Proper Breathing, Emotional Control, and the Best Time Management

1. Proper Breathing is an Important Step in Any Performance

“So if your intention is to access the power, the skill, the magic that resides in your unconscious, that vast storehouse of capability that you tap into when you lose your mind and come to your senses, then proper breathing is an important step to take throughout any performance.”

— Dr. Nate Zinsser, The Confident Mind

Just a nice reminder that, whether our performance is in sports, parenting, a job presentation, or anything else, proper breathing is an important first step in showing up at our best.

2. The Most Effective Time Management Technique

“All of this illustrates what might be termed the paradox of limitation, which runs through everything that follows: the more you try to manage your time with the goal of achieving a feeling of total control, and freedom from the inevitable constraints of being human, the more stressful, empty, and frustrating life gets… But I’m aware of no other time management technique that’s half as effective as just facing the way things truly are.”

— Oliver Burkeman, Four Thousand Weeks

When we try to “out manage” the fundamental limitations of being human with the latest productivity hacks, we often end up creating more stress and frustration.

A more effective approach? “Facing the ways things truly are.”

In many ways, that sounds a lot like the goal of every mindfulness practice 😊

3. The Key to Emotional Control Is…

“The key to emotional control is breath control. Breath control is the ultimate weapon. It is the simplest, safest, cheapest, most accessible handle there is for mastering emotional control.”

— Jim Loehr, Breathe In, Breathe Out

And the best part? It only takes a few slow, deliberate breaths to feel its effects.

The hard part, of course, is remembering to do this when our emotions are spiraling. That’s where mindfulness comes in, providing the space to pause, notice, and breathe.

4. How to Not Waste Your Days

“The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.”

— Nicolas Chamfort

And to wrap up, here’s our reminder that one of the best uses of mindfulness is to remember to not take ourselves too seriously… and to laugh as much as possible.

“Meditation is not escape; it is intimacy with reality.”

— Jiddu Krishnamurti

In good breath,

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

P.S. the key to a happy life

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