Author: James Nestor
Short Summary |
Breath (2020) focuses on a very essential part of our lives i.e breathing. The author James Neston argues that though breathing is important to keep us alive we pay little to no attention to our breathing patterns. So, for our convenience, he discusses the art, techniques, and pseudoscience relevant to breathing in this book. In Breath book summary you will learn that breathing is not only essential for our existence but it also controls our heart rate, hormones, anxiety, and blood pressure. |
Detailed Summary
Breathing is vital to life. Every part of our body needs oxygen to process energy and function. Breathing might seem simpler to you. There are only two steps right? Breathe in and Breathe out. Well as you will learn in Breath Book Summary, there is a lot more technicality to this simple process of breathing. There is a good chance that you have been breathing the wrong way throughout your entire life. Breath book summary sheds light on the miracle of breathing.
It will bring your focus to the science and art of breathing while providing you with mind-blowing facts about breathing that you do not know because breathing is not a topic we often talk about in our circles. Well unless you are a student of medical science majoring in the nasal cavity. If you on breathing the right way, less, conscious and through your nose, you will reduce your stress levels, and anxiety, your hormones will be boasted and you will maintain a steady heart rate. So let’s delve deeper and get you healthier by just fixing how you breathe!
Breath Book Summary Key Points
We Have Been Breathing the wrong way
As humans breathing is a natural phenomenon for us we breathe twenty-five thousand a day and we do not pay attention to how we are breathing most of the time. Many of us breathe through our mouths. Breathing through the mouth is responsible for many diseases. Breathing through our mouth is both a cause of and a contributor to snoring and sleep apnea. On the other hand, breathing through your nose alone can boost the amount of nitric oxide going inside to six folds which is one of the reasons we can absorb about 18 percent more oxygen by breathing through the nose than we can through the mouth.
Another advantage of breathing through your nose is that all the dust particles get filtered. The skin inside your nose is lined with hair to keep dust from entering your body. No such filter purifies air for you when you breathe through your mouth. Another thing is that when we breathe through our nose the air is humidified to match the temperature of our body. In this way, there is no temperature difference between the air we breathe and our internal body organs.
We Breathe a Lot More Than We Should
Did you know that breathing more than required is termed a disease? Not just a disease but a chronic one. Over a quarter of the modern population suffers from more serious chronic over-breathing. As James Nestor puts it, we have become a culture of overeaters and over-breathers. We breathe more than we should when we breathe through our mouths and it’s one of the reasons are lungs are put to overwork. The science here is the consumption of carbon dioxide. When you take fewer breaths you take in more carbon dioxide more oxygen is absorbed. Oxygen rushes to take over where there is more carbon dioxide and in this way, it will reach all parts of your body. This is why it is advised that you breathe lighter and less often. Breathing only six times per minute is said to be the ideal amount for your health.
Take Care of Your Nasal Cavity Fellas!
The complicated relationship we have with breathing and breathing systems is not from today. Years ago we started to develop speech organs that primarily involved the evolution of our speech tract or as we can it: the Larynx. But as a result, our expanding brains pushed our airways and they became smaller. Now we are far more susceptible to choking than we were before. If our already smaller air passageway gets smaller it can result in difficulty in breathing. This is why we need to breathe through our noses and put less pressure on our lungs. Take care of your nasal passageway starting from the nose, larynx lungs, and diaphragm.
Practise Nadi Shodhana
Nadi means channel and shodhana means purification. It is a yoga technique that you can use to alter your breathing. It will help you to breathe through your nose and find balance. Our bodies work best when they are balanced for example when they get to rest but also work. This balance is also affected by the way we breathe. So put this yoga practice into action and learn to breathe the right way. Your heart rate will become normal and you will feel less anxious.
Breath Book Quotes
“Breathe normally through the nose and hum, any song or sound. Practice for at least five minutes a day, more if possible.” –James Nestor
“The greatest indicator of the life span wasn’t genetics, diet, or the amount of daily exercise, as many had suspected. It was lung capacity.” –James Nestor
Breath Book Summary Review
Breath Book Summary will teach you that breathing the right way can have powerful effects on your health. Breathing slowly and properly engaging our lungs and diaphragm can reduce our stress levels and maintain hormone levels. The book is backed up with proper research from several medical workers the author interviewed. It also contains an analysis of many case studies to support the author’s arguments. Overall, it is an informative read that can help everyone from people with lung issues to medical students and anyone who wants to get hundred percent healthy.
To Whom I Would Recommend Breath Book Summary
- To patients who suffer from illnesses relevant to breathing such as sinusitis and Asthma.
- The twenty-three-year-old thinks that meditation and prayers have no physical benefits.
- To the medical students who want to read something interesting and different than their average medical books.
Link: https://amzn.to/3OMc7gH