I spend several hours every week exploring and discussing content on technology, business, and society, with a focus on mindfulness and well-being.
Every other Sunday, I send out a summary of the best material and themes I've found over the previous two weeks and some new ideas from me. These can include articles, podcasts, books, shows, gadgets, research papers, quotes, practices, practical tips, and more.
If you aren’t subscribed yet, join other smart, kind, and curious folks by subscribing here!
Dear friends,
These trying pandemic times are affecting all of us, whether directly or indirectly. My heart goes out to my Indian friends and everyone else around the world who is going through a tough time.
If there’s one thing that the pandemic has shown, it’s the importance of breath and breathing. I’ve been talking about this very topic for years in the context of mindfulness practice, but I recently realized there’s so much more to understand, appreciate, and put into practice.
Over the last two weeks, I dove deeper into all things breathing and in this update I’m going to experiment with a new format: an experiential learning path that you can try to learn more about the topic and, hopefully, improve your life.
5 steps to learn the science and practice of healthy breathing
I. 🎙 Learn the fundamentals with this podcast
Breathing Essentials That Will Change Your Life – James Nestor with Dave Asprey. This Bulletproof Radio podcast episode is a great 1-hour primer on the importance of breath and healthy breathing. James Nestor is a science journalist and author of the book Breathe, which we’ll look at next.
II. 📒 Dive deeper with this book
Breath - the new science of a lost art, by James Nestor (@MrJamesNestor). This recent bestselling book is likely the most comprehensive modern summary of the history and science of breathing. Highly recommended.
💡 Ideas
Breath is the missing pillar in health, with lung capacity being the number one predictor of longevity. The lungs are also the weight regulating system of the body: 80% of any fat that is lost is converted to carbon dioxide and exhaled.
If you’re looking to maintain health and prevent yourself from getting sick at any time, breathing has to be considered.The nasal cycle is the unconscious alternating partial congestion and decongestion of the nasal cavities in humans and other animals. Crazy, right? Every roughly 2.5 hours one of your nasal cavities will automatically congest, while the other open up to allow for greater airflow.
The cycle ensures that one side of the nose is always moist, to facilitate humidification, which is one of the three functions of the nose, the other two being filtration and warming of inspired air prior to its entering the lungs.For these reasons, the proper, healthy way of breathing is breathing slowly through the nose. This also increases nitric oxide (which is very beneficial).
The ideal number of seconds for an inhale or exhale is between five to six seconds. So, 5.5 seconds in, 5.5 seconds out. That’s 5.5 breaths per minute and 5.5 liters of air.Breathing through the mouth, e.g. during sleep apnea, increases the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) that is exhaled, which is detrimental. A certain amount of CO2 is healthy and needed in the bloodstream to regulate the pH of the blood and allow red blood cells to release oxygen, oxygenating the whole system (a balanced, not too acidic and not too alkaline, 7.4 pH is where all the magic happens throughout your body).
The reason why humans have crooked teeth is because our mouths due to our modern lifestyle have grown so small that teeth have nowhere to grow. In addition, a major reason for tooth cavities is that we breath through the mouth.
“The nose is the silent warrior: the gatekeeper of our bodies, pharmacist to our minds, and weathervane to our emotions” - James Nestor
🔗 Additional resources
Shut Your Mouth and Save Your Life (consciousbreathing.com) - The fascinating story of George Catlin, who between 1830 and 1860 visited more than 150 Native American tribes in the North, Central, and South America, finding that breathing was at the core of their healthy lifestyle.
How Athletes Can Use the Bohr Effect to Boost Their Endurance (somnifix.com) - The Bohr Effect and how higher CO2 levels means more efficient oxygenation.
III. 👨🔬 Put it into practice with these experiments
At this point, you should have enough knowledge to start experimenting (I actually suggest trying these in parallel while reading the book).
Here are some tests I’ve tried over the last few weeks:
As you go about your day, when performing a routine task like sitting at the desk or brushing your teeth, bring your attention to the breath and notice if the next few breaths are long and slow through the nose, averaging at 5.5 breaths per minute. Train yourself to notice when the resting breath becomes fast-paced and bring it back to a healthy level.
It can also be helpful to try some of the short breathing methods described in the last chapter of the book Breath.
You take about 20 thousands breaths per day - how many of those are mindful?Practice noticing which of the two nostrils is occluded at any given time due to the nasal cycle. This is a great way to practice mindfulness throughout the day because it requires a great level of presence, concentration, and sensory clarity.
When working out, especially when doing cardio exercises like running, try to only breathe through the nose. If it’s hard - and it was for me! - try to use a nasal dilator to increase air intake. Notice if there’s any shift after a few days.
Before sleep, consider putting some mouth tape on the night stand next to your bed. Every night for a few nights (at least 7 to 10), try mouth taping (primer video) and see what changes. Having a sleep monitor (e.g. Oura ring) that tracks movement, sleep phases, and HRV may help notice any improvement. In my first tests, Oura showed a drastic reduction in movement and wake-ups, with my total REM sleep time increasing by 25%-50%.
🔗 Additional resources
Breathing videos with exercises (mrjamesnestor.com)
IV. 🌬 Experience more with these advanced practices
So far, we’ve learned about the science of habitual healthy breathing. The one that should be practiced daily, promoting well-being and longevity.
In addition, there’s a large category of special techniques that should be done more sporadically. These are powerful tools that can unlock very unique, powerful, and even spiritual experiences. Most of them have originated from India and are variations of Pranayama, which has been practiced for thousands of years.
The technique I’ve found most effective for me so far is the one taught by Jon Paul Crimi at Breathe with JP. JP is popular for being the breathwork teacher of CEOs and Hollywood celebrities. He teaches live classes in LA, but during Covid he is giving online live classes on Zoom.
This type of breathwork induces "transient hypofrontality", slowing down activity in the prefrontal cortex. The result: presence, reduced inner dialogue, feelings of bliss, and connection. I've only had a handful of life experiences that were so unique and powerful.
Other additional advanced techniques are:
Sudarshan Kriya from the Art of Living Foundation
V. ♲ Create systems around your new habits
In order to form sustained habits, we want to create systems around them.
Now that you know much more about breathing and have tried some new techniques and behaviors, choose at least one that you’ll commit to practicing for a longer period of time. What are some systems that you can build to support this new habit?
Personally, I’m trying to incorporate daily the four practices mentioned in step 3: mindful slow breathing when performing routine tasks paired with bringing attention to the airflow through the nostrils; nose breathing when running; and mouth taping at night.
And if you give it a try, I’d love to hear about your experience and findings.
Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this content, please click on the like button below - it will help others find the article on Substack. Feel free to also forward the email to a friend or share the web link.
Be well and be kind,
Matteo