Why am I suggesting this is essential reading for everyone? Because everyone breaths. Every one has lungs.
Start this book, and you'll be aware of every breath you take, and how you take them.
And if you have crooked teeth, sleep apnoa, breath through the mouth, have asthma or other lung conditions, or are concerned about your health or longevity, you'll find this absolutely essential reading like I did.
I've always had a really complicated relationship with the breath, being asthmatic. I'm guilty of shallow breathing as asthmatics are. Reading this book gives me renewed determination to make breath my focus for the rest of my life.
Nestor begins the book with his own issues with sleep apnoa and snoring. The issue, argued a specialist, was that he was a mouth breather, and that needed fixing, as it's incredibly detrimental to our health. It wasn't entirely his fault, and it wasn't even about genetics. Our small mouths and narrow airways have been a product of modern diets and have only become that way in the last three hundred years, and was always worse in the rich, as they could afford processed foods. Crazy right? The more our ancestors cooked and mashed and strained and preserved our food, the worse our health became, and the more crooked our teeth and more closed our airways. And removing teeth isn't a fix - in fact, it makes the problem worse.
So that's a fascinating enough start. He moves onto exploration of what he calls the pulmonauts - people who have researched and experimented and practiced breathwork who have had great successes in healing people that had really terrible health problems. Many of these have been forgotten, but in the last few years, there's been a massive amount of focus on how breath is incredibly important - even more than diet and exercise.
Say what?
I mean, we're told all our lives that eating well and exercising help you live longer and better. But that's not entirely the entire picture. Breath is also a massive factor.
There were so many interesting stories in this book, such as the guy who was healing emphysema patients by activating their diaphragm - which he called the second heart, emphasizing it's importance - and teaching them how to breath again. Many would walk out of the ward and get on with their lives. Another woman with debilitating scoliosis which would have drastically reduced her quality of life and her life expectancy spent five years breathing and straightened her spine entirely, going on to teach her method to others and living to a ripe old age of 95.
In fact, Nestor outlines studies that suggest lung capacity is the single most determinant of longevity - smaller lung, shorter life - but that can be adjusted by working on our lung strength and capacity.
Here's a few other takeaways:
Nasal Breathing vs. Mouth Breathing: If you're breathing through your mouth, you risk more infection and poorer health and lung function. Don't. Tape up your mouth at night, forcing yourself to breath through your nose. My husband did this and no longer has sleep apnea.
If you're not keen on reading or audio books, watch some of his videos on Youtube.
*Breath and Stress Reduction: Strengthen your diagphram by controlled breathing. It helps with the relaxation response. And if you're reducing the amount of oxygen you get, getting more co2, it helps you relax even more. This reduces stress hormones like cortisol - so important. The yogis were right. Breath less and breath slower. You should only breath about ten breathes a minute - the best pattern is 5.5 seconds in, 5.5 seconds out. Coincidentally or not, this is the breathing pattern that many mantra and prayer force you into, which is why you can feel increased wellbeing when you do this!
Improving Oxygen Utilization: It's not how much oxygen you get or think you're getting - it's the efficiency of oxygen uptake by optimizing the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. Breath retention and slow breathing can help C02 tolerance which is really important! Don't ask me for the science. Go read this book.
Breath and Sleep Quality: If you're struggling with insomnia, don't reach for the drugs. Breath is where it's at - with proper breathing techniques and nasal breathing, you can have better oxygenation, prevent snoring, and receive optimal oxygen supply to the brain and body.
Breath and Posture: Hunched over? Don't. Correct posture means optimal lung expansion and the movement of the diaphragm so we have better breathing patterns.
Honestly, you need to read this book and embrace breathwork as a key to healing. I know it makes an immediate difference on my mental health - more than drugs or anything else could possibly do.
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With Love,
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Thanks for reminding me of this (book) once again.
Then, days ago, after your reminder, I started taping my nose (at night) again.
I am about to go for night 4, in a row.I had heard of it, via another Hiver ( @ronthroop ) a couple of months back.
Can't say I am noticing much improvement, as of yet ( aside from a nightmare, last night ), but I am planning to keep going and am really looking forward to going through the entire book, soonish, if I can decided on what form.
Sending a huge hug!
P.S. I wish this book had come out when my dad was still around and in healthy enough a state to give it a serious try. I know you can relate xx ❤️
Thank you for this information ma'am. I wonder what type of tape should be used to tape the mouth while sleeping?
He suggested surgical tape or micropore tape just over the middle bit of the mouth, but my husband uses more robust tape that you'd use for bandaids, I forget what it's called. Whatever works for you!
Thank you for sharing.😊😊
I have asthma and this information is very good for me. Also, I’m always having dry cough and it’s now like a part of me but what do you think I can do to stop it
I’ve taken series of cough syrups but remained the same thing
I think you might need to see a doctor if you have a persistent cough - that must be frustrating! How long have you had it?
Good information!
I've also read a book (another one) about the benefits of nose breathing.
It also mentioned taping your mouth when sleeping, but also the benefits during exercising.
When your heart starts pumping faster your body wants to get more oxygen. It's best to keep your mouth shut as long as possible and breathe through your nose.
Breathing through your nose not only filters the air, but also moisturises the air better and warms it up.
Apart from that it's also better for CO2 conditions in your blood.
Breathing through your nose during exercising keeps your heartrate at a lower lever as well.
As I mentioned I didn't read the book, but it's an interesting subject, so it's a good suggestion to read it!
Yes! He has quite a bit in this book about c02 and the benefits of keeping your mouth shut whilst exercising! I think it's hard at first - I struggle - but building up co2 tolerance helps. I'm just up to the bit when they talk about people with anxiety often have low co2 tolerance. Just incredible stuff.
It can be a bit hard at first indeed, but after a while your body gets used to it and then it gets easier. Incredible indeed!
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This sounds like a really important book. A few years ago I began to fix my nose which is pretty small to begin with but made worse by years for chronic allergies. I was a mouth breather for so long without having any idea of how decremental it was! In the last few months I have been working hard to correct my posture too, more for aesthetic reasons as well as to help out with my frequent migraines. It is nice to know that better posture equates to better breathing also!
@calendulacraft if you can get hold of this book it sounds like the perfect book for you. Mouth breathing sounds like the first thing to fix if you haven't already. I have got sooo much out of this book - for me it's because I'm asthmatic and suffer anxiety which for a long time I've realised isn't mutually exclusive, so I'm really tryng to get to the bottom of it. Please, please seek out this book - it could jsut change your life!
I have fixed the mouth breathing. I am not sure if you have tried this before but my partner and I started taping our mouths at night (with medical tape) and using nose expanders too. I also have been doing facial massages for a couple of years now which really helps ease anxiety and open up the nasal passages. But, I will definitely will check out this book as soon as I can get a copy. Thank you for bringing it to my attention!
My husband had a nose op and taped his mouth which has helped him a lot. After reading the book I wouldn't have wanted him to get the op but he does seem ok. There's some really useful info all round on how to heal through the breath.
That was an innovative one. The processed foods are what causes short lifespan and ill health. Im suggesting going back to green veggies and fruits.
Then monitor our stress levels. Sometimes too its highly dependent on food spicies such as maggi and the likes. Our fore fathers in Africa had less of maggi consumption in foods. They lived long