Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art
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- Create Date：2021-05-03 08:56:31
- Update Date：2025-09-07
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- Author：James Nestor
- ISBN：0593191358
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Summary
There is nothing more essential to our health and wellbeing than breathing: take air in， let it out， repeat 25，000 times a day。 Yet， as a species， humans have lost the ability to breathe correctly， with grave consequences。 Science journalist James Nestor travels the world to figure out what went wrong with our breathing and how to fix it。 Why are we the only animals with chronically crooked teeth？ Why didn't our ancestors snore？ Nestor seeks out answers in muddy digs of ancient burial sites， secret Soviet facilities， New Jersey choir schools， and the smoggy streets of Sao Paulo， Brazil。 He tracks down men and women exploring the 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 changing the ways in which we breathe can jump-start athletic performance， halt snoring， rejuvenate internal organs， mute allergies and asthma， blunt autoimmune disease， and 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。
Reviews
Scott
，
This book is。。。 misleading。 I felt it would be a much more helpful and science-driven look into breathing。 Instead， there are a lot of pseudosciency stories about ideas people have about breath。 Are they true？ It's unclear。 But MAYBE！I did get a few takeaways from this book， but even these I felt shaky on。 They just don't feel all that backed up。 I'm trying to breath through my nose exclusively。 I'm trying to chew gum more during the day。 That's about it。For a while， I was trying some exercises This book is。。。 misleading。 I felt it would be a much more helpful and science-driven look into breathing。 Instead， there are a lot of pseudosciency stories about ideas people have about breath。 Are they true？ It's unclear。 But MAYBE！I did get a few takeaways from this book， but even these I felt shaky on。 They just don't feel all that backed up。 I'm trying to breath through my nose exclusively。 I'm trying to chew gum more during the day。 That's about it。For a while， I was trying some exercises from the book， but didn't see much benefit immediately。 Did anyone find these useful？ I'm open to trying some。This book is also much longer than it needed to be。 I have a theory that most books could be pamphlets or articles - this one definitely falls in that category。If you have breath issues， it's possible that some of Breath could be useful。 You could maybe give some of the exercises a shot and see if they help out （you can skip to the end to get more detailed instructions）。 For anyone else， though， don't waste your time。 。。。more
Heidi Minor
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Simple， breath。 Not so simple the type of breathing you do impacts you and your quality of life。 What you've been taught about breathing isn't as good for you as you've believed。 You'll want to become a better nose breather and not only catch yourself when mouth breathing but stop mouth breathing。 Although there are several times in the book your jaw will drop and you may find yourself mouth breathing。 Take that as a cue to breathe better。 Through his research and studious experimentations， Jame Simple， breath。 Not so simple the type of breathing you do impacts you and your quality of life。 What you've been taught about breathing isn't as good for you as you've believed。 You'll want to become a better nose breather and not only catch yourself when mouth breathing but stop mouth breathing。 Although there are several times in the book your jaw will drop and you may find yourself mouth breathing。 Take that as a cue to breathe better。 Through his research and studious experimentations， James Nestor's accounting of his journey on the science and art of breathing is exceptional。 By the way the science and art are not in conflict with each other， balance these two and balance your inhalations and exhalations。 。。。more
Sara Katherine
，
This book was exactly how I like this type of non-fiction。 Easy to follow， chalk full of references， science that was explained for me， a commoner， and a lengthy notes and index section。 Super interesting and left me with plenty of things to Google （5 Tibetan Rites， mewing exercises， alternate nostril breathing， etc。）。 If anyone knows of breathing coordination classes in Houston， send them my way！
Oleksandr Kazimirchuk
，
