Gurucharan Singh Khalsa

Elevated Mood, Tremendous Breath Energy, and How to Move a Ship

 

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. State vs. Trait Breathing

  • State Breathing: How your breathing changes during and immediately after an experience (e.g., breathwork, yoga, a stressful event, etc.).

  • Trait Breathing: Your everyday breathing. How you breathe when you’re not thinking about it.

The goal is to purposefully use our state breathing to improve our trait breathing.

***

P.S. This thought was inspired by this Optimize +1 on states vs. traits.

2. Applying Ancient Greek Philosophy to Our Breathing

And that was what ancient Greek philosophy did. It involved a two-fold process: first make the habitual conscious, then make the conscious habitual. … Philosophy is a training, a set of daily mental and physical exercises that become easier with practice. … After enough training, we naturally feel the right emotion in the right situation, and do the right thing.

- Jules Evans, Philosophy for Life and Other Dangerous Situations

Speaking of states vs. traits, here’s how the ancient Greeks applied that concept to practicing philosophy. We’re essentially using their process for our breathing:

  • When we become aware of our breathing, we’re “making the habitual conscious.”

  • When we use breathing exercises regularly, we’re “making the conscious habitual.”

With enough training, hopefully we’ll breathe optimally in every situation.

***

P.S. If you’re like me, this process won’t happen quickly…it might even take the rest of our lives <— you can obviously count me in 😂. I hope you’ll join me 🙏

3. Elevate Your Mood and Command Your Energy Levels with this Practice

Breathwalk is the science of combining specific patterns of breathing synchronized with your walking steps and enhanced with the art of directed, meditative attention. … By learning how to consciously breathe and walk, you can elevate your mood, command your energy levels, and shift your mental gears, as you need.

- Gurucharan Khalsa, Ph.D., & Yogi Bhajan, Ph.D., Breathwalk

Just a quick reminder of how easy and powerful breathwalking is.

There are countless ways of doing it, but you can start with a 4:4 or 8:8 cadence: inhale 4 (or 8) steps, exhale 4 (or 8) steps. Adjust as needed.

Enjoy elevating your mood and energy levels with this simple practice.

4. How to Sustain an Unusual Life: Tremendous Breath Energy

Having breath energy in a body is like having water in a river: the same water can both topple a boat and carry a boat. The breath energy can both build and destroy a body. When there are deep waters, unusually large ships can be carried. When tremendous breath energy is accumulated, unusual life can be maintained.

- The Primordial Breath, Volume II

Here’s to building “tremendous breath energy” so we can sustain unusually optimal lives 🙏



1 QUOTE

It’s not the towering sail, but the unseen wind that moves the ship.
— Proverb
 

1 ANSWER

Category: Breathwalking

Answer: If you took 10,000 steps per day, you could circle the earth this many times over an average lifetime.

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

Question: What is ~4-5 times?

P.S. This assumes 10,000 steps is about 4-5 miles and a 70-year life span.

P.P.S.Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time.” - Steven Wright


In good breath,

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

P.S. ideal routine before going out

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.

 
 

Applied Elegance, a Gift of Breathing, and How to Practice Philosophy

 

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. Applying the Lung's Elegant Structure to All Aspects of Our Lives

While the heart has dense striated muscle, and the brain its conglomerated networks of communicating neurons, the lung is a thin, graceful structure of interconnecting fibrous tissue that is beautifully held together with a foamy substance that lubricates its functions in a quiet and effortless manner. It is an organ of elegance, not brute strength.

- Michael J Stephen, Breath Taking

Our most important organ is designed to be graceful and flexible, not rigid and strong. To be of elegance, not strength.

Something for us to consider in all aspects of our lives…

2. Practical over Perfect: A Simple Way to Start a Breathing or Meditation Session

Breath priming means that you take a few conscious breaths to set up the flow of breathing. … We prime our breath so it can function at a higher level.

- Gurucharan Singh Khalsa, Ph.D., and Yogi Bhajan, Ph.D.

Breathwalk

I love this idea of “breath priming,” and I use it every day.

It’s pretty straightforward to do:

  1. Pick a breath that will set you up for whatever you’re about to do (for example, I use alternate nostril breathing before meditating).

  2. Other good options: breath of fire, humming, or a few physiological sighs.

  3. Do this breath for 1-3 minutes.

  4. Then start your session.

And, in my opinion, we don’t need to add more time. For a 10 min meditation, I use 2 min for priming and 8 min for meditation. Practical over perfect.

3. Breathing is Philosophy: Transforming Emotions and Living Better Lives

That’s what the teachers depicted in The School of Athens once provided: they taught their students how to transform their emotions, how to cope with adversity, how to live the best possible lives.

