Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art

Sudarshan Kriya.

They discovered that the optimum amount of air we should take in at rest per minute is 5.5 liters. The optimum breathing rate is about 5.5 breaths per minute. That’s 5.5-second inhales and 5.5-second exhales. This is the perfect breath.

sleep apnea.

Their transformation was a matter of training; they’d coaxed their lungs to work harder, to tap the pulmonary capabilities that the rest of us ignore. They

The key to optimum breathing, and all the health, endurance, and longevity benefits that come with it, is to practice fewer inhales and exhales in a smaller volume. To breathe, but to breathe less.

Chinese Tao dating back to around 400 BCE focused entirely on breathing, how it could kill us or heal us, depending on how we used it. These

The innovation of mashing and cooking food, however, had consequences. The quickly growing brain needed space to stretch out, and it took it from the front of our faces, home to sinuses, mouths, and airways. Over time, muscles at the center of the face loosened, and bones in the jaw weakened and grew thinner. The face shortened and the mouth shrank

Finding the best heart rate for exercise is easy: subtract your age from 180. The result is the maximum your body can withstand to stay in the aerobic state. Long bouts of training and exercise can happen below this rate but never above it, otherwise the body will risk going too deep into the anaerobic zone for too long. Instead of feeling invigora

shores of Africa.