DON’T MAKE ME META MODEL YOU

At the beginning of every Breath & Exposure Seminar, I take a minute to articulate the particular tone & style of language that I’ll be attempting to deliver information from. Specifically, I’ll share a spectrum of the following two extremes: a meticulously critical (think: sterile) scientific lens, and an exceptionally spiritual (think: hippy-like) lens. I’ll then clarify my goal: to communicate material in a digestible, practical way. “You know, a ‘keeping it real,’ New Yorker style,” I’ll say. 

Now, let me be clear – the spectrum I’ve chosen to refer to here is self-constructed, based on my observations of what the two general camps addressing breath and exposure work in the health & fitness space seem to be. Though not the same, the comparison is similar to a science versus art, or objective versus subjective framework. Ultimately, neither side is right or wrong… just different. More importantly, can we pull what’s essential from the extremes to reach more in the middle?

I bring this up for two reasons:

1. I recently came across an article in My Fitness Pal titled, “Does Nose Breathing While Exercising Burn More Fat?” (shoutout to Coach Ben of DEUCE Nutrition for inspiring me to log my food!, otherwise this would have never occurred) and was appalled by the lack of specificity included to support the claims made in the article.
2. There is a broader lesson here that relates to Neuro-linguistic Programming’s Meta Model. It’s a tool for asking better questions in order to extract clarity from unconscious to conscious thoughts, or to more precisely identify information that’s been deleted, distorted, or generalized. Similar to the 5 “W’s” of journalism, it works by asking, Who?, What?, When?, Where?, Why?… specifically(!) to the information that’s presented. 

“Breathing through your nose allows your body to utilize oxygen more efficiently,” may sound convincing, but doesn’t actually explain how oxygen is utilized more efficiently, what efficient actually entails, and how/why more efficient would specifically be better. 

Though I’m tempted to take you all to school on the Bohr Effect right now, (you’ll have to wait for a future post and/or enroll in the next B&E Seminar!) the key takeaway for today is this: Demand more specificity from what you choose to engage with. 

And not just with what you consume, but with what you contribute, too…

 

Kimmy Moss

@kimmy.moss