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Hi, it's Nick, welcome back to another episode of the Breathing 411. Let's jump into this week's four thoughts. The first one is titled going inward to bring it outward. And here is a quote, but none of this is the final destination of spinal breathing. We are going in so we can come back out and enjoy our inner qualities in the outside world of our everyday living. So spinal breathing is a practical technique. It is not something we do to escape. It is something we do to arrive completely in the presence of who and what we are. Then we are in a position to live life to the fullest. End quote. And that is from Yogani from Spinal Breathing Pranayama and a little guest appearance from my dog. She's thunderstorming and she is terrified, so I'm letting her be in here with me. So bear with me this week. That's just how it's going to be today. And although this passage right, this beautiful passage is about spinal breathing pranayama, it applies perfectly to any contemplative practice, right? Just normal slow breathing, meditation, alternate nostril breathing, right? We are going in so we can come back out and enjoy our inner qualities in the outside world of our everyday living. I love that. I love it, right? It's not something we do to escape. It's something we do to arrive completely in the presence of who and what we are. That is beautifully said, and that's a great book, Spinal Breathing Pranayama, if anyone is interested, I don't know who Yogani is, but it's a great little book and it was a fun read. Okay, let's move on to thought number two, patience means slow, deep breathing. And here's a quote, patience means slow, deep breathing in patience means poor lungs and irregular breathing. When you are patient, all the vital processes work smoothly, end quote. And that is ethnic ishwarren from passage meditation. And let's not forget right that this is a two way street. When we also practice slow, deep breathing, we create conditions that support us being more patient. So patience is good for our breathing and breathing can be good for our patients. This will not only help our breathing and lung health, but also help us live more easily and more efficiently in our overly rushed world where patients can be hard, right? Practicing it, practicing slow breathing can help us be more patient and help us be better people out in the rushed world and maybe bring a sense of calm to those around us here and there when we can remember to do so. All right, with that, let's move on to thought number three. It is titled remembering to keep an eye on oneself. And here's a quote. First used in an English translation of a Buddhist text in 1881 at the height of the British colonization of South Asia, the term mindfulness came into general acceptance in the Western world thereafter. But the term is a Western invention. The original word in the language of the Buddhist time was sati. Sati means remembering. Write mindfulness or write sati means remembering to keep an eye on oneself. End quote. And that is Mark Epstein MD from advice not giving. And I love that, right? Remembering to keep an eye on oneself. That is an awesome and super practical definition of mindfulness, right? Just remember to keep an eye on yourself. What you're doing? Keep an eye on yourself. So here is to using our breath and our daily readings, you know, and all of the things we do for our contemplation to keep an eye on ourselves so that we can continue to cultivate a well lived life. And with that, we'll let's move on to our fourth and final thought. It is titled laughfulness. And so here's the idea that if mindfulness means remembering to keep an eye on oneself, which we just talked about, then I propose a new practice and a new word, laughfulness, remembering to laugh at oneself. This may be the best contemplative approach to mastering the art of living. So make sure you laugh at yourself every now and then to help support your inner well-being. And with that, let's move on to the one quote which is related to that last thought. Here it is quote, health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing in the quote. And that is Red Fox. And I've shared that before I think and if I haven't, there you go. So good. Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing. That is our reminder to laugh at ourselves for being into all this breathing and self-improvement stuff. Yeah. It's just so good. All right. Let's finish up with the one answer. The category this week is breathing and the brain. The answer is this gas is critical to breathing but also has a direct impact on brain blood flow with some studies suggesting that brain blood flow reduces two to 3% for every one millimeter of mercury reduction in it. That is, of course, carbon dioxide. All right. That is it for this week. Remember to go inward to bring it outward, right? It is practical. It's not something we're doing to escape. We're arriving completely in who we are. Remember that patience is associated with slower, deeper breathing. And then that is a two way street when we practice slow, deep breathing and can support us being more patient. Remember to keep an eye on oneself. That's what mindfulness means to remember. And therefore, right mindfulness means remembering to keep an eye on oneself so good and so practical. And remember to laugh at oneself as well, laughfulness, if that's a word or mindful laughness or whatever we want to call it, to remember to keep a laugh at yourself every now and then so that you can master the art of living. And remember, if you are interested in mastering the art of living and breathing and just being a better person, you can join the Breath Learning Center at breathlearning.com. It's breathing, reading and meditation for a well-lived life, simple, effective and tailored for your path, your journey to better living a well-lived life in a bringing together of our thoughts, our words and our actions, right, to find true happiness. So I hope you will check it out. It's barely really affordable and, you know, just a simple way to live better. I'm obsessed with it, so I hope you will join and become obsessed with it too. Alright, that is it for this week. Thank you as always for listening. I'll see you next time.
