Blue Mind

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A Fulfilling Life, How to End, and How to Meditate without Meditating

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I hope the next 29’ish breaths are the most nourishing of your day.


4 THOUGHTS

1. There is No Single Path to a Fulfilling Life

“It may be helpful to receive advice from more experienced artists, but as information, not as prescription…

Established artists generally draw from their personal experience and recommend the solutions that worked for them. These tend to be specific to their journey, not yours. It’s worth remembering that their way is not the way.

Your path is unique, for only you to follow. There is no single route to great art.”

- Rick Rubin, The Creative Act

Likewise, the methods experienced breathing and mindfulness teachers use are specific to their journey, not yours. There is no single path to a fulfilling life.

2. Soak It In: How We End Our Practice Matters

“The way we finish a practice is as important as the doing of it itself. So, as we do the practices in this audio, try to let each breath be an opportunity to practice awareness, and at the end of each practice, take a moment to soak it in, like liquid into a sponge, and that transformative state will then become assimilated within you.”

- Eddie Stern, Healing Through Breathing

That last part is so good for any contemplative practice: “take a moment to soak it in, like liquid into a sponge, and that transformative state will then become assimilated within you.”

If you feel so inspired, give it a try after your next session 🙏

3. Let Nature Meditate You

“This is the huge advantage of water: you don’t need to meditate to take advantage of its healing effects because it meditates you.”

– Wallace J Nichols, Blue Mind

“You don’t need to meditate…because it meditates you.” That’s so good. And it applies to basically any time in nature, not just water.

So, let that excellent quote be motivation to get out in the environment a little more this week 🙏

4. Breath Awareness vs. Breath Control

Breath observation shows you who you are. Breath control shows you who you can be.

Meaning that breath awareness allows us to tune into the state of our body, mind, and spirit. But breath control reminds us that, in many circumstances, we can radically transform how we feel.

1 Quote

“When you learn to stay with the breathing, to sink deep within your consciousness, you find that there is an intrinsic happiness there that has nothing to do with sensual pleasures, and it gives your life a whole new balance.””
— Larry Rosenberg

1 Answer

Category: Blood Circulation

Answer: These are so narrow that red blood cells must travel single file to pass through them, which also helps maximize contact with air.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What are the capillaries surrounding the alveoli?

In good breath,

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

P.S. scroll through for funny breathing memes

P.P.S. Check out The Breathing App for Diabetes to have Eddie Stern and me guide you through a 28-day slow breathing program.

Coaching

I can currently work with one more person if you can meet on weekends. Just send an email to nick@thebreathingdiabetic.com, and we can discuss it further 🙏

Amazon Associate Disclosure

I’ve been recommending books for almost 6 years. Yet somehow, I just discovered that I could be an Amazon affiliate [face-palm]. In any case better late than never. Now, any Amazon link you click is an affiliate link. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. So, if you’d like to support my work, buying books through these links is helpful : )

* An asterisk by a quote indicates that I listened to this book on Audible. Therefore, the quotation might not be correct, but is my best attempt at reproducing the punctuation based on the narrator’s pace, tone, and pauses.

 
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Is Resonance Overrated, Breathing 3.0, and Feeling More this Week

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If you enjoy listening, you can subscribe to the audio version on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Audible so you don’t even have to look at the email 😊

 

4 Thoughts



1. The ROI for Our Daily Morning Self-Care Practice

“Think of mindful meditation as a smart investment of your time, offering such returns as being less reactive, less stressed, and more alert, grateful, and content. All of these will help you optimize the rest of your morning and whatever else the day brings.”

- Laurie Cameron, The Mindful Day

Those returns sound good (& really apply to any daily self-care practice you do).

And remember, by being less reactive, less stressed, more alert, and more grateful, everyone you interact with will also profit. 👏

2. Breathing 3.0: Directing our Own Lives

“Motivation 3.0 is all about intrinsic motivation. It’s spurred by Pink’s belief that ‘the secret to high performance isn’t our biological drive or our reward-and-punishment drive, but our third drive—our deep-seated desire to direct our own lives, to extend and expand our abilities, and to make a contribution.’” (my emphasis)

- Peter Hollins, The Science of Self-Learning

This made me think we should create Breathing 3.0: It’s not focused on any one benefit or method. Instead, it’s about “our deep-seated desire to direct our own lives, to extend and expand our abilities, and to make a contribution.”

What better way to do all those than with our body’s most important function?

