it helped.
However, it took much longer than Patrick’s method (about 2 minutes for me). And, it wasn’t nearly as dramatic. Each breath only opened it slightly more. Conversely, in Patrick’s version, you go from blocked to open almost instantly.
What does this mean? Well, nothing, really. There are many factors to consider. But it *might* be suggesting that NO is, in fact, the “unblocking” mechanism.
So, here’s my request: If you get a stuffy nose this cold season, give it a try and let me know if it does anything for you. N=1 means nothing statistically, but it’s better than nothing practically.
3. For the Practice or For the Results? Why Not Both?
"How do you best move toward mastery? To put it simply, you practice diligently, but you practice primarily for the sake of the practice itself." - Robert Greene, Mastery
Why do you practice breathing? For the practice itself, or for the outcome?
What I love about breathing is that it can be both. In fact, you automatically take care of both, regardless of which one you are focusing on. It’s health and mastery, wrapped in our body’s most important function.
4. Woo-Woo or Wu-Wei?
"It refers to the dynamic, effortless, and unselfconscious state of mind of a person who is optimally active and effective."
- Edward Slingerland, Trying Not to Try
Wu-Wei literally means "effortless action." If it didn’t sound so much like "woo-woo," it might be the perfect definition of ideal breathing.
We train our breathing so that we don’t have to think about it. We train our breathing to achieve this state of effortless yet highly effective action.
1 QUOTE
“It’s not enough to understand; you’ve got to do something.”
- Sandra Day O’Connor
1 ANSWER
Answer: On one breath, the world record for this movement is 81.6 meters.
…
(Cue the Jeopardy music.)
…
Question: What is underwater walking?
(P.S. The video is pretty amazing. Watch out Laird.)
In good breath,
Nick
P.S. Very Scary.