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. 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, Brazil. 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, allergies, 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.

Listening Length

7 hours and 19 minutes
Author

James Nestor
Narrator

James Nestor
Audible release date

21 May 2020
Language

English
Publisher

Penguin Audio
ASIN

B0874XDQZR
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	7 hours and 19 minutes
Author	James Nestor
Narrator	James Nestor
Audible.com.au Release Date	21 May 2020
Publisher	Penguin Audio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B0874XDQZR
Best Sellers Rank	43 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) 1 in Aging & Longevity 1 in Longevity 1 in Sports Psychology (Books)

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Interesting read – with scientific inaccuracies

Reviewed in Australia on 17 September 2021

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I don't doubt that James Nestor has devoted over a decade of his life to exploring the simple act of breathing, but it bugs me that he kept claiming that his arguments were "science" when in actuality, there is a lack of conclusive scientific evidence over many his claims (not that is disproves them either, but it's worth mentioning). He seems to try and blend the teachings of religions/spirituality with hard science by combining the two, but instead confuses the two and claims breathing is "the new science of a lost art".

The only scientifically conclusive piece of advice that he gives is to breathe through the nose instead of mouth, because the latter has detrimental effects on health and overall physiological functioning, as he demonstrated in an experiment in which he was a test subject. Although let's be honest, that's should hardly be a surprising fact to most of the population.

The book is also filled with countless anecdotes with an unusual level of detail. For example, he seems to begin every one of his personal stories with a paragraph describing the clothing choices of the people he encounters and the vibe they give off. I mean, maybe his style of writing isn't just for me, but that coupled with the fact that this book spends approximately 200 pages making ambiguous and self-contradicting points packaged and labelled as "science" makes me doubt whether he just elongated what was meant to be a blog article for cash.

I'm still thankful for what this book had to teach me and open my eyes to, but it might be a better use of your time to simply watch one of the author's interviews instead.

6 people found this helpful

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Aza

A MUST read

Reviewed in Australia on 30 August 2020

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This book is such an important read. For anyone suffering from respiratory problems, sleep apnea, malocclusion, auto-immune diseases etc.. James Nestor has researched thousands of years of medical texts & studies in all things respiration... & uncovered why we as a race have become so sick, stressed & tired. His journey traces from our healthy ancestors...to the devolution that took place from the agricultural age... & gives essential life saving transformative advice on breathing that WILL turn your health around...in a very short space of time! A MUST read!

9 people found this helpful

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Great read

Reviewed in Australia on 4 April 2021

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It's an easy entertaining read as well as being super informative. I have lots of takeaways from it and have incorporated practices into my daily breathwork and meditation which feels great. I've done various breathwork for a while e.g. Wim Hof Method, Buteyko from Oxygen advantage, yoga and pranayama but still got a lot out of this book. Really appreciated the research and context. I've recommended it to people and think everyone could get wins out of it.

4 people found this helpful

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LLL

Every breath you take

Reviewed in Australia on 4 January 2021

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I have listened to the audible version more than once, and it leaves a lasting impression.

Diet is a very contentious subject when it comes to health - keto, vegan, high fibre, paleo, intuitive eating, fasting.

But breath is so much simpler: in, out, depth, and time; through the nose or mouth. It also has so much more impact.

What was so interesting about the book was the link to modern “ailments” such as obesity, sleep apnea, asthma, mental health and inflammation to the breath. As for crooked teeth and narrow jaws - I would never have made this connection before reading this book. My daughter recently had braces fitted - I wish I had read this book 10 years ago.

An excellent read and highly recommended.

2 people found this helpful

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ladybug

But breathing is natural, right? Think again!

Reviewed in Australia on 24 November 2020

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You don’t know you don’t breathe correctly until something happens to show you, OR you read this book! Amazing that something nobody even needs to think about can impact your life to such a huge extent without you even contemplating that it could - I mean, it’s just breathing, how can something that is such an integral part of your subconscious be so hard to get right? I have had health issues linked to breathing, and ready knew some of gs this book has to say, but the depth and reach in here is definitely far-reaching if you take it on board!

