Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art

living room laboratory,

techniques to expand the lungs, develop the diaphragm, flood the body with oxygen, hack the autonomic nervous system, stimulate immune response, and reset chemoreceptors in the brain.

The key to Sudarshan Kriya, Tummo, or any other breathing practice rooted in ancient yoga is to learn to be patient, maintain flexibility, and slowly absorb what breathing has to offer.48 My initial experience with Sudarshan Kriya may have been a bit jarring, DeRose says, but it also convinced me of the sheer power of breathing. In the end, it’s wh

The lungs themselves will lose about 12 percent of capacity from the age of 30 to 50, and will continue declining

One text, A Book on Breath by the Master Great Nothing of Sung-Shan, offered this advice:8 Lie down every day, pacify your mind, cut off thoughts and block the breath. Close your fists, inhale through your nose, and exhale through your mouth. Do not let the breathing be audible. Let it be most subtle and fine. When the breath is full, block it. The

This discovery explained why certain muscles used during exercise received more oxygen than lesser-used muscles.10 They were producing more carbon dioxide, which attracted more oxygen. It was supply on demand, at a molecular level. Carbon dioxide also had a profound dilating effect on blood vessels, opening these pathways so they could carry more o

I realized then that breathing was like rowing a boat: taking a zillion short and stilted strokes will get you where you’re going, but they pale in comparison to the efficiency and speed of fewer, longer strokes.

the breathing

In the 1990s, Douillard became convinced that mouthbreathing was hurting his clients.