The Breath Letter #74 - Parasympathetic Paradise
How I unlock parasympathetic paradise using the power of the Vagus Nerve.
Happy Sunday and welcome back to the 74th edition of The Breath Letter.
The newsletter that provides you with actionable takeaways from 1 Breathwork insight, 1 Breathwork quote, and 1 Breathwork resource from BreathingByEd, a Certified Oxygen Advantage Functional Breath Coach, every Sunday morning.
I hope everyone took the opportunity to enjoy learning how an infamous doctor changed his relationship with sleep using this breathtaking breathwork hack. in The Breath Letter #73! If you missed it, be sure to check it out!
This week’s edition of The Breath Letter is brought to you by Breathe2Achieve!
How a professional ice hockey player built a toolkit of breathwork techniques to overcome anxiety and maximise sleep and performance using my "GAME-CHANGING" Breathe2Achieve program.
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Would you like to learn how to become a low-anxiety high-performing individual in 2024 like Michael?
Now, let’s get into The Breath Letter #74…
Breathwork Insight
I wanted to start this week’s edition of The Breath Letter with one simple question…
I started BreathingByEd to show people how I used breathwork to overcome certain periods of stress and anxiety in my life, improve my sleep, and maximize my athletic performance.
And how I continue to use breathwork to manage stressful situations in daily life and maximize the fitness side of my life.
But BreathingByEd and The Breath Letter have turned into so much more than that.
They have turned into ways of articulating my thoughts during those periods without action.
Talking without talking.
As I continue to share my story and transformation over the last few years, I can’t tell how much the overwhelming support for my content has meant to me.
Over the past three months, I have surpassed over 2m impressions on X.
BreathingByEd is only 3 followers away from 8,000 followers.
Insane.
If you’d like to be my 8,000th follower, follow this link to my profile!
Last but not least, the man himself, Dr Andrew Huberman liked one of my most recent viral X threads earlier this week.
So it’s safe to say it has been a pretty successful last couple of weeks at BreathingByEd HQ.
Not only the support for my content but I get a lot of messages from people every week asking for advice on anxiety and then someone else on stress management.
I will happily reply with my two cents on what worked for me and how when I experienced similar issues, the coping mechanisms and techniques helped me at the time.
The key thing to remember is that.
I will never pretend to hold all the solutions.
Nor, can I give you all the answers.
I can just tell you my experiences and the coping mechanisms I used to transform myself from A to B.
And B is certainly not the end product.
This is one of the key first understandings I outline to any new Breathe2Achieve members.
I will never pretend to hold all the solutions.
Not a single past or present Breathe2Achieve member has come to me saying, ‘I have issues with my breathing.’
They come to me saying they are struggling with anxiety, lack of sleep or breathlessness during training.
My job is to demonstrate how their breathing patterns could be causing these issues.
This is the realisation all my clients make after completing my Breathe2Achieve program.
All the issues that arise in my members’ lives around stress, anxiety, sleep, and performance can all tie back to your breathing pattern.
Understanding this and implementing the techniques and knowledge inside my Breathe2Achieve program to foster that nervous system and breath connection has been invaluable for so many of my clients.
Don’t believe me?
Trust me when I say the testimonials on this link speak for themselves.
Now I know you are sitting there thinking, ‘Thanks for the introduction Ed but I’m just here to learn how to activate my vagus nerve so I can enter parasympathetic paradise.’
Well as I always say, it’s lucky you subscribe to The Breath Letter as here’s how to activate your vagus nerve on demand to stimulate your parasympathetic nervous system with these 10 simple daily practices.
1) Expanding your horizons.
Getting outside and seeing a wide panoramic view where your eyes can see everything makes our nervous system feel safe.
Expanding your horizons in 5 minutes a day can increase your vagal tone.
Get off your phone and get outside as much as you can.
2. Grounding.
The sensory feedback from grounding our feet stimulates certain neural pathways that connect to the vagus nerve, primarily responsible for our autonomic nervous system.
Start grounding today.
3. Nasal Breathing.
There are more than 30 reasons why we should be using our noses to breathe.
1 of them is to maximise our vagal tone.
Nasal breathing slows our breathing rate activating our parasympathetic nervous system and sending signals of rest and digestion through the body.
Learn more about the power of nasal breathing in The Breath Letter #43 👇
4. Breathing at 6 Breaths Per Minute.
6 breaths per minute is the optimal breathing rate for humans.
When we breathe at 6 breaths per minute, our internal systems resonate as one reducing our heart rate, and blood pressure and stimulating our vagus nerve.
Learn more about the beauty of 6 breaths per minute in The Breath Letter #54 👇
5. Tongue on the Roof of your Mouth.
Research shows us a connection between tongue posture and the vagus nerve.
