Bilgola Colhttps://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bilgola-col--7473639enHealth & FitnessCopyright Colin Weirhttps://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/ae5823baacef59b759c3266c9aee895c.jpgBilgola Colhttps://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bilgola-col--7473639Sat, 24 Oct 2026 01:17:48 +0000Colin WeirColin Weirfeeds@spreaker.comBilgola Col is Colin Weir’s take on the craft of a good life, from Sydney’s Northern Beaches. Each episode picks one of the three pillars of sleep, food and movement. It asks what the evidence actually says, then what the Stoics, the Buddha or Laozi...false0fb1baf2-c719-5dc3-9828-b5e5cc86cdfbepisodicBreathwork Part 2https://www.spreaker.com/episode/breathwork-part-2--75952533https://www.youtube.com/@breathewithsandy CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro [00:00] 1. The nervous system: a dial that turns both ways [00:00] 2. The heart and blood vessels [00:00] 3. Blood chemistry and the immune system [00:00] 4. The brain, and the fluid around it [00:00] 5. Mood, anxiety and the emotional response [00:00] 6. The shamanic end: altered states [00:00] What I take from it THREE BREATHS TO TRY
  • The cyclic sigh: two breaths in through the nose, one long breath out through the mouth, five minutes a day
  • Six a minute: five seconds in, five seconds out, for five minutes
  • Nose, then hum: breathe through your nose, and now and then hum on the out-breath
THE RESEARCH Breathing and the nervous system
Heart and blood vessels
Blood chemistry and immunity
The brain
Mood and anxiety
Altered states
Where it started
A NOTE ON SAFETY This is my own practice and reading, not medical advice. If you're pregnant, have a heart condition, epilepsy or anything else your doctor keeps an eye on, talk to your GP first. Breathwork belongs alongside whatever your doctor recommends, not instead of it. Fast, deep breathing and breath holds are for land only: never in or near water. Live well, live deeply, have fun. — Colin #breathwork #vagusnerve #bilgolacol]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/75952533Sat, 24 Oct 2026 01:08:07 +0000Colin WeirTurning the Dial: what your breath does to your heart, blood, brain and mood The breath hold gets the attention, but most of a breathwork session is breathing. Andrew Weil called breath "the master key" to health. I went looking for what the research...https://www.youtube.com/@breathewithsandy CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro [00:00] 1. The nervous system: a dial that turns both ways [00:00] 2. The heart and blood vessels [00:00] 3. Blood chemistry and the immune system [00:00] 4. The brain, and the fluid around it [00:00] 5. Mood, anxiety and the emotional response [00:00] 6. The shamanic end: altered states [00:00] What I take from it THREE BREATHS TO TRY
  • The cyclic sigh: two breaths in through the nose, one long breath out through the mouth, five minutes a day
  • Six a minute: five seconds in, five seconds out, for five minutes
  • Nose, then hum: breathe through your nose, and now and then hum on the out-breath
THE RESEARCH Breathing and the nervous system
Heart and blood vessels
Blood chemistry and immunity
Read the full piece, with every source, on Medium: [Medium link]
Next episode, Part 2, “Turning the Dial”: what breathwork does to your heart, blood, brain and mood.
The sessions I do most mornings: Breathe With Sandy https://www.youtube.com/@breathewithsandy KEY RESEARCHA NOTE ON SAFETY
Breath holds are a land sport: never in the pool, the surf or the bath, and never after fast, heavy breathing near water. This is my own practice and reading, not medical advice. If you’re pregnant, have a heart condition, epilepsy or anything else your doctor keeps an eye on, talk to your GP first. Live well, live deeply, have fun.
— Colin]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/75952516Sat, 24 Oct 2026 01:06:24 +0000Colin WeirThe Conscious Breath (Breath, Part 1): what a breath hold really trains Most mornings I lie in the dark doing one of Sandy’s breathwork sessions: cycles of rhythmic breathing, then a breath hold. For the first twenty seconds of each hold it’s...
  • What Andrew Weil, the Harvard-trained doctor, taught me about breath as the one door into the nervous system
  • Why fast “power breathing” before a hold cheats the practice, and why it’s how people black out in water
  • Why I treat holds as play, not a competition, and the sip-of-air trick I use to keep up with Sandy’s long holds
  • The BOLT score, and why you should track your own number, not chase somebody else’s
  • Whether sitting with the urge to breathe builds resilience for the rest of life, plus a word from Seneca
    • Read the full piece, with every source, on Medium: [Medium link]
    Next episode, Part 2, “Turning the Dial”: what breathwork does to your heart, blood, brain and mood.
    The sessions I do most mornings: Breathe With Sandy https://www.youtube.com/@breathewithsandy KEY RESEARCH