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4 Thoughts
1. A Simple Quip for Nose versus Mouth
Most of the time:
The nose is part of the respiratory system.
The mouth is part of the digestive system.
2. The True Power of the Breath: 800,000 and 73 Days
“With eight hundred thousand new medical articles being published every year, by 2020 medical knowledge is estimated to double every seventy-three days.”
Michael J Stephen, Breath Taking
Those numbers are insane. It’s basically impossible to keep up with science.
Fortunately, though, we know breathing (and sleep, exercise, meditation, etc.) has been used for millennia to improve mental and physical health.
Maybe we don’t know all the science, but that’s ok. We can just try it out, find what works for us, and enjoy the timeless (and timely) wisdom of the breath.
3. Two Steps to Get the Most of Your Breathwork
In The Art of Possibility, they have two steps for their practice of “giving way to passion.” I think they apply perfectly to breathing (or basketball, yoga, etc.):
“1. The first step is to notice where you are holding back, and let go. Release those barriers of self that keep you separate and in control, and let the vital energy of passion surge through you, connecting you to all beyond.
2. The second step is to participate wholly. Allow yourself to be a channel to shape the stream of passion into a new expression for the world.”
They sound a little idealistic and new-age, but that’s the point : )
4. Our Greatest Weapon Against Stress
Our greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one breath over another.
***
P.S. This is a play on a William James quote I saw on Insight Timer: “The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.”
1 QUOTE
““Clarity comes from engagement, not thought.””
1 ANSWER
Category: Stress and Health
Answer: Counterintuitively, this (also referred to as “nature’s fundamental survival mechanism”) can be therapeutically harnessed to boost immune function.
…
(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)
…
In good breath,
Nick Heath, T1D, PhD
“Breathing is the compound interest of health & wellness.”
P.S. same girl
Now Available:
THE BREATHING FOR DIABETES SELF-PACED WORKSHOP
If you enjoy my work, or just like geeking out on breathing, I’m confident you’ll love the workshop (diabetes or not).
It’s packed with practical and helpful information, including:
11 bite-sized key concepts on all things breathing
A 40-min Wim Hof and Diabetes Mini Masterclass (if you’re interested in WHM, I think you’ll find a lot of information in here you’ve probably never seen before, unrelated to diabetes)
A PDF of 100 inspiring breathing quotes
A Breath Matching worksheet to grow your practice
A simple plan for implementing what you learn (that actually works)
And if you don't like it, it’s 100% refundable, so you have nothing to lose.
P.S. If you purchased the live workshop back in March, you’ll see the updated presentations when you log in now.
* 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.