Low tongue posture equals mouth breather.
The tongue on the roof of your mouth equals a nasal breather.
Mouth shut, and good tongue posture is imperative for vagus nerve activation.
6. Breathing into the Face.
Stop breathing up your nose.
Start breathing into your face and following the airflow back.
Breathing up your nose creates upper-chested breathing.
Practising breathing into your face maximises your diaphragm activation which…
7. Activating our Diaphragm.
A key way to activate the vagus nerve is through slow, diaphragmatic breathing.
Diaphragmatic breathing maximises our O2 and CO2 gas exchange and biomechanics of breathing to stimulate our vagus nerve.
Learn more about breathing biomechanics in The Breath Letter #55 👇
8. Humming on the Exhale.
Humming has ancient powers and is one of my favourite breathwork techniques.
Humming produces 16x nitric oxide in our airways which acts as a vasodilator opening up our airways and increasing our vagal tone.
Learn more about the power of humming in The Breath Letter #09 👇
9. Low Volume of Air on the Inhale.
Resisting the urge to take a big gulp of air is so important.
When we practice light, slow and deep nasal breathing we give ourselves the best opportunity to activate our vagus nerve and calm our nervous system.
Learn more about the power of light, slow and deep breathing in The Breath Letter #48 👇
10. Smile.
Smiling can trick your brain into believing you’re happy which can then spur actual feelings of happiness.
This is why if you are ever feeling anxious or you are in an overwhelming situation, cracking a smile is one of the most powerful tools.
Learn more about the wonders of smiling in The Breath Letter #22 👇
So there you have it.
You don’t have to let stress and anxiety control you, you have the power to take control.
By simply implementing as many of these 10 daily practices into your routine you give yourself the best opportunity to enter parasympathetic paradise.
As always, any questions on any of the 10 practices, my DM’s on X are always open or feel free to drop me a reply to this email.
That is all for this week.
Massive thanks again for all your love and support in recent months and I am very excited to share some news in the coming weeks.
Thank you for reading, happy Sunday and see you all next week!
*BREATHWORK DISCLAIMER*
Breathwork can have an intense effect on your cardiovascular system, endocrine system, respiratory system, nervous system, and lymphatic system.
If you are pregnant or have any medical problems with these areas of your body, do not practice breathwork until you are advised following a consultation with your doctor before practice.
For more disclaimer details please click here.
Breathwork Quote
‘If you would foster a calm spirit, first regulate your breathing; when that is under control, your heart will be at peace.’
- Kariba Ekken
Breathwork Resource
This week’s Breathwork Resource comes from one of my most downloaded resources.
The BreathingByEd Guide To Breathwork.
When you’re ready to implement breathwork into your life, the BreathingByEd Guide to Breathwork is the obvious choice downloaded by 250+ breathwork beginners.
My guide provides individuals with a bulletproof guide on incorporating breathwork into their daily routines and the monumental benefits of 10 minutes of daily breathwork.
Join 250+ breathwork beginners and start your journey to calm on the link 👇
What has BreathingByEd been up to this week…
Listening to my guided BreathingByEd Breathwork for Sleep session.
Reading this sensational post by Nathan on 8 life-changing lessons from Matthew McConaughey that helped him become an entrepreneur.
Working on finalizing my new challenge for Summer!
Sharing that Breath Letter subscribers have the opportunity to get access to a sensational EXCLUSIVE BREATHINGBYED DISCOUNT of 10% on their very own Dream Recovery mouth tape using the code “ED10"
Inviting you to leave a comment on what topics you would like to see in future The Breath Letter editions. you to leave a comment on what topics you would like to see in future The Breath Letter editions.
I hope you have a great Sunday and until next week.
Ed
P.S. When you're ready, here are 3 ways I can help:
1. The BreathingByEd Guide To Breathwork: When you’re ready to implement breathwork into your life, the BreathingByEd Guide to Breathwork is the obvious choice.
My guide provides individuals with a bulletproof guide on incorporating breathwork into their daily routines and the monumental benefits of 10 minutes of daily breathwork.
2. Do you want to learn how to use your breath to overcome anxiety, improve sleep, and enhance your athletic performance?
Apply to join my 1-1 coaching program Breathe2Achieve here.
3. Promote yourself or your business to over 8,000+ performance, health, and breathwork enthusiasts across The Breath Letter and BreathingByEd X account by sponsoring The Breath Letter.
Previous sponsors include Vital, James Peters,Oxa, Dream Recovery, Snift and WellO2. If you like to know more about sponsorship packages and analytics, drop me a DM or email me at breathingbyed@gmail.com.