Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art

Overall, humans have the sad distinction of being the most plugged-up species on Earth.

When it swung open, a woman in her 30s with woolly eyebrows and oversize white teeth welcomed me inside.

Meanwhile, with just a few weeks of Olsson’s lighter, milder training, several of his clients registered significant gains in red blood cell counts. More blood means more oxygen delivered to more tissues. Lance Armstrong, the disgraced cyclist, didn’t get busted for taking adrenaline or steroids but for injecting himself with his own blood and incr

To be clear, breathing less is not the same as breathing slowly. Average adult lungs can hold about four to six liters of air. Which means that, even if we practice slow breathing at 5.5 breaths per minute, we could still be easily taking in twice the air we need. The key to optimum breathing, and all the health, endurance, and longevity benefits t

Inhaling through the left nostril has the opposite effect: it works as a kind of brake system to the right nostril’s accelerator. The left nostril is more deeply connected to the parasympathetic nervous system, the rest-and-relax side that lowers blood pressure, cools the body, and reduces anxiety.14 Left-nostril breathing shifts blood flow to the

To practice Wim Hof’s breathing method, start by finding a quiet place and lying flat on your back with a pillow under your head. Relax the shoulders, chest, and legs. Take a very deep breath into the pit of your stomach and let it back out just as quickly. Keep breathing this way for 30 cycles. If possible, breathe through the nose; if the nose fe

The directions I followed were on Wikipedia, “Five Tibetan Rites.” Cardiologist Joel Kahn suggests performing each rite for 21 rounds, as the ancient Tibetans did. For beginners, ten minutes a day for all the exercises is a good starting point.

Krishna to Jesus Christ: “The Most Ancient and Secretive Form of Yoga Practiced by Jesus Christ: Kriya Yoga,” Evolve+Ascend, http://www.evolveandascend.com/2016/05/24/ancient-secretive-form-yoga-practiced-jesus-christ-kriya-yoga; “The Kriya Yoga Path of Meditation,” Self-Realization Fellowship, https://www.yogananda-srf.org/The_Kriya_Yoga_Path_of_M

Voluntary Elimination of Deep Breathing was especially effective in treating respiratory diseases. It seemed to work like a miracle for asthma.