“What anxious patients could be experiencing is a completely natural
reaction—they’re reacting to an emer gency in their bodies,” said Feinstein. “It could be that anxiety , at its root, isn’ t a psychological problem at all.”
This approach is all very theoretical, Feinstein warned, and needs to be
rigorously tested, which is what he will do in the coming years. But if it’ s
true, it could explain why so many drugs don’ t work for panic, anxiety , and
other fear -based conditions, and how slow and steady breathing therapy
does. HOW WE BREA THE MA TTERS
I’ve chatted with Anders Olsson every few weeks since we paid through the
nose in the Stanford experiment. Our talks are never dull. “I have more
ener gy and focus than ever in my life!” he told me, right after celebrating
his 50th birthday . Olsson is a pulmonaut in the purest sense: self-taught and
driven by a sense that we are missing something right in front of us, a truth
basic and essential. Through all my travels and travails, there is one lesson, one equation,
that I believe is at the root of so much health, happiness, and longevity . I’m
a bit embarrassed to say it has taken me a decade to figure this out, and I
realize how insignificant it might look on this page. But lest we for get,
nature is simple but subtle. The perfect breath is this: Breathe in for about 5.5 seconds, then exhale
for 5.5 seconds. That’ s 5.5 breaths a minute for a total of about 5.5 liters ofair . Y ou can practice this perfect breathing for a few minutes, or a few
hours. There is no such thing as having too much peak ef ficiency in your
body . Olsson told me he’ s working on several more devices to help us breathe
at this rate—slowly and less. He’ s finishing production on his BreathIQ, a
portable device that measures nitric oxide, carbon dioxide, ammonia, and
other chemicals in exhaled breath. Then there are other skunkworks to
mimic the ef fects of perfect breathing: a carbon dioxide suit, a hat, and . . . Meanwhile, Google just released an app that pops up automatically
when the words “breathing exercise” are searched. It trains visitors to inhale
and exhale every 5.5 seconds. Down the street from my house is a startup
called Spire, which created a device that tracks breath rate and alerts users
every time respiration becomes too fast or disjointed. In the fitness industry ,
resistance masks and mouthpieces with names like Expand-a-Lung are all
the rage. Before we know it, breathing slow , less, and through the nose with a big
exhale will be big business, like so much else. But be aware that the
stripped-down approach is as good as any . It requires no batteries, W i-Fi,
headgear , or smartphones. It costs nothing, takes little time and ef fort, and
you can do it wherever you are, whenever you need. It’ s a function our
distant ancestors practiced since they crawled out of the sludge two and a
half billion years ago, a technology our own species has been perfecting
with only our lips, noses, and lungs for hundreds of thousands of years. Most days, I treat it like a stretch, something I do after a long time
sitting or stressing to bring myself back to normal. When I need an extra
boost, I come here, to this old V ictorian house in the Haight-Ashbury , and
sit beside this rattling window with the other Sudarshan Kriya breathers I
first met ten years ago. •       •       •
The room is packed now , 20 of us sitting in a circle unkinking our necks
and pulling fleece blankets onto our laps. The instructor hits the switch on
the wall, the lights dim, and long shadows from the street cast across the
floor . In the darkness, he thanks us for coming, brushes his bangs aside,adjusts the old boom box and presses play . W e take the first breath in. Then
the second. The wave comes, washes over and runs up, then turns around and
recedes, back to the ocean.ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The human body is a complicated subject. And how that body ingests,
processes, and draws ener gy from air , and how that air af fects our brains,
bones, blood, bladders, and everything else . . . well, I learned over the last
few years that understanding—and writing about—all that is another beast
altogether . I am deeply indebted to the medical pulmonauts who of fered me their
time, wisdom, coaching, and repeated respiratory rectifications along this
wild and weird journey . Thank you, Dr . Jayakar Nayak, at the Stanford
University Otolaryngology Head & Neck Sur gery Center for slipping away
from a ten-hour brain sur gery to jam endoscopes up my nose and then
explain the subtleties of cilia and sphenoids and sebaceous glands over
salads at V ino Enoteca. (And a big thanks to Nayak’ s lab assistants, Nicole
Borchard and Sachi Dholakia, for managing the mucosal madness.) Thank
you, Dr . Marianna Evans, for schooling me in the ways of dysevolution and
driving me all around Philly in such a nice car . Dr . Theodore Belfor and Dr . Scott Simonetti shared countless meals over countless months to describe
the countless marvels of masticatory stress, nitric oxide, and Italian wines. Dr . Justin Feinstein at the Laureate Institute of Brain Research played
hooky from his NIH lab work to give me a hard lesson in brain science,
amygdalae, and the panicking power of carbon dioxide. I begged and borrowed (with annotations, mind you) from several dozen
elucidating books, interviews, and scientific articles penned by these
respiratory renegades: Dr . Michael Gelb; Dr . Mark Burhenne; Dr . Steven
Lin; Dr . Kevin Boyd; Dr . Ira Packman; Dr . John Feiner at the University of
California, San Francisco Hypoxia Research Laboratory; Dr . Steven Park at
the Department of Otorhinolaryngology , Albert Einstein College of
Medicine; Dr . Amit Anand at the Division of Pulmonary , Critical Care, andSleep Medicine at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Ann Kearney ,
doctor of speech-language pathology at the Stanford V oice and Swallowing
Center; and, of course, the generous and garrulous Drs. John and Mike
Mew . A crew of DIY pulmonauts welcomed me into their lives and lungs and
showed me the transformative applications of breathing for real people
living in the real world. Thank you to Chuck McGee III at Iced V iking
Breathworks; L ynn Martin at MDH Breathing Coordination; Sasha
Y akovleva at The Breathing Center; Luis Sér gio Álvares DeRose, John
Cosway Chisenhall, and Heduan Pinheiro at DeRose Method; Zach Fletcher
at MindBodyClimb; and T ad Panther . Un grand mer ci  to the mysterious and
heretofore nameless clan of cataphiles for leading me deep below the
Cimetière du Montparnasse and staining my jeans with thousand-year -old
human bone dust. Thanks too to Mark Goettling at Bodimetrics for the suite
of sleep and fitness monitoring devices and to Elizabeth Asch for of fering
up her luxurious Parisian pied-à-terre for an entire month. W riting a paltry tack så jävla mycket  feels like thin gratitude for my
partner in nasal crime, Anders Olsson, a pulmonaut so dedicated to his craft
that he ditched the glory of the Swedish midsommar  to spend a month in
dewy San Francisco with silicone up his nose, a pulse oximeter clipped to
his finger , and tape on his lips. Thank you, Anders. But next time, can we
just plug our ears instead? My early attempts to leave no stone unturned in the lost art and science
of breathing left me with a pile of word rubble. This is a long way of saying
that this book, like most books, took a while and too often felt like
Sisyphean drudgery . Courtney Y oung, my virtuosic, adroit, and oft hilarious editor at
Riverhead, boiled down a 270,000-word quagmire of sesquipedalian
verbiage to the more digestible brick you now hold in your hands. Copilot/literary agent Danielle Svetcov at Levine Greenber g Rostan
Literary Agency not only immediately returned my whiny calls—unheard-
of in that line of work, trust me on this—but also worked side by side with
me to sculpt, hone, and polish the verbs in her own ruthless and fabulous
way . (Svetcov’ s constant support is priceless, or , at minimum, worth way
more than that 15 percent.) Alex Heard, once again, winced while he
whittled and whetted innumerable chapter drafts, down to the “dagger
quotes,” in almost legible cursive writing. (Sorry for ruining so manyweekends, Alex.) Daniel Crewe at Penguin Books UK of fered sage words
of advice and encouragement early on and until the end. I owe mafia-level favors to the readers who provided a much-needed
editorial pummeling on early versions of this tome. Thank you to the crabby
and scrupulous Adam Fisher; exclamatory Caroline Paul; poetic Matthew