3. Slow Breathing With or Without Resonance Gives Similar Benefits

“Within the context of this study, we found that breathing at RF or RF + 1 induced significant hemodynamic and autonomic changes but we were unable to detect any differences between the two breathing schemes. This raises the question as to whether precise measurement of the RF is essential for the reported beneficial clinical effects of individualized RF or a standardized paced breathing at 5–7 breaths per min is all that is required.” (my emphasis)

Acute effects of resonance frequency breathing on cardiovascular regulation

Two key points from this paper:

  1. We each have a personal resonance frequency (RF) breathing rate theorized to maximize the benefits of our slow breathing practice.

  2. However, slow breathing at, or close to, our RF gives similar beneficial cardio-autonomic outcomes.

My less scientific but practical takeaway for our daily practice:

  • Don’t stress over finding your “perfect” rate. Just use a comfortable pace that’s less than 7 breaths/min, and enjoy the power of slow breathing.

4. Breathing’s Biggest Benefit is…

“But for me, and for millions of people everywhere, the best and biggest benefits of water are all emotional …. Try as we might, no amount of scientific data, fMRI scans, EEG readings, or carefully designed research projects can really show us exactly what we feel at those moments.” (my bold)

- Wallace J Nichols, Blue Mind

Likewise, I think the same is true for our breathing (or really any contemplative) practice we might use: The best benefits are emotional.

Try as we might, nothing can show us exactly how we feel in those moments.

So make sure you feel more of them, this week 🙏

1 Quote

“I think it’s fair to say that when you have your attention on your breath, it’s in a safe place. It’s like putting your consciousness in neutral.”
— Andrew Weil, MD
 

1 Answer

Category: Breathing Forces

Answer: Our breathing muscles and airways don’t actually move air, but instead create differences in this between the atmosphere and lungs, which forces air into (inhalation) or out of (exhalation) the lungs.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What are differences in air pressure?

In good breath,

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

P.S. My worst nightmare

Breathing for Diabetes Online Course ($99):

If you love learning about breathing, want to live a healthier life, or just want to support my work, I think you’ll really enjoy this class (diabetes or not).

 
 

* An asterisk by a quote indicates that I listened to this book on Audible. Therefore, the quotation might not be correct, but is my best attempt at reproducing the punctuation based on the narrator’s pace, tone, and pauses.

Sign Up For The Breathing 411

Each Monday, I curate and synthesize information from scientific journals, books, articles, and podcasts to share 4 thoughts, 1 quote, and 1 answer (like "Jeopardy!") related to breathing. It’s a fun way to learn something new each week.

 
 
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Head and Heart, Best Advice, and Why All Breathwork Works

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If you enjoy listening, you can subscribe to the audio version on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Audible so you don’t even have to look at the email 😊

 

4 Thoughts



1. Why All Breathwork Works: The Brain, Lungs, and Speed Dial

“Over thousands of years of evolution, fast and powerful pathways between the respiratory system and the brain have been established. If breathing stops, death occurs within minutes, and so the brain prioritizes messages from the lungs above all others.”

- Charley Morley, Wake Up to Sleep
(Thanks to D.A. for this excellent recommendation)

This idea has been said in many different ways, but this version resonates profoundly with me. And, it concisely summarizes why all breathwork works: “the brain prioritizes messages from the lungs above all others.”

2. For Breathing, We Need Emotion and Science, Head and Heart

“It’s time to drop the old notions of separation between emotion and science—for ourselves and our future. Just as rivers join on their way to the ocean, to understand Blue Mind we need to draw together separate streams: analysis and affection; elations and experimentation; head and heart.”

- Wallace J Nichols, Blue Mind

This is a beautiful passage, and it couldn’t be any truer for breathing, too: we need “analysis and affection; elations and experimentation; head and heart.”

Breathing is where all these rivers join and flow into the ocean of life.

3. Resonance Breathing for Sleep: A Real-World Example

“I have found that just a few minutes of resonance breathing each day has improved my sleep, and my ability to fall asleep much more quickly. … Resonance breathing has helped me to get in touch with the parasympathetic branch of the nervous system that rules rest. When I lie down to sleep at night, I can sense sleep much more readily, and I can give into it.”

- Eddie Stern, One Simple Thing

A few weeks ago, we discussed a study showing that slow breathing before sleep improves sleep quality and vagal tone.

But better than any study, here’s a real-world example from Eddie Stern. In fact, it was so powerful for Eddie that he went and created a resonance breathing app.

Use it tonight for better sleep.

4. The Best Advice I’ve Read for Our Daily Practice

“The practice itself has to become the daily embodiment of your vision and contain what you value most deeply. It doesn't mean trying to change or be different from how you are, calm when you're not feeling calm, or kind when you really feel angry. Rather, it is bearing in mind what is most important to you so that it is not lost or betrayed in the heat and reactivity of a particular moment.” (my emphasis)

- Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., Wherever You Go There You Are

It’s taken me 5 years of daily practice to even begin to understand this statement.

