Learned Hope, Suffering vs. Peace, and a Perfect Quote on Breathwork

1. A Perfect Quote on Breathing from Dr. Andrew Weil

“Breath work—learning how to change breathing habits and practicing specific breathing techniques—has remarkable effects on physiology. It cannot cause harm, requires no equipment, and costs nothing. It can correct some cardiac arrhythmias and gastrointestinal problems, for example, and is the most effective treatment I know for anxiety, as well as the simplest method of stress reduction.”

- Andrew Weil, MD, Mind Over Meds

That is all 🤯

2. One Key Reason Breathing is So Powerful Actually Has Nothing to do with Breathing

Have you heard of learned helplessness? When we’re subjected to adversity we can’t control, we give up. Then later on, we give up in situations we can control.

However, I recently learned in Transcend that helplessness isn’t actually “learned” per se; it’s actually our default reaction to prolonged adversity.

To overcome that default, we need what Kaufman calls “learned hope:”

“the perception that [we] can control and harness the unpredictability in [our] environment.”

In my opinion, this is why breathing is so powerful. It’s not that there’s some magical breathing method out there. It’s that once we see our ability to control our body and emotions through the breath, we develop learned hope.

We believe we can retake control again. And then we do.

3. Who’s Breath Are You Focusing On? Suffering vs. Peace

When you first learn about breathing, it’s natural to notice how poorly everyone else does it. And it’s natural to want to fix them.

But let’s remember that trying to change others will lead to suffering.

Focusing on what you can control—your breath—will lead to peace.

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P.S. This was inspired by this excellent Optimize +1.

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