Take a photo of a barcode or cover
samkrunch 's review for:
Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art
by James Nestor
I do partly agree with the sentiment of some of the other reviewers that the arguments for certain breathing techniques sometimes felt too anecdotal, but my impression remains largely positive. Firstly, the anecdotes are hard to ignore: Wim Hof, freedivers, Swami Rama ... like how many superhuman feats do we need to see before we can hit that sweet p<0.05 /s? Also, if I had to guess, the science may be lacking because clinical research is biased to finding treatments to problems over their prevention (which most of us end up trying to figure out on our own: what to eat, how to exercise, etc.), and so the studies just aren't there.
Anyway, I think the main value that I got out of the book was learning about all the breathing techniques that are out there. Before this book, I only knew the most basic pranayama: Nadi Shodhana, but now I have a list of exercises to try! Maybe it'll help me set a new PR for my marathon time, or maybe it won't. But I'm curious to try, and the barrier to entry is literally free.
Also, I listened to this as an audiobook. James Nestor narrated his own book, and I think he did a great job!
Anyway, I think the main value that I got out of the book was learning about all the breathing techniques that are out there. Before this book, I only knew the most basic pranayama: Nadi Shodhana, but now I have a list of exercises to try! Maybe it'll help me set a new PR for my marathon time, or maybe it won't. But I'm curious to try, and the barrier to entry is literally free.
Also, I listened to this as an audiobook. James Nestor narrated his own book, and I think he did a great job!