Soul Physiology, Laughter Heals, and a Great Zen Master

1. Nurturing Our Body and Soul’s Physiology

1. The way we nurture our body’s physiology is through breathing.

2. The way we nurture our soul’s physiology is through love.

Thus, we can perform a breath practice followed by loving-kindness meditation as a simple yet deeply restoring way to start each day 🙏

2. A Technical (yet elegant) Reminder of the Power of the Breath

“The parasympathetic and sympathetic systems are tonically active, with efferent pathways extending from the brainstem and hypothalamus to all major peripheral organs and afferent nerves from the lungs, airways, and heart, projecting to the brainstem and to the hypothalamus and higher order neural regions. Because of this anatomical connectivity, changes in breathing rate are quickly signaled to the brain, allowing the brain to interpret that the body is in a relaxed, calm state, and safe state.”

- Crosswell et al. 2024

Be sure to take advantage of this “anatomical connectivity” this week 🙏

P.S. Don’t forget to check out the Science 411 on this one too.

3. There is No Hedonic Adaptation to This

“You might have thought that when we more often experience awe in the wonders of life, those wonders lose their power. This is known as the law of hedonic adaptation, that certain pleasures…diminish with their increased occurrence. Not so with awe. The more we practice awe, the richer it gets.”

– Dacher Keltner, Awe: The New Science of…

“The more we practice awe, the richer it gets.” This excellent idea explains why daily practices like breathing, meditation, time in nature, or reading timeless wisdom never lose their potency.

Each of these brings awe, connecting us closer to our true selves, and there is no hedonic adaptation to that 🙏

4. A Great Zen Master Was Once Asked

“A great Zen master renowned for his wisdom was once asked, ‘What’s the most remarkable thing you’ve learned in all of your years of meditation and study?’ He answered, ‘The most remarkable thing is that we’re all going to die but we live each day as though it weren’t so.’”

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

"Wholehearted, ready laughter heals, encourages, relaxes anyone within hearing distance."

— — Eugenia Price

Category: Heart-Brain Connection

Answer: The heart might be able to communicate with the brain through the vagus nerve via the firing of these, sometimes referred to as “the little brain of the heart.”

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(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

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Question: What are intrinsic cardiac neurons?

In good breath,

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

P.S. Alright Sam has command of the board

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