by Kaitlyn Chow
Summary
Breath is a self-help book published in May 2020 by science journalist James Nestor, which dwells on the topic of breathing. While breathing is an automatic process that one does not even have to think about doing, there is much more to breathing than just taking in oxygen and letting out carbon dioxide. Nestor illustrates many different theories on how effective breathing is, how one is actually supposed to breathe, how breathing works, and more.
Nestor introduces the book by describing an experiment, which compares the benefits of nose- and mouth- breathing. Nestor and a colleague tested the different benefits and effects that each way of breathing had on their bodies by breathing solely through their mouths for a span of ten days (even when sleeping, exercising, etc.). After just 24 hours of experimentation, both subjects observed how much more tired they were, how the span of time that they were snoring increased fourfold, and how other statistics they tested (e.g. sleep apnea and stress) “worsened.” The scientists concluded that mouth-breathing is detrimental to one’s health and that nose-breathing is essentially the proper way to breathe.
Nestor also mentions examples of people that have fixed various problems by just breathing “properly.” He explains how a choir teacher was able to cure several patients diagnosed with a currently incurable illness, solely by teaching them how to inhale and exhale properly. He also mentions how certain breathing patterns have kept individual groups of people from getting sick, experiencing nasal problems, and/or other symptoms. The studies that Nestor describe reveal how individual groups of people, such as Buddhists (during religious chants), breathe slowly, at approximately 5.5-second inhales and 5.5-second exhales. While many would probably think that breathing more is more beneficial to their health, Nestor disputes these beliefs by explaining how people are actually breathing more than they are supposed to, and how it is actually more beneficial to breathe less and to take longer breaths.
Moreover, Nestor also proposes a theory that humans are actually supposed to inhale carbon dioxide rather than oxygen. He goes on to explain the history of the ways people breathed and proposes reasons as to why carbon dioxide is indeed better for humans than oxygen. Nestor illustrates this theory through much scientific research, which can be found in the book.
Would I Recommend This Book?
As Nestor introduces many interesting ideas about breathing throughout the book, I generally found it quite enjoyable. Who would have imagined that people are actually breathing too much? However, there were quite a few moments when I got bored reading all the scientific information presented and the countless number of people and studies mentioned throughout the book. As one might expect, I also found myself inhaling and exhaling very consciously while reading this book, making sure that I was breathing “properly.”
Because of the overwhelming amount of information and scientific research presented in this book, I did not find it as enjoyable as other self-help books I have read. Thus, I would still recommend this book, but only to people who are really interested in and fascinated by the science behind bodily functions and physiology. People who are not as interested in these topics may find this reading somewhat boring at times.
Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art can be found at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, online libraries, public libraries, Kindle, and many other platforms.
Overall Review: 7.5/10
Nestor, J. (2020). Instant new york times, los angeles times, wall street journal, and sunday times (uk)
bestseller [Image]. MRJAMESNESTOR. https://www.mrjamesnestor.com/breath/