breathe light

How To Breathe To Live Longer, plus a New Take on "Breathe Light"

 
 

Listen Instead of Reading

 

Greetings,

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

I hope you enjoy!

 
 
 
 

4 Thoughts


1. How To Breathe To Live Longer

Let’s synthesize some ideas on breathing for longevity and see how we can apply this knowledge in our own life today.

Part I: Breathe Through Your Nose

Here’s James Nestor describing how George Caitlin lived double the average life expectancy of his time:

“He credited his longevity to ‘the great secret of life’: to always breathe through the nose.” - Breath

Part II: Expand Your Lung Capacity

Next, here’s Nestor describing the Framingham Heart Study:

“They gathered two decades of data from 5,200 subjects, crunched the numbers, and discovered that the greatest indicator of life span ... was lung capacity … larger lungs equaled longer lives.” – Breath

Part III: Synthesis and Application

Part I is straightforward: breathe through your nose. But how do we expand lung capacity? Nestor provides a few different ways.

  1. Light to moderate exercise

  2. Lung expanding breathwork

  3. Long and complete exhales

Lung-expanding breathwork includes things like Wim Hof w/ “belly, chest, head,” the Yogic Complete Breath, and most breathing taught in freediving.

Long exhales also increase lung capacity by allowing “more air to get in” on the next breath. But, they have the added longevity benefit of activating the “relaxation response.”

Alright, so there we have it. To live longer, we should breathe through our noses all the time, increase our lung capacity, and practice extended exhales.

And for the ultimate expression of longevity, let’s not forget what Michael J Stephen, MD tells us in Breath Taking:

“Those of us who practice breathing exercises today may well pass on more disease resistant genes to our descendants tomorrow.”

Here’s to living longer, today. : )

***

Related Quote: “For breath is life, and if you breathe well you will live long on earth.” - Sanskrit Proverb

P.S. Here’s how I implement this in my life:

  • Nasal breathing 24/7.

  • 15 min of slow breathing in the morning w/ extended exhales.

  • 5-10 min of slow breathing before bed w/ extended exhales.

  • Practice Wim Hof style breathing, ~5-10 min a day.

2. A New Definition of “Breathe Light”

You’ve probably heard of Patrick McKeown’s fantastic Breathe Light exercise. But, motivated by this excellent post, I decided to add another definition of “breathe light:”

Perform slow nasal breathing in the sunlight.

Nasal breathing releases nitric oxide into the airways and carries it into the lungs. Sunlight liberates nitrite from your skin and increases circulating levels of nitric oxide. When combined, you get better blood flow and oxygenation.

As Dr. Steven Lin says in the post,

Sunlight + Slow Breathing = Health + Happiness

***

Related: Insufficient Sun Exposure Has Become a Real Public Health Problem

Related: Sunlight May Be the Next Beet Juice

Related: Ultraviolet Radiation-Induced Production of Nitric Oxide:A multi-cell and multi-donor analysis

3. “Vision and Breathing May Be the Secrets to Surviving 2020”

“Stress, he says, is not just about the content of what we are reading or the images we are seeing. It is about how our eyes and breathing change in response to the world, as well as the cascades of events that follow.”

- Scientific American

I know, I know, it’s 2021. But I’m a slow reader : )

In any case, this is an excellent article from Scientific American. Breathing, stress, vision, and Andrew Huberman—it’s just all-around amazing.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did, if you haven’t already read it…

***

P.S. Thanks to Ben Greenfield for sharing this article, which is how I found it.

4. The Most Important Part of Your Breathing Practice

Whether you’re breathing for longevity, energy, relaxation, or any other reason, here’s the most important part of the practice: to practice.

***

P.S. Inspired by Brian Johnson’s Notes on Creativity On Demand

 
 
 
 

1 Quote

“Life is too short to be lived in fast forward. Slow down. Breathe it in. Enjoy it.”

– Ryan Holiday

 
 
 
 

1 Answer

Category: Sunlight and Respiration

Answer: Although sunlight helps humans produce nitric oxide, it provides plants with their energy through this process.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is photosynthesis?

In good breath,

Nick Heath, T1D, PhD
Diabetes is Tiny. You are Mighty.

P.S. I felt this on a spiritual level

 
 
 

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.

 
 

The Breathing 411 - Intermittent Fasting and Time-Restricted Breathing

 

Welcome to another week of The Breathing 4.1.1. Let’s get right to it.

 
 
 
 

4 THOUGHTS

1. Time-Restricted Breathing?

Every now and then, skipping a meal or two ("intermittent fasting") can be good for you. Studies have even found that just compressing your eating window (that is, "time-restricted eating") is beneficial for metabolism and weight loss.

You can do this on a much smaller scale with breathing. It’s called "intermittent breathing," or simply holding your breath. Maybe it’s only 30 seconds instead of 30 hours. Still, the idea is similar: Restrict your body from something it’s used to, and it elicits beneficial responses.

Similarly (although the analogy breaks down some), "time-restricted breathing" can also be done by setting aside time each day to breathe less. You might only do this for five minutes. But, like how time-restricted eating makes the meals you do eat more useful, time-restricted breathing improves your oxygen metabolism, making those other 20,000+ breaths you take each day more effective.

