Breath : : the new Science of a Lost art

Locations
Call Number: 613.192 Ne, Adult Book / Nonfiction / Health & Fitness / General / Nestor, James
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	613.192 Ne	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	613.192 Ne	4-week checkout	In transit
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	613.192 Ne	4-week checkout	Due 05-06-2024
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	613.192 Ne	4-week checkout	Due 04-30-2024
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	613.192 Ne	4-week checkout	Due 05-22-2024
Malletts Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / Health & Fitness / General / Nestor, James	4-week checkout	On Hold Shelf
Pittsfield Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / Health & Fitness / General / Nestor, James	4-week checkout	Due 05-13-2024
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / Health & Fitness / General / Nestor, James	4-week checkout	Due 04-05-2024

The experiment -- Mouthbreathing -- Nose -- Exhale -- Slow -- Less -- Chew -- More, on occasion -- Breathholding -- Fast, slow, and not at all -- Epilogue: A last gasp.
"No matter what you eat, how much you exercise, how resilient your genes are, 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 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"-- Provided by publisher.

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Science light submitted by mowjac on May 11, 2021, 4:19pm This is a fast paced overview of breathing and breathing techniques, guided by the author's own physical ailments. Nestor is a journalist not a scientist, and so he glosses over much of the science rather than focusing on the details. An undemanding read that will bring attention to a daily activity.

Not a trustworthy narrator submitted by carolinegross on July 20, 2023, 10:56pm This book tells some fascinating stories, but the writer is not a scientist or doctor. I found his description of health benefits to be untrustworthy and lacking in quality evidence. Instead, it’s “I met this one person who has a hypothesis that persuaded me but doesn’t have evidence!” It’s interesting but not extremely well written, and certainly not a manual about best practices in breathwork.