Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art
James Nestor (2021, Riverhead Books)
In Breath, James Nestor has found the ultimate subject for immersive reporting. Every one of us breathes every day, yet most of us know almost nothing about it. Actually, we know less than some ancient civilizations did: "Seven books of the Chinese Tao dating back to around 400 BCE focused entirely on breathing, how it could kill us or heal us, depending on how we used it." Today our doctors have all kinds of equipment, of course, and could readily study our respiration rates and the composition of our blood gases, but they almost never do. What are they missing, and why does it matter?
In the past two centuries, some people have rediscovered and tried to reintroduce what the Taoists (and the Hindus, and the Buddhists) knew. "Many early pioneers in this discipline weren't scientists. They were tinkerers, a kind of rogue group I call 'pulmonauts,' who stumbled on the powers of breathing because nothing else could help them." Their work has consequently had trouble getting a lasting foothold in the culture of medicine. The chance to hear about these odd ducks is a strength, and a delight, of this book.
Carl Stough, for example, started his career as a choral conductor. He went on to teach opera singers, paraplegics, and people with emphysema better ways of breathing. Under his training, the 1968 U.S. men's track team had one of the great Olympic competitions in history, setting five world records in Mexico City. He broke new ground in every field he tried, but he didn't train anybody to carry on his work. "Stough broke all the rules; he expanded lungs and extended life spans. And yet, most people today have never heard of him."
Anders Olsson is a Swedish man who has become obsessed with better ways of breathing. He joined Nestor in a mildly insane experiment: they had themselves studied at intervals while they underwent ten days of breathing only through their mouths. The experience of nasal obstruction was as gruesome as you'd imagine: "My snoring has increased 4,820 percent from ten days ago." Fortunately, switching to nasal breathing for the next ten days relieved their headaches, sleep apnea, and other ills relatively quickly.
Olsson joined Nestor in this project because his own research suggests that overbreathing is a widespread problem, that we actually need more carbon dioxide in our blood to make the best use of the oxygen we take in. Breathing more slowly, and spending more time between inhalations, seems to improve the functions of the nervous system, the heart, and the lungs, and reduce overall stress on the body. Some psychologists are extending that insight into treatment for anxiety disorders as well, having patients inhale extra carbon dioxide to stave off panic attacks. Maybe that's why we can sometimes get a calming effect from a brisk walk.
Nestor also found that our breathing is also compromised by the changes in facial structure that came along with processed food over the past three centuries. It's not just genetics, it's functional. Of course, he's dogged about the question. "There had to be procedures, manipulations, or exercises that could reverse the past few centuries of damage from soft and mushy industrialized food. There had to be something that could help me with my own obstructed airways, and the wheezing, respiratory problems, and congestion I'd often experienced."
There is: more exercise for the jaw. He actually added bone mass to his lower face by biting on a retainer and chewing gum. "The chew-airway connection, like so much else breath-related, was old news. As I dug through a century of scientific papers on the subject over several months, I felt like I was trapped in a respiratory research spin cycle. Different scientists, different decades; the same conclusions, the same collective amnesia."
Since we breathe all day, every day, this book will make you self-conscious. How fast am I breathing right now? Can I walk faster without panting? How can I keep my mouth closed at night, comfortably? (I'm trying out a sleep mask as a chin sling; it's pretty comfortable, and I'm sleeping better.) Because this book is selling so well, I have hopes that this knowledge will be taken up in formal medicine. It probably won't, though, because it comes from outside the walls, which kicks up medicine's own immune response. Nevertheless, better breathing might make us healthier. It's up to us to be curious, and willing to try simple things.
Any Good Books, May 1, 2021
published by email
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