breathing 101

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Brain Blood Flow, Humming Bee Breathing, and an Unhurried Life

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Reading Time: 1 min 58 sec

I hope the next 24’ish breaths are the most nourishing of your day.

4 THOUGHTS

1. Breathing 101: How Breathing Affects Brain Blood Flow

1. CO₂ crosses the blood-brain barrier and reacts with water in the CSF to form H⁺ and bicarbonate.

2. The increased H⁺ lowers pH which, through a cascade of cellular and molecular pathways, relaxes the blood vessels.

3. This increases brain blood flow to ensure adequate oxygen delivery to the brain. The reverse is true for low CO₂.

Thus, when we overbreathe, we lower CO₂ and reduce brain blood flow; when we breathe light and slow, the opposite happens, and we increase brain blood flow.

2. Testing Progress on the Spiritual Path

“One of the ways to test our progress on the spiritual path is to see how much we are able to free ourselves from the oppressive pressure of time. The clock is the most eloquent symbol of the tyranny of time.”

– Eknath Easwaran, The Bhagavad Gita for Daily Living

This one felt like a spiritual slap in the face 😬 because, despite all my practice, I still catch myself rushing through the day, ruled by the microwave clock. The subtle shift Easwaran is pointing to is not that we escape time, but rather that we free ourselves from the pressure of time. To move with ease, no matter how busy we are. That’s progress.

3. The Science-Backed Benefits of Humming Bee Breathing

“The findings indicated that bhramari pranayama has a positive impact on psychological, cardiovascular and pulmonary health…It is…associated with lower levels of stress, anxiety, depression, sympathetic activity and blood pressure, and higher levels of attention, quality of sleep, parasympathetic activity, vagal activity and pulmonary functioning.

- Chetry et al. (2024)

That’s an impressive list. And while I’ve shared this study before, I recently put together a simple post that sums it up. I thought you might enjoy revisiting it like I did. Click here to check it out.

4. Some Great Advice for the Week

“So look for those little ways in the flow of life to feel a bit more relaxed, protected, strong, and at ease…and a little more grateful, glad, and successful…and a little more cared about and caring, and a little more loved and loving…The more often and deeply you do this, the greater the results.”

- Rick Hanson, Ph.D., Neurodharma

1 Quote

“A simple, unhurried life can be full of wisdom and beauty.””
— Eknath Easwaran

1 GOOD BOOK

The Well-Lived Life by Gladys McGarey, MD

I’ve been raving about this book for over a year now—it’s one of my all-time favorites. I’ve received more messages from readers that this book changed their life than any other I’ve shared. Dr. McGarey was 102 when she wrote it, and you can truly feel her wisdom in every sentence. (She has since passed away, back in September, at the age of 103.) I can’t recommend this one enough.

In good breath,

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

Enjoy these posts? Donate to say thanks!



P.S. a modern-day Descartes




SKY Recovery Program

My dear friend Colleen Loehr, MD, is co-teaching an online course for the SKY Recovery Program from June 7th to 9th. The course is open to anyone—people in recovery and people who have a friend or loved one with an addiction problem. The fee is only $95, so it’s an inexpensive way to learn the SKY technique for recovery and addiction. Click here to learn more about it. 🙏


The Breathing App for Diabetes

This is the first program specifically made for people with diabetes to help manage their stress through breathing and mindfulness practices. In addition to the amazing program inside the app, we have some really neat things coming up, so sign up now!

Learn more here.



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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CO2 & Breath Regulation, a Fulfilling Life, and a Great Book on Movement

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Reading Time: 2 min 11 sec

I hope the next 26’ish breaths are the most nourishing of your day.

4 THOUGHTS

1. Breathing 101: The Role of CO2 in Breath Regulation

1. CO₂ crosses the blood-brain barrier and reacts with water in the cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) to form hydrogen ions (H⁺) and bicarbonate.

2. Then, this rise in H⁺ lowers pH, stimulating central chemoreceptors in the brainstem.

3. These chemoreceptors send signals to the brain’s respiratory centers to activate the phrenic nerve, causing the diaphragm to contract, initiating an inhale.

