Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor

6 reviews

mi_chlo's review against another edition

informative inspiring medium-paced

4.0

This is the first non-fiction book I've read that has actually really captured my attention and taught me new things which I've actually absorbed and been able to tell others about

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Medical content, Sexual content, Chronic illness, Death, and Animal death

Minor: Eating disorder, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Mental illness, Rape, Suicide, Alcohol, Cancer, Sexual violence, Cursing, and Drug use

sarasreading's review

informative reflective fast-paced

3.75

Probably around 3.5 but I'll bump it up because I read this in one day. There's some great info in here, some great feats of human endurance, and also some potentially misleading advice and pseudoscience.

To say, for instance, that ADHD symptoms can be managed with breathing, when it has far more to do with dopamine receptors in the brain than just about anything else, is unhelpful. 

Still, it's a fun read, and if you practice yoga, several of the breath techniques will be familiar to you. The audiobook has a half hour instruction at the end on several breathing techniques, many I knew and some I didn't. I didn't know the 3-9 technique, and that one lowered my heart rate over 10 points with only a few rounds. By far the most effective one for me with my current health issues.

I saw a pulmonologist for the first time just before starting this book, and had several lung function tests done, and that helped add a personal layer to this reading experience. (Suffering from long COVID since being diagnosed last August.) 

All that to say I do recommend it, but with several grains of salt.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical content, Chronic illness, and Animal cruelty

euphemiajo's review against another edition

informative inspiring medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Animal death, Cancer, and Chronic illness

katrinarose's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

3.0

The author relied very heavily on anecdotal evidence, I was hoping for more of an exploration of what we know through scientific research. I did appreciate learning the history of many of the breathing practices though, and the author had an engaging way of writing which made it fun to listen to (makes sense since he is a journalist, not a scientist). Would recommend only if you don’t take everything he claims at face value. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Panic attacks/disorders, Chronic illness, and Medical content

c_dmckinney's review

hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

2.25

I don't strictly speaking think this author is really especially qualified to make some of the judgements and conclusions he does. His whole experiment seems steeped in confirmation bias and some of the conclusions seem a little stretched. This is definitely an under-researched field and Nestor invites the reader to think about things most people generally do not. But I would feel less skeptical if James Nestor had a prior career history in biology or physiology or pulmonology or medicine in any capacity instead of "just" being a journalist.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism, Racism, Chronic illness, and Medical content

orcgrotto's review

challenging informative inspiring medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, and Mental illness

Minor: Death