wisdom of yoga

Phil Mickelson, and How Modern Science Helps Explain 2000-Year-Old Wisdom

 
 

Listen Instead of Reading

 

Hey,

Here are 4 thoughts, 1 quote, and 1 answer for this week. Enjoy!

 
 
 
 

4 Thoughts


1. The Real Lesson from Phil Mickelson: For Diabetes, and Life in General

Phil Mickelson used controlled breathing throughout the PGA Championship. So, when he won, it was an exciting moment for the breathing community.

But do you know what happened for the next tournament? He played poorly.

Of course, with sports, we accept that this is just part of the game. Even with his focused breathing, no one can win them all.

But do you apply this concept in your life, especially if you have diabetes?

Do you remember that life is more complex than sports? There’s no “one thing” that will ensure you always win.

But, and this is important, Phil still finished that next lousy round of golf. He didn’t just walk off the course because he wasn’t winning.

And that’s what we have to do. A high blood sugar doesn’t mean we should give up on our protocol. A poor night of sleep doesn’t mean this breathing stuff doesn’t work. Life is hard, and we all have off days. But, that’s precisely when we need our fundamentals the most.

Here’s to knowing we’ll have bad days and weeks, and finishing anyway, knowing we’ll eventually be on top again.

***

P.S. I know nothing about golf, so thanks to my dad for pointing out how bad Mickelson played when we hung out on Father’s Day, sparking this thought : )

2. Breathing is a Scalpel to Your Brain and Emotions

In 2017, a group of Stanford researchers discovered a small cluster of neurons that control your breathing—the breathing “pacemaker neurons.”

It turns out that these neurons extend to other parts of the brain that control emotions, and it’s a two-way street: The emotional areas can influence your breathing, but your breathing can also influence them.

On a recent RadioLab Podcast (aptly titled “Breath”), after learning this, Molly Webster likened her breathing to a scalpel to her brain and emotions:

“I feel like, in a way, he almost gave me like a scalpel to get inside my own brain and control it…If I actually change my breathing, it will change this breath pacemaker region, and it will send an ‘I’m chill’ signal to the fight or flight directly, and it will calm down.”

This brought a massive smile to my face. What a perfect analogy.

Practically and scientifically, you can know that when you take control of your breath, you take control of a small cluster of neurons that talk to other regions of your brain. So the scalpel is right there in your nose. Use it when needed.

***

P.S. Thanks to one of my best friends, Capt J.G., for sending me this podcast.

3. “Breathing Exercises for Better Metabolic Health”

“Research shows that controlled breathing can positively impact our nervous system, reducing stress and maybe even improving glucose control.”

- Levels, Breathing Exercises for Better Metabolic Health

This article is a perfect synthesis of research and practical advice on how breathing might help with blood sugars. It’s basically my entire website summarized into a 6-minute read…I feel rather long-winded now : )

Please read and share this one!

***

Related: My recent conversation with Evan Sorkoa, author of Yoga Therapy for Diabetes, on all things breathing, yoga, and diabetes.

Related: The Lesser-Known Benefits Of Nasal Breathing, Designed For Diabetes

Related: Why Slow Breathing is Beneficial for Diabetes

4. Moderate Breathing, in Moderation

“All breathing in moderation, including moderate breathing.”

A reader helped me add this one to the list of “Breathing Graffiti.” Thanks, M. Night Larry. It’s clever, and it has lots of practical wisdom too.

Remember that we take over 20,00 breaths a day. So Wim Hof is OK now and then. Breath holds are OK now and then. (If you’re in good health, of course.)

All breathing in moderation, even moderate breathing. That’s a simple and valuable principle to live by.

 
 
 
 

1 Quote

“When the mental state is disturbed, the life energy (prana) gets unbalanced and this leads to irregular breath; hence to regulate the mental state the yoga practitioner should regulate the breath.”

Hatha Yoga Pradipika, 300 A.D., from Role of respiration in mind-body practices: concepts from contemporary science and traditional yoga texts

***

P.S. This was from almost 2000 (!) years ago. The neurons controlling how this works (Thought #2) were only discovered in 2017. The paper linked above provides additional insight into the science behind this ancient wisdom.

 
 
 
 

1 Answer

Category: Breathing in History

Answer: The healing power of the breath was recognized this far back.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

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Question: What is 7000 BCE? (pg. 58)

In good breath,

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

P.S. You know. Like a book.

 
 
 

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Phil Jackson on Focused Breathing, Nature’s CO2 Trick, and Wisdom of Yoga

 
 

Listen Instead of Reading

 

Hey,

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

 
 
 
 

4 Thoughts


1. Don’t Let Your Breathing Get Featured to Death

“The answer starts with the noble intentions of engineers. Most technology and product design projects must combat feature creep, the tendency for things to become incrementally more complex until they no longer perform their original functions very well.”

