Deep Breathing

I highly suggest making yourself a Forge

Posted by abraham.williams@gmail.com on in Deep Breathing, Environment, fitness, Health, high intensity, meditation, Philosopy, strength training, Stress, Success, Workouts

I have always wanted a garage. A place where I can do the things that I want to do. Build an electromyography thing with Arduino. Paint a painting. Work on my car. Dance alone. Do kickboxing.

I finally have a garage that is really mine (and my life partner’s too). And, I’ve been going into it every morning and working out in a high-intensity interval training way. I’ll do at least 30 minutes of Tabata with each 10 minute block being 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest. My level of precision is +- 2 or 3 minutes between blocks and +- 10 seconds during the Tabata work. I’ll use dumb bells, punching bag, rings, medicine ball, bands, jump rope, whatever and with music that fires me up. I breathe through my nose as much as I can. I watch my heart rate. I work to get myself moving between 130 and 160. Above 160, I will back off a bit till I recover down to about 120.

But, the thing I have noticed is that breathing through the nose, and there are papers on this, produces more nitric oxide (one nitrogen atom and one oxygen atom) in the blood than breathing through the mouth does. This seems to create in me a dissociative effect. This effect appears to allow me to tap into some kind of awareness. It’s probably endorphins, too. Other people know more than I do here. This has completely changed my life.

[Side note for my EverStrongSF people, yes, I know this is different from what we do there. EverStrongSF is the minimum effective dose and it absolutely works over time with a consistent application of the stimulus. I’m actually working towards the most effective dose. I don’t want to do the minimum.]

After all this, I realize it’s not a garage I’ve always wanted. It’s a Forge. A Forge where I can build myself.

I write this because maybe other people want a Forge, too. It doesn’t have to be a garage. It can be where ever you want it. I think if you make yourself a Forge, you can build yourself up. I think that’s what I’m doing.

Deep Breathing

Posted by abraham.williams@gmail.com on in Deep Breathing, Flu, Health, Posture

I have the flu. Or fever and congestion…whatever name it has. I have it. On this 3rd day of this flu, I am coughing for sure. Nose clogged as well. However, I am resting and am quite calm. When it’s really unpleasant a little Tylenol helps. Please be certain, it’s not how I’d choose to spend my vacation, but with a bit of bad comes a little good.

Come next Monday in the office, I’d like to maintain this calmness. An idea came to me about deep breathing and how I’d like to make this a practice in the morning before doing anything…100 thoughtful breaths. Something like that. I figured why not start now while laying in bed. Can’t sleep anyway.

I started deep breathing. Trying to fill the lungs, then exhale as much as I could, gently. Lungs rattled, nose wined, and desire to cough was strong. I wondered if I could do 100 thoughtful breaths. The cough reflex went away after a few breaths. It also seemed better to go slow so I didn’t pass out. Around…I don’t know…maybe 50 breaths a nostril opened up. I just kept going. It turned out to be quite interesting. I started feeling a little better. At one point the cough reflex got me, but it was dry as if the fluid in my lungs was drier. It was no longer a “productive cough”.

After a bit I felt good enough to get up. I was a bit dizzy, but thought I’d do some deep breathing with the chest erect and do more deep breathing. As I was doing this, I actually got energized and was feeling pretty good. Both nostrils cleared. Definitely positive…however, there was an even better side benefit.

Ever heard this saying or something like it, “Take a deep breath and raise your chest”? It is possible to take a deep breath humped over, but it definitely feels more natural to take a deep breath standing erect. In any case, the chest lifts itself. As I thought about it a bit more, I suspect that deep breathing correlates not only with calmness but with erectness and good posture. It’s a hypothesis I will test. Granted my results are quantitative, but whatever works for you, right?

So far, deep breathing, all positive.