Zapruder; careful Michael Shryzpeck; adamant Richard Lowe; flexible Ron
Penna; and cold-hearted Jason Dearen. Just give me a call whenever you
need to move that body from the trunk. My research assistant and fact-checker extraordinaire, Patrycja
Przełucka, scoured through several hundred scientific papers with terrible
titles like “The Correlation Between Erythropoiesis and Thrombopoiesis as
an Index for Pre-Operative Autologous Blood Donation” and “T rained
Breathing-Induced Oxygenation Acutely Reverses Cardiovascular
Autonomic Dysfunction in Patients with T ype 2 Diabetes and Renal
Disease”—and then, then , she suf fered the indignity of cross-checking this
convolution, digit by digit, in the final drafts. Thank you, Patrycja, for your
fastidiousness and spectacular grammar . Lastly , firstly , to my lovely wife, Katie Storey , who breathes a constant
supply of fresh, often-eucalyptus-scented air into my small of fice and
frenzied life. V i ĉiam spiras fr eŝan aer on, varma hundo. Br eath  was written between the stacks of W eimar -era art books at the
Mechanics’ Institute Library in San Francisco, at the American Library in
Paris, and on the kitchen table of that little red-doored house beside the old
Catholic cemetery in V olcano, California, population 103.Appendix
BREATHING METHODS
V ideo and audio tutorials of these techniques, and more, are available at
mrjamesnestor .com/breath . CHAPTER 3. AL TERNA TE NOSTRIL BREA THING (NADI
SHODHANA)
This standard pranayama technique improves lung function and lowers
heart rate, blood pressure, and sympathetic stress. It’ s an ef fective technique
to employ before a meeting, an event, or sleep. (Optional) Hand Positioning: Place the thumb of your right
hand gently over your right nostril and the ring finger of that
same hand on the left nostril. The forefinger and middle finger
should rest between the eyebrows. Close the right nostril with the thumb and inhale through the
left nostril very slowly . At the top of the breath, pause briefly , holding both nostrils
closed, then lift just the thumb to exhale through the right
nostril. At the natural conclusion of the exhale, hold both nostrils
closed for a moment, then inhale through the right nostril. Continue alternating breaths through the nostrils for five to ten
cycles.CHAPTER 4. BREA THING COORDINA TION
This technique helps to engage more movement from the diaphragm and
increase respiratory ef ficiency . It should never be forced; each breath
should feel soft and enriching. Sit up so that the spine is straight and chin is perpendicular to
the body . T ake a gentle breath in through the nose. At the top of the
breath begin counting softly aloud from one to 10 over and
over ( 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10; 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 ). As you reach the natural conclusion of the exhale, keep
counting but do so in a whisper , letting the voice softly trail
out. Then keep going until only the lips are moving and the
lungs feel completely empty . T ake in another lar ge and soft breath and repeat. Continue for anywhere from 10 to 30 or more cycles. Once you feel comfortable practicing this technique while sitting, try it
while walking or jogging, or during other light exercise. For classes and
individual coaching, visit http://www .breathingcoordination.ch/training . CHAPTER 5. RESONANT (COHERENT) BREA THING
A calming practice that places the heart, lungs, and circulation into a state
of coherence, where the systems of the body are working at peak ef ficiency . There is no more essential technique, and none more basic. Sit up straight, relax the shoulders and belly , and exhale. Inhale softly for 5.5 seconds, expanding the belly as air fills
the bottom of the lungs. W ithout pausing, exhale softly for 5.5 seconds, bringing the
belly in as the lungs empty . Each breath should feel like acircle. Repeat at least ten times, more if possible. Several apps of fer timers and visual guides. My favorites are Paced
Br eathing  and My Car diac Coher ence , both of which are free. I try to
practice this technique as often as possible. BUTEYKO BREA THING
The point of Buteyko techniques is to train the body to breathe in line with
its metabolic needs. For the vast majority of us, that means breathing less. Buteyko had an arsenal of methods, and almost all of them are based on
extending the time between inhalations and exhalations, or breathholding. Here are a few of the simplest. Contr ol Pause
A diagnostic tool to gauge general respiratory health and breathing
progress. Place a watch with a second hand or mobile phone with a
stopwatch close by . Sit up with a straight back. Pinch both nostrils closed with the thumb and forefinger of
either hand, then exhale softly out your mouth to the natural
conclusion. Start the stopwatch and hold the breath. When you feel the first potent desire to breathe, note the time
and take a soft inhale. It’ s important that the first breath in after the Control Pause is controlled
and relaxed; if it’ s labored or gasping, the breathhold was too long. W ait
several minutes and try it again. The Control Pause should only bemeasured when you’re relaxed and breathing normally , never after
strenuous exercise or during stressed states. And like all breath restriction
techniques, never attempt it while driving, while underwater , or in any other
conditions where you might be injured should you become dizzy . Mini Br eathholds
A key component to Buteyko breathing is to practice breathing less all the
time, which is what this technique trains the body to do. Thousands of
Buteyko practitioners, and several medical researchers, swear by it to stave
of f asthma and anxiety attacks. Exhale gently and hold the breath for half the time of the
Control Pause. (For instance, if the Control Pause is 40
seconds, the Mini Breathhold would be 20.) Repeat from 100 to 500 times a day . Setting up timers throughout the day , every 15 minutes or so, can be
helpful reminders. Nose Songs
Nitric oxide is a powerhouse molecule that widens capillaries, increases
oxygenation, and relaxes the smooth muscles. Humming increases the
release of nitric oxide in the nasal passages 15-fold. There is the most
ef fective, and simple, method for increasing this essential gas. Breathe normally through the nose and hum, any song or
sound. Practice for at least five minutes a day , more if possible. It may sound ridiculous, and feel ridiculous, and annoy those nearby , but
the ef fects can be potent.W alking/Running
Less extreme hypoventilation exercises (other than the misery I experienced
jogging in Golden Gate Park) of fer many of the benefits of high-altitude
training. They are easy and can be practiced anywhere. W alk or run for a minute or so while breathing normally
through the nose. Exhale and pinch the nose closed while keeping the same
pace. When you sense a palpable air hunger , release the nose and
breathe very gently , at about half of what feels normal for
about 10 to 15 seconds. Return to regular breathing for 30 seconds. Repeat for about ten cycles. Decongest the Nose
Sit up straight and exhale a soft breath, then pinch both
nostrils shut. T ry to keep your mind of f the breathholding; shake your head
up and down or side to side; go for a quick walk, or jump and
run. Once you feel a very potent sense of air hunger , take a very
slow and controlled breath in through the nose. (If the nose is
still congested, breathe softly through the mouth with pursed
lips.) Continue this calm, controlled breathing for at least 30
seconds to 1 minute. Repeat all these steps six times. Patrick McKeown’ s book The Oxygen Advantage  of fers detailed
instructions and training programs in breathing less. Personalized
instruction in Buteyko’ s method is available through
www .consciousbreathing.com , www .breathingcenter .com ,
www .buteykoclinic.com , and with other certified Buteyko instructors.CHAPTER 7. CHEWING
Hard chewing builds new bone in the face and opens airways. But for most
of us, gnawing several hours a day—the amount of time and ef fort it takes
to get such benefits—isn’ t possible, or preferable. A number of devices and
proxies can fill the gap. Gum
Any gum chewing can strengthen the jaw and stimulate stem cell growth,
but harder textured varieties of fer a more vigorous workout. Falim, a T urkish brand, is as tough as shoe leather and each
piece lasts for about an hour . I’ve found the Sugarless Mint to
be the most palatable. (Other flavors, such as Carbonate, Mint
