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lilith89ibz 's review for:
Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art
by James Nestor
I expected this book to go into the woo-woo realm, and it does from time to time, but I appreciate that Nestor makes it very clear that while breathing is an extremely important thing to do correctly, it's also not going to make you immortal or reverse any serious disease with which you may already be afflicted. He calls it a preventative measure, alongside exercising and eating a healthy diet, which I'm hardly going to argue against.
I found a few points a bit iffy: claims that you can eliminate ADHD symptoms completely with breathing exercises, or that switching which nostril you breath through activates the "creative" or "logical" parts of your brain. I believe the first claim is likely exaggerated: it may help alleviate some symptoms but I doubt you can "cure" ADHD so easily; and as far as I know, the idea that there are logical and creative parts of the brain and they only exist, separated, in one of the hemispheres isn't true.
I thought the section about the way our nasal passages evolved as our craniums changed shape particularly interesting, as well as the chapters about dentistry and how eating softer foods is also weakening our jaw muscles and consequently creating a smaller airway. I think it ties really well into why we should be eating more fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds in general, since that also seems to help with our intestinal flora, the other major neglected source of health issues.
The self-experimentation Nestor underwent was insightful, but it made me a little anxious for him. Most of it was likely beneficial in the long run, but I don't know that holotropic breathwork was something he needed to do. It's one of those things that are a good idea if you need to, quite literally, turn your brain off and back on because it's malfunctioning and medication isn't helping, but generally a bad idea to do otherwise. It's apparently quite a dramatic experience (more on that in [b:How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence|36613747|How to Change Your Mind What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence|Michael Pollan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1545030338l/36613747._SY75_.jpg|58370652]) that can help with severe anxiety and other mental disorders, but it doesn't sound like a good thing to do unless you absolutely have to do it. Nestor spends a great deal of the book talking about the importance of CO2 and breathing less, so hyperoxigenation seems counterintuitive.
Reading this book also brought to mind decompression sickness. It would be interesting to see if carbon dioxide inhalation treatments could help at all as a preventive measure.
The last chapter is a guide of different breathwork techniques, which was a nice touch. Overall, an interesting read.
I found a few points a bit iffy: claims that you can eliminate ADHD symptoms completely with breathing exercises, or that switching which nostril you breath through activates the "creative" or "logical" parts of your brain. I believe the first claim is likely exaggerated: it may help alleviate some symptoms but I doubt you can "cure" ADHD so easily; and as far as I know, the idea that there are logical and creative parts of the brain and they only exist, separated, in one of the hemispheres isn't true.
I thought the section about the way our nasal passages evolved as our craniums changed shape particularly interesting, as well as the chapters about dentistry and how eating softer foods is also weakening our jaw muscles and consequently creating a smaller airway. I think it ties really well into why we should be eating more fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds in general, since that also seems to help with our intestinal flora, the other major neglected source of health issues.
The self-experimentation Nestor underwent was insightful, but it made me a little anxious for him. Most of it was likely beneficial in the long run, but I don't know that holotropic breathwork was something he needed to do. It's one of those things that are a good idea if you need to, quite literally, turn your brain off and back on because it's malfunctioning and medication isn't helping, but generally a bad idea to do otherwise. It's apparently quite a dramatic experience (more on that in [b:How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence|36613747|How to Change Your Mind What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence|Michael Pollan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1545030338l/36613747._SY75_.jpg|58370652]) that can help with severe anxiety and other mental disorders, but it doesn't sound like a good thing to do unless you absolutely have to do it. Nestor spends a great deal of the book talking about the importance of CO2 and breathing less, so hyperoxigenation seems counterintuitive.
Reading this book also brought to mind decompression sickness. It would be interesting to see if carbon dioxide inhalation treatments could help at all as a preventive measure.
The last chapter is a guide of different breathwork techniques, which was a nice touch. Overall, an interesting read.