- Jules Evans, Philosophy for Life and Other Dangerous Situations

That sentence is exactly why I think breathing is the most direct path to practicing philosophy in our lives. With two added bonuses:

  1. Breathing is also physiology. It changes our body, allowing us to truly transform our emotions instead of just “thinking our way out of it.”

  2. There is no abstraction. You just breathe in preset patterns (like 4:6 or 4:4:4:4), see what works for you, and ignore the rest.

So here’s to being breathing philosophers, applying this stuff every day, and using our breath to help us become the best version of ourselves.

4. Internal vs External Stimuli, and a Gift of Breathing Exercises

External stimuli cause opposite or similar internal reactions, for example:

  • Our body responds to a hot environment with internal cooling.

  • But it responds to a stressful environment with internal stress.

Conversely, internal stimuli generally trigger similar external reactions:

  • Our body responds to slow breathing by interpreting the external environment as safe.

  • Our body responds to fast breathing by interpreting the external environment as dangerous.

This reveals a gift of breathing exercises. They don’t change our situation, but they do change how we interpret it, which may be just as powerful.




1 QUOTE

The breath can command the brain, and the brain can regulate our moods. This gives us a way to practically direct moods.
— Breathwalk

1 ANSWER

Category: Drive to Breathe

Answer: Your drive to breathe comes from this portion of the brain, which monitors blood pH and sends a signal to breathe when CO2 rises too high.

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

Question: What is the medulla oblongata?


In good breath,

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

Available Now:

THE BREATHING FOR DIABETES SELF-PACED WORKSHOP

If you like geeking out on breathing, or just want to live an overall healthier life, you might really enjoy the workshop, diabetes or not.

It’s packed with easy-to-understand science and super practical breathing advice that you can immediately implement. I hope you’ll check it out.

 
 

* 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.

 
 

Beating Biases, a Simple Truth, and How to Engage in Meaningful Tasks

 

🎧 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. Use Breathing to Help You Engage Fully with Life

Mindful Breathing is a useful practice in its own right. It allows us to take some time out from our busy daily routines, and often creates a restful state that allows us to recharge our batteries and find some inner peace. However, I’d like you to think of it as a versatile training tool to help you engage fully in every meaningful task in your life.

- Dr. Russ Harris, The Confidence Gap

This is the perfect way to approach any type of breath practice. We use it to find inner peace and build resiliency in a controlled environment. But, ultimately, we use that training to help us “engage fully in every meaningful task in [our] life.

2. Beating Our Negative Biases with Slow Breathing

We need to deal with real dangers. But much of the time we overestimate threats, which is an aspect of the negativity bias, and don't feel as safe as we actually are. This makes us feel bad, and it wears down physical and mental health over time.”*

- Rick Hanson, Ph.D., Neurodharma

Evolution wired us to notice the negative about 9x more than the positive. Although that’s good for survival, it’s not so great for our everyday health.

Enter slow breathing exercises. By activating the calming parasympathetic nervous system, they teach our bodies to feel safe. This dampens the negativity bias, helping us engage fully in things that matter (see thought #1).

3. Try it and See What Happens

So, at the beginning, you might want to stay with the breath, or use it as an anchor to bring you back when you are carried away. Try it for a few years and see what happens.

- Jon Kabat-Zinn, Wherever You Go There You Are

I have nothing useful to add, except that this is the best advice I’ve read for all this breathing stuff: “Try it for a few years and see what happens.” <— Count me in 😂 I hope you will join me, too.

4. Breathwalking in its Simplest Form

Breathwalk at its very simplest means putting breathing patterns and walking together into a carefully and beautifully timed single, synchronized movement. It is walking harmonized with breathing.

- Gurucharan Singh Khalsa, Ph.D., and Yogi Bhajan, Ph.D.

Breathwalk

Breathwalking is a terrific way to combine 3 ancient wellness techniques: walking, breathing, and meditation. Here’s a good one to get started.

  • Inhale 8 steps, exhale 8 steps

  • Do this for 3 min

  • Walk normally for 2 min

  • Repeat as needed

It’s simple yet surprisingly powerful. Give it a shot and see how you feel.



1 QUOTE

“These ancient techniques are a reminder of a simple truth that any of us can choose to harness right now: Oxygen is life.”

- Tony Robbins, Life Force


1 ANSWER

Category: Lungs & Gas Transfer

Answer: This is the distance oxygen has to travel to get from the alveoli into the blood vessels, where it can start its journey around the body.

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

Question: What is 1/3 of a micron?

P.S. Michael J Stephen, MD, says that this distance is so small that it “could double without any noticeable shortness of breath at rest.


Extra: Slow Breathing is a Natural Antioxidant

I wrote a guest blog for ResBiotic titled: Want a Natural and Effective Antioxidant? It's Right Under Your Nose. Enjoy the 3-min read!


In good breath,

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

P.S. Optimist vs. Pessimist vs. …

 
 

* 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.

