Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art

Good summary about breath throughout the ages

I had no idea you could do so much with your breath. From increasing body temperature to inducing hallucinations. In this fascinating read, you go through the journey with the author on how we've changed our breathing, and what are some of the breathing techniques you can do. This last part is however poorly written, the appendix has a list of exercises but they don't explain why should you do this particular exercise and what are the benefits. For that, you have to dig back into the text. But this is a great “gateway” book into the subject and to discover some very interesting people like Wim Hoff etc along the way.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ = loved it & already plan to reread
⭐⭐⭐⭐ = great book that I recommend
⭐⭐⭐ = pretty solid book
⭐⭐ = I finished it, barely
⭐ = I had to let this one go

Kept my interest throughout (mostly - I got a little lost in the weeds a few times) and I found some simple, useful practices to try. It reinforced the importance of breathing drilled into me during my yoga years & I kind of wish I had read this during that time or that I was actively practicing now. I think the additional mindfulness about my breath would be incredibly beneficial.

In any case, I really liked the idea that we perhaps don't need Western medicine or drugs for every little thing and that something as simple and essential as breathing - specifically, breathing properly - can affect profound changes in our bodies and health.