This book is just something I was looking for。 It clicks with me on so many levels。 I have the usual package: crooked teeth， allergies and etc。During my life I was always curious about breathing because I love doing sports and it always felt like this is something I lacked basic understanding of。 Most of the stuff I came up with was intuitive。 Like once I was preparing myself for a full marathon and decided to train myself to hold my breath each day。 My idea was that this way I'll train my body This book is just something I was looking for。 It clicks with me on so many levels。 I have the usual package: crooked teeth， allergies and etc。During my life I was always curious about breathing because I love doing sports and it always felt like this is something I lacked basic understanding of。 Most of the stuff I came up with was intuitive。 Like once I was preparing myself for a full marathon and decided to train myself to hold my breath each day。 My idea was that this way I'll train my body to keep more oxygen。 Crazy to think that this wasn't stupid but rather it just didn't work exactly that way。Also it's funny how around 4 months before starting listening to this book I decided to run every day。 I was so afraid of getting cold and having cough that I decided to breathe in and out exclusively through my nose every single run。 It was super funny to see how my accidental idea proved to be so beneficial for my body but in a lot of other different ways！ First runs were just torture to me and sometimes I couldn't endure it and had an urgent need to exhale through my mouth。 If I did so - my run was ruined in my mind。 After some amount of time though I never had such an issue again。Listening to James explaining the whole science behind breathing slower and all the different techniques I can use made me feel like I opened the whole new world for me。 I was very skeptical about this book but just enough curious to try it。It's one of those basic things that people just don't know how to do and aren't educated about it。 This whole breathing stuff can be somewhat compared to the forefoot running technique which is something that most of the people don't understand till this day and it hurts me seeing people running and punching concrete/asphalt with their heels。I'm very thankful to James for doing this research。 。。。more
Derek
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Mostly full of anecdotal evidence with small smatterings of science throughout。
Hom Sack
，
Remarkable claims。 Lets see what my fellow science book club members think during our meeting next week。
Katie Tahuahua
，
Really interesting but skipped over a few topics I would’ve liked to know more about。
Claire W
，
Fascinating read， interesting and surprising science。 Plus useful breathing techniques appendix。 Definitely recommend
Kirat Kaur
，
Who would’ve thought one could fill an entire book with thoughts about breathing， an activity so integral to our survival most of us barely even think about it at all。 But that is Nestor’s central thesis - that the discourse on health and the scientific research has missed a key element to our wellbeing。 If you practice any form of yoga or meditation， or if you’ve ever been asked to ‘slow down and take a breath’ to quell your anxiety， you will already have at least some understanding of the powe Who would’ve thought one could fill an entire book with thoughts about breathing， an activity so integral to our survival most of us barely even think about it at all。 But that is Nestor’s central thesis - that the discourse on health and the scientific research has missed a key element to our wellbeing。 If you practice any form of yoga or meditation， or if you’ve ever been asked to ‘slow down and take a breath’ to quell your anxiety， you will already have at least some understanding of the power of the breath。 Nestor writes chattily and easily about his experiments with breathing， what they have taught him and how we can apply them in our lives。 The evolutionary and scientific explanations are helpful in contextualising how we’ve got to where we are， and the examples of people who’ve harnessed their breath in extreme ways to stretch the limits of their capabilities are fascinating。 However you breathe， this book will teach you something。 。。。more
Isabelle
，
Typically I love micro-histories （although I guess this would be better described as micro-pop science？ I don't know it's 2 am ignore me）。 But for some reason Breath came off as boring。 It's got amazing ratings， so I don't know why it took me forever to get through it （there were also a few times where I just wanted to quit but it was for a book club so I continued on）。 I'm an outlier on this one。 Typically I love micro-histories （although I guess this would be better described as micro-pop science？ I don't know it's 2 am ignore me）。 But for some reason Breath came off as boring。 It's got amazing ratings， so I don't know why it took me forever to get through it （there were also a few times where I just wanted to quit but it was for a book club so I continued on）。 I'm an outlier on this one。 。。。more
Marty Sciamanna
，
Great BookLoves this book。 I plan to share it， or parts of it with so many people O know with chronic low energy， anxiety， stress， sleep issues。。。 Thanks for doing the heavy lifting and letting me know there are simple， time-proven， FREE things we can do to improve our life。