 
 

Values and Goals, Diverse Tactics, and 3 Shared Benefits of 15 Studies

 

🎧 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. Presto, Instant Success: Breathing (and life) Values vs. Goals

Values are ‘desired qualities of ongoing action.’ In other words, your values describe how you want to behave as a human being: how you want to act on an ongoing basis,

[…]

Goals are ‘desired outcomes.’ In other words, goals are what you want to get, complete, possess, or achieve. Goals are not ongoing. The moment you achieve a goal, you can tick it off the list;

- Russ Harris, The Confidence Gap

This is a beautiful distinction between values and goals. And it highlights why we should focus on breathing values (nasal, quiet, deep, etc.) over goals.

Goals come and go, but values are always there. As Harris says, “in any moment, we can act on our values—yes, even if we’ve neglected them for years. Presto, instant success!

Thus, anytime we act on our breathing values, no matter how long we’ve neglected them, we are instantly successful. So let’s do that, right now : )

2. Slow Breathing and Better Psychological Outcomes: 3 Shared Benefits of 15 Studies

After analyzing 15 studies, this systematic review found 3 common effects of slow breathing that were associated with positive mental outcomes:

  1. Improved heart rate variability

  2. Increased respiratory sinus arrhythmia

  3. Enhanced alpha and decreased theta brainwave activity

The Take-Home Message: Breathe slowly, enhance HRV & RSA, modify brainwave activity, and feel better.

3. Diverse Tactics: The Benefits of Learning Many Methods

So why learn to breathe other ways? Well, imagine just strolling. You can get most places and enjoy the outdoors with that stroll. But what if you want to cover ground quickly? Then you run. Or you want to reach a high tree branch. Then you jump. … For special purposes we need to learn special patterns of breathing…that fit the challenge of the moment.” (my emphasis)

- Gurucharan Singh Khalsa, Ph.D., and Yogi Bhajan, Ph.D.,

Breathwalk

We don’t need any fancy breathing to optimize our health (quiet & nasal will do most of the work). But, as we’re reminded here, there are many ways we can use our breath for various tasks and to reach different states.

Remember, “For special purposes we need to learn special patterns of breathing…that fit the challenge of the moment.

So here’s to keeping an open mind and learning a diverse set of methods so we can always match our breath to our challenge, mixed-breathing artist style.

4. Two More Tiny (but hopefully useful) Thoughts on Methods

  1. If you know only one breathing method, then you really know none; if you understand one breathing method, then you really know them all.

  2. Every method works when used correctly, but no method works for everybody.



1 QUOTE

“No one can build you the bridge on which you, and only you, must cross the river of life. … There is one path in the world that none can walk but you. Where does it lead? Don’t ask, walk!”

- Friedrich Nietzsche


1 ANSWER

Category: Evolution

Answer: These are our most recent structure evolutionarily, developing roughly 350-400 million years ago.

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

Question: What are the lungs?


In good breath,

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

P.S. & I think that’s where my anxiety started

 
 

* 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.

 
 

How to Use Less, Accomplish More, and Feel More Cognitive Power

 

🎧 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 Align Your Mental Posture to be More Cognitively Powerful

There is always a mental posture, an alignment for your mind, as well as for your physical body.

- Gurucharan Khalsa, PhD, and Yogi Bhajan, PhD, Breathwalk

Mental posture” <— I love that.

We know that when we consciously sit or stand up straight, we feel more confident and alert. But we can also align our mental posture (say, by meditating) to help us feel more cognitively powerful, too.

So let’s pick a focal point and spend a few minutes coming back to it over & over to align and strengthen our mental posture a little more, this week. 🙏

***

P.S. I took “mental posture” somewhat out of context from how the authors were using it because I just love the wording so much : )


2. Use Less: Hypometabolism, the Relaxation Response, and “Mental Posture”

A hallmark feature of the relaxation response is a significant decrease in the body’s oxygen consumption, or hypometabolism. … The body responds to techniques that elicit the relaxation response by downshifting your metabolism. By allowing your internal perpetual energy machine to ease off working so hard, much less fuel is needed to sustain the body in the hypo metabolic state characteristic of the relaxation response.”*

- Herbert Benson, MD, Timeless Healing


And when we practice mental posture for about 10 minutes, here’s one of the outcomes: we elicit the relaxation response. Our bodies use less energy, we feel at ease, and we set ourselves up for restoration and recovery.

As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, I’ve been combining this with my slow breathing practice. I inhale, and during the exhale come back to an internal mantra (mental posture 101). It’s simple and genuinely powerful.

