Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art

Book Recommendation - A New York Times bestseller Author: James Nestor Title: Breath – The New Science of a Lost Art Published by Riverhead Books, New York, 2020 The book is available in most public libraries including the Dauphin County and Cumberland County Library Systems. The cost of the hard cover book from Amazon is $18.37. A paper back version and a summary are also available. The book is also available in E book and audio book formats. The book has been placed on the purchase request list for the Bethany Village Library. Quotes from the book cover pages follow: “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 functions on its head. You will never breath the same again.” Dr. Stephen Park Albert Einstein College of Medicine: “An eye opening, epic journey of human devolution that explains why so many of us are sick and tired. A must-read book that exposes what our health care system doesn’t see.” Joshua Foer, New York Times “A transformative book that changes how you think about your body and mind.” Comments by Bethany resident Charley Sproule: I have a lifelong snoring problem. Over the years I have tried a variety of methods to solve the problem. One helpful action is avoiding sleeping on my back, but this does not eliminate my snoring. Another attempt was using a device to open my nostrils. You tape it on to the outside of your nose. For me, the only result was some lost skin when I remove it in the morning. A medical specialist recommended surgery to remove some loose flesh in the back of my throat. I decided that was too invasive and did not schedule the surgery. The book Breath recommends another possible solution which is a method for keeping your mouth closed when sleeping. So far, the method has been working for me. The book contains step by step instructions on exercises to improve breathing, lung capacity and overall health. Readers who participate in yoga are likely familiar with alternate nostril breathing. A variety of other techniques are described in the book. For example, box breathing is used by Navy seals in tense situations. The book provides links to video instructions on some of the recommended techniques. The history of breathing practice described in the book includes many cultures and is fascinating and informative. Some divers have learned how to hold their breath for twelve minutes. Some runners have broken their records after using the techniques described in the book. A variety of health problems addressed by the techniques are described in the book. Cautions and limitations are also discussed.

Most people deal with breathing problems sometime in life. This includes mouth breathing, snoring, sleep apnea, hyperventilation, shortness of breath, asthma, bronchitis, COPD, etc. Consequently, it’s useful to read a book addressing into the topic. James Nestor has traveled around the world to learn current and ancient wisdom about breath. He has interviewed dozens of “pulmanauts” as he calls breathing experts. His book contains what he has learned. A few of his eye-popping assertions: • “Nine out of ten people breathe incorrectly.“ • “Forty percent of today’s population suffers from chronic nasal obstruction, and around half of us are habitual mouth-breathers.” • Most modern humans have a deviated septum, and half have chronically inflamed turbinate, the erectile tissue lining our sinuses. This combination often leads to chronic breathing difficulties. There’s a reason that humans are the worst breathers in the animal kingdom. It’s because human faces are smaller today than our ancient ancestors. They had forward-facing jaws and wide mouths, which created wider airways. They needed strong jaws to eat a raw diet of fibrous fruits and vegetables, which took a lot of time and effort. We don’t have the same need to chew. Highly refined and processed foods require much less chewing than raw foods. It is well documented that cultures where traditional diets were replaced by modern, softer, processed foods saw more cavities and crooked teeth and more obstructed airways. In short, the industrialization of farmed foods is responsible for the physical changes. Compared to our distant ancestors, modern homo sapiens have larger brains, narrower and longer noses, and less prominent jaws, crooked teeth and shrunken sinuses. Chewing hard gum is a way to strengthen the jaw line and expand the palate. . Mouthbreathing is a problem. That’s because the lungs extract less oxygen from air sucked in through the mouth, compared to air that is heated, slowed and pressurized coming via the nose. So nose breathing is more efficient. In addition, inhaling from the nose forces air against the flabby tissues at the back of the throat and widens the airways. Breathing through the mouth, however, allows the soft tissues to become loose and to flex inward, leaving less space for breathing. Mouthbreathing leads to snoring and sometimes to sleep apnea or to insomnia. One technique to reduce mouthbreathing at night is to put one small piece of tape vertically across part of the mouth. The average American takes about 18 breaths a minute. At that rate, most oxygen is exhaled back out. Heavy breathing causes too much loss of carbon dioxide, which narrows blood vessels and decreases circulation, particularly to the brain. At a slower breathing rate, by concentrating on longer exhales, our lungs soak up more oxygen in fewer breaths. Slower breathing also lowers blood pressure and heartrate. The most efficient breathing, according to research, is 5.5 second inhales followed by 5.5-second exhales, which totals 5.5 breaths per minute. Some asthmatics improve after they learn to breathe less. This is a fascinating book with lots of tips about self-improvement. One surprise is that sometimes it is good to hold your breath. -30-