It’s a rather neat and beautiful system 👏

2. A Fulfilling and Accomplished Life

“Yet everyday experience, along with centuries of philosophical reflection, attests to the fact that a fulfilling and accomplished life isn’t a matter of exerting ever more control. It’s not about making things more predictable and secure, until you can finally relax. … The greatest achievements often involve remaining open to serendipity, seizing unplanned opportunities, or riding unexpected bursts of motivation.”

– Oliver Burkeman, Meditations for Mortals

This is the essence of awareness (or “mindful living”): not trying to control every outcome, but instead remaining open to what life offers 👏.

3. Take Your Time in the Morning

“It’s much more pleasant for both you and the day you’re beginning to do the opposite - namely, to take your time in the morning. In many spiritual traditions, this is seen as an ideal time for meditation or looking inward. Such a moment of calm and stillness affects the rest of the day.”

- Paul Loomans, I’ve Got Time

I’m a huge fan of practicing breathing & meditation first thing upon waking, and this passage highlights why. It reminds me of this equally-powerful excerpt from my favorite teacher, Eknath Easwaran:

“The pace you set first thing in the morning is likely to stay with you through the day. If you get up early and set a calm, unhurried pace, it is much easier to resist getting speeded up later on as the pressures of the day close in on you. This simple step has profound effects.” 👏

4. How Long Until Awakening?

“A disciple asks a Zen master: ‘How long does it take to be able to experience Awakening?’

‘Maybe 20 years,’ answers the master.

‘And if I am in a hurry?’ asks the disciple again.

‘In that case, it is 50 years,’ concludes the master.”

- Steven Laureys, MD, The No-Nonsense Meditation Book

I think this is the 3rd time I’ve shared this passage. It’s one of my favorites and never gets old—full of wisdom and always brings a laugh.

1 Quote

“Despite centuries of reports from followers of Eastern traditions that slow breathing can improve focus, bring a sense of calm when we might otherwise lose it and even whisk us away to an altered state of consciousness, most of us still don’t take time out from our busy lives to prioritize this simplest and most unobtrusive of body movements.””
— Caroline Williams

1 GOOD BOOK

Move by Caroline Williams

Here’s another book I can’t recommend enough. If you’re curious about how movement affects your mind, it’s a must-read. Williams even has a whole chapter on breathing—the most fundamental movement—which is worth getting the book for by itself. Check it out if it sounds interesting!

In good breath,

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

Enjoy these posts? Donate to say thanks!

P.S. how to not get “Sunday scaries”

The Breathing App for Diabetes

This is the first program specifically made for people with diabetes to help manage their stress through breathing and mindfulness practices. In addition to the amazing program inside the app, we have some really neat things coming up, so sign up now!

Learn more here.

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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Breathing 101, Feel-Good Hormones, and A Book I Really Loved

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Reading Time: 1 min 54 sec

I hope the next 23’ish breaths are the most nourishing of your day.

4 THOUGHTS

1. Breathing 101: The Neuroendocrine Link

1. Slow breathing activates the calming branch of the nervous system, sending signals of safety to the brain.

2. In response, the brain dampens the hormonal stress response, which lowers stress hormones like cortisol.

This is an excellent example of the neuroendocrine system at work: the breath influences the nervous system, the nervous system influences the brain, and then the brain regulates hormonal activity.

2. Worrier Gets Things Exactly Backwards

“You could say the worrier gets things exactly backwards. He’s so terrified that he might not be able to rely on his inner resources, later on, when he reaches a bridge that needs crossing, that he makes superhuman efforts to bring the future under his control right now. In fact he should devote less energy to manipulating the future, and have more faith in his capacity to handle things once the challenge actually arrives.”

– Oliver Burkeman, Meditations for Mortals

This one needs no commentary from me. But I will add a slight touch of humor, which I found in Anthony de Mello’s Awareness: “Who says that worrying doesn’t help? It certainly does. Every time I worry about something, it doesn’t happen!”

