Summary of BREATH by James Nestor

This book was so interesting that while reading it my mouth was often ajar with awe, which is exactly the kind of position your face shouldn't be in. I learned much about the ultimate body hack, and one everyone can use for free.
A sample, drawn virtually at random:

But something curious has happened in the last few years. Hundreds of leading orthodontists and dentists have come out in support of Mew's position, saying that, yes, traditional orthodontics were making breathing worse in half their patients. The strongest endorsement came in April 2018, when Stanford University Press published a 216-page monograph by famed evolutionary biologist Paul R. Ehrlich and Dr. Sandra Kahn, an orthodontist, detailing hundreds of scientific references that supported Mew's research. In a short time, Mew's outlier theories started entering the mainstream.
"In ten years, nobody will be using traditional orthodontics," Gelb told me. "We'll look back at what we've done and be horrified." This is what Mew had been saying for the past half century. The rebellion within orthodontics eventually led to the formation of a formation of a professional organization called the Academy of Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy.

Whew! (Sorry).

Uncomfortable mixed feelings about this one: although it seems to be intended as science journalism, and there's much in it that's accurate to the best of my understanding, there's also a good deal of anecdote, reliance on questionable sources, cherrypicking, and mysticism. This sets off my BS alarms and it pains me to say that because, as a yoga and breath practitioner for almost half my life, I am confident that his principal message — investing in our breathing leads to a much better life — is a crucial one that more of us need to explore.

After much inner turmoil I'm going with four stars: it's well written, informative in ways that I plan to pursue, and I really did like it. I recommend the book and its material, and I don't think any of my GR friends are the type to develop unrealistic expectations — and besides, the author responsibly addresses many of those. Despite occasional (IMO) hyperbole, he does try hard to cite serious research... there's just not as much of that as we'd like. Further study is needed; and, as it seems, some of it is happening right now. Let's keep our eyes open (and mouths shut) for results over the next many years. Until then, breathe — and remain open to better ways of doing so.

One of the best nonfiction books I’ve read this year.

The writer is a fantastic storyteller. He weaves the complex area of evolution, biology and anthropology into a personal memoir. In this, he achieves a tremendous feat of telling us about a simple thing that we all think we know, breathing.

Pulmonauts - I learnt about group folks interested in breathing techniques and ideas which are not validated by the broader scientific community, but it is quite useful. Their methods are either written in ancients texts like Vedas and also practised in a niche manner by scientists and doctors.

Few key takeaways:
-Breathing is one of the lowest hanging fruits in terms of health improvement.
-Mouth-breathing and over-breathing is terrible.
-More oxygen is good for health is a myth
-There is some benefit of having carbon dioxide inside our body.
-Techniques like holotropic breathing, WimHof method, Tummo breathing are areas worth exploring.