2 people found this helpful

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Trevor Baret BDS, PGDipClinOrth

Brilliant, Informative read

Reviewed in Australia on 28 October 2020

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So you think you can breathe - just because you have been doing it all your life... The fact is that most of us simply don't know how to breathe properly, and their health suffers as a result.

This well researched and entertainingly written book discusses different types of breathing exercises, as well as describing the healthiest way to breathe for life. And for nearly everyone, it is not what you are doing now. It is also not what most of you think it is...

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, after working in the area of sleep breathing disorders for over three decades. My copy is full of bookmarks showing sections I want to return to and refer to. Despite my long experience in the industry, I am still learning, and that learning becomes much more enjoyable what provided in such a well written and entertaining book.

2 people found this helpful

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Jennifer Marr

A Life Changing and Fascinating Must Read

Reviewed in Australia on 11 November 2021

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Everyone who snores, has asthma, sleep apnoea, sinusitis or breathing issues should get read this book!

Breath is not only easy to read, but the life changing ideas and strategies actually work.

Since developing asthma in my late 30s, I have searched for practical ,health based information to remove symptoms and reverse the condition without drugs. By following just a few of the ideas in this book, I am already seeing improvements in my health.

I love this book! Thank you.

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pippa walker

A must read!

Reviewed in Australia on 29 November 2020

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I came to this book already interested in the breath and breathwork but this book exceeded my expectations and think everyone should read it! It really could change your life with information that we all need to know and implement. For ourselves and for our children. If you're reading this review don't hesitate just buy! I have recommended this book to all my clients and friends. In fact I really must get on some Amazon reward scheme ;-)

One person found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Incoherent

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 June 2020

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This book is a collection of anecdotes and pseudo science about breathing.

These range from insubstantial; a man in the 1930's met another man who'd benefited from visiting Tibetan monks who breath through their noses. To plausible; anxiety can be controlled with breathing, strengthening the chest muscles and diaphram can help with breathing (eg. physiotherapy is good for people with emphysema). To mystical; breathing can infuse the body with a magical 'energy' called Prana.

Any conclusions seem to be contradictory: breath in little sips, take big breaths, reduce the amount of oxygen in our bodies, increase the amount etc.

A lot is written concerning a study he and a friend took part in where they taped their noses shut for 10 days to force them to breath through their mouths. Apparently this will make you feel rotten, snore more and grow bacteria in your unused nasal cavity. Hardly surprising.

280 people found this helpful

Lady Fancifull

Best book I have read on the subject – and I have read, and own, many

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 2 September 2020

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I have a professional, and also a personal, interest in the subject matter. I became an adult onset asthmatic quite some time ago, a category which has dramatically increased in the past 30-40 years, driven by levels of pollution and our love affair with the car. I had no history at all of childhood eczema, asthma or hayfever, or indeed any parental family history of this.

Triggers for me were a combination of enforced passive smoking for some decades, before it got banned in public places, and, finally prolonged exposure to a chemical in the workplace, which had a disastrous respiratory effect on all of us, so exposed

Unwilling initially to take medication I tried to explore various ways to improve lung capacity, some of which have been more or less successful, though I had to surrender eventually to medical management, and am generally well maintained

Covid has of course made us all intensely aware of lung health, and there has been an explosion in awareness of how we breathe, how this activity we might not even think about until we can’t, might impact, positively or negatively, health and wellbeing. Not to mention, how we might best recover long term if the virus takes hold and diminishes lung capacity long term.

Decades ago, before it was more widely known, I had attempted to self-admiinister Buteyko, from a book. And not got on very well with it.

James Nestor, a self-styled ‘aeronaut’ as he calls those who have deeply studied breathwork, and sought to educate and help others to breathe well, explores, clearly, so clearly, a whole range of extraordinary breathing techniques. I should probably rephrase that – they are not necessarily THAT extraordinary, they are representative of more natural, healthful ways of breathing – which almost all of us ‘grew out of’ – posture, diet , environment changes our breathing.

