15 April 2026
Episode 350 - Why You Hold Your Breath Every Time You Check Your Blood Sugar with Sam Tullman
Diabetics Doing Things Podcast
About
Most of us know diabetes affects the body. Fewer of us talk honestly about
what it does to the mind and what the mind does right back. In this
episode, Rob sits down with Sam Tullman, co-founder and facilitator of
Diabetes Sangha and a dedicated student of Rinzai Zen, for a wide-ranging
conversation on mental health, mindfulness, and what it actually means to
live well with diabetes. Not managing it perfectly. Live well with it.
They get into the neuroscience of why checking your CGM makes you hold your
breath, why rage bolusing is as much an emotional event as it is a physical
one, and how the concept of interoception, your brain's ability to read
signals from inside your body, turns out to be both a burden and a hidden
advantage of life with type 1. Sam introduces a question that quietly
reframes everything: what is your actual goal in living with diabetes? His
answer might surprise you.
The conversation winds through predictive processing theory, Zen master
stories dating back to 17th-century Japan, the research behind
mindfulness-based stress reduction, and Rob's own discovery of what he
calls "rage gratitude", a practice that started with 35 lines scribbled on
a page and changed how he moves through his days. If you've ever wondered
whether mindfulness is actually practical for someone who's already
managing a chronic illness on top of everything else, this episode makes
the case.
Sam is also a fellow podcaster and one of the most thoughtful voices in the
T1D mental health space. By the time this episode is published, Rob will be
sitting with Sam and the rest of Diabetes Sangha at their spring retreat.
Which, honestly, feels like the right note to publish on.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction: Sam Tullman and Diabetes Sangha
01:14 Welcome back: catching up since last time
02:03 Mental health as part of the whole body
03:29 How the mind directly impacts blood sugar
04:42 Rage bolusing: a behavioral health problem
07:16 Rob's real-time low and what he noticed
08:58 Predictive processing theory and Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett
10:12 How the brain makes its best guess
13:03 Interoception: the hidden strength of living with T1D
15:02 Awareness as both burden and advantage
18:33 Holding it in both hands: grief and gratitude together
24:09 Mindfulness as a muscle: how to start building it
25:22 The question that reframes everything: what is your goal?
29:00 Two kinds of meditation practice: relief and long-term growth
31:51 Growth is uncomfortable — and that's okay
36:18 The Zen master Hakuin story
40:34 After ecstasy, the laundry — and changing your CGM
44:44 Rage gratitude: Rob's discovery of a simple practice
47:17 Many paths to the same place: finding what works for you
48:13 Diabetes Sangha: community, retreats, and resources
Resources:
Diabetes Sangha — weekly meditations, newsletters, events, and retreats for
people living with diabetes
How Emotions Are Made by Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett — referenced by Sam on
predictive processing theory and interoception
Dr. Brad Liechtenstein — retreat facilitator and breath expert mentioned by
Sam, works with people with chronic conditions: search "Dr. Brad
Liechtenstein" or find him through naturopathic health directories
what it does to the mind and what the mind does right back. In this
episode, Rob sits down with Sam Tullman, co-founder and facilitator of
Diabetes Sangha and a dedicated student of Rinzai Zen, for a wide-ranging
conversation on mental health, mindfulness, and what it actually means to
live well with diabetes. Not managing it perfectly. Live well with it.
They get into the neuroscience of why checking your CGM makes you hold your
breath, why rage bolusing is as much an emotional event as it is a physical
one, and how the concept of interoception, your brain's ability to read
signals from inside your body, turns out to be both a burden and a hidden
advantage of life with type 1. Sam introduces a question that quietly
reframes everything: what is your actual goal in living with diabetes? His
answer might surprise you.
The conversation winds through predictive processing theory, Zen master
stories dating back to 17th-century Japan, the research behind
mindfulness-based stress reduction, and Rob's own discovery of what he
calls "rage gratitude", a practice that started with 35 lines scribbled on
a page and changed how he moves through his days. If you've ever wondered
whether mindfulness is actually practical for someone who's already
managing a chronic illness on top of everything else, this episode makes
the case.
Sam is also a fellow podcaster and one of the most thoughtful voices in the
T1D mental health space. By the time this episode is published, Rob will be
sitting with Sam and the rest of Diabetes Sangha at their spring retreat.
Which, honestly, feels like the right note to publish on.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction: Sam Tullman and Diabetes Sangha
01:14 Welcome back: catching up since last time
02:03 Mental health as part of the whole body
03:29 How the mind directly impacts blood sugar
04:42 Rage bolusing: a behavioral health problem
07:16 Rob's real-time low and what he noticed
08:58 Predictive processing theory and Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett
10:12 How the brain makes its best guess
13:03 Interoception: the hidden strength of living with T1D
15:02 Awareness as both burden and advantage
18:33 Holding it in both hands: grief and gratitude together
24:09 Mindfulness as a muscle: how to start building it
25:22 The question that reframes everything: what is your goal?
29:00 Two kinds of meditation practice: relief and long-term growth
31:51 Growth is uncomfortable — and that's okay
36:18 The Zen master Hakuin story
40:34 After ecstasy, the laundry — and changing your CGM
44:44 Rage gratitude: Rob's discovery of a simple practice
47:17 Many paths to the same place: finding what works for you
48:13 Diabetes Sangha: community, retreats, and resources
Resources:
Diabetes Sangha — weekly meditations, newsletters, events, and retreats for
people living with diabetes
How Emotions Are Made by Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett — referenced by Sam on
predictive processing theory and interoception
Dr. Brad Liechtenstein — retreat facilitator and breath expert mentioned by
Sam, works with people with chronic conditions: search "Dr. Brad
Liechtenstein" or find him through naturopathic health directories