Playing The Game The Right Way

Saks Snacks 40: Voo-Hum Technique | Playing the Game the Right Way | Community is Good for our Health

Welcome back to Saks Snacks 👋. If you’re a curious human interested in mindful tech and living your healthiest life, you're in the right place.

I’m experimenting again with shorter posts, hoping to offer you more frequent food for thought and ignite introspection. I’d love to hear if you find this valuable.

1. 🧠 Nervous System Nugget: VOO-HUM breathing method

2. 💭 Reflection of the week: life is a game - play it the right way

3. 👥 Community thought of the week: what’s the research say?

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🧠 Nervous System Nugget: Voo-Hum breathing Technique

I won’t bury the lede: This week I learned about the VOOHUM breathing technique. It’s a breathwork variation that you can use the next time you need to unwind or collect yourself.

We have parasympathetic neuron receptors both in our lower belly and around our throat. When you breathe or stimulate those areas, it’ll kick in your relaxation response.

Why focus on ‘nervous system insights’ in future Saks Snacks?

After 2 years of living in San Francisco, I still can’t help but notice people are grappling with a relentless tension…

What’s the culprit? Our world’s breakneck pace, powered by technology’s relentless march forward.

The instant access technology provides is alluring. I’m grateful for it. I extract so much knowledge and have built connections digitally and in-person because of tech.

I’m able to communicate at a pace and scale unimaginable a few generations ago. A few shots from last week

Yet, this technological whirlwind breeds uncertainty, fuels tension, and incites stress. Last edition we reviewed ‘Allostatic Load’ and the negative impact of this cumulative stress on our bodies…

The pace at which society moves can feel overwhelming. Everyday, I observe desperate tech workers - unsure of how or when to disconnect. Even I’m susceptible to fall into these same traps, despite my heightened awareness around intentional tech and redesigns of my digital ecosystems.

If I, a Gen-Z, yearn for a slower, more natural rhythm of life, what does it mean for older generations? What does it spell for the future younger, digitally-native generations?

To counteract this technological pace (what I call The Speed of Technology), I turn to my breath or my yoga mat. The mat is always there. In these moments, whether its a Vinyasa Flow or Yin Yoga session where I just lay there, I find a rhythm more attuned to my biological and psychological needs.

If we were to practice “zeroth principles thinking”, we’d realize that mastering our nervous system is at the heart of living our best lives.

So let’s approach it with an open mind, learning one principle at a time. I’m pumped to share more evidence-backed protocols for shifting your state in ‘Nervous System Nuggets’. (physiological sigh is on deck)

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⚾ Reflection of the Week: The Art of Playing Life’s Game

Life is a game.

What “game” or hobby have you spent the most amount of your time learning, playing, and/or perfecting?

It was baseball for me.

Baseball dominated my identity for the first 22 years of my life. I still adore the game. I’m grateful for the unimaginable doors it opened and the healthy lifestyle it set me up for.

This game taught me the priceless lessons of playing for something greater than yourself, persistence, consistency, and how to stick with something despite sucking at it at times. I haven’t written much about it, but this beautiful game shaped my ever-adapting identity and showed me we’re capable of anything we set our mind to.

Recently, I had a reframe of my roles and responsibilities across my varying projects - from Google work to entrepreneurial/creative/consulting work.

I posed the questions to myself:

How can I “play” each of these buckets of my life as a game?

More specifically, can I approach them in a playful manner?

Can I play them as beautifully and intelligently as I did baseball?

Being the smallest player on the field taught me to persevere - I had to have the highest baseball IQ, and play the game right, always. I knew my strengths and how to nail the fundamentals of the game.

Just as I was a selfless team player in baseball, bringing focus, discipline, and high IQ to the field, can I also play the Google game in the same manner? When building partnerships or coaching our athletes at RunWithMe, How can I be the energetic sparkplug in every room I walk into representing our business and vision? What’s my unique set of talents and skills to a health solopreneur I’m collaborating with?

My own reflections reminded me to play the game right and make a positive impact on all who surround you. If this resonated with you, here’s a few questions to think about:

Reflective Question 1: What is the game you understand and cherish the most in your life, and how can you apply its principles to your current roles and responsibilities?

Reflective question 2: What strengths did you leverage in that cherished game and how can you translate those strengths into your business or professional life?

👥 Community thought of the week

What if I told you that we have the insights from the longest continual study ever ran in human history? Meaning… the study isn’t a snapshot of data - it spans across 3 generations. You should probably click in, download it to listen this week, or just dive right in. I’ll give you the simple takeaway:

Community is good for our health.

I won’t spoil much, but I will share that the #1 predictor of ‘health’ and happiness from that study was the quality of our relationships.

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✨Endnote

In the week ahead, I hope you step away from the screen, call or text somebody you love. Invest in people around you. And watch it come full circle.

If you enjoyed this edition, would you mind giving the heart below a click and share it with a friend?

Til’ next time. Sending you love from San Francisco.

Adam