Tiny Habits

The Joy of Breathwork is _________, and The 3 Best Ways to be Consistent

 
 

Listen Instead of Reading

 
 
 

4 Thoughts


1. The Joy of Breathwork is _________

If you’ve read any books on breathwork, or heard any podcasts, or taken any classes, you’ve inevitably heard some incredible stories of healing.

People use different breathing methods to help various health conditions under different settings. They all seem to work, and there’s no one-size-fits-all.

It highlights a simple yet profound truth: The joy of breathwork is breathing.

***

Quote that inspired this thought: “I realized: These were tears of joy, and the joy of movement is moving.” - Kelly McGonigal, PhD, The Joy of Movement

2. The 3 Best Ways to be Consistent with Your Breathing Practice

“A small daily task, if it be really daily, will beat the labours of a spasmodic Hercules.”

– Anthony Trollope

1. Start very tiny. Even if it's 1 breath or 30 seconds. Just pick something so small you can't fail.

2. Do it at the same time every day. Pick a consistent cue (e.g., brushing your teeth, etc.) that will trigger your tiny practice.

3. Celebrate. This is most important. Do something silly that you find rewarding (fist bump, etc.). Celebration releases dopamine, which will trick your brain into looking forward to your practice.

***

P.S. Here’s my celebration: “That’s like me to do another breathing session!”

P.P.S. These concepts come from the excellent book Tiny Habits.

3. Marginal Gains: Why Being Consistent Matters

“It is so easy to overestimate the importance of one defining moment and underestimate the value of making small improvements on a daily basis. … Meanwhile, improving by 1 percent isn’t particularly notable—sometimes it isn’t even noticeable—but it can be far more meaningful, especially in the long run.”

- James Clear

And there’s why being consistent is so important. Those tiny 1% gains are far more meaningful in the long run than they might at first seem. As my favorite teacher Brian Johnson says, “when you aggregate and compound enough of those tiny little incremental optimizations MAGIC happens.” 🙏

***

Related: Breathing is the Compound Interest of Health and Wellness

Related Quote: “Any practice, whether spiritual, physical, or artistic, only begins to pay off when it is done with regularity and sincerity.” - Eddie Stern, One Simple Thing

4. The Pleiotropic Benefits of Breathing

“Eating well, exercising, getting enough sleep, and managing stress will always be the foundational pillars of health and wellness. One reason for this is that these interventions are what scientists call pleiotropic—they provide a wide range of benefits that aren’t limited to a particular health condition.”

– Chris Kresser

Breathwork is also pleiotropic: it provides wide-ranging benefits, which aren’t limited to one health condition. (That’s also why it often seems like a panacea.)

Combining this idea with Thoughts 2 & 3, we see why breathing is the compound interest of health and wellness: When done consistently, the marginal gains from its wide-ranging, “pleiotropic” benefits aggregate into magic.

Sounds good to me : )

 
 
 
 

1 QUOTE

“The breath is something that is readily available to us simply because we are human beings. We do not need anything else to qualify. How marvelous!”

- The Tibetan Yoga of Breath

 
 
 
 

1 ANSWER

Category: Nasal Breathing

Answer: Nitric oxide, which is one of the most important benefits of nasal breathing, is produced in this region of the upper airways.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What are the paranasal sinuses?

In good breath,

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

P.S. Nothing like changing your appearance

 
 
 

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 Breathing Makes Everything Possible

 
 

Listen to this post in 5 minutes:

 

Greetings,

Here are four thoughts, one quote, and one answer for this week. Enjoy!

 
 
 
 

4 Thoughts

1. Breathing Makes Everything Possible

“That oxygen, life, and lungs all came into our world in relatively close succession is no coincidence.  Only with oxygen and some means of extracting it are all things possible—thinking, moving, eating, speaking, and loving.  Life and the breath are synonymous.”

- Michael J. Stephen, MD, Breath Taking

I often feel crazy. The more I learn about breathing, the more I feel like I must be falling for a big trick. It seems as if all of life’s problems come back to the breath. It really just seems too simple to be true.

Then, I read a beautiful quote like this. One that succinctly states just how breathing, quite literally, makes everything possible. And it reminds me that it is, in fact, the opposite: It’s not crazy that all of life’s problems come back to the breath. It would be crazy if they didn’t.

2. Lesser-Known Ways Nose Breathing Helps Diabetes

You probably know how indispensable nose breathing is by now. But there are other lesser-known reasons it is particularly helpful in diabetes.

In this recent article, I examine nasal breathing through the lens of diabetic complications, nasal and systemic nitric oxide, stress, and sleep.

It’s a different perspective, and I hope you learn something new about nose breathing, whether you have diabetes or not.

If you don’t have time to read it, here are a few take-home messages:

  • People with diabetes have reduced blood flow, reduced tissue oxygenation, and less bioavailable nitric oxide.

  • Nasal breathing increases blood flow, improves tissue oxygenation, and might increase an essential form of bioactive nitric oxide.