No matter how long you are into yours, I hope this hits home for you too 🙏

1 QUOTE

“The practices of breathing and working with your body are about re-empowering you. They’re about connecting you with your own mind, your own body, your own will and your ability to live and to value your life.”
— Daniel Libby, Ph.D.
 

1 ANSWER

Category: Brain-Lung Communication

Answer: One of the ways in which the brain has the lungs on “speed dial” is through information sent & received from this nerve.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is the vagus nerve?

P.S. I know this was a softball for many of you, but it fit too good with Thought #1 to leave off here : )

Two Extras: A Speaking Event and a Blog

1. Breathe Your Way to Better Health: A Presentation Format of The Breathing 411

I’m honored to be speaking at the Ziva Lifestyle Summit: Your Health Begins with You. For talks, I always draw from this newsletter to combine a variety of sources in a fun and (hopefully) useful way. So, if you like this newsletter, I think you’ll enjoy it.

Here are the event details. I hope to see you there!

2. Reduce Stress with Slow Deep Breathing

Here’s another guest blog I wrote for ResBiotic titled Reduce Stress with Slow Deep Breathing. I hope you enjoy it!

In good breath,

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

P.S. 6 months since I joined the gym

Breathing for Diabetes:

If you love learning about breathing, or just want to live an overall healthier life, I think you’ll really enjoy this class (diabetes or not).

 
 

* An asterisk by a quote indicates that I listened to this book on Audible. Therefore, the quotation might not be correct, but is my best attempt at reproducing the punctuation based on the narrator’s pace, tone, and pauses.

Sign Up For The Breathing 411

Each Monday, I curate and synthesize information from scientific journals, books, articles, and podcasts to share 4 thoughts, 1 quote, and 1 answer (like "Jeopardy!") related to breathing. It’s a fun way to learn something new each week.

 
 
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Eloquent Exhales, 3 Books, and Adding Sound for More Benefit

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Listen Instead of Reading

If you enjoy listening, you can subscribe to the audio version on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Audible so you don’t even have to look at the email 😊

 

4 Thoughts



1. A More Eloquent Way to Say “Extend Your Exhale”

Here’s a more eloquent way to say, “extend your exhale,” which applies to all aspects of life: Give more than you receive.

***

P.S. This was inspired by two of my favorite teachers, Eddie Stern & Emily Hightower. See the audio version above at the 38-sec mark for the full story.

2. Get More Benefits Out of Your Practice with No Added Effort

“Petr Janata…is a cognitive neuroscientist and expert on music in the brain. He theorizes that the low frequency of the sound of water, coupled with its rhythmic nature, is similar to the frequency and rhythm of human breath. Sound, Janata contends, ‘affects our brain and influences our emotions. If I ask you to close your eyes and turn on a recording of the ocean, I can change your mood immediately.’”

- Wallace J Nichols, Blue Mind

Here’s a simple way to increase the benefits of your breathing or meditation practice: add the sound of water. You can use headphones or sit outside near a body of moving water if you’re lucky enough to have one nearby.

Here’s a playlist I have been using and enjoying. I hope you do too 🏝

3. Slow Breathing is My Favorite, but Here’s Why Most Methods Work

“Differences in the effects of various stress management approaches are minor compared to the general goal of inducing a relaxation response. For more than fifty years, Harvard’s Professor Herbert Benson, author of The Relaxation Response, demonstrated that almost any type of relaxation inducer—prayer, meditation, rhythmic breathing, visualization, or biofeedback—can rapidly reverse the more than five hundred genes that are turned on by stress. In addition, those who regularly practice a relaxation method have better long-term health, recover faster from health challenges, and use fewer medical services.”

- Wayne Jonas, MD, How Healing Works

Sounds good to me 🤯

4. One Overarching Goal for Our Breathing

“Learn to do less, but more often.”

- Dr. Jason Selk & Tom Bartow, Organize Tomorrow Today

A perfect overarching goal for our breathing is:

Learn to breathe less, but more often.

P.S. to Thoughts 2, 3, and 4

These three books, Blue Mind, How Healing Works, and Organize Tomorrow Today, have significantly changed my life over the past few months. If you’re looking for something to read, I can’t recommend them enough.


