May 15, 2023

Alzheimer’s, Nose vs. Mouth, and How to Find the Perfect Practice

May 15, 2023

Listen Instead of Reading

If you enjoy listening, you can subscribe to the audio version on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Audible so you don’t even have to look at the email 😊

4 THOUGHTS

1. The Smiling of Breathing

Slow breathing is to breath exercises what smiling is to facial expressions.

2. Slow Breathing Might Reduce the Risk of Alzheimer’s

“As far as we can tell from the published literature and ClinicalTrials.gov searches, this study provides the first evidence of a behavioral intervention that reduces Aβ levels (measured with plasma, CSF or PET) compared to a randomized control group.”
– Nature Sci Rep (2023)

This recently-published study found that 20-40 minutes of daily slow breathing reduces levels of amyloid-β, a key Alzheimer’s biomarker, in younger and older adults, suggesting that it may reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s and promote healthy brain aging.

Pretty remarkable stuff 👏

3. How to Find the Perfect Practice

If you studied basketball in great detail, you could probably find a lot of health benefits.
If you studied surfing in great detail, you could probably find a lot of health benefits.
If you studied tennis in great detail, you could probably find a lot of health benefits.

Likewise:

If you study slow breathing in great detail, you’ll find a lot of health benefits.
If you study mindfulness in great detail, you’ll find a lot of health benefits.
If you study yoga in great detail, you’ll find a lot of health benefits.

The difference?

People choose sports based on joy and pleasure, but often choose a contemplative path just based on the science and health benefits.

Let’s do our best to balance both, but emphasize joy. If we focus on joy, the benefits of any practice will take care of themselves.

4. Nose vs Mouth: A Mindful Observation of Nature’s Design

You can have your mouth open or closed. But there’s no such thing as having your nose “opened or closed.” Your nose is always open, always ready to be breathed through.

There’s a lesson from nature in there…

***

P.S. Of course, this breaks down if you’re sick, have bad allergies, or have another medical condition blocking it. But you get the idea : )

1 Quote

“Mindfulness lets us see things in a new light and believe in the possibility of change.””

— Ellen Langer, Ph.D.

1 Answer

Category: Breathing & the Brain

Answer: Slow deep breathing impacts this fluid, which plays a critical role in “cushioning” the brain and spinal cord while also distributing nutrients and hormones.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)?

In good breath,

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

P.S. There are two types of people

The Garlic Breath of the Week

Here is the most-liked post this past week.

* 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.

Nicholas Heath

May 8, 2023

weekly email, Batch 9

The Best Morning Breathing Exercise, Air Candy, and Greater Calmness

Nicholas Heath

May 8, 2023

weekly email, Batch 9

Listen Instead of Reading

If you enjoy listening, you can subscribe to the audio version on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Audible so you don’t even have to look at the email 😊

4 THOUGHTS

1. Air Candy

Gratitude turns an ordinary breath into air candy.

2. The Best Morning Breathing Exercise

The best morning breathing exercise is a good night’s sleep.

P.S. I had a few nights of poorer-than-normal sleep and noticed that my morning breathing was nowhere near as enjoyable or effective. Which inspired this purposefully playful sentence : )

3. Greater Calmness: How to Choose Effective Responses in Stressful Situations

“When we are mindful of our breathing, it automatically helps us to establish greater calmness in both the body and the mind. Then we are better able to be aware of our thoughts and feelings…And with this awareness comes a feeling of having more room to move, of having more options, of being free to choose effective and appropriate responses in stressful situations rather than losing our equilibrium and sense of self as a result of feeling overwhelmed, thrown off balance by our own knee-jerk reactions.”
- Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., Full Catastrophe Living

Beautifully said 👏👏👏

So the next time we need to choose an effective & appropriate response in a stressful situation, let’s first tune into our breath to “establish greater calmness in both the body and the mind,” allowing us to move forward with clarity.

4. This Will Help You in Anything You Set Out to Do

“Working memory is where you hold a goal in mind so you can move toward it. By goal…I mean the micro-intentions and deliberate aim of having a desired outcome for each and every task you engage in—all the decisions, planning, thinking, actions, and behaviors you do over the course of a day: anything you set out to do.”
– Amishi P. Jha, Ph.D., Peak Mind

Based on this description, having good working memory is pretty crucial since it plays a role in “anything you set out to do.”

But it’s relevant here because a 2022 study found that slow breathing significantly improves working memory.

Putting it together: By improving working memory, slow breathing may potentially help you with anything you set out to do 👏

1 Quote

“At this very moment, whether you know it or not, each breath happens right here and right now. Little by little the question becomes, Are you intimate with this breath just as it is?””

— Larry Rosenberg

1 Answer

Category: Breath-Heart Connections

Answer: The heart is connected to this muscle via the pericardium, which is a fluid-filled sac surrounding the heart.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is the diaphragm?

In good breath,

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

P.S. It’s a common problem.

The Garlic Breath of the Week

Here is the most-liked post this past week.

Nicholas Heath

May 1, 2023

weekly email, Batch 9

More Joy, Long Beards, and Beating a New Type of Gravity

Nicholas Heath

May 1, 2023

weekly email, Batch 9

Listen Instead of Reading

If you enjoy listening, you can subscribe to the audio version on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Audible so you don’t even have to look at the email 😊

Breathing for Better Mental & Emotional Health 4-Week Course

There are now 25 students enrolled in the course. Words can’t adequately express my gratitude and excitement 🙏

It begins this Sunday, May 7, so it’s not too late to join if interested.

