I’d like to thank Dell for this incredibly slow laptop that was given to me by my employer two years ago after I assisted in hiring a controller who eventually became my boss and who is the strangest person I have ever met (she was fired — she practiced voodoo and probably put a wicked spell on this computer).

I’d like to thank George W. Bush for sending both of my sons to Iraq at the same time. There should be a law against it, but trust me, there isn’t.

I’d like to thank the wife of my youngest brother (he’s one year older than me) for being the absolute best sister-in-law in the entire world. She put up with so much BS from me before I was diagnosed and treated for depression that she deserves a medal! And she let’s me call her a bitch just for fun!

I take private yoga lessons (after periodically attending group classes for a few years) so I can attest to the benefits of proper breathing!!! Also, I’m 52 and after six weeks of lessons have the beginnings of sculpted arms again! LEARN THIS: Expending energy creates more energy!!!! Get off your butt.

Thanks for that. It was a fun thing to do!

César

Anyone who is interested in breathing techniques can readily find a great deal more “advanced” information elsewhere.

I once attended a seminar in what was called “Vivation”, and got pretty damn high just from all the breathing exercises. Breathing and chanting techniques also feature in a large number of spiritual rituals, good for getting people high. Since we’re doing it all the time, and it is crucial to life, it is obviously a very powerful way to regulate our well-being.

Personal experiences- I find that sitting at a computer is not great for diaphragmatic breathing, especially when I used to weigh more. Another reason for frequently getting up from the computer for 5 minutes or so. Also, the most frequent times when my breathing is poor, is when I am concentrating a great deal, on a continual basis. In such a phase, which I think might apply to all “beta” brain wave periods, I think the brain will sacrifice full breathing regulation, in order to prioritize what is being focused upon, even if what is being focused on is not at all as important as good breathing.

If you hold your breath, such as in deep water diving, if you simply ignore the first wave of panic (at 1 minute or whatever), it will subside, and you can hold out a great deal longer. The next couple waves of panic can be ignored, too. Around the fourth wave of panic, you will have extreme trouble in holding your breath, and will go for air.

But don’t worry, it probably doesn’t hurt one’s brain (as far as I can find- if anyone has contrary evidence, please let me know). This is because the brain is prioritized when it comes to oxygen, particularly when the water is very cold (the cold water mammalian response).

Which leads to the basic bodily regulation which tends to be underutilized- body temperature. According to the studies, being cold is strongly correlated with feeling miserable. Being physically warm almost always cheers one up.

There are other nifty phenomena with polar swimming, which seems to have enormous health benefits, and saunas, which have started to be utilized in cancer treatments, since tumor cells are much more vulnerable to extreme heat, than are normal body cells.

2. “Gratitude focuses you on the positive things in your life. Then you not only get more happiness out of them, you also get more positive things in your life. What you focus on you get more of. I’m not sure why it works, but it does.”

Scott Adams, creator of “Dilbert”, theorized that affirmations and gratitude exercises work because they make us more opportunistic- by focusing on positive things, our brain is primed to more readily recognize latent opportunities in our environment, for more of those positive things. Presumably, the value of pessimism (which seems to prolong lifespans) is in making us more aware of risks in our environment. Which strategy is right for which environment? You be the judge.

But as for the science, “appreciation” is one of the highest correlators with happiness. And to some extent, as Vlad said, why this works, I can’t explain entirely.

3. Given that humans are very social creatures, and a great deal of our brains are devoted to social intelligence, I suspect being appreciative with others extends those “happy firings” in the brain just that much more.

4&5. I definitely advocate exercising in a fun way. Sports are great for this, or exercising in some way with other people, or mammals. Personally, I am an advocate for the “mammalian exercise program”. Aside from exercising with other mammals, I’ve observed that most mammals when they are out and romping, do it in brief spurts. By appearances, they simply run until they don’t feel like it any more, and then stop. Simple.

No complicated plans, 2 mile runs, 30 minutes on the treadmill. Just do it when it feels good, until it doesn’t. Then start up when inspiration strikes. For those of us who have been somewhat disconnected from our feelings, by having habits of denying them, there is a simple metric for knowing when you’ve gone too far: if you’re thinking about the fact that you are exercising, at all, you should stop. Even if the thoughts are positive “wow look at how far I’ve gone!” types of thoughts.

The conscious mind is the slowest part of the brain, the least wired into the body. And it seems that whenever I start to think about the fact that I am exerting myself, quickly the exercise will start to suck after that. I theorize that the thoughts are provoked by the buildup of incoming physical signals, to the point that my mind reaches a critical mass of incoming signals and is going to think about the running/cycling/soccering/pushups, one way or another.

I don’t know how well this will work for others, but it has worked spectacularly well for me. I used to be a great athlete in high school, but eventually got burned out and could never motivate myself for exercise, and over time gained about 45 pounds and lost muscle tone, even with my brief spurts of exercise. I think I had bad connotations with exercise, having forced myself too much, too often. And it may just have been my personality type showing itself. Now exercise is easy and fun, since I’m literally making sure to always enjoy it, so I eagerly anticipate it. And while I sometimes used to run 6 miles straight, back in my heyday, now I may go for 10 miles with 6 of it composed of running (sometimes as short as 50 yard sprints), 4 of walking, and feel much better afterwards than I ever used to before.

But this is just me. I think some people love to “Feel the burn” and this kind of thing, so if it works for them, I am all for it, and they might enjoy Arnold Schwarzenegger’s autobiography for a massive dose of positivity-laced exercise enthusiasm.

Good article, Vlad- well-written, with enthusiasm, and undeniably sound .

Once again, thank you.