#011 A Breath Journey, Who Are You? + How to Get What You Want
Hey, friends. Welcome to another edition of The Now newsletter.
Thanks for the book recommendations this week. I’ve decided to go with Ishmael by Daniel Quinn as I felt like something a bit lighter.
“It is the story of a man who embarks on a highly provocative intellectual adventure with a gorilla—a journey of the mind and spirit that changes forever the way he sees the world and humankind’s place in it.”
I’m throughly enjoying it so far.
A big welcome and “what’s up?” to all the new subscribers this week 👋
Just a heads-up, this week’s ‘mind-expanding idea’ is a little different. I’ve indulged my inner nerd and desire to know “how things work”.
We breathe about 22,000 times a day and yet most people probably don’t know what a breath actually is.
I find this stuff fascinating and I hope you do, too.
As always, thanks for being here.
— Jonathan
💡 One mind-expanding idea: A Breath Journey
Let me take you on the journey of a single breath.
Ideally, this journey should take about 11 seconds to complete.
First, take a nice, slow inhale through your nose (because we should all be nasal breathing as much as possible).
Your nasal cavity is a bit like a car wash for air.
Your nose hair and cilia help to filter dust particles and toxins, while an intricate network of blood vessels humidify and warm the air to body temperature.
Inhalation through your nose also triggers the release of nitric oxide, which follows the air on its journey like a helpful sidekick.
Nitric oxide dilates your blood vessels and increases oxygen uptake, which improves the function and efficiency of every cell in your body (no big deal).
The air continues its journey down the trachea, or wind pipe, which is lined with cells that produce mucus.
The mucus helps to catch any remaining allergens or debris.
Before we get too far ahead of ourselves…
It’s important to understand what prompted this journey — your autonomic nervous system (ANS), which controls every breath you take (and every move you maaaake… 🎵).
The ANS sends signals to the muscles around your lungs, flattening the diaphragm and contracting the intercostal muscles between your ribs.
This allows your lungs to expand to take in the oxygen that’s currently on its way down the trachea.
At the base of your trachea, the air splits ways at the bronchi, which is like a T-junction leading to each of your two lungs.
The bronchi branch out through the lungs like a network of tree roots.
The air journeys through the bronchi until it hits the final stretch along the narrow “back roads” of the lungs, known as bronchioles.
At the end of each bronchiole is a small air sac, called an alveolus.
You might wanna take another breath here because it’s starting to get a bit technical.
So… the alveoli (plural) are wrapped in capillaries full of red blood cells, which contain proteins called hemoglobin.
The capillaries (blood vessels) are loaded with carbon dioxide.
Carbon dioxide is essentially a waste product that’s produced when nutrients are converted into energy.
At this point, the oxygen you inhaled is transferred from the alveoli to the capillaries.
In exchange, the carbon dioxide is offloaded into the lungs.
The oxygen is picked up by the hemoglobin (Uber driver) and delivered to the cells and tissues that need it.
The ANS kicks in again and tells your diaphragm and intercostal muscles to relax, which forces the lungs to compress.
The carbon dioxide-rich air is ejected from the lungs, up the trachea and out your nose, which helps to slow your exhale, activating your parasympathetic nervous system.
And there you have it… the journey of a single breath.
Reminder: My free course, Nervous System Fundamentals, has a chapter on “How to Breathe” if you want to explore this topic more.
🔗 One curiosity-igniting link: Who Are You?
I watched a piece of entertainment (I’m not quite sure what to call it) this week, which is unlike anything I’ve seen before.
It’s called In and Of Itself by storyteller, performer and magician Derek DelGaudio.
He has described it as a “theatrical existential crisis”, which is pretty accurate, but it’s more than that.
I don’t want to give too much away, but In and Of Itself will invite you to explore where identity comes from and grapple with the age-old question of, Who am I?
I highly, highly recommend checking it out. At the very least, it’s a change of pace from the usual series and movies we’re served up these days.
Check out the trailer here.
I’m not sure where you can watch the full version, but I assume it’s available on Hulu.
🔥 One life-altering practice: Manifestation Meditation
Not gonna lie, this week’s practice is more on the “woo woo” spectrum than I’m usually comfortable with.
But… let me tell you a crazy story.
The first time I did this meditation, I was super sceptical.
I set the intention of manifesting more income.
Not only that, income from work that I would enjoy.
Within a few days, I landed something close to a “dream” client (an outdoors brand).
And… that client provided a significant boost to my income at the time.
Sooo… I’m not saying it “works” per se. Correlation isn’t causation.
But if you’re curious, you may want to dabble.
It’s called “A New Energy” manifestation by Dr Joe Dispenza from his book Becoming Supernatural.
How to Do It
- Choose an intention: Get clear on what you want to “manifest” or create in your life. For me, it was more money. Maybe you want a new job, a loving relationship, or more confidence.
- Write it down: On a piece of paper, write down the first letter of the thing you want to create and draw a couple of squiggly lines around it.
- Refine your intention: Assign more meaning to the intention by getting specific. Write a list of at least 4 refinements. If it’s a new job, specify the role you want. Is it remote? Is it meaningful work? Does it come with a $25,000 raise? Write these down on the paper.
- Elevated emotions: Next, write down the emotions you’ll experience when that imagined potential happens. List them on the paper.
- Meditate: Bring yourself into a deep state of meditation and visualise the reality you want to manifest in as much detail as possible. Then, allow yourself to experience each of the emotions you listed as if the thing’s already happened.
Joe expands on this practice a bit here.
The way I see it, whether it actually “works” or not, it helps you to set really clear intentions/goals and direct your energy towards them.
“Where your intentions go, energy flows.”
Let me know what you think of this one, especially if you actually conjure some “magic” in your life.
That’s it for this week. I hope the simple act of breathing takes on new meaning for you.
Thanks for reading,
— Jonathan