Grass, and sugar -filled varieties, tend to be softer and grosser .) Mastic gum, which comes from the resin of the ever green
shrub Pistacia lentiscus , has been cultivated in the Greek
islands for thousands of years. Several brands are available
through online retailers. The stuf f can taste nasty but of fers a
rigorous jaw workout. Oral Devices
As of this writing, T ed Belfor and his colleague, Scott Simonetti, received
FDA approval for a device called the POD (Preventive Oral Device), a
small retainer that fits along the bottom row of teeth and simulates chewing
stress. For more information, see www .discoverthepod.com  and
www .drtheodorebelfore.com [inactive]. Palatal Expansion
There are dozens of devices to expand the palate and open airways, each
with its own advantages and disadvantages. Begin by contacting a dentalprofessional who specializes in functional orthodontics. Dr . Marianna Evans’ s Infinity Dental Specialists (at
http://www .infinitydentalspecialists.com/ ) on the East Coast, and Dr . W illiam Hang’ s Face Focused ( https://facefocused.com ) on the W est Coast
are among the most well-known and respected clinics in the United States,
and good places to start. Across the pond, Britons can contact Dr . Mike
Mew’ s clinic at https://orthodontichealth.co.uk . CHAPTER 8. TUMMO
There are two forms of T ummo—one that stimulates the sympathetic
nervous system, and another which triggers a parasympathetic response. Both work, but the former , made popular by W im Hof, is much more
accessible. It’ s worth mentioning again that this technique should never be
practiced near water , or while driving or walking, or in any other
circumstances where you might get hurt should you pass out. Consult your
doctor if you are pregnant or have a heart condition. Find a quiet place and lie flat on your back with a pillow
under the head. Relax the shoulders, chest, legs. T ake 30 very deep, very fast breaths into the pit of the
stomach and let it back out. If possible, breathe through the
nose; if the nose feels obstructed, try pursed lips. The
movement of each inhalation should look like a wave, filling
up in the stomach and softly moving up through the lungs. Exhales follow the same movement, first emptying the
stomach then the chest as air pours through the nose or pursed
lips of the mouth. At the end of 30 breaths, exhale to the “natural conclusion,”
leaving about a quarter of the air in the lungs. Hold that breath
for as long as possible. Once you’ve reached your absolute breathhold limit, take one
huge inhale and hold it another 15 seconds. V ery gently , movethat fresh breath around the chest and to the shoulders, then
exhale and start the heavy breathing again. Repeat the entire pattern at least three times. T ummo takes some practice, and learning it from written instructions
can be confusing and dif ficult. Chuck McGee, the W im Hof Method
instructor , of fers free online sessions every Monday night at 9:00, Pacific
T ime. Sign up at https://www .meetup.com/W im-Hof-Method-Bay-Area  or
log in through the Zoom platform: https://tinyurl.com/y4qwl3pm . McGee
also of fers personalized instruction throughout Northern California:
https://www .wimhofmethod.com/instructors/chuckmcgee-iii . Instructions for the calming version of T ummo meditation can be found
at www .thewayofmeditation.com.au/revealing-the-secrets-of-tibetan-inner -
fire-meditation . CHAPTERS 9–10. SUDARSHAN KRIY A
This is the most powerful technique I’ve learned, and one of the most
involved and dif ficult to get through. Sudarshan Kriya consists of four
phases: Om  chants, breath restriction, paced breathing (inhaling for 4
seconds, holding for 4 seconds, exhaling for 6, then holding for 2), and,
finally , 40 minutes of very heavy breathing. A few Y ouT ube tutorials are available, but to get the motions correct,
deeper instruction is highly recommended. The Art of Living of fers
weekend workshops to guide new students through the practice. See more
at www .artofliving.or g . •       •       •
Below are several breathing practices that didn’ t make the cut in the main
text of this book for one reason or another . I regularly practice them, as do
millions of others. Each is useful and powerful in its own way . Y ogic Br eathing (Thr ee-Part)A standard technique for any aspiring pranayama student. PHASE I
Sit in a chair or cross-legged and upright on the floor and
relax the shoulders. Place one hand over the navel and slowly breathe into the
belly . Y ou should feel the belly expand with each breath in,
deflate with each breath out. Practice this a few times. Next, move the hand up a few inches so that it’ s covering the
bottom of the rib cage. Focus the breath into the location of
the hand, expanding the ribs with each inhale, retracting them
with each exhale. Practice this for about three to five breaths. Move the hand to just below the collarbone. Breathe deeply
into this area and imagine the chest spreading out and
withdrawing with each exhale. Do this for a few breaths. PHASE II
Connect all these motions into one breath, inhaling into the
stomach, lower rib cage, then chest. Exhale in the opposite direction, first emptying the chest, then
the rib cage, then the stomach. Feel free to use a hand and feel
each area as you breathe in and out of it. Continue this same sequence for about a dozen rounds. These motions will feel very awkward at first, but after a few breaths
they get easier . Box Br eathing
Navy SEALs use this technique to stay calm and focused in tense situations. It’ s simple. Inhale to a count of 4; hold 4; exhale 4; hold 4. Repeat.Longer exhalations will elicit a stronger parasympathetic response. A
variation of Box Breathing to more deeply relax the body that’ s especially
ef fective before sleeping is as follows:
Inhale to a count of 4; hold 4; exhale 6; hold 2. Repeat. T ry at least six rounds, more if necessary . Br eathhold W alking
Anders Olsson uses this technique to increase carbon dioxide and, thus,
increase circulation in his body . It’ s not much fun, but the benefits, Olsson
told me, are many . Go to a grassy park, beach, or anywhere else where the ground
is soft. Exhale all the breath, then walk slowly , counting each step. Once you feel a powerful sense of air hunger , stop counting
and take a few very calm breaths through the nose while still
walking. Breathe normally for at least a minute, then repeat
the sequence. The more you practice this technique, the higher the count. Olsson’ s
record is 130 steps; mine is about a third of that. 4-7-8 Br eathing
This technique, made famous by Dr . Andrew W eil, places the body into a
state of deep relaxation. I use it on long flights to help fall asleep. T ake a breath in, then exhale through your mouth with a
whoosh  sound.Close the mouth and inhale quietly through your nose to a
mental count of four . Hold for a count of seven. Exhale completely through your mouth, with a whoosh , to the
count of eight. Repeat this cycle for at least four breaths. W eil of fers a step-by-step instructional on Y ouT ube, which has been
viewed more than four million times. https://www .youtube.com/watch? v=gz4G31LGyog .NOTES
For a full bibliography with updated and expanded notes, please visit
mrjamesnestor .com/breath . “ I n  t r a n s p o r t i n g  t h e  b r e a t h ” :  Primor dial Br eath: An Ancient Chinese W ay of Pr olonging Life thr ough
Br eath Contr ol , vol. 1, Seven T r eatises fr om the T aoist Canon, the T ao T sang, on the Esoteric
Practice of Embryonic Br eathing , trans. Jane Huang and Michael W urmbrand, 1st ed. (Original
Books, 1987), 3. Introduction
m a s t e r  t h e  a r t  o f  b r e a t h i n g :  I wrote about freediving and the human connection to the sea in my first
book, Deep (New Y ork: Houghton Mif flin Harcourt, 2014). b o o k s  o f  t h e  C h i n e s e  T a o :  The Primor dial Br eath: An Ancient Chinese W ay of Pr olonging Life thr ough
Br eath Contr ol , vol. 1, Seven T r eatises fr om the T aoist Canon, the T ao T sang, on the Esoteric
Practice of Embryonic Br eathing , trans. Jane Huang and Michael W urmbrand, 1st ed. (Original
Books, 1987); Christophe André, “Proper Breathing Brings Better Health,” Scientific
American , Jan. 15, 2019; Bryan Gandevia, “The Breath of Life: An Essay on the Earliest
History of Respiration: Part II,” Australian Journal of Physiotherapy  16, no. 2 (June 1970):
57–69. a n c i e n t  T a o  t e x t :  The Primor dial Br eath,  8.
c o n f i r m e d  t h i s  p o s i t i o n :  In the December 1998 issue of The  New Republic , the editor of the New England