Tommy
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It's very easy to write a book of pseudo-science when one of your main premises is that there isn't enough research on the topic！ A decent bit of this is common sense that's taken to the extreme， and the rest is just the extreme itself （apparently， breathing out of one nostril versus the other activates different branches of the autonomic nervous system？？ Yeah， I'm not convinced either）。That being said， I have been meditating for a few years， so maybe I have subconsciously been practicing and It's very easy to write a book of pseudo-science when one of your main premises is that there isn't enough research on the topic！ A decent bit of this is common sense that's taken to the extreme， and the rest is just the extreme itself （apparently， breathing out of one nostril versus the other activates different branches of the autonomic nervous system？？ Yeah， I'm not convinced either）。That being said， I have been meditating for a few years， so maybe I have subconsciously been practicing and reaping some of the benefits of mindful breathing， but I think this book takes it too far。 I'll spare the silliness of all the diseases that have been healed， and give a summary of the main points， so you don't have to trudge through this book。1。 Breathe through your nose， basically always2。 As much as possible， try to breathe in for 5。5 seconds， breathe out for 5。5 seconds3。 Breathe slower / less often， making sure you're actually exhaling all the way。 Extending the exhale is a very good way to calm down and has been practiced in ritual prayers （across many religions）4。 Advanced breathing techniques can maybe make you hallucinate or keep you warm; breathe harder/faster sometimes5。 Hold you breath （especially after the exhale）， sometimes6。 Chew a lot more Of all the ol' pseudo-science， I think the most plausible / my favorite would be the breath holding， or purposely increasing the carbon dioxide in your body。 This is touted as being able to adjust the chemoreceptors in your brain， and maybe even treat anxiety etc。 I think there could certainly be some validity to a bit of this。 The entire chapter on chewing: yikes！Suffice to say， a lot of this book didn't sit with me。 Nonetheless， I think mouth-breathing is very bad （and this book reinforced my use of the term mouth-breather as an insult）， and that people ought to be more mindful of how they breathe。 Yet， I cannot go so far to say that it will bring out of body experiences， or heal diseases （physical or psychosomatic）。 So， be conscious of how you breathe， and aim for breathing in and out of your nose for 5。5 seconds each， and you'll probably be just a bit better for it。 。。。more
Valeria
，
This book starts a bit horrifying as you realize how wrong you’ve been breathing up until now， but it ends on a positive note， with a lot of resources to explore on your own to improve your breathing and your health。 The book has an extensive notes session so if you want to go deeper into this topic， that’s a great place to start。
Jonathan Harford
，
This is one of those books that is very compelling just because it promises so much。 I'll tell you one thing for sure: I'm terrified of mouth breathing now。 This is one of those books that is very compelling just because it promises so much。 I'll tell you one thing for sure: I'm terrified of mouth breathing now。 。。。more
Joseph Novellino
，
Ignore the wild claims in the beginning。 The author is a journalist， not a scientist。 Read it with a grain of salt。 The time you spend reading this book will focus your brain on your breath。 That makes it worthwhile。 "Breathe through your nose" is great advice。 Ignore the wild claims in the beginning。 The author is a journalist， not a scientist。 Read it with a grain of salt。 The time you spend reading this book will focus your brain on your breath。 That makes it worthwhile。 "Breathe through your nose" is great advice。 。。。more
Glenda
，
This book offers a fascinating analysis about the history of breathing therapy， the medical implications of breathing， and ways we can improve our breathing。 I’ll never take a breath the same way again。 I think those who suffer from trauma， sleep deprivation， and other ailments will find them book mesmerizing and helpful。 I listened to the audiobook during my walks。
Socraticgadfly
，
