A New York Times Bestseller A Washington Post Notable Nonfiction Book of 2020 Named a Best Book of 2020 by NPR “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.” —Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Big Magic and Eat Pray Love No matter what you eat, how much you exercise, how skinny or young or wise you are, none of it matters if you’re not breathing properly. There is nothing more essential to our health and well-being than breathing: take air in, let it out, repeat twenty-five thousand times a day. Yet, as a species, humans have lost the ability to breathe correctly, with grave consequences. Journalist James Nestor travels the world to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it. The answers aren’t found in pulmonology labs, as we might expect, but in the muddy digs of ancient burial sites, secret Soviet facilities, New Jersey choir schools, and the smoggy streets of São Paulo. Nestor tracks down men and women exploring the hidden science behind ancient breathing practices like Pranayama, Sudarshan Kriya, and Tummo and teams up with pulmonary tinkerers to scientifically test long-held beliefs about how we breathe. Modern research is showing us that making even slight adjustments to the way we inhale and exhale can jump-start athletic performance; rejuvenate internal organs; halt snoring, asthma, and autoimmune disease; and even straighten scoliotic spines. None of this should be possible, and yet it is. Drawing on thousands of years of medical texts and recent cutting-edge studies in pulmonology, psychology, biochemistry, and human physiology, Breath turns the conventional wisdom of what we thought we knew about our most basic biological function on its head. You will never breathe the same again.

"Dark academia at its most oppressive and intense."—The New York Times A Most Anticipated Pick for Buzzfeed The Two Doctors Górski is a dazzling contemporary fantasy and an exploration of reclaiming personal power in the aftermath of abuse by Lambda Award-winning author Isaac Fellman. Annae, a brilliant graduate student in psychiatric magic and survivor of academic abuse, can’t stop reading people’s minds. This is how she protects herself, by using her abilities to know exactly how her colleagues view her. This is how she escapes the torturous experience of her own existence. When Annae moves to England to rebuild her life and finish her studies under the seminal magician Marec Górski—infamous for bringing to life a homunculus made from his unwanted better self—she sees, inside his head, a man who is both a destructive force to everyone around him, and her mirror image. For Annae to survive, she’ll need to break free of a lifetime of conditioning to embody her own self and forge her own path. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

The Chandogya Upanisad: The culture it reflects is remote and archaic, the texture of its ritualistic and contemplative symbolism thick and dense-virtually a closed book for us moderns. A sustained self-submitting attentiveness, however, discloses its language as resonating disturbingly modern notes, focusing our attention on many of our pathologies as well as our possibilities, pathologies and possibilities that have escaped the notice of us moderns. The spirit of quiet hermeneutics that characterizes this study illumines many an opaque spot in this text, solves many an interpretive puzzle, turns many of its 'archaic naivetes' into living and compelling profundities. We are made to realize that what some moderns call Gestell is far more primordial than they would envisage it to be, far more ominous and primitive, tragic and persistent. A radical transformation is required, an ontological transformation. Not mere 'a masterly exposition' of an ancient text is, therefore, this study, but 'an authentic springboard for fresh philosophical thinking fecundating (the) two shores of the human experience: East and West'. The first three (published) Vols. are on (i) Isa, Kena, Katha and Prasna Upanisads; (ii) Mundaka and Mandukya Upanisad with Gaudapada Karika; (iii) Taittiriya and Aitareya Upanisads.

We can all have mornings when we don't feel like getting out of our beds. But what if its the Sun that doesn't want to get up? And how angry will this make the Moon? This charming story tells a tale of two old friends who have been rising and falling for a very long time. The Day the Sun Wouldn't Get Out of Bed, looks at the idea of friendship and consolation as well as how to keep going when things get a bit tough. It will bring comfort to children and parents alike.The amusing storyline, with beautiful illustrations, is written in rhyme, which is helpful for young ones that are just starting out on their reading journey.The first in its series, all of Deep Breath Publications books are designed to create a chance to reflect and open up conversations about relationships, looking out for one another and looking after yourself.

For anyone who feels overwhelmed by the demands and anxieties of daily life, Do Breathe provides practices for fostering relaxation, awareness, and focus. This book features sections on breath work, mindfulness, energy, and courage, and is brimming with practical advice—including the three keys to breathing well and a how-to for decluttering the mind. With simple exercises and daily practices from yoga, meditation, and mindfulness, these inspiring pages will help readers cultivate a balanced mindset and build a foundation for a joyful, peaceful life.

The 20th anniversary edition of Edwidge Danticat's groundbreaking debut, now an established classic--revised and with a new introduction by the author, and including extensive bonus materials At the age of twelve, Sophie Caco is sent from her impoverished Haitian village to New York to be reunited with a mother she barely remembers. There she discovers secrets that no child should ever know, and a legacy of shame that can be healed only when she returns to Haiti—to the women who first reared her. What ensues is a passionate journey through a landscape charged with the supernatural and scarred by political violence. In her stunning literary debut, Danticat evokes the wonder, terror, and heartache of her native Haiti—and the enduring strength of Haiti’s women—with vibrant imagery and narrative grace that bear witness to her people’s suffering and courage.

The Guardian's Best Science Book of 2017: the fascinating science and history of the air we breathe. It's invisible. It's ever-present. Without it, you would die in minutes. And it has an epic story to tell. In Caesar's Last Breath, New York Times bestselling author Sam Kean takes us on a journey through the periodic table, around the globe, and across time to tell the story of the air we breathe, which, it turns out, is also the story of earth and our existence on it. With every breath, you literally inhale the history of the world. On the ides of March, 44 BC, Julius Caesar died of stab wounds on the Senate floor, but the story of his last breath is still unfolding; in fact, you're probably inhaling some of it now. Of the sextillions of molecules entering or leaving your lungs at this moment, some might well bear traces of Cleopatra's perfumes, German mustard gas, particles exhaled by dinosaurs or emitted by atomic bombs, even remnants of stardust from the universe's creation. Tracing the origins and ingredients of our atmosphere, Kean reveals how the alchemy of air reshaped our continents, steered human progress, powered revolutions, and continues to influence everything we do. Along the way, we'll swim with radioactive pigs, witness the most important chemical reactions humans have discovered, and join the crowd at the Moulin Rouge for some of the crudest performance art of all time. Lively, witty, and filled with the astounding science of ordinary life, Caesar's Last Breath illuminates the science stories swirling around us every second.