Journal of Medicine  ar gued that health determines how we breathe, and how we breathe has no
ef fect on the state of health. In the introduction to T eresa Hale’ s book Br eathing Fr ee: The
Revolutionary 5-Day Pr ogram to Heal Asthma, Emphysema, Br onchitis, and Other Respiratory
Ailments (New Y ork: Harmony , 1999), Dr . Leo Galland, Fellow of the American College of
Nutrition and the American College of Physicians, described exactly how the ways in which
we breathe directly af fect health. Galland’ s account was one of several that I discovered in the
initial research for this book and subsequent conversations with professors, doctors, and others
in the medical field. Chapter One: The W orst Breathers in the Animal Kingdom
d e n t a l  a r c h e s  a n d  s i n u s  c a v i t y :  Karina Camillo Carrascoza et al., “Consequences of Bottle-Feeding to the
Oral Facial Development of Initially Breastfed Children,” Jornal de Pediatria  82, no. 5 (Sept.–
Oct. 2006): 395–97. i n c r e a s i n g  h i s  c h a n c e s  o f  d e v e l o p i n g :  A retrospective review of more than 7,300 adults associated a 2
percent higher risk of obstructive sleep apnea with every tooth lost. If five to eight teeth wereremoved, that percentage increased to 25 percent; nine to 31 teeth showed a 36 percent
increase. Those patients who had all their teeth removed suf fered a 60 percent greater chance of
acquiring sleep apnea. Anne E. Sanders et al., “T ooth Loss and Obstructive Sleep Apnea Signs
and Symptoms in the US Population,” Sleep Br eath 20, no. 3 (Sept. 2016): 1095–102. Related
studies: Derya Germeç-Çakan et al., “Uvulo-Glossopharyngeal Dimensions in Non-Extraction,
Extraction with Minimum Anchorage, and Extraction with Maximum Anchorage,” Eur opean
Journal of Orthodontics  33, no. 5 (Oct. 2011): 515–20; Y u Chen et al., “Ef fect of Lar ge Incisor
Retraction on Upper Airway Morphology in Adult Bimaxillary Protrusion Patients: Three-
Dimensional Multislice Computed T omography Registration Evaluation,” The Angle
Orthodontist  82, no. 6 (Nov . 2012): 964–70. T w e n t y - f i v e  s e x t i l l i o n  m o l e c u l e s :  Simon W orrall, “The Air Y ou Breathe Is Full of Surprises,” National
Geographic , Aug. 13, 2012, https://www .nationalgeographic.com/news/2017/08/air -gas-caesar -
last-breath-sam-kean . a r o u n d  h a l f  o f  u s :  Mouthbreathing estimates are murky and range from 5 to 75 percent. T wo
independent studies in Brazil showed that more than 50 percent of children are mouthbreathers,
but the condition may be more common than that. V aldenice Aparecida de Menezes et al.,
“Prevalence and Factors Related to Mouth Breathing in School Children at the Santo Amaro
Project—Recife, 2005,” Brazilian Journal of Otor hinolaryngology  72, no. 3 (May–June 2006):
394–98; Rubens Rafael Abreu et al., “Prevalence of Mouth Breathing among Children,” Jornal
de Pediatria 84, no. 5 (Sept.–Oct. 2008): 467–70; Michael Stewart et al., “Epidemiology and
Burden of Nasal Congestion,” International Journal of General Medicine 3 (2010): 37–45;
David W . Hsu and Jef frey D. Suh, “Anatomy and Physiology of Nasal Obstruction,”
Otolaryngologic Clinics of North America 51, no. 5 (Oct. 2018): 853–65. T h e  c a u s e s  a r e  m a n y :  “Symptoms: Nasal Congestion,” Mayo Clinic,
https://www .mayoclinic.or g/symptoms/nasal-congestion/basics/causes/sym-20050644 . W h e n  m o u t h s  d o n ’ t  g r o w :  Michael Friedman, ed., Sleep Apnea and Snoring: Sur gical and Non-Sur gical
Therapy ,  1st ed. (Philadelphia: Saunders/Elsevier , 2009), 6. 4  b i l l i o n  y e a r s  a g o :  Keith Cooper , “Looking for LUCA, the Last Universal Common Ancestor ,”
Astrobiology at NASA: Life in the Universe, Mar . 17, 2017,
https://astrobiology .nasa.gov/news/looking-for -luca-the-last-universal-common-ancestor/ . o x y g e n  w a s t e  i n  t h e  a t m o s p h e r e :  “New Evidence for the Oldest Oxygen-Breathing Life on Land,”
ScienceDaily , Oct. 21, 2011,
https://www .sciencedaily .com/releases/201 1/10/1 1 1019181210.htm . 1 6  t i m e s  m o r e  e n e r g y :  S. E. Gould, “The Origin of Breathing: How Bacteria Learnt to Use Oxygen,”
Scientific American , July 29, 2012, https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/lab-rat/the-origin-of-
breathing-how-bacteria-learnt-to-use-oxygen . s t r a i g h t  t e e t h :  Not all the skulls had teeth. But Evans and Boyd could tell from the shape of the jaw and
tooth cavities that the teeth that had been there were straight. H a r v a r d  b i o l o g i s t  D a n i e l  L i e b e r m a n :  Lieberman defines dysevolution as “the deleterious feedback loop
that occurs over multiple generations when we don’ t treat the causes of a mismatch disease but
instead pass on whatever environmental factors cause the disease, keeping the disease prevalent
and sometimes making it worse.” A “mismatch disease” begins “when we get sick or injured
from an evolutionary mismatch that results from being inadequately adapted to a change in the
body’ s environment.” Y ou can read more about dysevolution in Lieberman’ s book The Story of
the Human Body: Evolution, Health, and Disease  (New Y ork: Pantheon, 2013); the quote is
from p. 176. See also Jef f Wheelwright, “From Diabetes to Athlete’ s Foot, Our Bodies Are
Maladapted for Modern Life,” Discover , Apr . 2, 2015,
http://discovermagazine.com/2015/may/16-days-of-dysevolution . s h a r p  e n o u g h  t o  c a r v e  t o n g u e s :  Briana Pobiner , “The First Butchers,” Sapiens , Feb. 23, 2016,
https://www .sapiens.or g/evolution/homo-sapiens-and-tool-making .T e n d e r i z i n g  f o o d :  Daniel E. Lieberman, The Evolution of the Human Head  (Cambridge, MA: Belknap
Press of Harvard University Press, 2011), 255–81. G r i l l i n g  f o o d :  For instance, animals can use only 50 to 60 percent of the nutrients from a raw egg but
more than 90 percent from a cooked egg. The same is true with many cooked plants,
vegetables, and meats. Steven Lin, The Dental Diet: The Surprising Link between Y our T eeth,
Real Food, and Life-Changing Natural Health (Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, 2018), 35. 8 0 0 , 0 0 0  y e a r s  a g o :  Likely much earlier . At the Koobi Fora in Kenya, researchers found evidence of a fire
that had been intentionally made 1.6 million years ago. Amber Dance, “Quest for Clues to
Humanity’ s First Fires,” Scientific American , June 19, 2017,
https://www .scientificamerican.com/article/quest-for -clues-to-humanitys-first-fires ; Kenneth
Miller , “Archaeologists Find Earliest Evidence of Humans Cooking with Fire,” Discover , Dec.
17, 2013, http://discovermagazine.com/2013/may/09-archaeologists-find-earliest-evidence-of-
humans-cooking-with-fire . s a v e d  e v e n  m o r e  e n e r g y :  How much brain did we gain from a smaller gut? Nobody really knows for sure,
but it’ s significant. An exhaustive overview is available in Leslie C. Aiello, “Brains and Guts in
Human Evolution: The Expensive T issue Hypothesis,” Mar . 1997,
http://www .scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0100-84551997000100023 . 5 0  p e r c e n t  l a r g e r :  Richard W rangham, a Harvard University biological anthropologist, has studied
ancient hominin diets extensively . Read more from various perspectives: Rachel Moeller ,
“Cooking Up Bigger Brains,” Scientific American , Jan. 1, 2008,
https://www .scientificamerican.com/article/cooking-up-bigger -brains . s e c o n d  g l a n c e :  “Did Cooking Give Humans an Evolutionary Edge?,” NPR, Aug. 28, 2009,
https://www .npr .or g/templates/story/story .php?storyId=1 12334465 . v e r t i c a l l y  p o s i t i o n e d  n o s e :  Colin Barras, “The Evolution of the Nose: Why Is the Human Hooter So
Big?,” New Scientist , Mar . 24, 2016, https://www .newscientist.com/article/2082274-the-
evolution-of-the-nose-why-is-the-human-hooter -so-big/ ; “Mosaic Evolution of Anatomical
Foundations of Speech,” Systematics & Phylogeny Section, Primate Research Institute, Kyoto
University . Nishimura Lab, https://www .pri.kyoto-u.ac.jp/shinka/keitou/nishimura-HP/tn_res-
e.html . t h e  t i g h t e r  o u r  a i r w a y s  b e c a m e :  “The surface area of their nasal cavity is about half of what the scaling
suggests, and the volume is even only about 10% of the prediction. . . . In fact, the volume of
the human nasal cavity is almost 90% smaller than expected.” David Zwickler , “Physical and
Geometric Constraints Shape the Labyrinth-like Nasal Cavity ,” Pr oceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences , Jan. 26, 2018.