3. How Slow, Diaphragmatic Breathing Increases Feel-Good Hormones

“The vagus nerve is our our biggest parasympathetic nerve and the biggest place of innervation is our diaphragm. So, when we take nice, easy, deep breaths, that's going to feed back to our brain that all is good with the world. [It] increases acetylcholine and then that increases, in turn, our feel-good hormones like serotonin and dopamine. [It’s] basically a natural Prozac.”

- Michael J Stephen, MD

Here’s that neuroendocrine feedback loop (described in Thought #1) in action. And while we often talk about it “reducing stress hormones,” this is a powerful reminder that it also increases feel-good ones, too 👏

4. Constantly Somewhere Else

“But we’re constantly somewhere else. As somebody said, ‘My favorite place is somewhere else.’”

- Anthony de Mello, Awareness

Here is another insight wrapped in humor from this book. It reminds me of this opposite but equally true gem: “In truth we are always present. We only imagine ourselves to be in one place or another.” – Howard Cohn

1 Quote

“Breath happens, but the curious thing is that you can get with the breath, and in getting with it, extraordinary things can happen.””
— Alan Watts

1 GOOD BOOK

Meditations for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman

I can’t recommend this one enough. Reading the introduction was my favorite part, as it felt like Burkeman was expressing thoughts I’ve had but never known how to articulate. I’ve never felt so much resonance with a book. Check it out if it sounds interesting to you!

In good breath,

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

Enjoy these posts? Donate to say thanks!

P.S. this may be my calling

The Breathing App for Diabetes

This is the first program specifically made for people with diabetes to help manage their stress through breathing and mindfulness practices. In addition to the amazing program inside the app, we have some really neat things coming up, so sign up now!

Learn more here.

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.

 

Yogic Wisdom, Start with the Breath, and Will Smith’s 60/40 Rule

 
 

Listen Instead of Reading

 
 
 

4 Thoughts


1. Start with the Breath (scientists agree)

“They [breathing patterns] thereby constitute an easy but potent avenue to manipulate the whole physiological state of the organism.”

- Respiratory Feedback in the Generation of Emotion

Want to potently “manipulate the whole physiological state of the organism”? Scientists start with the breath. And that’s why, for overall health, we do too: It’s the quickest and most efficient way to positively impact every aspect of your life. It’s actually quite absurd not to start there, in my humble opinion 😊

2. The Montessori Breathing Method

“The Montessori method emphasizes both intrinsic motivation and learning through doing. In fact, for this latter reason, it’s often called “embodied education.” Don’t just read about organic farming—go out and plant a garden.”

- Steven Kotler, The Art of Impossible

Let’s apply the same principles of Montessori education (aka embodied education<—absolutely love that) to our breathwork.

Read about the methods you’re interested in. Read about how breathing affects the whole physiological state of the organism. But then, most importantly, embody that education and learn through doing. As Confucius says, “What greater joy can there be than putting into practice what you have learned?”

3. Ancient Yogic Wisdom Wins (again)

“One of the things that the yogis really seemed to understand was that this circuitry didn’t just happen in the brain, it happened globally, with messages going in both directions: TOP DOWN (brain to body) and BOTTOM UP (body to brain).  The intrinsic link between prāna and citta accounts for why the yogis insisted on breathing practices as the primary means to pacify the mind. …Breathing can effectively modulate the reactive loop, and restore us to a more coherent frame of mind.”

- Robin Rothenberg, Restoring Prāna

I have nothing to add, except for one of these 🤯 Oh, and to re-read Thought #1 on how modern science agrees with this global perspective on breathing…

4. How Breathing Makes You Prosper, Part II

“If man’s breath is prosperous, then the body prospers.”

- The Primordial Breath, Volume I

Pop quiz from last week: Do you remember what prosper literally means?

To go forward with hope.