Give it a shot and see how it feels to shift into a hypometabolic state 🧘‍♂️


3. Success is Recovery: “Accomplish More than You Ever Thought Possible”

Athletes put their bodies under stress at each training session and competition, but they are only as successful as the speed at which they recover physiologically. Your daily stresses may be different from those of an athlete, but the concept is the same. Your success is determined by the speed of your recovery. By tapping into your natural resilience through breathing and other calming exercises that activate the rest and digest part of your nervous system, you can learn to reduce stress and accomplish more than you ever thought possible.”* (my emphasis)

- Emma Seppälä, Ph.D., The Happiness Track

When you apply Thoughts #1 & 2 consistently, especially combined with slow breathing, you learn to “reduce stress and accomplish more than you ever thought possible.” Sounds good to me 😊

4. Breath is Life, Spirit, and a Divine Gift Bestowed Upon Us

If you look up the word “spirit” in the dictionary, you will find that it comes from the Latin, spirare, meaning “to breathe.” The inbreath is inspiration; the outbreath expiration. From these come all the associations of spirit with the breath of life, vital energy, consciousness, the soul, often framed as divine gifts bestowed upon us, and therefore as aspect of the holy, the numinous, the ineffable. In the deepest sense, the breath itself is the ultimate gift of spirit.

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


Just another (quite eloquent) reminder that breath is life & spirit.

Let’s use this divine gift that’s been bestowed upon us wisely. 🙏



Extra Thought: Breath is Mind: How to Be Calm, Alert, and Make Better Decisions

I wrote another guest blog for ResBiotic (which is a probiotic that targets the gut-lung axis).

It’s titled: Breath is Mind: How to Be Calm, Alert, and Make Better Decisions

It’s all about the science of the breath-mind connection. I hope you enjoy the quick 5-min read.

 

 
 

1 QUOTE

“When you feel your life out of focus, always return to basic of life. Breathing. No breathe, no life.”

- Mr. Miyagi (YouTube Clip)

 
 

 
 

1 ANSWER

Category: Mental Posture and Breathing

Answer: Breathing impacts this region of the brainstem, which is tied closely to our attention.

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

Question: What is the locus coeruleus?


In good breath,

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

P.S. 4 new pages appear

 
 
 

* 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.

 
 

Sit Up Straight, a Language of Energy, and Two Hours instead of One?

 
 

🎧 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. Mindful Low-and-Slow Breathing is “Almost Always Helpful”

“Mindful low-and-slow breathing (Chapter 2) activates the parasympathetic (relaxation) nervous system and is therefore almost always helpful in reducing physiological arousal, including bringing down skin conductance. Reducing skin conductance with low-and-slow breathing is particularly helpful for a quick recovery break, between meetings, or as a break from challenging activities of the day.

- Inna Khazan, PhD, Biofeedback and Mindfulness in Everyday Life

Mindful low-and-slow breathing is “almost always helpful in reducing physiological arousal.” <— sounds good to me.

Use it anytime, anywhere for a quick reset and recovery.

2. Sit Up Straight: Take a Full, Deep Breath

Our thoracic curve affects lung function. When the thoracic curve become more pronounced (think hunchback), the lungs’ ability to expand decreases. Excessive thoracic curvature weakens respiratory muscles and restricts your ability to take a full, deep breath.

- Pete Egoscue, Pain Free

We probably don’t need another reminder to sit up straight. We know good posture is essential for just about everything (especially breathing; and vice-versa, as good breathing can lead to better posture).

But, for some reason, it really stuck out here and has inspired me to make my posture a top priority. Maybe this passage will spark something for you too 🙏

3. Do This when Life Gets Complicated: Two Hours instead of One

The non-negotiable part is key. When life gets complicated, these four practices are typically what we remove from our schedule, but the research shows this is the last choice we should make. When life gets complicated, lean into these practices, as they’re how you get the creativity needed to untangle the complicated.

- Steven Kotler, The Art of Impossible

Kotler is discussing four key practices for “sustained peak performance” (which he says are gratitude, mindfulness, exercise, and sleep).

But the idea applies to anything we do for better health (like breathing).

When life gets absurdly busy, lean into these practices. As Gandhi said, “I have so much to accomplish today that I must meditate for two hours instead of one.

4. Sleep Better with Breathing

Car accidents and heart attacks will spike today due to the time change (which is why I haven’t participated in two years—be the change you want to see style.)

However, most of us can’t just ignore it due to life and work obligations. The next best thing is protecting ourselves. Here’s how breathing can help:

 
 

 
 

1 QUOTE

“Within the rhythms and structure of your breath is coded a language of energy that your nervous system, glands, and mind understand.”

- Gurucharan Singh Khalsa, PhD, and Yogi Bhajan, PhD

 
 

 
 

1 ANSWER

Category: Sleep

Answer: Before the invention of electric light, people used to sleep about this many hours.

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

Question: What is ten hours?


In good breath,

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

P.S. My favorite childhood memory

P.P.S. Thanks to Laura from the MAPS Institute for sharing that funny post.

 
 
 

* 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.