Hunger for Air, Microplastics Leeching in Acid, and Clove Water
Also enjoying posting into the void!
Happy rainy Monday, friend.
This week I’ll detail a breathing practice I do daily, share progress on cutting down my exposure to microplastics, and tell you about an infusion experiment that’s become a staple in my daily routine.
I’m still figuring out the format of this newsletter, and I would appreciate your thoughts on it: what do you like or don’t like? What’s too long or too brief? What’s unclear, boring or uninteresting? If you’re reading this on Substack, let me know in the comments, or send me a message via the button at the bottom of this post.
Breathing for air hunger
Lowering my resting heart rate before sleep improves my sleep quality, and in the morning I wake up with an alert calmness that cascades throughout my day.
If you wake up with a pressure cooker going off in your mind, a panic to get things done, this is especially for you. You’ll see that things get done anyway, with less effort, and without a mid-afternoon mental crash.
If you’re short on time, do it for just 5 minutes to fall asleep. There’s no substitute for good sleep. None.
Method:
Sit on a chair or lay on your back in bed, bending your knees if it takes tension off your lower back.
Breathe normally. There’s no need to fully fill or empty your lungs. Pay attention to your inhales: how fast are you breathing? How much are you filling your lungs?
Start the practice by inhaling less air than you were during your normal breaths. If you can lower the volume of your inhales to 75%, great!
At the top of your inhale, relax your entire body and let the air out at whatever speed it comes out. Your exhales should be passive. Let them happen. Don’t force out any air.
At the bottom of your exhale, relax even more. Don’t rush into the next inhale, but rather glide gently into it. Ideally, there should be a pause at the end of your exhales as well as at the end of your inhales.
Continue this way for 15 minutes. During your practice, keep on reducing the size of your inhales without tensing up. Aim for a slight air hunger: a feeling that you want to inhale more.
No more acidic foods in plastic
Stop buying acidic foods in plastic containers.
The more acidic the food, the more it decomposes the plastic it’s in and ends up in your body.
Ketchup, pineapple, tomato soup, gazpacho, fruit juice, and salad dressings all tend to be acidic. You’ll probably still buy ketchup, but it’s quick and easy to make.
Making this change is nearly effortless and will pay off in the long run. Microplastics are everywhere; there’s no avoiding them. But they wreck your metabolism, damage the nervous system, and can cause some cancers (ref). Because this happens over time, you don’t notice how you’re slowwwly being poisoned. You just get used to feeling a tiny bit worse every day. Let’s avoid that.
There are many other ways to reduce microplastic exposure. I’ll cover them in a dedicated post.
Overnight spice infusions
Drinking warm liquids in the morning raises core body temperature (which drops at night). This helps wake me up.
I used to drink warm water (sometimes with lemon juice) when I woke up and after my cold showers. I found it super hydrating. But ever since I bought an almost entirely stainless-steel insulated bottle, I’ve been making overnight infusions with spices to benefit from their many nutritious compounds.
Every night, I put whole spices in my 1 liter bottle, fill it with boiling water, and seal it. In the morning, the infusion is potent and ready to drink.
So far, I’ve used two crushed cardamom pods, or a stick of cinnamon broken up in my mortar and pestle, or two cloves. If you have other ideas, send them my way!