m a k e  c l o t h e s :  Colin Barras, “Ice Age Fashion Showdown: Neanderthal Capes V ersus Human Hoodies,”
New Scientist,  Aug. 8, 2016, https://www .newscientist.com/article/2100322-ice-age-fashion-
showdown-neanderthal-capes-versus-human-hoodies/ . Homo naledi :  “Homo Naledi,” Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History ,
http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/species/homo-naledi . w e  a d a p t e d  w i d e r  a n d  f l a t t e r  n o s e s :  Ben Panko, “How Climate Helped Shape Y our Nose,”
Smithsonian.com, Mar . 16, 2017, https://www .smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-
climate-changed-shape-your -nose-180962567 . m o r e  e f f i c i e n t  a t  i n h a l i n g :  Joan Raymond, “The Shape of a Nose,” Scientific American , Sept. 1, 2011,
https://www .scientificamerican.com/article/the-shape-of-a-nose . l a r y n x  s a n k :  Whether enabling speech was the driving factor or a lucky by-product, for one reason or
another the Homo  sapiens  larynx sank. Asif A. Ghazanfar and Drew Rendall, “Evolution of
Human V ocal Production,” Curr ent Biology  18, no. 11 (2008): R457–60,
https://www .cell.com/current-biology/pdf/S0960-9822(08)00371-0.pdf ; Kathleen Masterson,
“From Grunting to Gabbing: Why Humans Can T alk,” NPR, Aug. 11, 2010,
https://www .npr .or g/templates/story/story .php?storyId=129083762 .w i d e r  r a n g e  o f  v o c a l i z a t i o n s :  How much this lowered larynx benefited early humans in developing a
complex spoken language is hotly debated. Nobody knows for sure, but, as I’ve found,
anthropologists are more than willing to of fer up opinions. Ghazanfar and Rendall,
“Evolution”; Lieberman,  Story of the Human Body , 171–72. h u m a n  s p e c i e s ,  t h a t  c o u l d  e a s i l y  c h o k e :  Choking on food is the fourth leading cause of accidental deaths in
the U.S. “W e have paid a heavy price for speaking more clearly ,” wrote Daniel Lieberman, in
Story of the Human Body , 144. N a s a l  o b s t r u c t i o n  t r i g g e r s :  T erry Y oung et al., the University of W isconsin Sleep and Respiratory
Research Group, “Nasal Obstruction as a Risk Factor for Sleep-Disordered Breathing,” Journal
of Aller gy and Clinical Immunology  99, no. 2 (Feb. 1997): S757–62; Mahmoud I. A wad and
Ashutosh Kacker , “Nasal Obstruction Considerations in Sleep Apnea,” Otolaryngologic
Clinics of North America  51, no. 5 (Oct. 2018): 1003–1009. Chapter T wo: Mouthbreathing
i n t o  a  s t a t e  o f  s t r e s s :  This blog entry includes a thorough explanation with 43 scientific references: “The
Nose Knows: A Case for Nasal Breathing During High Intensity Exercise,” Adam Cap website,
https://adamcap.com/2013/1 1/29/the-nose-knows/ . s w o r e  o f f  b r e a t h i n g  t h r o u g h  t h e i r  m o u t h s :  More explanation from Douillard on the importance of nasal
breathing in exercise: “A yurvedic Fitness,” John Douillard, PT onthenet, Jan. 3, 2007,
https://www .ptonthenet.com/articles/A yurvedic-Fitness-2783 . b o d y  d o e s n ’ t  h a v e  e n o u g h  o x y g e n :  A good, simple explanation of anaerobic and aerobic ener gies: Andrea
Boldt, “What Is the Dif ference Between Lactic Acid & Lactate?,”
https://www .livestrong.com/article/470283-what-is-the-dif ference-between-lactic-acid-lactate/ . a n  e x c e s s  o f  l a c t i c  a c i d :  Stephen M. Roth, “Why Does Lactic Acid Build Up in Muscles? And Why Does
It Cause Soreness?,” Scientific American , Jan. 23, 2006,
https://www .scientificamerican.com/article/why-does-lactic-acid-buil/ . f e e l i n g  o f  a n a e r o b i c  o v e r l o a d :  Anaerobic exhaustion, and its associated lactic acidosis, isn’ t always
triggered by strenuous exercise. It can also occur through liver disease, alcoholism, severe
trauma, or other conditions that deprive the body of the oxygen it needs to function aerobically . Lana Barhum, “What to Know About Lactic Acidosis,” Medical News T oday ,
https://www .medicalnewstoday .com/articles/320863.php . a n a e r o b i c  m u s c l e  f i b e r s :  Human muscle fibers are an interwoven mixture of aerobic and anaerobic fibers,
whereas other animals, such as chickens, have entire muscle systems that are either aerobic or
anaerobic. The dark meat in a cooked chicken is dark because these muscles were used to
provide aerobic ener gy and are filled with oxygenated blood; white meat is anaerobic, and so is
lacking in these red pigments. Phillip Maf fetone, The Maffetone Method: The Holistic, Low-
Str ess, No-Pain W ay to Exceptional Fitness  (Camden, ME: Ragged Mountain Press/McGraw-
Hill, 1999), 21.
e v e n t u a l l y  b r e a k  d o w n :  Dr . V alter Longo, director of the Longevity Institute at the University of Southern
California–Davis School of Gerontology , of fers some interesting perspective here:
https://www .bluezones.com/2018/01/what-exercise-best-happy-healthy-life/ . 3 7  t r i l l i o n :  Eva Bianconi et al., “An Estimation of the Number of Cells in the Human Body ,” Annals of
Human Biology  40, no. 6 (Nov . 2013): 463–71. 1 6  t i m e s  m o r e  e n e r g y  e f f i c i e n c y :  The actual numbers work out to 2 A TPs per glucose molecule for
anaerobic ener gy and 38 A TPs per glucose molecule for aerobic ener gy . For this reason, most
textbooks say that aerobic ener gy has a 19-fold increase over anaerobic ener gy . But what most
textbooks don’ t account for is inef ficiencies and waste in the A TP process, which usually suck
up about 8 A TPs. A more conservative estimate, then, is that aerobic respiration produces
something closer to 30 to 32 A TPs, or around 16 times the ener gy that anaerobic produces.Peter R. Rich, “The Molecular Machinery of Keilin’ s Respiratory Chain,” Biochemical Society
T ransactions  31, no. 6 (Dec. 2003): 1095–105. s t a n d a r d i z e d  w o r k o u t s  c o u l d  b e  m o r e  i n j u r i o u s :  T o be clear , Maf fetone never ar gued against occasionally
entering into anaerobic exercise. Rowing, lifting weights, and running can all have a profound
ef fect on strength and endurance. But to be ef fective, these exercises needed to be kept in
context of lar ger training, and can’ t be prioritized over aerobic training. High-intensity interval
training only works because well-designed programs are built around spending the vast
majority of time in periods of slower , gentler aerobic exercise. Author and fitness trainer Brian
MacKenzie ar gues that the key to high levels of performance fitness is combining aerobic and
anaerobic exercise ef fectively . The Maffetone Method , 56; Brian MacKenzie with Glen
Cordoza, Power Speed Endurance: A Skill-Based Appr oach to Endurance T raining  (Las V egas:
V ictory Belt, 2012), Kindle locations 462–70; Alexandra Patillo, “Y ou’re Probably Doing
Cardio All W rong: 2 Experts Reveal How to T rain Smarter ,” Inverse , Aug. 7, 2019,
https://www .inverse.com/article/58370-truth-about-cardio?refresh=39 . s u b t r a c t  y o u r  a g e  f r o m  1 8 0 :  Those with heart disease or other medical conditions should subtract 10 from
Maf fetone’ s equation; if you have asthma or aller gies or have not exercised before, subtract 5. Competitive athletes who have been training for more than two years, add 5. This works out to
around 80 percent of maximum capacity for a man of my age. Anaerobic states usually hit at
80 percent, or the stage at which it becomes dif ficult to speak in full sentences. “Know Y our
T ar get Heart Rates for Exercise, Losing W eight and Health,” Heart.or g,
https://www .heart.or g/en/healthy-living/fitness/fitness-basics/tar get-heart-rates ; W endy
Bumgardner , “How to Reach the Anaerobic Zone during Exercise,” V eryW ellFit, Aug. 30,
2019, https://www .verywellfit.com/anaerobic-zone-3436576 . b e l o w  t h i s  r a t e  b u t  n e v e r  a b o v e  i t :  T wo thousand years ago, a Chinese sur geon named Hua T uo prescribed
only moderate exercise to his patients, warning them: “The body needs exercise, only it must
not be to the point of exhaustion, for exercise expels the bad air in the system, promotes free
circulation of the blood, and prevents sickness.” The most ef ficient state of exercise where we
reap the most benefits, Maf fetone found, was around or below 60 percent of maximum
capacity . The Cooper Institute, a research foundation that for 50 years has been studying the
links between physical activity and chronic disease, has found that exercising at 50 percent
leads to massive gains in aerobic fitness, improved blood pressure, prevention of various
diseases, and more. Several other studies over the past several decades confirm this. Meanwhile, overexercising above 60 percent, toward that anaerobic zone, has been shown to
induce a stress state, increased cortisol, adrenaline, and oxidative stress. Charles M. T ipton,
“The History of ‘Exercise Is Medicine’ in Ancient Civilizations,” Advances in Physiology
Education , June 2014, 109–17; Helen Thompson, “W alk, Don’ t Run,” T exas Monthly , June
1995, https://www .texasmonthly .com/articles/walk-dont-run ; Douillard, Body , Mind, and Sport ,
205; Chris E. Cooper et al., “Exercise, Free Radicals and Oxidative Stress,” Biochemical