3. Take a Deep Breath (American Physiological Society)

“That’s the wonderful thing about it. There are no side effects. It’s cheap. And everyone has had the experience of taking a single deep breath—you take one, and you feel it; it’s relaxing.”

- Jack Feldman, PhD, Distinguished Professor in Neurobiology at UCLA

This one started out slow, but wow, there was so much good information, especially in the last section on “Slow Breathing and the Brain.”

Enjoy the excellent read:

Take a Deep Breath: Featured article from the January 2021 issue of The Physiologist Magazine

4. Why Most Breathing Advice for Beginners is Wrong

"Yes, in our hyperachieving, go-getter world, I’m telling you to lower the bar. Not because I don’t want you to achieve great things, but because I know that you need to start small in order to achieve them."

- BJ Fogg, Tiny Habits

Though well-meaning, most advice for starting a breath practice is wrong.

We’re told we need to do twenty minutes in the morning, twenty minutes before bed, and maybe six additional breathing "check-ins" throughout the day. It’s overwhelming just to think about it.

Sure, if your motivation is high, this approach might work. But it also might set you up for failure, instead of setting you up for long-term growth.

To make it stick, behavior change scientists say we need to start small. For example, starting with 1 minute is more valuable than starting with 1 hour.

And ironically, starting small is the only way to go big. As BJ tells us, "Over the last twenty years, I’ve found that the only consistent, sustainable way to grow big is to start small." Conversely, starting big often leads to giving up.

So let’s lower our breathing bars, start small, and create breathing habits that set us, and those we teach, up for lasting success.

Related: Stanford Researcher BJ Fogg on the ‘Tiny Habits’ That Lead to Big Breakthroughs

 
 
 
 

1 Quote

“Oxygen is the life force, the source of life’s infinite possibilities.”

- Michael J. Stephen, MD, Breath Taking

 
 
 
 

1 Answer

Answer: Over a lifetime, the average nose hair grows this long.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is over 6 feet?

This is the same resource as last week, but this is too ridiculous not to share : )

In good breath,
Nick

P.S. The dmv be like…

 
 

Oxygen and The Most Effective Antioxidant

 

Most of my friends make fun of my bedtime (7:45 or 8:00 p.m.). In thought #4, you’ll learn how I’m trying to change that, at least until November…

With that said, here are 4 thoughts, 1 quote, and 1 answer for the week.

Enjoy!

 
 
 
 

4 THOUGHTS

1. Grow and Multiply Your Breathing Practice

"When it comes to the process of scaling habits, there are two general categories: habits that grow and habits that multiply."

- BJ Fogg, Tiny Habits

Some habits might grow organically: flossing one tooth might grow into every tooth. Others might not: eating an avocado a day might be enough. But, this might multiply into using olive oil instead of a sugary dressing at lunch.

With breathing, it usually grows first.

You might start with just two minutes. This might grow into 5, 15, or 30+ minutes a day. Then at some point, you will naturally find the right growth limit for you.

Then it multiplies.

By creating a breathing practice that makes you feel good, you might begin eating healthier, exercising more, and sleeping better. You might also multiply your breathing practice by incorporating it into other areas of your life—like breath walking or nose breathing during exercise.

But it always happens in a way that’s right for you.

Luckily, there is no one right way to do this. Breathing can be (and is) applied in all domains of life. The best part is watching it grow and multiply in whatever way is right for you on your way to becoming the person you want to be.

2. The Most Effective (and biggest) Antioxidant

"In this regard, we can reasonably view the gigantism discussed in Chapter 5 as an antioxidant response. The increase in body size compensates for the higher external oxygen levels."

- Nick Lane, Oxygen

Oxidative stress is a major issue for people with diabetes. So, discussions on antioxidants always interest me. This one was somewhat crazy, though.

To start, Nick Lane argues that, if we flip our perspective, our circulatory system can be seen as a way of limiting oxygen delivery:

"Our elegant circulatory system, which is usually presented as a means of distributing oxygen to individual cells, can be seen equally as a means of restricting, or at least regulating, oxygen delivery to the correct amount."

His argument is supported by the fact that our cells and mitochondria function best at an oxygen "concentration of less than 0.3% of atmospheric oxygen." Thus, our bodies and circulatory system act to reduce atmospheric oxygen by ~99.7%.

Stated differently, our bodies essentially work as giant antioxidants.

"The development of multicellular organisms can even be considered an antioxidant response, which has the effect of lowering oxygen levels inside individual cells."

He even provides historical evidence that as oxygen levels rise, some species get bigger (hence the headline quote on gigantism). But they don’t get bigger because there is more oxygen for energy; they get bigger to protect them from it.

My mind hurts now too.

But the point is that our bodies were perfectly designed to deliver the right amount of oxygen to the cells—not too much, not too little. Problems arise when we disrupt that beautiful balance.