So, if the breath is prosperous, then the body prospers (and I’ll add that the mind and spirit prosper, too). Thus, we could argue that “the whole physiological state of the organism” goes forward with hope. Sounds good to me : )

Bonus Thought: Will Smith’s 60/40 Rule with His Mom

“When I say silly stuff, it makes the world lighter for her. But she needs me to say smart stuff too. That makes her feel safe. She thinks that the only way I'll be able to survive is if I'm intelligent. She likes about a 60/40 ratio of smart to silly.”

- Will Smith, Will

This has nothing to do with breathing, but since I shared a 60/40 breathing rule last week, this passage jumped out at me. It’s an excellent approach to life : )

 
 
 
 

1 QUOTE

“Life begins with our first breath and will end after our last. To contemplate breathing is to contemplate life itself.”

- Larry Rosenberg, Breath by Breath

 
 
 
 

1 ANSWER

Category: Breathing 101

Answer: The matching of air and blood flow in the lungs is known as this.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is ventilation-perfusion?

In good breath,

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

P.S. You think you can hurt my feelings?

 
 
 

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.

 
 

Light and Calm, Start by Starting, and the 60/40 Rule of Slow Breathing

 
 

Listen Instead of Reading

 
 
 

4 Thoughts


1. How to Get Started with Breathwork

“But this doesn’t have to be all at once.  Start by starting.  Add in what you can right now, and as these practices begin to improve your performance, they’ll end up saving you time.”

- Steven Kotler, The Art of Impossible

Kotler is discussing practices for peak performance, but the exact same goes for breathwork. Start by starting. One minute is always better than none-minutes.

So go easy and have fun with it : ) Your practice will grow naturally with time.

2. The 60/40 Rule of Slow Breathing

Speaking of getting started, here’s a simple rule you can begin with for slow breathing (and it’s one I use every day), inspired by Heart Breath Mind:

40% of your breath should be inhaling

60% of your breath should be exhaling

Here’s what it looks like:

  • 6.0 breaths/min: 4 sec inhale, 6 sec exhale

  • 5.5 breaths/min: 4.4 sec inhale, 6.6 sec exhale

  • 5.0 breaths/min: 4.8 sec inhale, 7.2 sec exhale

  • and so on…

Note that it’s hard to be this precise with most breathing apps, so just do what you can. For example, I simply use 5 in/7 out to breathe at 5 breaths/min.

3. Breathing and the Brain’s Default Mode Network

“The resting brain turns out not to be resting at all. Left to its own devices, the human mind holds imaginary conversations, replays past experiences, and reflects on the future.”

- Kelly McGonigal, PhD, The Joy of Movement

If you’ve ever tried to rest your brain, this passage probably isn’t surprising : ) It’s called the brain’s “default mode,” and it has a negative bias: Our natural tendency is to ruminate, criticize, and worry. Not so good.

Luckily, McGonigal says there’s an easy way to quiet it down. “In brain-imaging studies, focused breathing, mindfulness, and repeating a mantra have all been shown to deactivate hubs of the default mode network.”

Sounds good to me. So here’s to practicing some 60/40 slow breathing to deactivate our default mode, and activate more joy, today.

***

P.S. Don’t have time for mindfulness or breathing? Kelly has an even easier hack, which is to exercise in nature: “Green exercise appears to do something similar to the brain, but without the need for such dedicated mind-training.”

4. How Breathing (literally) Makes You Prosper

“Did you know the word ‘prosperity’ literally means ‘to go forward with hope’?”

- Brian Johnson, +1 on Spiritual Economics

I did not know that. But now that I do, I can confidently say that breathing makes us prosperous. When you walk away from a slow breathing session (or yoga, meditation, exercise, etc.), you always “go forward with hope.”

I wonder if it’s because we quiet our amygdalae and deactivate that pesky default network…🤔

 
 
 
 

1 QUOTE

“If our breathing is light and calm, a natural result of conscious breathing, our mind and body will slowly become light, calm, and clear, and our feelings also.”

- Thich Nhat Hahn

The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching

 
 
 
 

1 ANSWER

Category: Breathing 101

Answer: The portion of each breath that does not participate in gas exchange is called this.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is dead space air?

In good breath,

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

P.S. Good luck to her on this journey

 
 
 

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.