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  • Breath

  • The New Science of a Lost Art
  • By: James Nestor
  • Narrated by: James Nestor
  • Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (2,249 ratings)

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Breath

By: James Nestor
Narrated by: James Nestor
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Summary

Brought to you by Penguin. Narrated by James Nestor.

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.

©2020 James Nestor (P)2020 Penguin Audio
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Critic reviews

"A transformative book that changes how you think about your body and mind." (Josua Foer, author of Moonwalking with Einstein)

"Who would have thought something as simple as changing the way we breathe could be so revolutionary for our health, from snoring to allergies to immunity? A fascinating book, full of dazzling revelations." (Dr Rangan Chatterjee)

"I highly recommend this book." (Wim Hof)

What listeners say about Breath

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    3 out of 5 stars

Interesting and enjoyable

So many people recommended that I read this book and I'm glad I did. It provided a useful reminder about the physiology of breathing and how few of us breathe properly. However, the limitations of the book were that there was a crossover of personal case history (of the author and a colleague) and the science of breathing as well as the origins of extreme breathing exercises. This made for entertaining listening but left me wanting a little more from each section. And that is a good thing.

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Very insightful, thorough and practical review

This book provides phenomenal review findings & discoveries based on scientific studies, and personal experiences.
It gives practical tips and suggestions for transforming ones relationship with breathing.
Highly recommend this book for anyone interested in personal development, yoga or healing!
🐝🙏💝

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This should be taught in school

Everyone needs to read this book it will change the world it should be a crime to keep this knowledge secret

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Evolutionary Conversation

This book has taught me some important life lessons to help me with everyday techniques to survive in this modern age. Breathe describes the importance of correct breathing and what major life issues can come as a result from generations of devolution, 100% great read for anyone who would like to improve on simple everyday life necessities and life longer and healthier

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revelatory

written with passion and wit. backed up by a huge bank of research. brilliant book. and in terms of performance it is really well conveyed by the author - an engaging listen. fantastic far-ranging overview of a huge landscape.

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fascinating

really interesting book on super niche subject
will almost definitely change your life. probably. definitely

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A great informative book so well read . best of th

A great informative book so well read. sure it will be the best of 2020.

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    4 out of 5 stars

A very good book to make a significant change to your health

At times I found myself a little lost listening to this. I wanted to know quite simply the best way to breathe and couldn’t quite work out if breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth was bad or not? In the end I sort of realised its best in and out through the nose with the overall message being to slow breathing down and not fear CO2 build up too much. I wasn’t entirely convinced by the science behind this but it made for an interesting listen and it’s something I will be much more aware of. I’ve already practiced it whilst running and weight training and it may be placebo but it seems to be good? Box breathing is great for relaxing yourself and helping with sleep. I’d give this a solid 4 stars overall as it’s very good but not the very best. Would recommend

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Brilliant!

I absolutely loved this book. It was so interesting and in fact I’ve just bought the hardback too so that I can flip through it. I want to listen to it again. I really liked James Nestor’s voice, however it was ever so slightly soporific and at times I felt my mind wandering when I didn’t want it to and I had to rewind a bit. Even so, this is one of my favourite of all time audio books.

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Ever had any breathing problems? Read this!

Such an eye opener regarding so many literally almost unheard of topics, applicable for so many people. I living a healthy life sounds good for you, you should definitely consider the viewpoints presented in this book.

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