Nestor goes well into the science of all this, and his book is absolutely fascinating. But what makes it outstanding for me is that he is a WRITER. Most of the other books I’ve read, share the passion, share the authors’ own journey and exploration of the field, but those writers don’t have the skill to convey the dryer stuff of the science so engagingly and absorbingly, or the light touch immediacy of writing which is like someone talking to you.

For those who might be looking towards trying the various techniques, Nestor gives clear guidance within the book, - and yes, I found Buteyko so much easier to work, from this. He also promotes and explores several ‘aeronauts’ – Patrick McKeown (very much the approachable Buteyko international voice now) Anders Olsson, Wim Hof and others – and gives details and links to the wealth of video material out there. Indeed Nestor’s own website is full of wonderful, free resources.

I also really like his pragmatic and generous approach. One of the biggest changes I’ve made – with excellent results – since reading this book, is to simply control how I breathe when sleeping. Nose breathing, not mouth breathing, is what we need to be doing, and though I have consciously tried to work with this, over many years, I certainly wasn’t doing this at night. Various complex devices are out on the market for this one – Nestor does talk them through, but also says he himself just uses simple micropore tape, to keep his mouth shut. It certainly looks a bit weird and startling but, I must say, since my first night with a small vertical strip from just above top lip to just below bottom lip, I not only had no trouble or discomfort with this, but no longer have a stuffy or runny nose on waking, and am more likely to sleep through the night, not needing to wake for a pee – and he explains the science behind this, a connection between a neurotransmitter, the autonomic nervous system, and depth of sleep. The nose is a wonderful thing, and the biochemistry of nose breathing and mouth breathing are different. Button that lip!

236 people found this helpful

strawdog

The elusive obvious.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 August 2020

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Mr Nestor has produced a superbly readable, meticulous, and well-argued popular science book that deserves a wide audience.

I confess that I am kicking myself for not taking the intricacies of breathing seriously until the last few years and I wonder if I would have been as dismissive if I had read a 'grounded' a book as this, rather than texts that relied on 'New Age-y' type language that provoked my prejudices and closed my mind to the undoubted benefits of 'breathwork'.

In a concluding chapter, Mr Nestor forcefully states the benefits of Western medicine - and rightly so; the book is NOT opposed to the scientific method. What he does argue for, however, is that the Western model has ignored an elusive obvious: self-regulation of the breath as a means of stress reduction with a host of attendant benefits.

In presenting his case, Mr Nestor takes the reader on a journey from the dawn of aerobic metabolism, through biological anthropology, into psychology, psychiatry, and dentistry, tying it all together with his own history of breath exploration as a means to control his own health issues.

It is a dazzling read regardless of some passages that describe horrible animal experiments. There are appendices that describe some breathing techniques, along with bibliography and expanded notes. Mr Nestor's website, with its dedicated 'Breath' page, is worth a look for new updates.

Anecdotally, I 'cured' long-standing exercise-induced asthma through one of the methods outlined in the book (Buteyko) and I continue to dive into it to control a life-long anxiety disorder. From what I gather, my experience is commonplace, although the benefits have been quite startling on a personal level. Whether or not I experiment with the Wim Hof method discussed in the book is another matter; it may be the next step for me.

All in all, this is a persuasive, well-researched, passionate, and inspiring book and I heartily recommend it.

127 people found this helpful

mr john kenny

Life changer

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 June 2020

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Throughly enjoyed this book a great balance of fact and storytelling and lots of useful tips to help your breathing. As an asthmatic I have noticed significant improvements in my breathing after only a week of practicing. A must read for anyone with breathing difficulties.

109 people found this helpful

It's Me

Poor Value

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 31 October 2020

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Much of this book focuses on the authors breathing experiments and other research related to how our breathing has evolved etc. Initially I loved the style of the writing, the humour and interesting facts. However before too long I was bored and not learning. The breathing techniques section is very short and a bit sketchy (around six double sided pages). I have a policy never to leave bad reviews as everything is subjective, however I feel my bad review is justified as this book for me was a total waste of money.

55 people found this helpful

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