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The Breathing 411
Nasal Minded, Three Quotes, And Making Your Own Path
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, "A Fast Track to an Alternative State of Mind." And here's a quote. "Whatever rate you breathe at, whether you focus on the breath for alertness, slow it down a bit for relaxation, or a lot to reach an altered state of consciousness, only nasal breathing allows your brainwaves to synchronize with the breath, offering a fast track to an alternative state of mind." That is Caroline Williams from the book Move, which I think I mentioned last week is an incredibly good book. And this is just a great reminder that, of course, there are except for a few specific exercises, right? Most of the benefits of breathing start with the nose, so anytime you want to shift your state of mind to relax, to focus, just to be present, right? Remember, it begins with nasal breathing. And with that, we will move on to thought number two, which is titled, "Tuning or Guitar." And here's a quote. Another important point is to remain balanced, not too tight, and not too loose. If we're too tight, we'll lose our calmness and relaxation. If we're too loose, we'll stray into distraction. It's like tuning a guitar. For the best sound, it should be tuned just right, not too tight, and not too loose. And that is from the book Why We Meditate. And this applies to our breathing and meditation practice, of course, right? But also just life in general. For the best sound, we have to be tuned just right, not too tight, and not too loose. So try to keep that in mind in life, and in your daily practice of breathing or meditation or mindfulness or yoga or whatever it is, not too tight, not too loose, but just right. And with that, we will move on to thought number three, which is titled, "Three Reminders to Breathe Mindfully." And here's the first one quote. If you can manage to bring your attention to your breathing for even the briefest of moments, it will set the stage for facing that moment and the next one with greater clarity. End quote, and that is John Cabot-Zinn. Here's the second reminder quote. Practicing to walk and breathe mindfully helps you dwell more in the real world so you can get in touch with the wonders of life in the present moment and nourish and heal your body and mind. End quote, and that is tick not hon, and that is so good. Yeah, dwell more in the real world. A lot of times these practices are thought of as like ways to escape life and the stressors of life, right? But no, they actually let you dwell more in the real world, right? Actually, what's going on? So you can enjoy the wonders of life. So good. All right, and here's the third and final one. Here it is quote, "The next step is crucial. You give relaxed, careful attention to respiration and to the obvious, often neglected fact that each one of us is breathing." In other words, you are alive. Did you know that? End quote, and that is Larry Rosenberg, and did you know that? I know I've shared that before at some point, but so good to revisit. All right, so those are your three reminders to breathe mindfully. And here, let's wrap it up with the fourth and final thought. Become a mixed mindful artist. And here is a quote, "There are many paths up the mountain, but there is only one mountain." End quote, and that is Swami Kripaloo. And too often, right? We're told to follow a specific path without regard for who or where we are in life, right? But what I've discovered through tons and tons of reading and books and practicing and science papers and blah, blah, blah, is a more thoughtful approach to better living. And that is becoming a mixed mindful artist. Yes, of course, a play on mixed martial arts, but this approach offers timeless wisdom, modern science and simple tools that then empower you to use your own intuition to create your path up the mountain, right? There's no one-size-fits-all just what works best for you. You can join the Breath Learning Center to do that. I give you all the information to help you become a mixed mindful artist and have a ton of fun doing it. Or you can just do it on your own, right? That's the whole point of the approach. It's just not to be tied into one-person specific method that worked for them. And remember, there is no one-size-fits-all just what works for you. If you are ready to do that, if you want to become a mixed mindful artist, go to breathlearning.com. Otherwise, do it yourself, but try to... or don't. It doesn't matter, right? It's up to you. That's the whole point is finding what works for you based on your intuition and learning and finding the things that resonate with you, right? So very practical, very thoughtful, very realistic approach to breathing meditation and mindfulness. All right, that is it for the four thoughts. Let's move on to the one quote for this week. It is a great one. "To be truly alive, we must find the life force within ourselves and direct our energy toward it." And that is Gladys McGarry MD, who is now 103 years old and wrote one of the best books ever written, "The Well-Lived Life." You got to go get that. If you haven't, so good and so powerful. To be truly alive, we must find the life force within ourselves and direct our energy toward it. That is what being a mixed mindful artist is about. That is what being breathing is about. That is what life is about, right? So good. All right, let's move on. That's the one quote and wrap up now with the one answer. The category is the same category from last week, which is breathing and the core. But the answer this time is this breathing exercise might provide more of a core workout than crunches. What is laughter, of course? And I found that in that book, "Move" by Caroline Williams. And I found the study she referenced and there's a link to it in the blog post or the email wherever you got to this. So yeah, laughter could be more of a core workout than crunches when measured certain ways. So super powerful stuff. Yeah, so awesome. So all right, quick recap. Nasal breathing, right? The fast track to an alternative state of mind. It's the only way the brain waves truly synchronize with the breath. Of course, they do change with mouth breathing at specific rates. But nasal breathing is where we get the biggest benefits for the synchronization with brain waves. Remember, not too tight, not too loose tuning our guitar that we call life. Just right so that we can find the optimal balance in the best sound. Remember to breathe mindfully, right? Lots of reminders. You go back, re-listen or read them because it's always good to read them and project your own voice on do it, right? Which is so good. And then finally, remember, if you are interested in becoming a mixed mindful artist, taking your own path up the same mountain we're all traveling, right? Using breath, using meditation, using mindfulness, the key tools of a better life, right? That every tradition in history agrees on, those are the common ones, right? In a little bit of movement, then check out breathlearning.com, where I give you the timeless wisdom in the modern science, the simple tools, and you use your intuition and what you need to find the right path for you at this moment in your life. All right, that is it for this week. As always, just thank you so much for listening. I will see you next time.