Society T ransactions 30, part 2 (May 2002): 280–85. t r o o p  o f  r h e s u s  m o n k e y s :  Peter A. Shapiro, “Ef fects of Nasal Obstruction on Facial Development,”
Journal of Aller gy and Clinical Immunology 81, no. 5, part 2 (May 1988): 968; Egil P . Harvold
et al., “Primate Experiments on Oral Sensation and Dental Malocclusions,” American Journal
of Orthodontics & Dentofacial Orthopedics  63, no. 5 (May 1973): 494–508; Egil P . Harvold et
al., “Primate Experiments on Oral Respiration,” American Journal of Orthodontics  79, no. 4
(Apr . 1981): 359–72; Britta S. T omer and E. P . Harvold, “Primate Experiments on Mandibular
Growth Direction,” American Journal of Orthodontics 82, no. 2 (Aug. 1982): 114–19; Michael
L. Gelb, “Airway Centric TMJ Philosophy ,” Journal of the California Dental Association  42,
no. 8 (Aug. 2014): 551–62; Karin V ar gervik et al., “Morphologic Response to Changes in
Neuromuscular Patterns Experimentally Induced by Altered Modes of Respiration,” American
Journal of Orthodontics  85, no. 2 (Feb. 1984): 115–24.h a p p e n s  t o  o u r  o w n  s p e c i e s :  Y u-Shu Huang and Christian Guilleminault, “Pediatric Obstructive Sleep
Apnea and the Critical Role of Oral-Facial Growth: Evidences,” Fr ontiers in Neur ology 3, no. 184 (2012), https://www .frontiersin.or g/articles/10.3389/fneur .2012.00184/full ; Anderson
Capistrano et al., “Facial Morphology and Obstructive Sleep Apnea,” Dental Pr ess Journal of
Orthodontics 20, no. 6 (Nov .–Dec. 2015): 60–67. c h a n g e s  t h e  p h y s i c a l  b o d y :  A few of the better studies: Cristina Grippaudo et al., “Association between
Oral Habits, Mouth Breathing and Malocclusion,” Acta Otor hinolaryngologica Italica  36, no. 5
(Oct. 2016): 386–94; Y osh Jef ferson, “Mouth Breathing: Adverse Ef fects on Facial Growth,
Health, Academics, and Behavior ,” General Dentistry  58, no. 1 (Jan.–Feb. 2010): 18–25;
Doron Harari et al., “The Ef fect of Mouth Breathing versus Nasal Breathing on Dentofacial and
Craniofacial Development in Orthodontic Patients,” Laryngoscope 120, no. 10 (Oct. 2010):
2089–93; V aldenice Aparecida de Menezes, “Prevalence and Factors Related to Mouth
Breathing in School Children at the Santo Amaro Project—Recife, 2005,” Brazilian Journal of
Otor hinolaryngology  72, no. 3 (May–June 2006): 394–98. P a t r i c k  M c K e o w n :  Patrick McKeown and Martha Macaluso, “Mouth Breathing: Physical, Mental and
Emotional Consequences,” Central Jersey Dental Sleep Medicine, Mar . 9, 2017, https://sleep-
apnea-dentist-nj.info/mouth-breathing-physical-mental-and-emotional-consequences/ . W h e n  s e a s o n a l  a l l e r g i e s  h i t :  W . T . McNicholas, “The Nose and OSA: V ariable Nasal Obstruction May Be
More Important in Pathophysiology Than Fixed Obstruction,” Eur opean Respiratory Journal
32 (2008): 5, https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/32/1/3 ; C. R. Canova et al., “Increased
Prevalence of Perennial Aller gic Rhinitis in Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea,”
Respiration 71 (Mar .–Apr . 2004): 138–43; Carlos T orre and Christian Guilleminault,
“Establishment of Nasal Breathing Should Be the Ultimate Goal to Secure Adequate
Craniofacial and Airway Development in Children,” Jornal de Pediatria  94, no. 2 (Mar .–Apr . 2018): 101–3. o b s t r u c t i v e  s l e e p  a p n e a :  Sleep apnea and snoring are common bedfellows. The more and louder we
snore, the more the airways become damaged and the more susceptible we are to sleep apnea. Farhan Shah et al., “Desmin and Dystrophin Abnormalities in Upper Airway Muscles of
Snorers and Patients with Sleep Apnea,” Respiratory Resear ch  20, no. 1 (Dec. 2019): 31. “ M o r e  w h o l e s o m e  t o  s l e e p ” :  Levinus Lemnius, The Secr et Miracles of Natur e: In Four Books  (London,
1658), 132–33, https://archive.or g/details/b30326084/page/n7 ; Melissa Grafe, “Secret Miracles
of Nature,” Y ale University , Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library , Dec. 12,
2013, https://library .medicine.yale.edu/content/secret-miracles-nature . l o s e  4 0  p e r c e n t  m o r e  w a t e r :  Sophie Svensson et al., “Increased Net W ater Loss by Oral Compared to
Nasal Expiration in Healthy Subjects,” Rhinology  44, no. 1 (Mar . 2006): 74–77. D u r i n g  t h e  d e e p e s t ,  m o s t  r e s t f u l :  Mark Burhenne, The 8-Hour Sleep Paradox: How W e Ar e Sleeping Our
W ay to Fatigue, Disease and Unhappiness  (Sunnyvale, CA: Ask the Dentist, 2015), 45.
v a s o p r e s s i n ,  w h i c h  c o m m u n i c a t e s :  Andrew Bennett Hellman, “Why the Body Isn’ t Thirsty at Night,”
Natur e News,  Feb. 28, 2010,
https://www .nature.com/news/2010/100228/full/news.2010.95.html . r e p o r t  f r o m  t h e  M a y o  C l i n i c :  In 2001, researchers at the University of Pittsbur gh surveyed several
hundred people and found that half of those with insomnia also suf fer from obstructive sleep
apnea. Then they surveyed people with obstructive sleep apnea and found that half had
insomnia. Y ears later , a study published in the Mayo Clinic Pr oceedings  of 1,200 chronic
insomniacs found that all 900 of the patients prescribed some kind of drug to help them sleep,
including antidepressants, had “pharmocotherapeutic failure.” The more than 700 patients
taking prescription drugs reported the most severe insomnia. These drugs not only are
inef fective for the patients taking them, but can actually make sleep quality worse because
insomnia for many people isn’ t a psychological problem; it’ s a breathing problem. Barry
Krakow et al., “Pharmacotherapeutic Failure in a Lar ge Cohort of Patients with InsomniaPresenting to a Sleep Medicine Center and Laboratory: Subjective Pretest Predictions and
Objective Diagnoses,” Mayo Clinic Pr oceedings  89, no. 12 (Dec. 2014): 1608–20;
“Pharmacotherapy Failure in Chronic Insomnia Patients,” Mayo Clinic Pr oceedings , Y ouT ube,
https://youtube.com/watch  ?v=vdm1kTFJCK4. m i l l i o n s  o f  A m e r i c a n s :  Thomas M. Hef fron, “Insomnia A wareness Day Facts and Stats,” Sleep
Education, Mar . 10, 2014, http://sleepeducation.or g/news/2014/03/10/insomnia-awareness-day-
facts-and-stats . “ i n c r e a s e d  r e s p i r a t o r y  e f f o r t ” :  Guillemainault ar gued that paying too-close attention to specific scores
muddles the lar ger problem of snoring and sleep apnea. Any disturbances in breathing during
sleep, be it apnea, snoring, heavy breathing, or even the slightest constriction in the throat, can
reap heavy damage to the body . Christian Guilleminault and Ji Hyun Lee, “Does Benign
‘Primary Snoring’ Ever Exist in Children?,” Chest Journal  126, no. 5 (Nov . 2004): 1396–98;
Guilleminault et al., “Pediatric Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome,” Ar chives of Pediatrics
and Adolescent Medicine  159, no. 8 (Aug. 2005): 775–85. m a k i n g  m e  d u m b e r :  Noriko T subamoto-Sano et al., “Influences of Mouth Breathing on Memory and
Learning Ability in Growing Rats,” Journal of Oral Science  61, no. 1 (2019): 119–24;
Masahiro Sano et al., “Increased Oxygen Load in the Prefrontal Cortex from Mouth Breathing:
A V ector -Based Near -Infrared Spectroscopy Study ,” Neur or eport  24, no. 17 (Dec. 2013): 935–
40; Malia W ollan, “How to Be a Nose Breather ,” The  New Y ork T imes Magazine , Apr . 23,
2019. T h e  b r e a t h  i n h a l e d :  The Primor dial Br eath: An Ancient Chinese W ay of Pr olonging Life thr ough Br eath
Contr ol , vol. 2, trans. Jane Huang and Michael W urmbrand (Original Books, 1990), 31. A n d  h e r e  w e  a r e :  The stats for malocclusion vary . Kevin Boyd, a pediatric dentist, and Darius
Loghmanee, a physician and sleep specialist, noted that “75% of children, ages 6 to 11 and
89% of youths, ages 12 to 17, have some degree of malocclusion.” In addition, an estimated 65
percent of adults have some degree of malocclusion; this population includes those adults who
have already had orthodontic procedures. Given this, the actual number of these adults had not
received treatment would be closer to 90 percent. Other estimates I found put the figure for
children even higher . Suf fice to say , it’ s a lot. A few slide presentations (with references) and
in-depth interviews about malocclusion: Kevin L. Boyd and Darius Loghmanee, “Inattention,
Hyperactivity , Snoring and Restless Sleep: My Child’ s Dentist Can Help? !,” presentation at 3rd
Annual Autism, Behavior , and Complex Medical Needs Conference; Kevin Boyd interview by
Shirley Gutkowski, Cross Link Radio, 2017, https://crosslinkradio.com/dr -kevin-boyd-2/ ;
“Malocclusion,” Boston Children’ s Hospital, http://www .childrenshospital.or g/conditions-and-
treatments/conditions/m/malocclusion . F o r t y - f i v e  p e r c e n t  o f  a d u l t s  s n o r e :  “Snoring,” Columbia University Department of Neurology ,
http://www .columbianeurology .or g/neurology/staywell/document.php?id=42066 . T w e n t y - f i v e  p e r c e n t  o f  A m e r i c a n  a d u l t s :  “Rising Prevalence of Sleep Apnea in U.S. Threatens Public
Health,” press release, American Academy of Sleep Medicine, Sept. 29, 2014.
