The New Science of a Lost Art

By James Nestor

Stories - Indian doctor lost several pounds by simply changing the way he inhaled, another man was injected with the bacterial endotoxin E. Coli, then breathed in a rhythmic pattern to stimulate his immune system and destroy the toxins within minutes, women put their cancers in remission and monks who could melt circles in the snow around their bare bodies over a period of several hours.

“Therefore, the scholar who nourishes his life refines the form and nourishes his breath.” - ancient Tao text

Harvard, Stanford scientists discovered - 90 percent of us are breathing incorrectly and that this failure is either causing or aggravating a laundry list of chronic diseases. Many modern maladies can either Ben reduced or reversed simply by changing the way we inhale and exhale.

• Can influence our body weight and overall health
• Can affect the size and function of our lungs
• Allows us to hack into our own nervous system, control our immune response, restore our health
• Can help us live longer

Part One

The Experiment

The Worst Breathers in the Animal Kingdom

• Forty percent of today’s population suffers from chronic nasal obstruction, and around half of us are habitual mouth breathers, with females and children suffering the most. Causes - dry air to stress, inflammation to allergies, pollution to pharmaceuticals.
• Much of the blame - When mouths don’t grow wide enough, the roof of the mouth tends to rise up instead of out, forming what’s called a V-shape or high-arched palate. The upward growth impedes the development of the nasal cavity, shrinking it and disrupting the delicate structures in the nose. The reduced nasal space leads to obstruction and inhibits airflow.
• Today, the human body is changing in ways that have nothing to do with the “survival of the fittest.” Instead, we’re adopting and passing down traits that are detrimental to our health. This concept, called dysevolution, was made popular by Harvard biologist Daniel Lieberman, and it explains why our backs ache, feet hurt, and bones are growing more brittle. Dysevolution also helps explain why we’re breathing so poorly.

Mouth breathing

• Dr. John Douillard (trainer of elite athletes - from Billie Jean King to triathletes to the Nets) found simply training yourself to breathe through your nose could cut total exertion in half and offer huge gains in endurance.
• Ways the body makes energy from air and food
  • Anaerobic energy is generated only with glucose (a simple sugar), and it’s quicker and easier for our bodies to access. It’s kind of a backup system and turbo boost when the body doesn’t have enough oxygen…fast and responsive for quick trips, but polluting and impractical for long hauls.
  • When we run our cells aerobically with oxygen, we gain some 16 times more energy efficiency over anaerobic.
• Find the best heart rate for exercise: subtract your age from 180. The result is the maximum your body can withstand to stay in the aerobic state.
• Inhaling air through the mouth decreases pressure, which causes the soft tissues in the back of the mouth to become loose and flex inward, creating less space and making breathing more difficult.