Make Your Own Luck, Breathe Low, and Experience Everything as if For the First Time
Hi Folks! Connor and Nick here from Healthy Living With Nick and Connor. Thanks again for being on our email list, it means a lot, and we are excited to share our weekly email with you. We hope you enjoy it! Here is what we hope you take away from this one:
Make your own luck by being open-minded, trying new things, and being aware of what you are doing and what your goals are.
We often get stuck in the habit of only breathing with the top of our lungs. Start utilizing the full power of your lungs and diaphragm with some deeeep breathing.
When you live your life as if everything you do is new, as if you are experiencing it for the first time, you will find the beauty and joy in things that may have been lost long ago.
Starter Mindset Tip: Make Your Own Luck.
Do you ever wonder why things always seem to work out, or why things never seem to work out? Luck, in its essence, is out of your control. But in order to get lucky, you need to give yourself the opportunity to be lucky. If you never put yourself out there, if you never try anything new, if you never deviate from your daily routine, you will have a much lower chance at becoming lucky. Is there anyone in your life that you would consider extremely lucky? Or someone that seems to have everything just work out for them? If this someone is you, or if you know someone like this, take a minute to ask yourself why they seem to be so lucky? Why does life just work out for them? I am going to guess that they are living their life a little more open minded, they take more chances, they have a great awareness about who they are and who they want to become. There are outliers to this way of thinking, some people just get lucky, but on a whole, people who are luckier than others are that way because they lead a life that creates more opportunities to be lucky. How can you change the way you live to be luckier? Get out there and make your own luck.
Health Recipe: See Your Stomach Move When You Breathe
Timing: No extra time needed
Level of Difficulty: Easy to do, hard to make a habit
Serving Size: Start small at different times throughout the day
Spice Level: Mild like chamomile tea
INGREDIENTS
Just you and your breath
REASONING AND BENEFITS
Breathing low into our stomach has become a lost art. Most of us breathe into the top of our lungs in our chest. It’s time to switch it up and try breathing deep into the bottom of your lungs. Looking at the shape of our lungs, they are narrow at the top and wider at the bottom. The blood flow in the lower lobes of the lungs is greater than the upper, so breathing low can improve the quality of your blood flow, increase oxygen delivery, and reduce symptoms of anxiety (McKeown, 2015, p. 72). We have grown accustomed to using as little as 10% of our diaphragm when breathing. This can elevate blood pressure, and really, you don't want your diaphragm getting bored down there! Extending your breaths to even 50 to 70% of the diaphragm’s capacity will ease the stress on your heart and allow your body to work more efficiently. The diaphragm is sometimes referred to as the second heart because it not only beats to its own rhythm, but also affects the rate and strength of heartbeats (Nestor, 2020, p. 62). Extend your breaths, move your diaphragm more, and practice getting all the air out before your next inhale.
INSTRUCTIONS
This can be done at any time during rest, activity, work, or play.
As you breathe, focus on breathing down into your stomach so you can see your stomach slowly moving in and out.
Now that you are breathing into your stomach, extend your inhales and exhales to give your diaphragm a little workout. See how much you can make your stomach move in and out with your breath.
Feel your stomach move out, filling up as you breathe in.
Feel your stomach come back in as you empty it out before taking in your next breath.
PRO TIP: Every now and then, exhale all your air beyond where it is comfortable. Mimic that feeling of doing one extra rep in the gym or pushing one block further while on a run to work the muscles a little beyond your comfort zone. Being uncomfortable consciously is a wonderful thing.
*Constant upper chest breathing can raise stress levels, adding to chronic stress.
** Deep easy breathing will become unconscious as the diaphragm gets used to working again.
*** The amount of air that enters equals the amount that leaves – peak performance right there!
Dessert Quote:
“Try to experience everything as if for the first time. When you see what’s present around you as if for the first time, you start to realize how astonishing it all is. As artists, we aim to live in a way in which we see the extraordinary hidden in the seemingly mundane.” — Rick Rubin, “The Creative Act,” p. 123
Now we want to hear from YOU! Please let us know what you think of today’s newsletter, and send us an example of how you applied the health recipe to your life! We would love to share how you introduced this week’s recipe into your life’s unique menu. Thanks and have a great Sunday!
Sources:
Learn more about how we should all be breathing:
McKeown, P. (2015). The Oxygen Advantage: The simple, scientifically
proven breathing technique that will revolutionise your health and fitness. Hachette UK.
Nestor, J. (2020). Breath: The new science of a lost art. Penguin.
Learn more about harnessing your creativity and finding the beauty in what’s around you:
Rubin, R. (2023). The Creative Act: A Way of Being. Penguin.