Learn more and enroll here.

Hope to see a few more of you there!

4 THOUGHTS

1. More Joy: The Nose Should Be Considered Alongside the Vagus Nerve

“The emerging scenario strongly suggests that the effects of SNB [slow nasal breathing], beyond the relative contribution of vagal stimulation, are mainly ascribable to olfactory epithelium stimulation.”
– Zaccaro et al. (2022), Neural Correlates of Non-ordinary States of Consciousness in Pranayama Practitioners: The Role of Slow Nasal Breathing

This was a challenging & super fun paper to read. Here is my two-sentence summary of it:

Slow nasal breathing has significantly different effects on the brain than slow mouth breathing, which results in less physical and psychological tension, less anxiety, more joy, and a relaxed yet fully aware altered state of consciousness. Nasal stimulation should be considered alongside vagal stimulation as a primary mechanism behind the benefits of slow breathing.

2. Upward Spirals in Your Life that Lift You

“In fact, science documents that positive emotions can set off upward spirals in your life, self-sustaining trajectories of growth that lift you up to become a better version of yourself.”
– Barbara Fredrickson, Ph.D., Love 2.0

This is the real power of the breath. By using your practice to regularly elicit positive emotional states—a hallmark feature of slow nasal breathing—you set off upward spirals that “lift you up to become a better version of yourself.” 👏

3. A New “Long Beard” and the Buddha’s Advice

“Years ago, a wonderful Hindu teacher, Swami Chinmayananda, who taught me the Vedanta, said, ‘The longer the beard, the bigger the fake.’ And he, himself, had a beard that almost touched the floor!”
- Larry Rosenberg, Three Steps to Awakening

That makes me laugh. But, it also makes me think of how, in today’s society, our version of “long beards” are our credentials touching the floor: Ph.D., MD, Psy.D., D.O., and on and on : )

We can apply ancient wisdom to handle this modern scenario:

“[T]he Buddha tells us to take the counsel of the wise. We would be foolish to overlook their immeasurable knowledge and skills. But he also tells us to test the teachings in the fire of our own lives. Listen to them, weigh them, and investigate them.”

Sounds reasonable to me…almost as if that Buddha person knew a thing or two : )

4. Beating the Stress of a New Type of Gravity

Gravity is a stressor. But because there’s no way out of it, our bodies have adapted, and we don’t even notice it.

I think we should start treating the external stressors of our modern world (emails, social media, news headlines) like gravity. There’s basically no way out of them at this point.

What we need to do is adapt such that we hardly notice them.

Conscious slow breathing exercises are that adaptation. They’re always available to counter the weight of our new gravity.

1 Quote

“The breath is free from greed, hatred, delusion, and fear. When the mind joins with the breath, the mind temporarily becomes free from greed, hatred, delusion, and fear.””

— Bhante Henepola Gunarantana

1 Answer

Category: Basic Breath Processes

Answer: During exhalation, these “folds” can come together and vibrate to create sound.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What are the vocal cords?

In good breath,

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

P.S. Dog owners will know

The Garlic Breath of the Week

Here is the most-liked post this past week.

Nicholas Heath

May 23, 2022

weekly email, Batch 8

Life Force in Action, 3 Studies, and the Power of Mind-Wandering

Nicholas Heath

May 23, 2022

weekly email, Batch 8

🎧 Listen Instead of Reading 🎧

If you enjoy listening, you can subscribe to the audio version on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Audible so you don’t even have to look at the email 😊

4 Thoughts

1. A Tiny Thought on the Power of the Breath

In any situation:

If we control our breath, we control our environment.
If we do not, our environment controls us.

2. How Deep Breathing Reduces Stress According to 3 Studies

“Diaphragmatic breathing has the potential to offer a readily available and inexpensive treatment to help manage stress on a daily basis.”
- Hopper et al. (2019)

This systematic review of 3 studies found that slow diaphragmatic breathing reduces the following markers of stress:

Blood pressure
Salivary cortisol
DASS-21 scores
(a questionnaire on anxiety and stress)

Although the studies were not “top tier” (few are in breathing), these results are still powerful given stress’s negative impact on basically everything.

Breathe slowly, reduce stress, and live better.

3. Mind-Wandering is a Hidden Superpower (and how to do it correctly)

“In fact, when you look back over the history of science and engineering, many great breakthroughs don’t happen during periods of focus—they happen during mind-wandering.”
- Johann Hari, Stolen Focus

As someone who spends so much time focusing and reading, I found Hari’s section on mind-wandering life-changing. It is a genuine superpower.

And it’s simple enough. Just take time to do nothing—no phone, no books, no goals—and let your brain do what it does best: connect and form novel ideas.

However, there is one critical tip to remember: “In situations of low stress and safety, mind-wandering will be a gift, a pleasure, a creative force. In situations of high stress or danger, mind-wandering will be a torment.”

So, if you’re going to set aside time for mind-wandering, do it when you feel safe and calm…like after a slow breathing practice…😊

4. Life Force in Action

“There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action…”
- Martha Graham

And that action is breathing.

Breathing is life force translated through you into action.

***

P.S. I know I’m taking the quote out of context…it’s what I do best : )

1 QUOTE

“In the beginning was the voice. Voice is sounding breath, the audible sign of life.”
- Otto Jespersen (from Breath Taking)

1 ANSWER

Category: Sound and Breath

Answer: To generate sound, these vibrate rapidly from between 110 to 300 cycles per second in most people.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What are the vocal cords?

In good breath,

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

P.S. so bystanders don’t hear you fighting

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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.