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The cover of Breath

Breath

James Nestor, 2020

A journalist plugs his nose for ten days in a Stanford study, then traces breathing from ancient yoga to modern labs, showing how it shapes sleep, health, and anxiety.

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12 parts, about 23 minutes to read.

Why read it

  • Argues that most of us breathe badly, and that how we breathe shapes sleep, blood pressure, anxiety and health
  • Shows how breathing through the nose, slower and less, plus more chewing, can change how your body feels
  • Mixes a self experiment with old breathing traditions and lab research on carbon dioxide and fear

Who it is for

  • People who snore, stay congested or breathe through the mouth
  • Athletes and runners looking for easier endurance
  • Readers with anxiety curious about a physical way in

What the summary covers

  1. Introduction2 min
  2. The Worst Breathers in the Animal Kingdom2 min
  3. Mouthbreathing2 min
  4. Nose2 min
  5. Exhale2 min
  6. Slow2 min
  7. Less2 min
  8. Chew2 min
  9. More, on Occasion2 min
  10. Hold It2 min
  11. Fast, Slow, and Not at All2 min
  12. Epilogue: A Last Gasp1 min

Recommended by

  • Elizabeth GilbertAuthor of Eat, Pray, Love
    A fascinating scientific, cultural, spiritual and evolutionary history of the way humans breathe—and how we’ve all been doing it wrong for a long, long time.
  • Joe RoganComedian and host of The Joe Rogan Experience
    This book is amazing.
  • Joshua FoerAuthor of Moonwalking with Einstein
    A transformative book that changes how you think about your body and mind.
  • Wim HofCreator of the Wim Hof Method
    I highly recommend this book.

About the author

  • James NestorJournalist and author of Breath
    • Born in Tustin, California, in Orange County.
    • Moved to northern California to study literature and art and earned a Master of Arts in English with a minor in art history.
    • An author and journalist who has written for Scientific American, Outside, the BBC, The New York Times and The Atlantic.
    • In 2011 Outside magazine sent him to Kalamata, Greece, to report on an international freediving competition.
    • His first narrative nonfiction book, Deep: Freediving, Renegade Science, and What the Ocean Tells Us about Ourselves, came out in June 2014 from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
    • Wrote and co created the virtual reality experience The Click Effect, with director Sandy Smolan.
    • In 2017 he began working with marine scientist David Gruber on research into whale communication, which led to Project CETI.
    • Breath was named Best General Nonfiction Book of 2020 by the American Society of Journalists and Authors.

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