Breath, The New Science of A Lost Art - By James Nestor, 1 Each, $27.99
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, and with that, come consequences.James Nestor, a journalist, travels the world to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it. In pulmonology labs the answer is not there. In the muddy digs of ancient burial sites, secret Soviet facilities, New Jersey choir schools, and the smoggy streets of So Paulo he discovers possible solutions. Nestor tracks down women and men exploring the hidden science behind ancient breathing practices like Pranayama and Sudarshan Kriya, and teams up with them to scientifically test long-held beliefs about how we breathe.Research shows 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.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 after this read.
