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BITESIZE | Reduce Stress and Anxiety With This Breathing Practice | James Nestor #337

Feb 17, 2023 12m 49s 8 insights
Learning to harness the power of your breath can be life changing. It’s free, it’s easy, it doesn’t require much of your time and the results can be instantaneous.  Feel Better Live More Bitesize is my weekly podcast for your mind, body, and heart.  Each week I’ll be featuring inspirational stories and practical tips from some of my former guests. Today’s clip is from episode 197 of the podcast with journalist and author James Nestor. Breathing is information, and in this clip, James explains why the way we breathe is so important for the health of our body and our mind. Thanks to our sponsor http://www.athleticgreens.com/livemore Support the podcast and enjoy Ad-Free episodes. Try FREE for 7 days on Apple Podcasts https://apple.co/feelbetterlivemore. For other podcast platforms go to https://fblm.supercast.com. Show notes and the full podcast are available at drchatterjee.com/197 Follow me on instagram.com/drchatterjee Follow me on facebook.com/DrChatterjee Follow me on twitter.com/drchatterjeeuk
Actionable Insights

1. Hack Stress with Breath

Understand that your stress levels are intimately linked to your breathing. By working on your breath, even with a few simple techniques, you can immediately hack your system to reduce stress and lower blood pressure.

2. Adopt Slow Nasal Breathing

For the majority of your day, aim to breathe slowly, rhythmically, lightly, and through your nose. This practice helps you obtain the most oxygen and energy with the least effort, serving as preventative maintenance for lung health, calmness, and overall efficiency.

3. Practice Controlled Stress Breathing

Engage in periodic, controlled breathing practices (like Wim Hof, Tummo, Sudarshan Kriya, or Pranayama) for about 20 minutes daily. This purposeful stress helps you learn to control your stress response, leading to greater calm and control throughout the rest of your day.

4. Begin Breathwork Slowly

Start your breathwork journey slowly by inhaling through your nose to a count of five or six, then exhaling to the same count. Practice this for 10 to 20 cycles, then check in with yourself to observe the strong, positive response in your body.

5. Adopt Ancestral Diet & Limit Screens

Vastly improve your health by replacing processed foods with foods our ancestors ate and by regulating screen time, especially phones and laptops at night, to positively impact your mental health.

6. Continuously Tweak Breathing

Approach breathing improvement as a continuous, slight tweak to an activity you already do all day. This small adjustment can lead to significant health benefits without requiring drastic lifestyle changes.

7. Try AG1 for Gut Health

Consider subscribing to AG1, a daily health drink, to support digestion and enrich your gut microbiome with beneficial bacteria, potentially increasing them tenfold. First-time subscribers receive free flavor samplers, vitamin D3 and K2, and a welcome kit.

8. Insight 8

Understand that improving your breathing can significantly lower stress levels, enhance your ability to deal with friction in relationships, and potentially improve your sleep quality, unlocking untapped potential for better overall well-being.