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4 Thoughts
1. Breathing Exercises Lower Inflammation and Change Gene Expression
“In those who practice breathing exercises, levels of inflammatory proteins in the blood are significantly lower, especially under certain types of stress. Mobilizing the power of the breath has also been shown to turn on anti-inflammatory genes and turn off pro-inflammatory ones, including genes that regulate energy metabolism, insulin secretion, and even the part of our DNA that controls longevity.”
- Michael J Stephen, MD, Breath Taking
I have nothing useful to add here, except, of course, one of these: 🤯
2. These Two Simple Rules Will Improve Your Breathing Forever
If I could give anyone any advice for everyday breathing, it’d be this:
Breathe through your nose, especially during sleep.
Make your breathing quiet.
You’ll get massive benefits with minimal effort using these two simple rules.
3. Timeless Healing: Slow Breathing + The Relaxation Response
“To evoke the relaxation response, you need to follow only two basic steps. You need to repeat a word, sound, prayer, phrase, or muscular activity, and when common everyday thoughts intrude on your focus, you need to passively disregard them and return to your repetition.”*
- Herbert Benson, MD, Timeless Healing: The Power and Biology of Belief
It’s that simple. And the word or phrase? Dr. Benson says, “The choice of a focused repetition is up to the individual. If you’re a religious person, you can choose a prayer. If you’re a non-religious person, choose a secular focus.”*
I’ve been using it this week in my slow breathing practice. I inhale and then repeat “be the change” in my head while exhaling at a 5 breaths/min pace.
I’ve never been a big fan of mantras (and I’m still testing different ones), but I’ve genuinely enjoyed this. It’s straightforward and highly effective.
Give it a shot and see how you feel.
4. My Fake Words, and Breathing as the Anti-Harley-Davidson
“Orfield Laboratories, run by Steven Orfield, is a small Twin Cities business that leverages the power of perception to help companies build better products. Harley-Davidson, for example, once hired Orfield to calculate the exact engine tone and decibel level that would give riders the impression that its motorcycles are powerful.”*
- Michael Easter, The Comfort Crisis
How crazy is that!? Harley-Davidson actually hired a company to ensure their engines gave “riders the impression that its motorcycles are powerful.”
I think breathing is the anti-Harley-Davidson. You just relax and breathe. If it’s powerful, it’s powerful. If it’s not, it’s not. No fake impressions needed.
***
P.S. Although I take pride in this newsletter, sometimes I feel like Orfield Labs trying to make breathing sound perfect. It’s not. But it is truly powerful. So, don’t just read my words, try it out and feel its strength for yourself.
Extra Thought:
5 Easy Breathing Exercises You Can Use for Better Sleep Tonight
I wrote a guest blog called “5 Easy Breathing Exercises You Can Use for Better Sleep Tonight” for The Breather, hosted by ResBiotic.
It’s a quick 4-minute read. I hope you enjoy it!
1 QUOTE
“When we focus on the breath, we become mindful of the universal nature of all beings.”
- Bhante Henepola Gunarantana
1 ANSWER
Category: Meditation & Relaxation Response
Answer: A trademark physiological result of meditation and/or the relaxation response is that the body consumes less oxygen, also known as this.
…
(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)
…
Question: What is hypometabolism?
In good breath,
Nick Heath, T1D, PhD
“Breathing is the compound interest of health & wellness.”
* 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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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.