a n  e s t i m a t e d  8 0  p e r c e n t :  Steven Y . Park, MD, Sleep, Interrupted: A Physician Reveals the #1 Reason
Why So Many of Us Ar e Sick and T ir ed  (New Y ork: Jodev Press, 2008), 26.
t h a n  t h e r e  w e r e  1 0 , 0 0 0  y e a r s  a g o :  Index of world population estimates throughout the decades:
https://tinyurl.com/rrhvcjh . s l a c k - j a w e d  a n d  n a r r o w e d  f a c e s :  Several studies have shown similar restoration in humans. In the 1990s,
Canadian researchers measured the facial and mouth dimensions of 38 children suf fering from
chronically enlar ged adenoids, the glands located on the roof of the mouth that help fight
infections. The swollen glands made it almost impossible for the children to breathe through
their noses, so they all adopted mouthbreathing, and all had the long, slack-jawed, narrow-
faced profiles that come with it. Sur geons removed the adenoids from half the children and
monitored the measurements of their faces. Slowly , surely , their faces morphed back into theirnatural position: jaws moved forward, the maxilla flared outward. Donald C. W oodside et al.,
“Mandibular and Maxillary Growth after Changed Mode of Breathing,” American Journal of
Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics  100, no. 1 (July 1991): 1–18; Shapiro, “Ef fects of
Nasal Obstruction on Facial Development,” 967–68. Chapter Three: Nose
S m e l l  i s  l i f e ’ s  o l d e s t  s e n s e :  Interview with Dolores Malaspina, MD, professor of clinical psychiatry at
Columbia University in New Y ork; Nancie Geor ge, “10 Incredible Facts about Y our Sense of
Smell,” EveryDay Health, https://www .everydayhealth.com/news/incredible-facts-about-your -
sense-smell/ . s t o r e s  m e m o r i e s :  Artin Arshamian et al., “Respiration Modulates Olfactory Memory Consolidation in
Humans,” Journal of Neur oscience 38, no. 48 (Nov . 2018): 10286–94; Christina Zelano et al.,
“Nasal Respiration Entrains Human Limbic Oscillations and Modulates Cognitive Function,”
Journal of Neur oscience 36, no. 49 (Dec. 2016): 12448–67. s u f f e r  f r o m  a s t h m a :  A. B. Ozturk et al., “Does Nasal Hair (V ibrissae) Density Af fect the Risk of
Developing Asthma in Patients with Seasonal Rhinitis?,” International Ar chives of Aller gy and
Immunology 156, no. 1 ( Mar . 2011): 75–80. a n  I n d i a n  s u r g e o n :  Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani, “A Study of the Pattern of Nasal Dominance with
Reference to Dif ferent Phases of the Lunar Cycle,” Y oga Life  35 (June 2004): 19–24. c a l l e d  n a s a l  c y c l e s :  Sometimes referred to as an “ultradian rhythm,” meaning a cycle shorter than the
period of circadian rhythm. f i r s t  d e s c r i b e d  i n  1 8 9 5 :  A comprehensive review of the nasal cycle can be found in Alfonso Luca
Pendolino et al., “The Nasal Cycle: A Comprehensive Review ,” Rhinology Online 1 (June
2018): 67–76; R. Kayser , “Die exacte Messung der Luftdurchgängigkeit der Nase,” Ar chives of
Laryngology 3 (1895): 101–20. 3 0  m i n u t e s  t o  4  h o u r s :  This is an estimate. Some studies have shown that the nasal cycle fluctuates
between 30 minutes and two and a half hours; others show the cycle can last up to four hours. Roni Kahana-Zweig et al., “Measuring and Characterizing the Human Nasal Cycle,” PloS One
11, no. 10 (Oct. 2016): e0162918; Rauf T ahamiler et al., “Detection of the Nasal Cycle in Daily
Activity by Remote Evaluation of Nasal Sound,” Ar chives of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck
Sur gery 129, no. 9 (Feb. 2009): 137–42. “ h o n e y m o o n  r h i n i t i s ” :  “Sneezing ‘Can Be Sign of Arousal,’” BBC News, Dec. 19, 2008,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7792102.stm ; Andrea Mazzatenta et al., “Swelling of Erectile
Nasal T issue Induced by Human Sexual Pheromone,” Advances in Experimental Medicine and
Biology  885 (2016): 25–30. n o s t r i l s  c y c l e d :  Kahana-Zweig et al., “Measuring”; Marc Oliver Scheithauer , “Sur gery of the T urbinates
and ‘Empty Nose’ Syndrome,” GMS Curr ent T opics in Otor hinolaryngology–Head and Neck
Sur gery 9 (2010): Doc3. b o d y  t o  f l i p  o v e r :  In addition, nasal cycles appear to be associated with the duration of deep sleep. A. T . Atanasov and P . D. Dimov , “Nasal and Sleep Cycle—Possible Synchronization during Night
Sleep,” Medical Hypotheses 61, no. 2 (Aug. 2003): 275–77; Akihira Kimura et al., “Phase of
Nasal Cycle During Sleep T ends to Be Associated with Sleep Stage,” The Laryngoscope 123,
no. 6 (Aug. 2013): 1050–55. b e c o m e  i n f l a m e d :  Pendolino et al., “The Nasal Cycle.”
b a c k  a n d  f o r t h  q u i c k l y :  A lagging nasal cycle in some cultures was considered a harbinger of disease. A
nostril plugged for more than eight hours meant a serious illness was imminent. If breathing
was one-sided for more than a day , death was expected. But why? Ronald Eccles, “A Role for
the Nasal Cycle in Respiratory Defense,” Eur opean Respiratory Journal  9, no. 2 (Feb. 1996):
371–76; Eccles et al., “Changes in the Amplitude of the Nasal Cycle Associated withSymptoms of Acute Upper Respiratory T ract Infection,” Acta Otolaryngologica  116, no. 1
(Jan. 1996): 77–81. f e e d  m o r e  b l o o d  t o  t h e  o p p o s i t e :  Kahana-Zweig et al. ; Shirley T elles et al., “Alternate-Nostril Y oga
Breathing Reduced Blood Pressure While Increasing Performance in a V igilance T est,”
Medical Science Monitor Basic Resear ch  23 (Dec. 2017): 392–98; Karamjit Singh et al.,
“Ef fect of Uninostril Y oga Breathing on Brain Hemodynamics: A Functional Near -Infrared
Spectroscopy Study ,” International Journal of Y oga 9, no. 1 (June 2016): 12–19; Gopal
Krushna Pal et al., “Slow Y ogic Breathing Through Right and Left Nostril Influences
Sympathovagal Balance, Heart Rate V ariability , and Cardiovascular Risks in Y oung Adults,”
North American Journal of Medical Sciences 6, no. 3 (Mar . 2014): 145–51. l o w e r s  t e m p e r a t u r e  a n d  b l o o d  p r e s s u r e :  P . Raghuraj and Shirley T elles, “Immediate Ef fect of Specific
Nostril Manipulating Y oga Breathing Practices on Autonomic and Respiratory V ariables,”
Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback 33, no. 2 (June 2008): 65–75. S. Kalaivani, M. J.