2. Slow Breathing as a Treatment for Insomnia

"Practicing the 0.1 Hz rate before sleep was shown to improve sleep onset latency and quality in insomniacs and enhance the stability of their sleep pattern (13). Thus, we suggest 0.1 Hz as the optimal frequency for a slow breathing technique." - Self-Regulation of Breathing as an Adjunctive Treatment of Insomnia

Last week, I mentioned that slow breathing might be a way to help with insomnia, based purely on deductive reasoning. With insomnia on my radar, this article jumped off the page at me. I cannot recommend it enough. Choosing only one quote was nearly impossible.

Even if you do not care about insomnia, their sections on "Cardiorespiratory Synchronization" and "Slow Deep Breathing" are phenomenal. They will be the motivation of several future thoughts…

In the meantime, let us slow down our breathing before bed (to say, 6 breaths per minute, also known as 0.1 Hz) to help increase cardiorespiratory synchronization, increase parasympathetic tone, and have a restful night’s sleep.

3. Why You Need Efficient Breathing: 18x the Energy

"Anaerobic metabolism…is relatively inefficient compared with aerobic processes. Only two ATP molecules are produced…In contrast, the body reaps 36 molecules of ATP for each molecule of glucose metabolized aerobically."

- Respiratory Physiology: A Clinical Approach

That means that aerobic metabolism (with oxygen) is about 18x more efficient than anaerobic metabolism (without oxygen). Therefore, the more efficient you are at using oxygen, the more efficient you are at producing energy.

A practical way to improve your oxygen efficiency? Time-restricted breathing.

4. A Simple Way to Breathe Better Right Now

Make your breathing quiet. This might be the easiest, most practical thing you can do anytime, anyplace, to improve your breathing (after nose breathing, of course). Give it a try now, if you feel so inspired.

Make sure you cannot hear your breathing, even internally. You’ll naturally slow down your breathing and naturally breathe less. It’s fantastic, and it’s easy.

 
 
 
 

1 QUOTE

"Gandhi became absolutely motionless. His absorption was so profound that he scarcely seemed to breathe"

- Eknath Easwaran, Gandhi The Man

 
 
 
 

1 ANSWER

Answer: The average number of breaths in a lifetime.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy music.)

…

Question: What is over 600 million?

BONUS THOUGHT

"And if the traveler is fortunate—that is, if the path is complex and profound enough—the destination is two miles farther away for every mile he or she travels." - George Leonard

I am fortunate to be traveling with you. Thank you for reading.

In good breath,
Nick

P.S. You’re Wrong and College Has Failed You

 
 

The Breathing 4.1.1.

 

I am trying a new format this week. I’m calling it “The Breathing 4.1.1.”

Below, I share 4 thoughts, 1 quote, and 1 answer (think “Jeopardy”). Enjoy!

 
 
 
 

4 THOUGHTS

1. Expert Q&A on Sleep Tape

James Nestor’s first "expert Q&A" episode has been released. It’s on sleep tape with Dr. Mark Burhenne. I especially appreciated Dr. Burhenne’s confidence in recommending that people wear mouth tape. Watch Interview Here.

2. An Easy Hack for Dropping SpO2 during Breath Holds

I’m always playing around with my breath holds. Lately, I’ve been performing a full exhale before each hold.

Normal Breath In —> Fast and Complete Exhale Out —> Hold

I’ve seen additional SpO2 drops of 5-10% (!). My breath holds are not as long, but I’m getting into intermittent hypoxia easier. I really try to empty my lungs as much as possible to get more significant drops in SpO2.

3. Is Tissue Hypoxia Really the Problem?

“In this, chronic overbreathing will not create ‘hypoxia’ in tissues; this is a fact that many Buteyko adherents consistently get wrong.  The real damage from overbreathing comes from the constant energy the body has to expend to run more cells anaerobically and to constantly buffer for carbon dioxide deficiencies.” - James Nestor, Breath

I talk about tissue hypoxia a lot. Here, James says that it’s not necessarily tissue hypoxia that’s the problem, but the body’s response to prevent it from happening that causes the damage. In any case, the underlying issue is the same: We need to get an adequate supply of oxygen for our cells to function correctly.

4. A Simple Way the Breathe Light

Teaching people to breathe "light" is often tricky. However, in Restoring Prana, Robin Rothenberg provides one of the most practical ways I’ve heard: Imagine taking up less space with each breath. I imagine less air being pulled into my nose with each inhale, and each exhale disturbing less air around me. Give it a shot.

 
 
 
 

1 QUOTE

“He who tastes a grain of mustard seed knows more of its flavor than he who sees an elephant load of it.” - Yogi Mamacharaka, Science of Breath

 
 
 
 

1 ANSWER

Answer: The amount of water used to humidify the air we breathe each day.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy music.)

…

Question: What is 1 pint? [1]

In good breath,
Nick

P.S. Coming to you live from…

[1] Essentials of Pathophysiology (3rd Edition), Carol Mattson Porth