This book is ultimately New Agey， yogic-breath metaphysics peddling cultic bullshit。 Pure and simple， based on the end of this book， and what I’ve glommed on reviews of other books， this is a vehicle to promote yogic breathing practices AND the metaphysics behind them， disguised as a vehicle of a “better breathing” book。 It’s quackery and cultism right there。 Beyond that， it promotes pseudoscience elsewhere as well as potentially unhealthy and even dangerous practices。It seems to have lots of in This book is ultimately New Agey， yogic-breath metaphysics peddling cultic bullshit。 Pure and simple， based on the end of this book， and what I’ve glommed on reviews of other books， this is a vehicle to promote yogic breathing practices AND the metaphysics behind them， disguised as a vehicle of a “better breathing” book。 It’s quackery and cultism right there。 Beyond that， it promotes pseudoscience elsewhere as well as potentially unhealthy and even dangerous practices。It seems to have lots of interesting insights， but they’re largely anecdotal。 It does have lots of problems。 These are mostly at the end， but there’s a few early on， and more pile up in the middle of the book even before Nestor goes New Agey。He does mention the domestication of fire， eons before refined foods， was the first major jaw-shrinkage time。 But， he doesn’t go back older， far far older， to our australopithecine ancestors walking upright， and how that affected sinus drainage （as well as backs and fallen arches）。The non New Agey pseudoscience starts on page 60 with emphysema， which， first of all， is not the medical term used to day， rather， of course COPD。The claim that emphysema is mainly due to poor breathing rather than cigarettes is a howler。 So is the hint that COPD is curable。 It is not。 Its progression can be slowed and some of its symptoms can be ameliorated， in part through breathing exercises and related items， yes。 But it can’t be cured。From here， Nestor drops hints， while carefully avoiding direct statements， that other medical maladies can be cured just by breathing right。The bad stuff is when he goes New Agey on yoga 30 pages before the end。 And yes， dude， that’s what it is。 He talks about the “invisible energy” of our breath called prana in Sanskrit， etc。， which he equates to chi and other things， which （setting aside the New Agey bullshit that any of this is real）， no， they’re not the same。He next raves about acupuncture。 Reality？ As Western medicine， starting in the 1700s， started making scientific discoveries， it started replacing acupuncture in China， which only rose again with the aid of the Great Helmsman （Wrecking the Ship of State）， Mao。He then talks about the spiciness of Chinese and Indian food。 In reality， Chinese food， especially， was pretty bland before the Columbian Exchange。 Beyond that， a lot of Chinese and Southeast Asian food today isn’t that hot。 （Contra the claims of someone on Quora， Szechuan pepper is NOT “hot。” Indian long pepper， of the same genus as black pepper， is somewhat hotter， but not that hot。He then gushes about Swami Rama， ignoring that good skepticism has shown with other yogis， they’ve never been able to actually stop their heart for more than a second or two; rather， they’ve used body control to muffle their heartbeat and other things。 …。 And ignoring that outside of that， he behaved like many another modern Indian guru， complete to the point of losing a sexual assault lawsuit。He then says rocks differ from birds and bees based on the level of energy or “excitability of electrons。” This of course ignores uranium and radium ore rocks in his attempt to put a pseudoscience veneer on things。After that， no， the Indus Valley Civilization of Harappa et al has nothing to do with pre-Hindu Aryan religious ideas。 Since we still can’t translate their language， in fact， we don’t know what it has to do with anything！ And， calling the Aryans “black-haired barbarians from Iran” is all wrong。 They came from today’s central Asian “stans，” first of all， not Iran。 The Indo-Aryans split from Iranians before this migration。 And， of course， we have no way of knowing their predominant hair color。 And， if this was an attempt to separate Indo-Aryans from Nazi ones， well， the Hindutva-fascism of today’s RSS， the backbone for the BJP political party of Indian PM Narendra Modi， has muddled that back u p。As for the actual breathing ideas？ Why precisely 5。5 seconds？ What makes this better than either 5 or 6 seconds？ Outside of a modern “app” （the stress of whose use might negate breathing benefits） who’s counting half-seconds？Beyond that， Nestor misses an even simpler exercise that I’ve known about for years: the 8-8-8 breathing。 Breathe in for 8， hold for 8， out for 8， preferably nasally in and orally out。 Maybe the orally out doesn’t address mouth breathing， but that’s only one part of his breath focus， so I can go beyond that， too。 It does “ground” one by doing it this way， both on the counting which is full seconds （or if you count a bit fast， still 6 seconds or so）， and on focusing on breathing by alternating the nasal in and oral out。 In addition， the ‘hold’ part mimics Nestor’s push for a long exhale。Pursed-lip breathing is something else simple， but non-New Agey connected， that Nestor doesn’t mention。 Wiki specifically says， per one health thing that Nestor does hammer， that pursed-lip breathing works on the parasympathetic nervous system。That then said？ There’s little controlled evidence for benefits of alternate nostril breathing， and very little for one nostril controlling one nervous system， and the other the other。 Most studies that DO claim benefits are of yogic-influenced alt-med research。Other things not mentioned？ Many of Wim Hof’s records have been broken by others。 Multiple people have died following the Wim Hof method。That said， the subtitle of his “Deep” book containing the phrase “renegade science” should say something。So， I won’t even recommend this book for the breathing exercises。 Find another。 。。。more
