I became acutely aware of how important breathing is when pneumonia rendered it difficult and painful. I suppose I knew that breathing was important to sustain life, but not usually conscious of it, unless I was running, playing soccer or snorkeling as examples. We all do it every day but are unaware of it. It is automatic.
As you may know, I read a lot tallying up 50 to 60 books per year. I also have developed a policy about selecting books which has yet to fail me. If a book has been recommended to me by three different people at three different times, I must read it regardless of my interest in the topic. Most recently this book was Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor. The idea of reading a 300 some page book about breathing seemed ludicrous to me, almost to the point of insulting. Breath? Are you kidding me? I have been doing it all my life, thank you very much, in fact, I would say that I am an expert breather.
But a policy is a policy, and I was going to read a book about breathing. I imagined that I would have to slog through it, forcing myself to read a few pages before switching to a book of my choosing. Perhaps, Mr. Nestor was aware of this notion, so he opens the book discussing the men and women who have trained themselves to be free divers. These are ordinary people from various walks of life who have trained their bodies to dive hundreds of feet below the surface of the ocean on one breath. These are not superhumans who were born with XL lungs, they are regular folks (like us) who have trained themselves to use a greater capacity of air in their lungs. Regardless, I found myself “fished in” on the book and couldn’t wait for the next opportunity to read.
All my life, I have thought of breathing as getting air into my lungs and secondly I have two options on which to achieve this: through the mouth and the nose. Either is fine and both work the same way. How wrong I was. One of the main takeaways for me is the idea of proper breathing, for optimized health and efficacy, is always through the nose. Our nasal passages have built-in filters, humidifiers, dehumidifiers and a way to warm or cool the air before it enters the lungs depending on the environment.
I accepted this info as academic until he scientifically proved it through experimentation. Do not try this at home. He subjected himself and another willing volunteer to block their nasal passages and solely breathe through their mouths for a period of several weeks. If I remember correctly that was the maximum time the scientists involved would allow such nonsense. Once sealed up, these two would submit to vitals being taken multiple times through day in addition to a regular exercise regimen. By every metric measured, their vitals deteriorated over the period of the study; not just a little bit, but a lot and to very unhealthy levels.
Mr. Nestor then went on to breathe through the nose by taping his mouth shut. Would you believe it? Everything improved. You may have heard of someone taping their mouth shut while they sleep, which has become a thing. All kinds of products are on the market to accomplish this. I suffer from claustrophobia so the idea of sleeping with my mouth taped shut terrified me. I wrestled with this for weeks before finally giving it a try.
I can honestly tell you that I was scared as hell that first night, but finally I reasoned if I freaked out I could simply rip it off my mouth and get all of the air I needed. I managed to fall asleep (surprisingly) and woke up with the tape still there. I did it. I did not notice any difference the next day. I didn’t have spring in my step or feel any change. I did it again the next night. And the next, and the next. That was over two years ago, and now, my nasal passages (and nasal cavity) have changed enough that I don’t need the tape and fully converted to nose breathing. So what?
In the past, I have suffered (frankly my entire life) with severe allergies. In addition, in the fall I would succumb to ragweed and mold spores even with taking daily medication. I would lose several days to suffering from uncontrollable symptoms. In the spring, the same thing would happen with pollen of various types. I would suffer in both seasons trying desperately to keep up with over-the-counter treatments and eventually would fall to a sinus infection or bronchitis… or both. This just became part of my life, and I got used to it.
Once I stopped being a knuckle-dragging, mouth breather, and breathing exclusively from the nose, I stopped all allergy medication and any related sinus infections or bronchitis with one extraordinary exception, but that is for a different post. I learned more about my own health from reading this book, which kicked off the journey I am currently on. You, dear reader, may be the beneficiary of how the journey is going, and to the extent that you want to make positive changes in your own health make sure to subscribe.
Let’s be clear. I am not a doctor. I am not giving medical advice. Before making any changes in your own situation, make sure that you discuss them with your healthcare professional. Do your research, talk to others who have had similar situations. I can only tell you how things worked for me. But, and here is the big but, our bodies are wonderfully engineered, and we have far more power than we ever give ourselves credit to affect positive outcomes. The secret is learning how to tap into our healing capabilities.
I feel fortunate to have had the “near death” experience of being hospitalized with COVID-19 pneumonia and struggling on this long road to learn more than I have ever known of my own resilience and ability to improve. This book and learning to breathe were only the beginning for me. Stay tuned for more.