Kumari, and G. K. Pal, “Ef fect of Alternate Nostril Breathing Exercise on Blood Pressure,
Heart Rate, and Rate Pressure Product among Patients with Hypertension in JIPMER,
Puducherry ,” Journal of Education and Health Pr omotion  8, no. 145 (July 2019). n e g a t i v e  e m o t i o n s :  Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte T aylor of fers an emotional and astonishing primer of the
functions of right and left brain in her 2008 TED T alk, “My Stroke of Insight,” which, as of
this writing, has been viewed more than 26 million times. V iew it here:
https://www .ted.com/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight?language=en . r e s e a r c h e r s  a t  t h e  U n i v e r s i t y  o f  C a l i f o r n i a :  David Shannahof f-Khalsa and Shahrokh Golshan, “Nasal Cycle
Dominance and Hallucinations in an Adult Schizophrenic Female,” Psychiatry Resear ch  226,
no. 1 (Mar . 2015): 289–94. a l t e r n a t e  n o s t r i l  b r e a t h i n g :  Studies conducted at research labs and published in the International Journal
of Neur oscience , Fr ontiers in Neural Cir cuits ,  Journal of Laryngology and Otology , and more
have demonstrated clear links between right and left nostrils and specific biological and mental
functions. Y ou can find several dozens of studies here: https://www .ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/? term=alternate+nostril+breathing . h e a t  u p  m y  b o d y  a n d  a i d  m y  d i g e s t i o n :  When yogis finish a meal, they lie on their left side so that they will
breathe primarily from their right nostril. The increase of blood flow and heat via right-nostril
breathing, yogis believe, can aid in digestion. A few years ago, researchers at Jef ferson Medical
College in Philadelphia tested this claim by feeding 20 healthy subjects a high-fat meal on
dif ferent days, having them lie on their right or left sides. Those ordered to lie on their left side
(breathing primarily through their right nostril) had significantly less heartburn and measured
much lower acidity in their throats than subjects lying on the right side. The study was repeated
with the same results. The extra heating in the body triggered by right nostril breathing likely
influenced the rate and ef ficiency of digestion, but gravity certainly helped. The stomach and
pancreas will hang more naturally when the body is positioned on the left side, which allows
food to more easily move through the lar ge intestine. In short, it feels better and is more
ef ficient for digestion. L. C. Katz et al., “Body Position Af fects Recumbent Postprandial
Reflux,” Journal of Clinical Gastr oenter ology  18, no. 4 (June 1994): 280–83; Anahad
O’Connor , “The Claim: L ying on Y our Left Side Eases Heartburn,” The New Y ork T imes , Oct.
25, 2010, https://www .nytimes.com/2010/10/26/health/26really .html ; R. M. Khoury et al.,
“Influence of Spontaneous Sleep Positions on Nighttime Recumbent Reflux in Patients with
Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease,” American Journal of Gastr oenter ology 94, no. 8 (Aug.
1999): 2069–73. i n t e r i o r  o f  t h e  a d u l t  n o s e :  The average nasal cavity and four paranasal sinuses of an adult male nose
works out to about 6.43 cubic inches; an inch less for females. Inge Elly Kiemle T rindade,
“V olumes Nasais de Adultos Aferidos por Rinometria Acústica,” Revista Brasileira de
Otorrinolaringologia  73, no. 1 (Jan./Feb. 2007).a l l  t h e  g r a i n s :  All the world’ s beaches contain somewhere in the neighborhood of 2.5 to 10 sextillion
grains of sand. Meanwhile, that breath of air you just inhaled contains around 25 sextillion
molecules. Fraser Cain, “Are There More Grains of Sand Than Stars?,” Universe T oday , Nov . 25, 2013, https://www .universetoday .com/106725/are-there-more-grains-of-sand-than-stars/ . k e e p  i n v a d e r s  o u t :  And copper and cadmium. A. Z. Aris, F . A. Ismail, H. Y . Ng, and S. M. Praveena,
“An Experimental and Modelling Study of Selected Heavy Metals Removal from Aqueous
Solution Using Scylla serrata as Biosorbent,” Pertanika Journal of Science and T echnology  22,
no. 2 (Jan. 2014): 553–66. “ f i r s t  l i n e  o f  d e f e n s e ” :  “Mucus: The First Line of Defense,” ScienceDaily , Nov . 6, 2015,
https://www .sciencedaily .com/releases/2015/1 1/151 106062716.htm ; Sara G. Miller , “Where
Does All My Snot Come From?,” Live Science, May 13, 2016,
https://www .livescience.com/54745-why-do-i-have-so-much-snot.html ; B. M. Y er gin et al., “A
Roentgenographic Method for Measuring Nasal Mucous V elocity ,” Journal of Applied
Physiology: Respiratory , Envir onmental and Exer cise Physiology  44, no. 6 (June 1978): 964–
68.
t i n y ,  h a i r - l i k e  s t r u c t u r e s :  Maria Carolina Romanelli et al., “Nasal Ciliary Motility: A New T ool in
Estimating the T ime of Death,” International Journal of Legal Medicine 126, no. 3 (May
2012): 427–33; Fuad M. Baroody , “How Nasal Function Influences the Eyes, Ears, Sinuses,
and Lungs,” Pr oceedings of the American Thoracic Society 8, no. 1 (Mar . 2011): 53–61; Irina
Ozerskaya et al., “Ciliary Motility of Nasal Epithelium in Children with Asthma and Aller gic
Rhinitis,” Eur opean Respiratory Journal  50, suppl. 61 (2017). 1 6  b e a t s  p e r  s e c o n d :  The hotter it is, the faster cilia move. J. Y ager et al., “Measurement of Frequency of
Ciliary Beats of Human Respiratory Epithelium,” Chest 73, no. 5 (May 1978): 627–33; James
Gray , “The Mechanism of Ciliary Movement. VI. Photographic and Stroboscopic Analysis of
Ciliary Movement,” Pr oceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 107, no. 751
(Dec. 1930): 313–32. C i l i a  c l o s e r  t o  t h e  n o s t r i l s :  Crying will drain tears into the nose, which mix with the mucus, making it thin
and watery . Cilia can no longer hold onto the mucus, so it starts running with the flow of
gravity: a runny nose. Thick mucus is worse. Excessive dairy , aller gies, starchy foods, and
more increase mucus weight and density . Cilia slow down, become overwhelmed, and
eventually come to a dead stop. This is how the nose gets congested. The longer the nose is
stopped up, the more microbes build up, resulting sometimes in a nasal infection (sinusitis) or a
common cold. Olga V . Plotnikova et al., “Primary Cilia and the Cell Cycle,” Methods in Cell
Biology 94 (2009): 137–60; Achim G. Beule, “Physiology and Pathophysiology of Respiratory
Mucosa of the Nose and the Paranasal Sinuses,” GMS Curr ent T opics in Otor hinolaryngology–
Head and Neck Sur gery 9 (2010): Doc07. t u r b i n a t e s  w i l l  h e a t :  Scheithauer , “Sur gery of the T urbinates,” 18; Swami Rama, Rudolph Ballentine,
and Alan Hymes, Science of Br eath: A Practical Guide  (Honesdale, P A: Himalayan Institute
Press, 1979, 1998), 45.
_OceanofPDF.com_Breath_-_James_Nestor.txt
Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

        “What anxious patients could be experiencing is a completely natural
reaction—they’re reacting to an emer gency in their bodies,” said Feinstein. “It could be that anxiety, at its root, isn’ t a psychological problem at all. ”
This approach is all very theoretical, Feinstein warned, and needs to be
rigorously tested, which is what he will do in the coming years. But if it’ s
true, it could explain why so many drugs don’ t work for panic, anxiety, and
other fear -based conditions, and how slow and steady breathing therapy
does. HOW WE BREA THE MA TTERS
I’ve chatted with Anders Olsson every few weeks since we paid through the
nose in the Stanford experiment. Our talks are never dull. “I have more
ener gy and focus than ever in my life. ” he told me, right after celebrating
his 50th birthday. Olsson is a pulmonaut in the purest sense: self-taught and
driven by a sense that we are missing something right in front of us, a truth
basic and essential. Through all my travels and travails, there is one lesson, one equation,
that I believe is at the root of so much health, happiness, and longevity. I’m
a bit embarrassed to say it has taken me a decade to figure this out, and I
realize how insignificant it might look on this page. But lest we for get,
nature is simple but subtle. The perfect breath is this: Breathe in for about 5. 5 seconds, then exhale
for 5. 5 seconds. That’ s 5. 5 breaths a minute for a total of about 5. 5 liters ofair. Y ou can practice this perfect breathing for a few minutes, or a few
hours. There is no such thing as having too much peak ef ficiency in your
body. Olsson told me he’ s working on several more devices to help us breathe
at this rate—slowly and less. He’ s finishing production on his BreathIQ, a
portable device that measures nitric oxide, carbon dioxide, ammonia, and
other chemicals in exhaled breath. Then there are other skunkworks to
mimic the ef fects of perfect breathing: a carbon dioxide suit, a hat, and. Meanwhile, Google just released an app that pops up automatically
when the words “breathing exercise” are searched. It trains visitors to inhale
and exhale every 5.
To train the body to breathe in line with its metabolic needs, which means breathing less.
According to the author, what is the main point of Buteyko breathing?
The article does not provide a specific duration for the Control Pause, but it does mention that the
What is the recommended duration for the Control Pause in the Buteyko technique?
According to the text, nitric oxide is a powerhouse molecule that widens capillaries, increases oxygenation, and relaxes smooth muscles.
What is the primary function of nitric oxide?
The text does not provide a clear answer to this question, but it mentions that the Tumo
What is the purpose of the Tumo technique?
The article explains that aerobic exercise is more efficient and sustainable in the long term, whereas anaerobic
What is the main difference between aerobic and anaerobic exercise?