I have been loving this book so far and was gripped by this book immediately and fascinated by the lost art of breathing as I felt my health declining further in my middle age. It’s very well written and the humor James uses throughout brings a much needed levity to a very serious subject that has life or death consequences and massive implications for health and quality of life. One star less for by far the most comical and fantastical nonsense in chapter 1 about human beings coming from primordial soup got the best laugh out of me. The simplest life form is so wildly complex and the fact that we can’t even intelligently create life in a laboratory with our intelligent minds and setting up perfect conditions (which would prove intelligent design even if we were able to produce life) have failed miserably. I’m not sure is James actually believes the insanity written in chapter 1 or if it’s meant to be more levity and trolling people with common sense? Perhaps we should keep the disproven and flat out outrageous ideas far away from a book about biological function and provable facts? Or perhaps credit the Creator who breathed the first breath into human beings and designed an INCREDIBLE AND MARVELOUSLY COMPLEX system and the ability for us to adapt and learn to use it to its full capacity for our health and His glory. Enough of the Godless nonsense that has been disproven over and over again. Since he is from San Francisco, I can’t say I’m surprised. Just saddened because the book other than this really is this good and the proven research fantastic. More actual science please and less pseudoscience and bad philosophy.

This is less of a review and more of a personal anecdote, but I promise I have a point to make! I don't like to use hyperbole to describe things in my life, so take this for face value when I say: this book changed my life. I've suffered from a number of sinus-related issues my entire life. I was born with a severe deviated septum, and would suffer from several sinus infections (think 4 to 6 a year). I've suffered from sleep apnea, a small jaw, TMJ, and wear a mouthguard because I clench my teeth at night. A few years ago, I was at the dentist for my regular check up when the hygienist recommended this book to me. She told me how how informative it was, especially for someone who works in the dental field (and thus deals with mouths). I took out the audiobook from Libby, and the rest of history. Of course, there needs to be a level of skepticism when dealing with any pseudo-science. However, Nestor backs up his claims with his own research and evidence, and makes for a very compelling argument. It is also presented in a fantastic way so that the reader understands the terms and definitions - and not to mention, Nestor himself is an incredible charming narrator. (He narrates his own book, and I can't recommend listening to it enough.) But you may ask, "How did this change your life?" After reading this book, I finally understood the importance of breathing. It seems like such a basic concept, but it is something I overlooked for my entire life. After reading Breath, I began to realize that my sinuses issues were more than just a inconvenience - they were likely impeding my quality of life. After reading this book, I got the courage to go through with a septoplasty and finally got my deviated septum fixed. Through the process, my doctor said it was one of the worst deviated septums she's ever seen, and agreed that the procedure would, in fact, change my life. I am now six months post surgery, and I can't tell you how much my quality of life has improved. I am finally able to breath through both nostrils (what a foreign concept!), am no longer suffering from sleep apnea, have the most energy I've ever had in my life, and haven't gotten a sinus infection since the surgery. This book proof that knowledge is power. I actually bought this hard copy for my surgeon to read, too! All of this is to say: there is a very important lesson to be taken from this book, and that is do not underestimate the importance of proper breathing.

