Happy Monday, and welcome back to another issue of The Breathing 411. Here are four thoughts, one quote, and one answer for you to reflect on this week.
4 THOUGHTS
1. Instead of a Bigger Engine, Patch the Hole in Your Boat
If you have a hole in your boat, a bigger engine or better fuel might keep you afloat longer. A more aerodynamic design might help you temporarily go faster. But either way, you’ll still be slowly sinking until you patch the hole.
Your breathing is that hole. You can eat better, workout harder, and take more supplements, which will all be very helpful. But until you "patch" your breath, you’ll never see the true potential of your energy and performance.
2. Diaphragmatic Breathing from the Cleveland Clinic
"But keep at it, because with continued practice, diaphragmatic breathing will become easy and automatic."
- Diaphragmatic Breathing, Cleveland Clinic
Last week, we discussed how diaphragmatic breathing improves recovery. Here’s a brief article from The Cleveland Clinic (regarded as one of the best hospitals and research centers worldwide) on how to get started.
Enjoy!
3. Become a Breathing Flâneur
"The flâneur continuously—and, what is crucial, rationally—modifies his target as he acquires information."
- Nassim Taleb, Antifragile
I propose we become breathing flâneurs. Let’s not be rigid with our techniques, but rather be open to change as we get new information.
Importantly, let’s rationally modify our approach based on the best information we have and the circumstances we find ourselves in.
The best way to do this is to have many options to choose from (slow breathing, Oxygen Advantage, Wim Hof, and so on) and use them as needed.
4. Wim Hof’s Slow Breathing Method - A Thought on Statistics
Here’s a fun thought about the infamous Kox et al. (2013) study on the Wim Hof Method (WHM). This paper scientifically validated that the WHM can allow people to control their autonomic nervous system and innate immune system.
There is a plot (their Figure 2) showing about 10.8 minutes of data. In that time, participants did 3 rounds of hyperventilation, and 3 breath holds. Each hyperventilation session was ~30 breaths. So, over the 10.8 minutes, they took about 90 breaths. On average, that’s ~8.3 breaths/min.
Thus, from a statistical perspective, the Wim Hof Method is slow breathing.
Now consider how much different it is to "breathe at 8 breaths/min for 11 minutes" compared to "performing three rounds of the WHM." This is why we must always put statistics into context…
But it’s also just fun to ponder : )
1 QUOTE
"Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are more pliable."
- Mark Twain
1 ANSWER
Answer: About 50% of the oxygen you breathe originated from this location.
…
(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)
…
Question: What is the ocean?
In good breath,
Nick