1 QUOTE

“Western science is now finally catching up to the fact that controlled breathing practices can at least ‘enhance immunity, improve cardiovascular fitness, modulate chronic disease and increase longevity’, and at most lead to almost superhuman feats.”
— Charlie Morley
 

1 ANSWER

Category: Deep Breathing & the Lungs

Answer: Deep breathing stretches the alveoli and increases their surface area, which reduces this and leads to better gas exchange in the lungs.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is dead space ventilation?

In good breath,

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

P.S. Your call is very important to us.

P.P.S. Happy Birthday LP!

Breathing for Diabetes:

If you love learning about breathing, or just want to live an overall healthier life, I think you’ll really enjoy this class (diabetes or not).

 
 

* An asterisk by a quote indicates that I listened to this book on Audible. Therefore, the quotation might not be correct, but is my best attempt at reproducing the punctuation based on the narrator’s pace, tone, and pauses.

Sign Up For The Breathing 411

Each Monday, I curate and synthesize information from scientific journals, books, articles, and podcasts to share 4 thoughts, 1 quote, and 1 answer (like "Jeopardy!") related to breathing. It’s a fun way to learn something new each week.

 
 
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Easy & Natural Resistance Breathing, Flow, and How to Fall Back Asleep

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Listen Instead of Reading

If you enjoy listening, you can subscribe to the audio version on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Audible so you don’t even have to look at the email 😊

 

4 Thoughts



1. How to Deal with Distraction (a method that actually works)

“I realized then that to recover from our loss of attention, it is not enough to strip out our distractions. That will just create a void. We need to strip out our distractions and to replace them with sources of flow.”

- Johann Hari, Stolen Focus

When we talk about focus, we hear a lot of the same advice. Put away your phone. Delete apps. It’s your own fault; you just need discipline.

However, Hari provides a better approach: “Seeking out flow, I learned, is far more effective than self-punishing shame.”

There are lots of ways we can do this, but my favorite is to use a focusing breathing technique to put us in a flow-like state. Then, we get to work.

Remember: Don’t shame yourself for lack of discipline. Instead, create flow.

2. Natural Resistance Breathing: Aquatic Exercise Strengthens Breathing Muscles

“The lungs are receiving a greater volume of blood as well, which, combined with the pressure that water exerts on the chest wall, makes them work harder to breathe—approximately 60% harder than on land. This means that aquatic exercise can strengthen the respiratory muscles and improve their efficiency.”

- Wallace J Nichols, Blue Mind
(I can’t recommend this book enough.)

If you don’t have a device for resistance breathing, here’s a free alternative: aquatic exercise. You get the calming effects of the water while also strengthening your breathing muscles. A natural and soothing win-win 🙏

3. Breath Counting, Worry, and Falling Back to Sleep

“Counting is handled by the same area of the brain that’s responsible for worrying. It’s difficult to do both at the same time, so counting is exceptionally effective at crowding out stress, calming a busy brain, and enhancing focus.”

- Leah Lagos, Psy.D., Heart Breath Mind

It’s hard to count and worry at the same time. So, when we wake up, and our minds start worrying about things, breath counting is particularly helpful.

Here’s how to use it: simply count in your head each time you exhale. Count up to 10, and then restart at one until you fall asleep. Simple & highly effective.

4. Great-Great-Grandchildren & the Ultimate Goal

“When we’re shooting hoops, my grandson—John Wooden’s great-great grandson—will use the backboard on a shot and say, ‘That’s what Paw-Paw wanted me to do.’”

- Jim Wooden, Foreword to Organize Tomorrow Today

After reading this, my new life goal is to have my great-great-grandchildren breathing through their noses, saying, “that’s what paw-paw wanted me to do.”

Maybe it’s not breathing for you, but it’s fun to ask yourself this question: What do you want your great-great-grandchildren doing because of the life you lived?


1 QUOTE

“A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.”
— Maya Angelou
 

1 ANSWER

Category: Breathing Reflexes

Answer: This reflex, bearing two people’s names, is generally what prevents the lungs from over-inflating.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is the Herring-Breuer reflex?

In good breath,

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

P.S. Tom Reasonable

Breathing for Diabetes:

If you love learning about breathing, or just want to live an overall healthier life, I think you’ll really enjoy this class (diabetes or not).

 
 

* An asterisk by a quote indicates that I listened to this book on Audible. Therefore, the quotation might not be correct, but is my best attempt at reproducing the punctuation based on the narrator’s pace, tone, and pauses.

Sign Up For The Breathing 411

Each Monday, I curate and synthesize information from scientific journals, books, articles, and podcasts to share 4 thoughts, 1 quote, and 1 answer (like "Jeopardy!") related to breathing. It’s a fun way to learn something new each week.