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.

A new approach to improving quality of life through your most accessible resource: your breath. Internationally renowned yoga instructor Donna Farhi presents a refreshingly simple and practical guide to reestablishing proper breathing techniques that will dramatically improve your physical and mental health. Complete with more that seventy-five photos and illustrations, The Breaking Book offers a thorough and inspiring program that you can tailor to your specific needs. Whether you need an energy boost or are seeking a safe, hassle-free way to cope with everyday stress, you will find answers here. These safe and easy-to-learn techniques can also be used to treat asthma, depression, eating disorders, insomnia, arthritis, chronic pain, and other debilitating conditions. "Donna Farhi has been a student, researcher, and teacher of the breath for many years, and now we get to reap the results of her studies in this exquisite manual." -- Yoga Journal

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING PHENOMENOM 'I've never felt so alive' JOE WICKS 'The book will change your life' BEN FOGLE My hope is to inspire you to retake control of your body and life by unleashing the immense power of the mind. 'The Iceman' Wim Hof shares his remarkable life story and powerful method for supercharging your strength, health and happiness. Refined over forty years and championed by scientists across the globe, you'll learn how to harness three key elements of Cold, Breathing and Mindset to master mind over matter and achieve the impossible. 'Wim is a legend of the power ice has to heal and empower' BEAR GRYLLS 'Thor-like and potent...Wim has radioactive charisma' RUSSELL BRAND

Your voice is a powerful instrument. But how can you get the best out of it? This is a Voice is a practical toolkit of step-by-step vocal exercises to help speakers and singers of all abilities transform the quality of their voice. Using advice from expert vocal coaches, you'll learn: - Breathing exercises and vocal warm-ups - How to pace and project your voice- Techniques for speaking with confidence- How to sing jazz, pop, opera - and even try beatboxing - with style Whether you're a member of a choir or a professional singer, preparing for a big presentation or planning a wedding speech, This is a Voice will give you the skills to make yourself heard. With a foreword by Cerys Matthews.

Insomnia? Gone. Anxiety? Gone. All without medication. Unpleasant side effects from blood pressure pills? Gone. A cheap and effective way to combat cardiovascular disease, immune dysfunction, obesity, and GI disorders? Yes. Sounds too good to be true? Believe it. Contemporary science confirms what generations of healers have observed through centuries of practice: Breath awareness can turn on the body’s natural abilities to prevent and cure illness. The mental and physical stresses of modern life, such as anxiety, frustration, sexual dysfunction, insomnia, high blood pressure, digestive woes, and immune dysfunction can all be addressed through conscious control of your breath. In addition, it can increase energy, accelerate healing, improve cognitive skills, and enhance mental balance. Yet most of us stopped breathing in the anatomically “right” way, the way to take advantage of these benefits, when we were four or five years old. We now mostly breathe in a way that is anatomically incongruous and makes for more illness. Dr. Vranich shows readers how to turn back the tide of stress and illness, and improve the overall quality of their life through a daily breathing workout. In a fascinating, straightforward, jargon-free exploration of how our bodies were meant to breathe, Dr. Belisa Vranich delves into the ins and outs of proper breathing. By combining both anatomy and fitness with psychology and mindfulness, Dr. Vranich gives readers a way of solving health problems at the crux and healing themselves from the inside out. BREATHE is an easy-to-follow guide to breathing exercises that will increase energy, help lose weight, and make readers feel calmer and happier.

A drug-free, side effect-free solution to common stress and mood problems—developed by two physicians The audio exercises included with this book can be accessed online at www.shambhala.com/healingpowerofthebreath. Access instructions are also provided within the book. Millions of Americans suffer from mood problems and stress-related issues like anxiety, depression, insomnia, and PTSD. Far too many of them are taking medications that have troublesome side effects, withdrawal symptoms, and disappointing success rates. In The Healing Power of the Breath, Dr. Richard P. Brown and Dr. Patricia L. Gerbarg provide a different way to treat stress: breathing. Drawn from yoga, Buddhist meditation, the Chinese practice of qigong, and other sources, their science-backed methods activate communication pathways between the mind and body to positively impact the brain and calm the stress response. Their anecdotes and easy-to-follow exercises will show you how to apply breathing techniques to help relieve: · Anxiety and depression · Trauma-related emotions and behaviors · Post-traumatic stress disorder · Insomnia · Addiction-related behaviors Complete with an audio download, this book gives you the coping tools you need to lead a calmer, more stress-free life.

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