Breathwork: How to Use Your Breath to Change Your Life (Breathing Techniques for Anxiety Relief and Stress, Breath Exercises for Mindfulness and Self-Care)

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Only recently have we reduced breathing to a mere respiratory exchange of CO2 and O2. Greek psyche pneuma means breath/soul/air/spirit. Latin anima spiritus means breath/soul. Japanese ki means air/spirit. Sanskrit prana connotes a resonant life force that is at no time more apparent to us than when that force is extinguished at the moment of death. Chinese hsi is made of 3 characters that mean 'of the conscious self or heart.' The breath is seen as a force that runs through the mind, body and spirit like a river running through a dry valley giving sustenance to everything in its course. Betts, Hannah (February 7, 2022). "Mouth-taping lessons from breathing expert James Nestor". The Times. Archived from the original on February 7, 2022 . Retrieved December 14, 2022. The first step to improving your breathing is to become aware of it, says Hartley. You may notice you are holding your breath more than you realise, or taking shallow breaths. “Breathing is subconscious, as in it goes on 24 hours a day and most of those we don’t notice, but it’s the only system of the body that we have some alertness over and have some ability to change,” says Hartley. “Find out how you breathe first – place one hand on the lower belly, one hand on the upper chest, take a few breaths and notice which part of the body rises more.” The importance of breathing need hardly be stressed. It provides the oxygen for the metabolic processes; literally it supports the fires of life. But breath as "pneuma" is also the spirit or soul. We live in an ocean of air like fish in a body of water. By our breathing we are attuned to our atmosphere. If we inhibit our breathing we isolate ourselves from the medium in which we exist. In all Oriental and mystic philosophies, the breath holds the secret to the highest bliss. That is why breathing is the dominant factor in the practice of Yoga.” Other things not mentioned? Many of Wim Hof’s records have been broken by others. Multiple people have died following the Wim Hof method.

Breathing Room: A 28-Day Devotional for Women The top 10 books on breathing and the role it can play in your life And, despite all of the observed benefits and ten years of extensive research, Nestor doesn't forget to mention that breathing isn't a panacea. I appreciated that part as well. Starting with the day I opened the book and began experimenting with its techniques, I've had 4 consecutive nights of good sleep. Four nights. It has been years since I could say that. YEARS. The chronic sinus/nasal congestion that's been a feature of my life forever has moderated by about 50%. And my posture problem, that over the years I've alternately bemoaned and physically struggled against? That resolved itself in 18 hours (half of which I spent asleep). 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. The guy establishes credibility, actually, by not being a scientist, but by being less than healthy, and doing what some of us do, exploring how to get healthier. And he hits on breathing as the one central (and free!) thing we can do to improve our health. He’s had pneumonia a couple years in a row, diminishing his lung capacity, has asthma, has sleep apnea, he’s anxious, a mess. And decides to change his life but trying various breath-based strategies, and researching. The executive summary:Always breathe through your nose, never through your mouth, even when you're exercising, and especially when you're sleeping. Breathing through your mouth can cause dental problems, jaw and facial issues and even erectile dysfunction. This has been known and practiced for centuries.

And it's not like I haven't experimented with breathwork before. I've even done Grof's Holotropic Breathwork, many years ago (which I'd actually forgotten about entirely, until I encountered it in this book -- that's how little impact it had on me). But like I said above, right book, right time. One main thesis is the equivalent of intermittent fasting for breathing...”what if we breathed less?” Look out for future books on things-we-all-do mixed with what-if-we-did-them-less. Book ideas: blinking? itching? moving? Have at it, Mr. Nestor.

Nonfiction Book Review: Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor". Publishers Weekly. March 19, 2020 . Retrieved February 15, 2021. Credit India, China, and Nepal of long ago. Hindus and Buddhists, chiefly. You know. The guys who practically stop their lungs from breathing or their hearts from beating or their skin from freezing even though they're "OM-ing" in the great outdoors, mid-winter. Stop when you see a pedestrian about to cross the road. Wait until they are all the across instead of nudging them on. When you cross the street, walk at a pace that feels good rather than letting drivers intimidate you into trotting out of their way. Remember it's their hurry, not yours! Just as inhaling is important exhaling is equally as important, it's important to have full exhales.

Babies know how to breathe until they are about three (posed by a model). Photograph: Jose Luis Pelaez Inc/Getty Images 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. Most successful people are unhappy. That's why they are successes - they have to reassure themselves about themselves by achieving something that the world will notice... The happy people are failures because they are on such good terms with themselves that they don't give a damn. - Agatha Christie Teaching children breathing exercises helps them to improve concentration and reduce stress and anxiety (posed by a model). Photograph: SDI Productions/Getty Images Breathing. It’s almost as automatic as our heart beat. In fact, it’s so integral to our bodies that we don’t even notice our breathing most of the time. We notice during illness and exercise, of course. But other than that, we just let our bodies do their thing. Inhale—bring in oxygen; exhale—release carbon dioxide. If there is anything that could unite us, it’s the fact that we all have to breathe. These are the best books on breathwork and an ancient practice. What is breathwork?I also appreciated how the author would include fascinating tidbits about the human body that I, a healthcare professional, did not realize. For example: Chew food thoroughly - it is not just for getting nutrients from it, but also for developing your oral cavity (which is important for breathing); Shortlist for 2021 Royal Society Science Book Prize revealed | Royal Society". royalsociety.org . Retrieved April 19, 2023. The book was also perceived as being unexpectedly resonant due to its publication occurring amid the COVID-19 pandemic. [18] [19] See also [ edit ] The author spent a decade traveling all around the world learning about various modern and historical teachings about breathing. In addition to thoroughly researching the topic, he participates in several scientific studies as well. Everything that was revealed was interesting and encourages you to research further on your own.

Over-promising, potentially dangerous, pseudo-science book that uses limited to no data to substantiate its claims. We don’t need another rebuke of science in the world these days...Nestor’s sentences like “doctors use scary words to describe breathing like hypercapnia, hypoxia...” undermine actual researchers and physicians. This book uses the classic trope of the medical establishment dismissing obvious, home-remedy style solutions. Friend, if even 10% of the claims in this book were true, physicians everywhere would be prescribing breathing exercises immediately. Chewing is important and we're loosing this ability by eating soft foods, smoothies and avocado's and banana's are all soft. It's fine to eat those foods but you have to also have hearty foods to chew onto to maintain that strong jaw. 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. Though I believe there is really good information to help people to better health, the author sometimes supports his ideas with information he got from I-don't-know-where. Example: in 30+ years as a Tibetan Buddhist studying with authentic teachers (not reading new-age or yoga studio versions of Tibetan Buddhism) I've never heard or been taught about repeating om mani padme hum one syllable/second. Where in the world did he get the that idea? I'd love to know. 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.These are exercises that promise to help us become better breathers, which, it is claimed by practitioners, can transform our physical and mental health by improving immune function, sleep, digestion and respiratory conditions, and reducing blood pressure and anxiety (or transporting you to a higher realm of consciousness, if that is your thing). The last chapter actually turned out to have much more common sense with author admitting that breathing is only a part of a complex health system, along with diet, exercise, etc., and dedicating a few moments to describe a few breathing exercises. But honestly, save yourself time and money and read something else on this topic, like Iyengar's "Light on Pranayama". Pranayamas (yogic breathing techniques) are amazing, but consult your doctor if you have health problems, since some of them can be quite harmful if done without supervision.