Extremely informative and entertaining read. I finished the book in a day. It’s already encouraging more awareness of breathing and exploration of Tuumo and other breathing techniques. Highly recommend and can’t wait for Nestor’s next one.

This book combines great research into breathing and a DIY style "this is what I've learned" style. Easy to read and great insight. As a person with chronic pain, ptsd, and heartrate issues, this book was recommended to me by a provider when discussing my stress responses and heartrate issues. It has really changed my health and quality of life. The Good: Whats not to talk about? This book has helped me deal with ptsd mental health issues, heart rate issues, back, neck, and joint pain, and it taught me to exercise in a way that is much more impactful on my health. Hearing that active athletes had better results breathing through only their nose during activity really is amazing. This book really does just share what people are learning, and it's hard because breathing touches so many aspects of human life and society, most doctors and teachers and so on can't really spend that much time on it. The Bad: Not in this book. In the world, why don't we learn more about our sinuses, breathing, and how that affects our health? I'm a Christian and I'm not offended at all to see the evolutionary perspective on why our noses and sinuses are better technology than neanderthals and other primates and animals. knowing what makes them worse makes us more human and awareness of breathing impacts prayer, worship, and daily life. Feel free to learn more about "the breath" of life that the Creator gave you and all of us! Learn from anyone who can teach you anything about who you are and how you work so you can be free. The ugly: What happens when we don't breathe through our noses is amazing. This guy is like the McDonalds guy who ate nothing but McD's for a month and showed how it affected his health. "Mouth breathers" is not just a kiddy insult. It's a real thing and we need to learn to breathe through our noses and include that in our health.

Interesting read, but you want to know, what did it do for me? And what might it do for you? My baseline: I’m female, 64 years old, resting heartrate 60, average blood pressure 120/80, 5’ 2” 128 lbs. No pre-existing conditions. 90% vegan. No health insurance coverage. I have somewhat of a “computer” neck with my head more forward than it should be and a dowagers hump forming (you know, that hump on the back of the neck that makes old people curl over) Running: I’ve been running at least intermittently for most of my life and never thought I should or could breathe through my nose while running. However, I tried it - a bit troublesome at first but eventually I get into a groove and it works well. James is right, you feel much cleaner breathing through your nose. Snoring: I don’t snore on a regular basis but wanted to see if taping my mouth shut at night would help me sleep better. I did that for 2 or 3 nights. Results were meh, not enough of a difference for it to be THE solution. Some parts of the book were spooky, like when I timed my resting breathing and it came out to exactly 5.5 breaths per second. Playing music: Here is where the book really helped me. I play the flute which is all about breathing. Deeply breathing way down into my lower back and then using my diaphragm to push the air up and out in a controlled fashion made me feel stronger and MORE air is being pushed forth. Breathing that deep and into my back also helps my back, core muscles and posture. Tongue: I do the “MEW” exercise with my tongue every day and can feel my head and neck repositioning (for better or worse, only time will tell LOL). Chewing: Did you know that in the macrobiotic diet you are supposed to chew each bite 50 times? There’s a good reason for that and this book reinforces this with even more reasons to do so. I’ve therefore slowed down my eating and am not putting so many foods into smoothies any more, opting to chew the ingredients instead. I got the gum suggested, it tastes great, has no sugar and is relatively inexpensive (Falim gum on amazon it’s about $6.99 for 100 pieces). Stand as straight as you can, pretend you’re being dangled from a string on top of your head, let everything relax and straighten out. Now breathe, but with no effort – air flows in, (the nose perceives the whole environment in a fraction of a second) air flows out. You can do this while running too. Very good, consider yourself part of the universe. Breathing helps keep us in sync with the world out there. Thank you to Mr. James Nestor for taking the time to research and write this book. He walked the walk, so he can talk the talk.

Haven't read it yet but the book is like brand new. Very nice.