- Chip and Dan Heath, Made To Stick

Breathing practices are simple. But, as humans, we tend to make things more complex. We let “feature creep” take over (guilty here). As Chip and Dan tell us, it’s an innocent process, but sooner or later, things get “featured to death.”

Feature creep can be seen in breathing in many ways—the infinite number of methods available, the untold number of bio-monitors you can wear, the countless places you can focus each breath.

These are all awesome things, and we should always be trying to improve our breathing. But, if your practice has lost its original function (relaxation, focus, etc.), then maybe it’s creeping too far.

Here’s to keeping our breathing fun and adding things that bring it more to life, not feature it to death.

***

Related Quote: “The hardest thing in the world is to simplify your life because everything is pulling you to be more and more complex.” - Yvon Chouinard, Patagonia Founder

P.S. I find this to be more of an art than science with my practice. What’s “too much” for me might seem like “not enough” for you, so it’s very personalized.

2. How Nature Tricked Us into Thinking Carbon Dioxide is So Important

When you get interested in breathing, you eventually get fascinated by carbon dioxide (CO2). The more you learn, the more you feel like you’ve been duped the whole time: “Breathing is really about CO2, not oxygen.”

Everywhere you look, this makes sense:

It just seems like CO2, not oxygen, is the star of breathing.

But just when you think you have it figured out, Nassim Taleb reminds you of the brilliance of Nature:

“It is all about redundancy. Nature likes to overinsure itself. Layers of redundancy are the central risk management property of natural systems.”

- Nassim Taleb, Antifragile

Ah-ha, reading this passage through the lens of breathing, we see it is really about oxygen. Nature is just smarter than us.

Nature built in layers of redundancy to ensure we always have enough—from our perspective, it seems wasteful. But paradoxically, that wasteful appearance is precisely due to how vital oxygen is.

As Taleb says, “Redundancy is ambiguous because it seems like a waste if nothing unusual happens. Except that something unusual happens—usually.”

There’s no real practical wisdom here, just fun to consider the genius of Nature and evolution. Here’s to never-ending learning and never-ending 🤯

***

Related Quote: "And if the traveler is fortunate…the destination is two miles farther away for every mile he or she travels." - George Leonard

3. Breathe through Your Nose! Modern Research Confirms the Wisdom of the Yoga Tradition

“Quite rightly, it revealed that breathing through the nose led to a 10 – 15% higher oxidation of the blood.”

- Eddie Weitzberg, M.D. Ph.D.,

Breathe Through The Nose! Modern research confirms…

Of course, if I see an article that starts with “Breathe through the nose!” I’m going to read it and share it : )

And even better, this one was written by one of the pioneers in nasal nitric oxide research, Dr. Weitzberg. He was part of the (now somewhat famous) study showing nose breathing increases oxygen by 10-20%.

It’s a quick read and a good reminder of how powerful nasal nitric oxide is.

Enjoy!

***

P.S. Check out the 3rd paragraph in the grey box titled “Nadi Shodana – to counter asthma.” It’s the best explanation I’ve heard for pinching your nose closed on a breath hold.

4. Phil Jackson on Focused Breathing Before a Big Game

“When we made it to our banquet room, five minutes ahead of schedule, every player was already in his spot ready to sit and breathe together.”

- Phil Jackson, Foreword in The Mindful Athlete

This was the morning of Game 7 in the 2002 Western Conference Finals. The Lakers won in overtime. Phil Jackson said the players kept the same cool on the court in overtime as they had in the banquet room breathing together.

Did they win because of breathing? Of course not. But did it help? Probably.

As Phil goes on to say:

“A lot of athletes think the trick to getting better is to just work harder, but there is a great power in non-action and non-thinking. The hardest thing after all the work and all the time spent on training and technique is just being fully present in the moment.”

Focused breathing helped the Lakers achieve just that.

 
 
 
 

1 Quote

“Breathing is the only system in the body that is both automatic and also under our control. That's not an accident of nature, not a coincidence. It's an invitation, an opportunity to take part in our own nature and evolution.”

– Dr. Belisa Vranich and Brian Sabin, Breathing for Warriors

 
 
 
 

1 Answer

Category: Nature and Oxygen

Answer: Although still up for debate, it is recognized that these trees generally give off the most oxygen.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

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Question: What are Douglas-fir, spruce, true fir, beech, and maple?

In good breath,

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

P.S. Liked them and adopted them

 
 
 

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.