Kami
，
I will never breath the same again。
Alison
，
This book was fascinating。 If you breathe， you should read this book asap。
Andrea Del Angel
，
3。5 stars。 Apparently i’m not even BREATHING correctly。。。。 🥲 Eye-opening read on the importance of breathing for our overall mental and physical health！
Kat
，
This is fascinating。
Susan
，
This was an interesting book on the importance of breathing。 It turns out most of us don’t breath correctly。 This book offers information on the benefits of slow， deep breaths， particularly full exhalation。 I have been a bit more conscious of my breathing since reading this book。
Jess Witkins
，
A fascinating subject with interesting research， both ancient and experimental。 It's not quite as full as I'd like of practical advice to boost one's breath， though there are some exercises provided and the audio version has a guided practice included at the end。 Many of the studies Nestor participated in were experimental treatments and quite costly。 One would need to be financially privileged to partake in them for months at a time as he did with some。 But there are many references inside one A fascinating subject with interesting research， both ancient and experimental。 It's not quite as full as I'd like of practical advice to boost one's breath， though there are some exercises provided and the audio version has a guided practice included at the end。 Many of the studies Nestor participated in were experimental treatments and quite costly。 One would need to be financially privileged to partake in them for months at a time as he did with some。 But there are many references inside one could do further reading on。 Biggest takeaway - breath in and out through your nose。 Mouth breathing has led to lots of problems for society。 And slow， full breathing （5。5 second breaths in & out through the nose） can have helpful effects with cleaner air， calming the body， stress relief， and resetting some homeostasis。 。。。more
Tracey
，
4。5。 This was a FAR more fascinating book than I expected， and I was eager to read it。 I had no idea there was so mouth to learn about breathing/pulmonology。 My only critique was that the end seemed a bit rushed but overall not a problem。 The author’s tone was often humorous and dry as he explored various elements of breathing， breathwork， endured experiments， etc。 Another recco for the armchair health expert！
Erin
，
I started practicing some slow breathing techniques （& I'm going to try lip taping at night so I can breathe through my nose better）。 And while I found some of the evolutionary history and profiles of various "pulmonauts" to be fascinating， I do feel like this could have been equally beneficial as a long article rather than a whole book。 I started practicing some slow breathing techniques （& I'm going to try lip taping at night so I can breathe through my nose better）。 And while I found some of the evolutionary history and profiles of various "pulmonauts" to be fascinating， I do feel like this could have been equally beneficial as a long article rather than a whole book。 。。。more
Kennedy
，
I guess I have been breathing wrong my entire life。。。
Silvia Roberts
，
Interesting read。 Learned some about the importance of proper breathing and the health benefits of doing so
Heather
，
I am still trying to decide how much of the content of this book is quackery and how much is solid science but it was definitely intriguing and as someone who has had respiratory issues my whole life I plan to dig into some of these methods in more detail。
Elizabeth Barrett
，
I'm happy to say， I mostly breathe correctly， according to all that James Nestor learned in researching this book--and sometimes using himself as a research subject。 Because breathing is something we all do， the book is easily accessible。 I learned more whys and wherefores of breathing than I'd known， as well as some new techniques that I'm trying out。I definitely recommend this one。 I'm happy to say， I mostly breathe correctly， according to all that James Nestor learned in researching this book--and sometimes using himself as a research subject。 Because breathing is something we all do， the book is easily accessible。 I learned more whys and wherefores of breathing than I'd known， as well as some new techniques that I'm trying out。I definitely recommend this one。 。。。more
Liz
，