20 Books That Changed My Life - #4
- Ellen Travassaros
- Oct 31, 2022
- 2 min read
Breath
- The Science of A Lost Art by James Nestor.
I acknowledge that I say this a lot, and, every human needs to read this book.
I'm a very passionate human (and that's putting it lightly)...
Every time I discover something monumental about my self-healing capacity as a human being, a fire burns inside to share my learnings with anyone who will listen.
Why?
Because when something significantly, positively influences my life and ultimately the amount of freedom and fulfilment I get to experience daily, I want everyone to know and experience it too.
This book is a confronting yet deeply nourishing (and much needed) reminder of how far we've strayed from something that is so innately designed to support us, our breath.
James explores in great depth (by being his own experiment, as a mouth breather), the positive and negative effects of mouth breathing compared to nose breathing, and the array of issues a human may experience as a result of only breathing through their mouth. And it's significant.
If I had to sum up this book in one word it would be freedom.
Freedom beyond the very narrow and widely misunderstood beliefs about how valuable and important our breath (and breathing through our nose) truly is when it comes to everything about our health.
Put simply, the breath is medicine.
This book is a portal into how we can harness our breath and ultimately optimise every aspect of our lives including our overall health, jaw size and teeth alignment, sleep, emotions, physical performance, and so much more.
It will take you to places you least expect.
I began nose breathing only in my training at the gym and in my jiu-jitsu. Initially it was really difficult and confronting, as it seemingly slowed me down and I felt less 'fit'. But it showed me how I'd been limiting my performance by opening my mouth to 'catch my breath'. By training myself to breath only through my nose, my performance actually increased and I felt my capacity to focus increase with it. I can go longer and harder with less effort now. It has been such an amazing journey.
So my friends, just read it and then tell me about what you learned. I promise you will walk away absolutely mind-blown even if you've been an avid nose-breather or breath-worker like myself for years.
And parents (especially parents to be), if you only read one chapter, let it be Chapter 7, Chew. For the sake of your children and their jaw development (and your bank account), let it inform you about the unbelievable benefits of gnawing, chewing and of course, nose breathing.
Everyone else, Chapter 2, Mouth Breathing oughta inspire the heck out of you.
*Special note - I have the audible version not the hard copy. The chapters noted above may vary in the hard copy.*
El xo
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