3. Slow Breathing Enhances Decision-Making

"The 5-2-7 pattern breathing exercise improved decision-making performance and prevented stress under overwhelming psychological pressure."

- Inc. This 2-Minute Breathing Exercise Can Help You Make Better Decisions, According to a New Study

Here is an excellent article from Inc. on how slow breathing can help you make better decisions (based off a 2019 study).

I especially appreciated the practical advice they provided on how you might apply these findings in real life in the "Putting it into practice" section. Enjoy!

4. American Academy of Sleep and Multiplying Habits

"It is, therefore, the position of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine that these seasonal time changes should be abolished in favor of a fixed, national, year-round standard time."

- Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine

Because nasal breathing at night changed my life, I am fascinated with sleep. So I take statements like this from sleep experts quite seriously. But it’s one thing to read an article and get inspired; it’s another to take action.

So this year, I have decided to try ignoring Daylight Savings Time.

This is something I can try in my life. My job allows me to come in later and stay later. And our daughter will be happy to have her sleep schedule unchanged.

I hope you’ll join me.

Not with the time change, but with whatever is firing you up these days. Here’s to multiplying our habits on our way to becoming the people we want to be.

P.S. My bedtime will now be a more reasonable 8:45 or 9:00 p.m. : )

 
 
 
 

1 QUOTE

"Man was created of the Earth, and lives by virtue of the air; for there is in the air a secret food of life…whose invisible congealed spirit is better than the whole earth."

- Michael Sendivogius (1604)

 
 
 
 

1 ANSWER

Answer: Although considered the "elixir of life," this gas was not discovered until the 1770s.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is oxygen?

In good breath,
Nick

P.S. Fitness is my passion.

 
 

Breathing’s Indirect and Unseen Benefits

 

Welcome to another edition of The Breathing 411:

Here are 4 thoughts, 1 quote, and 1 answer for you to consider this week. Enjoy!

 
 
 
 

4 THOUGHTS


1. The Science of Breathing’s Indirect Benefits

Last week we learned that breathing is the only true compounding health habit. However, I believe the real magic occurs when breathing begins improving other areas of our lives. I’ve never had a reasonable explanation for these "indirect effects." They just seemed to happen. But now I do, thanks to Tiny Habits.

In this excellent book, behavioral scientist BJ Fogg shows us how tiny changes in one area of your life can lead to massive changes in others. It all comes down to a simple equation: B = MAP

A Behavior happens when Motivation, Ability, and a Prompt all come together. Makes sense. But the significant breakthrough Fogg discovered is the curved (nonlinear) relationship for when action occurs (adapted from his book below):

Befor_and_After.jpg

In this hypothetical example, we see how a breathing practice might help you exercise by increasing your motivation and physical ability (e.g., better sleep and oxygenation). The exercise prompt is now above the action line, and you exercise.

This is behavioral science, not physics. So there are no exact numbers for "motivation" or "ability." It will be unique from person-to-person. But this is where the real magic of compounding occurs. We move beyond just breathing, and begin fulfilling our own individual goals and ambitions.

P.S. Some examples from my life:

  • Walking 100 miles.

  • Having more energy to manage my diabetes.

  • Waking up before 4 a.m. every day for breathing research.

2. Health is What You Don’t See

"But the truth is that wealth is what you don't see. Wealth is the nice cars not purchased. The diamonds not bought. The watches not worn, the clothes forgone and the first-class upgrade declined."

- Morgan Housel, The Psychology of Money

Similarly, health is what you don’t see. It’s the cold you didn’t get, the late night you didn’t have, the stress you didn’t experience, the breathlessness you didn’t have after a brisk walk to catch your flight.

This is why the benefits of a long-term breathing practice might not be immediately apparent. You can’t measure the number of health issues that breathing helped you avoid. But that makes them no less important.


3. Longer Exhalations Are An Easy Way to Hack Your Vagus Nerve

"Just two minutes of deep breathing with longer exhalation engages the vagus nerve, increases HRV, and improves decision-making."

- Christopher Bergland, Psychology Today

Here’s another gem from Psychology Today on slow breathing, stress, and the vagus nerve. I may or may not have visualized "squirting some stress-busting vagusstoff" onto my heart when I took my next slow breath : )

4. Breath Matching

Rather than focus on any specific method, focus on your goals: to reduce anxiety, to increase focus, to improve autonomic function, to fall asleep, and on and on.

Then, based on those aspirations, find the right match. For combatting anxiety, you might choose extended exhales. For focus, you might pick box breathing.

But it’s not about the method; it’s about the outcome you wish to experience.

 
 
 
 

1 QUOTE

"Life and respiration are complementary. There is nothing living which does not breathe nor anything breathing which does not live."

- William Harvey, 1653, Lectures on the Whole of Anatomy

 
 
 
 

1 ANSWER

Answer: More than 60% of primary care physician visits are related to this condition.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is stress?

In good breath,
Nick

P.S. Really made me stop and think