Hi, it's Nick. Welcome back to another episode of The Breathing 411. Let's jump straight into this week's four thoughts. The first one is titled, "Blue Mindfulness." And here is a quote, "What science is also revealing is that there's an additional, simple, watery means to mindfulness." Indeed, think of it as "Blue Mindfulness." End quote, and that is Wallace J. Nichols from Blue Mind. And this is referring to the idea that being around water or in nature in general, right, can invoke mindfulness. Unfortunately, even if you can't make it into nature, it turns out just listening to the sound of water can elicit some of its benefits. So this is just simply your little nudge in mind to get out into nature or put on some ocean noises during your next breathing or meditation practice to get a little extra blue mindfulness to combine it with your breath. And I just wanted to find a quote from Wallace J. Nichols. I learned recently that he passed away and very tragic. I don't know how, but it's just, it's sad. I don't know him, obviously, but this book, his book, "Blue Mind," I read at a really important time in my life and it was like just mind-blowing to me. So it was just really impactful and I just loved the way he wrote and things. So I just wanted to pay tribute to him through this, through any way I can, right, in my little teeny tiny way, but it's a great, great book, "Blue Mind," go buy it and support him and his family. All right, with that, let's move on to thought number two, "A water breathing walk." And here is a quote, "Importantly rain washes away the vestiges of pollution. Air is always cleaner during and immediately after a downpour. As rain tumbles through the atmosphere, each drop attracts hundreds of pollutant particles, leaving the air bracingly fresh, scrubbed, clean." End quote. And that is Annabelle Streets from 52 Ways to Walk. And if that sounded, if it's just wrong, Abell, for some reason, that's because I've shared it before, not too terribly long ago, actually, but it just for some reason felt right to reshare after that previous thought on water and listening to water. So I thought, oh, here's another nudge to consider getting out and breathing some freshly scrubbed air, right, scrubbed, clean, bracingly fresh air. After the next rain in your area, it is an effortless quote, "breathing exercise," right? And to breathe fresh air, enjoy it maybe while you take a walk, that sounds nice. All right, let's move on to thought number three, which is why worry goes with hurry. And here is a quote, "Worry goes with hurry because people in a hurry don't have time to think clearly and make clear decisions, so they are always worried about results. If you slow down enough to think clearly and act wisely, you have no need to worry about worry because you know you are doing your best." End quote. And that is Ekneith Ischwarren from Original Goodness, and I love this idea, right? And when we practice slow breathing or mindfulness or meditation, whatever, we slow down our minds, which allows us to think and act more wisely as he tells us. And of course, this reduces our worry. Of course, right? The crucial part about this whole thing is that it doesn't mean we'll be perfect, right? It's not like breathing or mindfulness makes you make perfect decisions all the time or that everything works out right now. We still, it's still life, right? Life's still crazy and bad things happen, good things happen, all of that. But we'll still mess up a lot, right? But we just won't have to worry as much because we'll know in the moment we're making the best with what we have, right? There's not much more we can ask for. So by slowing down, we're able to make better decisions and worry less simply because we're happier knowing we're doing our best. And if it doesn't work out, we're not as stressed as when we think, oh, what if I thought this? Or what if I, you know, because you just slowed down, you know, you're doing good and you move on. All right. That's my side tangent. Sorry. I went on a little too long there, but that is why worry goes with hurry and why slow breathing can help. All right. So to our fourth and final thought for this week, it is titled some advice to follow for the rest of our lives. And here is the quote, receive wisdom skillfully, try it on for size and see how it fits, incorporate what's useful, let go of the rest. And no matter how credible the source, test and tune it to yourself to discover what works for you, end quote, and that is Rick Rubin from the creative act. And that's amazing. And ironically, right? It goes for it serves for this passage too, right? So you get to receive that wisdom he just told you about skillfully and decide maybe sometimes. Oh, I won't. I won't go there. All right. So remember, it applies to all wisdom. Even the teacher telling you to receive wisdom skillfully, right? So beautiful idea, though, I think it's wonderful advice. And I try to remember it anytime I read books, right? To try it on for size, see how it fits, incorporate what's useful and let go of the rest. Such a good idea. And with that, we will move on to the one quote for this week. Here it is. It's a great one. You know that our breathing is the inhaling and exhaling of air. The organ which serves for this is the lungs which lie around the heart. Thus breathing is a natural way to the heart. End quote. And that is neciferous, the solitary. And I just love that quote. I've shared it sort of in the newsletter at some point on a, I think on a Valentine's Day as like one of many quotes in that day. So anyways, it's always good to repeat them and reread them with fresh eyes because that is a wonderful quote. All right. Let's move on to the last part of the newsletter here. The one answer, the category this week is coupling. And the answer is this refers to the measurement of the interaction between the lungs and the heart during sleep. What is cardiopulmonary coupling? So that's a tough one, but you might have got that right cardiopulmonary coupling. And that is awesome. And it goes well with our quote about the breathing being the natural way to the heart, of course. All right. That is it for this week. Remember to practice some blue mindfulness, get out into nature, go to the beach, go to any body of water, any river, any stream and enjoy it and get a little natural mindfulness. But if you can't do that, not all of us are that fortunate, right? We can throw on our headphones, put on some sounds of the ocean or a river running or nature and get some of its benefits. I've been doing this every morning for about almost two years now since I read this book. I mentioned it was very impactful for me. I have background, ocean, river-ish type noises. I guess it's more river noises during my morning breathing every single morning for about two years. I've been doing that. I love it. And it's amazing. So you can combine, mix and match, do whatever you want to get some blue mindfulness, maybe get out and walk and breathe after a rain to get that freshly scrubbed air. Remember why worry goes with hurry because when you're hurried, you don't have time to make clear decisions. And when you aren't, when you slow down, you breathe slowly, you practice mindfulness, you can make better decisions. They won't always be perfect, but you'll at least have less to worry about. And remember all of this, everything I share, everything everyone has ever shared to receive that wisdom skillfully. Try it on for size and see what works for you. And if you are interested in doing that on a more structured scale, I offer the breath learning center, breathlearning.com, which is made for that right to give you tons of wisdom and science in the simplest, easiest to digest format. And then you pick the things that work for you, discard the rest to help you think, speak and act in alignment with the person you want to be, discover more about yourself through these practices and through wisdom and learning. So go check it out, breathlearning.com and just thank you as always for listening. I will see, I may not be back next week with the audio because I'm traveling. If I can get a mic somehow, I will, if not, I'll see you in two weeks. But either way, thank you as always for listening. I'll see you next time.
