Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art

James Nestor

May 2020 · Sold by Penguin

About this ebook

THE MILLION COPY NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER, FEATURING NEW MATERIAL

"I highly recommend this book." —Wim Hof

“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

"This book is amazing. “ —Joe Rogan

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.

Ratings and reviews

I tried to keep an open mind, but some things in this book are outright inaccurate. while the author does his best to provide sound information woth the best of intentions, it seems he has picked some fringe scientists with sometimes fairly extreme claims based on annecdotal evidence. unfortunatelythe author does not have a syeing medical or acientific background, as he mistakes a fringe study or two for proven information, and sometimes geta little things wrong about anatomy and physiology. whereas the scientific community abroad would not write claims based on weak/little to no science. I too like the beginning, but sadly approaching the middle I think I'll have to out this book down

First, people who take 25,000 breaths per day are either: a) hyperventilating, b) adults with an underlying health condition that needs addressing by a licensed professional, or c) spending a more-than-above average amount of time exercising. Second, the book should be titled 'Breathe', not 'Breath'. The content within is largely poorly interpreted and misrepresented research results, with some default-level motivational speaking thrown in as an afterthought to sell copies.

"Breath" is a fascinating look into breathing, the multitude of reasons why we do it so poorly, people who have questioned what the specific breathing problems are, then looked at ways to improve how we breathe, and some suggestions on breathing exercises.

About the author

James Nestor is an author and science journalist who has written for Scientific American, Outside, The New York Times, and more. His first nonfiction book, Deep: Freediving, Renegade Science, and What the Ocean Tells Us About Ourselves (2014), was a PEN America finalist, an Amazon Best Science Book of the Year, and a New York Times Editors’ Choice. His second book, Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art, is an international bestseller, with more than three million copies sold in forty-four languages. Breath was awarded the Best General Nonfiction Book by the American Society of Journalists and Authors and was a finalist for the Royal Society Science Book Prize. Nestor’s collaboration with Global Classroom, a partnership with the World Health Organization and supported by UNICEF, teaches millions of children around the world to breathe better. More at mrjamesnestor.com.