This book has changed my life for the better!

One of my favorite non-fiction books. Every page is fascinating and filled with life changing information. Highly recommended.

This book motivated me to identify my breathing issues and fix them. Since reading it, I have learned to breathe correctly, but have also had surgery to correct my crooked septum and reduce my enlarged turbinates. And now I’m in the maintenance phase of my allergy shots, all factors that used to make getting a decent amount of air in my lungs a constant battle. If you struggle with breathing issues, this book can help you to identify the underlying factors, holding you back from effectively obtaining the most important basic physical need - oxygen.

I read Deep a couple of months before reading Breath, however as a former biologist and a freediver I had to learn more about our breathing processes. This book is great to orient yourself on historical practices, but also allows you to identify what you don’t know so that you can dive deeper there. I don’t know what his next book will be about but I’ll sure buy it.

Always life-changing content from this author.

I have focused on exercise and diet for thirty years, and these things are certainly critically important, but I never realized that how we breathe is also so fundamental and so crucial to our health. This is a brilliant and engaging read that has literally changed how I breathe.

Wow. I picked this book up because my voice teacher recommended it. And of course it’s the kind of journalistic exploration of scientific information that I really enjoy. But I didn’t expect the impact it would have on me. I’ve made changes since reading this. I am adding deep, slow breathing to my day, and being careful to “shut my mouth” when I’m working and not paying attention. It’s a fascinating read.

Will refer to it often and have been recommending to all.

James takes us on his own journey to improve his own health and in doing so, he’s helping all of us improve our own.

BREATH is a nonfiction book which explores the vital but largely ignored act of breathing. The author has a profound experience at a breathing class in San Francisco and spends the next several years researching all aspect of breath, from physiology, to psychology, to anthropology, to mysticism. I enjoyed this book and it gave me some different perspectives on breathing that I never considered. The science in this book is easy to understand. The author argues the importance of breathing through our noses, chewing harder foods more often, not breathing too much, and other concepts. He works with doctors, scientists, and other curious “pulmonauts,” as he calls them. From the breath work of Qi Gong to the catacombs of Paris, this book is a trip around the world and through time. I found it interesting that humans are the only animal species that can die of choking on food. I don’t know if I’ll pursue most of these techniques but I am noticing how I breathe more often.