I find this Buddhist teaching really helpful about tending to the first arrow and how we respond to it (the second arrow).

Imagine you are walking through the forest, and out of nowhere an arrow hits you in the back. It hurts.. a lot. But instead of tending to the wound, you start looking around wildly. Who shot that? Why me? What if there is another one? This isn’t fair! You’re running in circles, getting angrier.. more panicked, making everything worse.

That’s the second arrow. The part we add on top.

The first arrow (the pain, illness, loss, disappointment) is unavoidable. But the second arrow (the mental spiraling, the resistance, the self-judgment) is optional.

Pain is part of life. Suffering though is shaped by our relationship to it. When we pause, tend to the wound, and quiet the mental chatter, something shifts. The suffering starts to dissolve.

Stress and pain aren’t the real problem.. it’s the belief that we shouldn’t be feeling them that makes us suffer. When we stop fighting discomfort, our body and brain actually process it differently. MRI studies show that how we relate to pain can change both physical and emotional suffering dramatically.

A powerful reminder that while we can’t always control what happens, we can shape how we meet it.

Humming is not just a simple act, but a technique that can bring numerous benefits to your mind and body. By humming, you stimulate the vagus nerve, promoting relaxation and reducing stress. The vibrations created during humming have a calming effect, helping you find a sense of peace and wellbeing. Moreover, humming increases the production of nitric oxide, improving blood flow and supporting cardiovascular health. It also enhances respiratory function, benefits vocal and throat health, and even uplifts mood. So, take a moment to hum, and experience the amazing benefits of this simple yet powerful practice.

Are you or a loved one experiencing sleep problems? The solution might be simpler than you think: morning sunlight. 
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While we often associate sunlight with vitamin D, its effects on the human body go much further. When we expose our skin to midday sun, we convert vitamin D and risk sunburn. However, sunrise light is different. All sunlight contains 42% infrared light, which can stimulate collagen production, improve bone healing, and heal wounds. Additionally, this type of infrared light has anti-aging properties, reducing wrinkles and scars.

Morning sunlight is critical in how we use sunlight throughout the day. Infrared light in the morning preconditions our skin to protect against the UVA and UVB rays that come out later. Around 10am, UVA raises its head, playing a critical role in producing nitric oxide, which increases energy, memory, and has anti-aging effects. UVA also triggers the production of serotonin and dopamine, releasing endorphins and creating a small opiate effect, leaving you feeling good. Ultimately, these neurotransmitters help release melatonin, the sleep neurotransmitter.
If you struggle with sleep issues, try timing your exposure to morning sunlight 12 hours before bed. 
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Health tip: Try getting up with the sunrise, exposing your eyes, skin, and brain to the benefits of sunlight.

​Your body has the ability to both heal and harm itself, and the autonomic nervous system plays a crucial role in this process by switching between two modes: healing and survival. 

Many people are unaware that they can activate the healing mode by adjusting their tongue posture. By placing the tongue on the roof of the mouth, specifically on the soft palate, you can stimulate cranial nerves that signal the brain to remain calm and promote healing. This action also supports the vagus nerve, which is responsible for sending calming signals to the organs and immune system.

Additionally, practicing proper tongue posture can strengthen the muscles in the neck and promote nasal breathing, which helps improve overall health. 
To get started, try sealing your tongue to the roof of your mouth with the tip resting behind your front upper teeth and the sides and back pressing against the palate. Focus on activating all three points and feel the muscles in your neck and throat engage. 
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How did it feel?

​I was asked a great question recently about how different nostrils affect different parts of the brain given all the air just ends up meeting in the same place. I’ve collated this info to explain more for anyone who likes to geek out on such stuff 🤓

There is about four decades worth of research looking at yogic alternate and unilateral breathing techniques, e.g:
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• Selective hemispheric stimulation by unilateral forced nostril breathing 
• The effects of unilateral forced nostril breathing on cognition 
• Changes in Shape and Size Discrimination and State Anxiety After Alternate-Nostril Yoga Breathing and Breath Awareness in One Session Each 
• Hemisphere specific EEG related to alternate nostril yoga breathing 
• Slow yogic breathing through right and left nostril influences sympathovagal balance, heart rate variability, and cardiovascular risks in young adults 

​For a more complete list, you can go onto pubmed and type “(alternate n nostril) AND (unilateral nostril)” into the search bar. 

A lot of the research on alternate nostril breathing is limited by the choice of comparison. Ideally studies would have compared alternate nostril breathing with other breathing options matched for respiratory rate, ratio and nasal breathing, and would have accounted for nostril patency (openness) in their analysis. Few have done this. The unilateral breathing research is a little more robust.

Recently the AUT Bio Design Lab using a type of continuous airway pressure (CPAP) machine to control breathing to examine what happens in the brain, or at least the cortex by using electroencephalography (EEG): “EEG signatures change during unilateral Yogi nasal breathing” 

The same team recently repeated this study using fMRI, but the data are yet to be analysed. The affects observed were robust in terms of each condition leading to clear differences in EEG signal. What these shifts ultimately mean is still open to interpretation.

In terms of using specific breathing techniques with patients/clients, as with any technique, responses will vary, and no work appears to have been done to assess who might respond well and who wouldn’t or why. My own experience is that while alternate nostril breathing is focusing and calming for the majority, trying to breathe through a very obstructed nostril can increase agitation, so the technique is best preceded by a nose unblocking exercise.

Although the mechanisms remain unclear, while we have only one pharynx and trachea, we have two nostrils, two sets of sinuses, and two sets of turbinates that undergo engorgement through vasodilation and deflate through vasoconstriction and thereby determine which nostril is more open. This leads to the nasal cycle:

Here is a great Virtual Reality-style video looking at the upper airways: 

One possible mechanism by which unilateral and alternate nostril breathing affect the brain, is by influencing the release of the gas nitric oxide from the sinuses another might be how it influences the nasal cycle  (this article is only normal nasal cycles without application of specific breathing techniques).

Just as we can voluntary control the rate and depth, and biomechanics of our breathing, and subsequently influence some of our biochemistry, e.g. blood pH, carbon dioxide partial pressure, and oxygen saturation, we can influence our nasal cycle by unilateral breathing and/or applying pressure to the fifth intercostal space near the armpit: Article 1, Article 2

Another mechanism that may link nasal patency and the brain is via the trigeminal nerves influenced by carbon dioxide or perhaps stimulation of the olfactory nerves  (this article covers the topic well but is a little dated).
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It’s safe to say that a lot more research needs to be done to be confident about any mechanism, or interaction of mechanisms, but the weight of the evidence is on the side of brain activity influencing and being influenced by the nasal cycle and nostril patency.