A New York Times BestsellerA Washington Post Notable Nonfiction Book of 2020 Named a Best Book of 2020 by NPR “A fascinating scientific, cultural, spiritual and evolutionary history of the way humans breathe—and how we’ve all been doing it wrong for a long, long time.” —Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Big Magic and Eat Pray LoveNo matter what you eat, how much you exercise, how skinny or young or … Love
No matter what you eat, how much you exercise, how skinny or young or wise you are, none of it matters if you’re not breathing properly.
There is nothing more essential to our health and well-being than breathing: take air in, let it out, repeat twenty-five thousand times a day. Yet, as a species, humans have lost the ability to breathe correctly, with grave consequences.
Journalist James Nestor travels the world to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it. The answers aren’t found in pulmonology labs, as we might expect, but in the muddy digs of ancient burial sites, secret Soviet facilities, New Jersey choir schools, and the smoggy streets of São Paulo. Nestor tracks down men and women exploring the hidden science behind ancient breathing practices like Pranayama, Sudarshan Kriya, and Tummo and teams up with pulmonary tinkerers to scientifically test long-held beliefs about how we breathe.
Modern research is showing us that making even slight adjustments to the way we inhale and exhale can jump-start athletic performance; rejuvenate internal organs; halt snoring, asthma, and autoimmune disease; and even straighten scoliotic spines. None of this should be possible, and yet it is.
Drawing on thousands of years of medical texts and recent cutting-edge studies in pulmonology, psychology, biochemistry, and human physiology, Breath turns the conventional wisdom of what we thought we knew about our most basic biological function on its head. You will never breathe the same again.
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Wonderfully readable book about how the manner in which we breathe affects pretty much every aspect of our lives. Breathe right and live better! Highly recommend this book.
Wow. I picked this book up because my voice teacher recommended it. And it’s the kind of journalistic exploration of scientific information that I really dive into.
But I didn’t expect the impact it would have. It was fascinating to learn that the nasal passages are very much “use it or lose it” and that breathing too much in exercise impairs oxygen uptake!
The nasal passages and sinuses are very much “use it or lose it.”
I’ve made changes since reading this. You might spot me doing deep, slow breathing on Zoom calls, and being careful to “shut my mouth” when I’m working.
I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in better understanding the complexities of their bodies and health. Plus, it’s fun to read.
I recently read Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor. I’ll fully admit, for half the time that I was listening to it, I thought the title was “Breathe.” But no matter what the title, I found it very interesting.
Breath is Nestor’s journey to find out why he had so many various health issues, and then how to correct them. On his journey, he discovered all sorts of facts about early man, ancient yoga, special breathing techniques, and the mechanics of how our pulmonary system works.
As with many books about how the human body works, there was a fair amount of evolution of man in this, so if you don’t like that, don’t read it. But I was able to put that aside to learn about how to improve our health based on simply changing the way we breathe.
To be fair, I learned many of these breathing techniques as a young adult through drama and choral classes. Yes, even when they weren’t very popular with most doctors. And then I learned more of them when I was taking yoga and barre regularly. I frequently use some of them during high-stress situations to calm down or refocus. I use them constantly when I’m on a stage or in a gym/workout. However, I never really thought about applying them to my every day life to improve my over-all health. That was very interesting to me, and something I’ll be trying out.
Over all, I’m very happy my sister-in-law recommended this to me.
Wow, great book. When I was recommended this book I thought I would not find it as interesting as the person who recommends it to me had. I was wrong. I knew some of what James was talking about because of classes I have taken but even those things he took to another level. I want to read again because I know I will gleam even more.
December 21, 2020
Interesting ideas. Well explained. Sounds reasonable.
But the term “mouth breather” really gets my hackles up! I have spent 60 years trying to breathe through my stuffy nose. It’s not so simple!
Breathing exercises at the end of the book. I’m trying.
This is a very important book!
What a fascinating read! Wow, I had no idea breathing through your mouth instead of your nose could lead to so many problems. As someone with respiratory issues, reading this book gave me a lot of hope. I’m looking forward to practicing the breathing exercises at the end of the book!