James Nestor: Breath - Rediscovering a Lost Knowledge
No matter what you eat, how much you exercise, how slim or young or wise you are - none of it matters if you don't breathe properly. Nothing is more important to health than breathing: inhale the air, exhale - we do this twenty-five thousand times a day. Yet our species has lost the ability to breathe correctly, and the consequences are severe.
New York Times Bestseller
Washington Post: One of the important reference books of the year (2020)
Amazon: The Best Science Book of the Year (2020)
Goodreads Choice Award: Best Science & Technology Book Nominee (2020)
NPR: One of the Best Books of the Year (2020)
Journalist James Nestor traveled the world to find out what went wrong with human breathing and how to fix it. The answers are not in pulmonary labs as one might expect, but in excavations of ancient burial sites, secret Soviet facilities, New Jersey choir rehearsals, and the smoggy streets of São Paulo. Nestor seeks out those who understand ancient breathing techniques such as pranayama, sudarshan kriya, and the knowledge behind tummo, and investigates alongside lung specialists who challenge our existing beliefs about breathing in scientific trials.
Modern scientific research shows that even small modifications to our breathing technique can result in dramatic improvements in athletic performance; our internal organs rejuvenate from it; snoring, asthma, and autoimmune diseases decrease; even the degree of scoliosis diminishes. Breathing theoretically shouldn't have such an impact, but it does.
The book titled Breath relies on medical texts from thousands of years ago, as well as the latest research in pulmonology, psychology, biochemistry, and physiology, reconstructing knowledge that was once common but now appears revolutionary and unfamiliar.
Breathing is the most fundamental biological function. If you read this, you will never breathe the same way again.
"If you breathe air, you need this book." - Wallace J. Nichols, PhD., author of Blue Mind
"This entertaining, chillingly well-timed book explains what underlies inadequate breathing from a scientific perspective and how we can transform our lungs and our lives. A detailed, readable work that equally incorporates personal, historical, and scientific aspects." - Boston Globe
"James Nestor's book arrived just in time to review what we can know about breathing through research and experience - including his own painful experiences in many cases. Nestor experiments, performs breathing exercises, questions basic things that people take for granted. Reading this book made me appreciate my respiratory organs more and achieve my best result in life. (Breathing through the nose improves our endurance!)
"I rarely say this, but this time it's true: this book changed my life. Breath is part scientific reasoning, part historical overview, full of brilliant thoughts, and incredibly entertaining read. I had no idea that breathing had suffered evolution like this. Thanks to this book, I realized why I sleep poorly and why I feel like I'm not breathing at the right time. With a few simple moves, I fixed my breathing and thus improved myself! Outstanding book!" - Caroline Paul, author of the bestseller Gutsy Girl
"A riveting scientific, cultural, spiritual, and evolutionary history of how humans breathe - and how we've been doing it wrong for a long time. I just started the method a few days ago and already feel calmer and healthier. I made a few simple modifications to my breathing technique. Breathing is a wonderful, mysterious, healing gift, just like this book." - Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love