Breath: The New Science Of A Lost Art Quotes
"To breathe is to absorb ourselves in what surrounds us, to take in little bits of life, understand them, and give pieces of ourselves back out. Respiration is, at its core, reciprocation."
"The nose is the silent warrior: the gatekeeper of our bodies, pharmacist to our minds, and weather vane to our emotions."
"Imagine all these molecules of air passing down my throat and into my lungs, pushing deeper into my bloodstream, where they provide fuel for thoughts and the sensations that made them."
"Each of these scents, this material in the world, explodes in my head in a Technicolor burst. The scents are so sparkled and alarming that I can almost see them—a billion colored dots in a Seurat painting."
"The ability to breathe so efficiently in a wide variety of ways—consciously and unconsciously; fast, slow, and not at all—allowed our mammal ancestors to catch prey, escape predators, and adapt to different environments."
"The magic of the nose, and its healing powers, wasn't lost on the ancients."
"The nasal cycle is the silent warrior, ensuring balance and signaling the body's readiness for rest or action."
"Healthy nasal breathing started at birth. Mothers in all these tribes followed the same practices, carefully closing the baby’s lips with their fingers after each feeding."
"Breathing through the nose was seen as a medicine, the great secret of life, according to the Native Americans."
"To breathe incorrectly is to live incorrectly. The nose is not merely an organ but a gateway to health, vitality, and beauty."
"Carbon dioxide is the chief hormone of the entire body; it is the only one that is produced by every tissue and that probably acts on every organ."
"The lungs are the weight-regulating system of the body."
"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."
"Breathing less can become an unconscious habit."
"Healthy breathing shouldn’t be so much work."
"Every healthy cell in the body is fueled by oxygen, and this is how it’s delivered."
"The purpose of the 25,000 inhales and exhales we take daily lies deeper inside us."
"What our bodies really want, what they require to function properly, isn’t faster or deeper breaths. It’s not more air. What we need is more carbon dioxide."
"By taking longer breaths, we allow our lungs to soak up more in fewer breaths."
"The most efficient breathing rhythm occurred when both the length of respirations and total breaths per minute were locked in to a spooky symmetry: 5.5-second inhales followed by 5.5-second exhales, which works out almost exactly to 5.5 breaths a minute."
"It is a deficiency in the body that causes symptoms. Replace the deficient element, and the patient gets better."
"When we breathe too much, we expel too much carbon dioxide, and our blood pH rises to become more alkaline."
"Almost all cellular functions in the body take place at a blood pH of 7.4, our sweet spot between alkaline and acid."
"Constant buffering also weakens the bones, which try to compensate by dissolving their mineral stores back into the bloodstream."
"Breathing becomes even more difficult. This is one reason why asthmatics and other people with chronic respiratory problems are prescribed supplements like magnesium."
"All these people have a breathing problem. They’re stressed, they’re inflamed, they’re congested."
"The less one breathes, the more one absorbs the warming touch of respiratory efficiency—and the further a body can go."
"The yogi’s life is not measured by the number of his days, but the number of his breaths."
"Our mouths shrank, faces grew flatter, and sinuses plugged."
"Breathing slow, less, and exhaling deeply, I realized, none of it would really matter unless we were able to get those breaths through our noses, down our throats, and into the lungs."
"What looked like human progress had horrible consequences."
"Mouthbreathing changes the physical body and transforms airways, all for the worse."
"Humans have smaller mouths, crooked teeth, and more vulnerable airways than at any time in history."
"Every breath we take influences the systems of the body."
"Breathing too much can increase heart rate, blood pressure, and stress."
"The nose is a marvelous filter, a teacher, a pharmacy, and a guardian of our health."
"The right nostril is a gas pedal. When you're breathing through it, circulation speeds up, heating the body."
"The left nostril is the brake. When you're breathing through it, your body cools down, calming the mind."
"Breathing less, not more, will give you more energy, more focus, and more calm."
"Just a slight change in the way you breathe can make a world of difference to your health and happiness."
"Life isn't just about the number of breaths we take. It's about the moments that take our breath away."
"The breathing rate for an average male used to be about 13 times a minute for a total of 5.25 liters of air."
"By the 1980s and 1990s, several studies placed the mean breathing rate at closer to 10 to 12 breaths per minute."
"Beyond the anecdotes, dozens of studies suggest we could indeed be breathing more than we used to."
"An overview of how poorly we’re breathing can be found here."
"It’s worth mentioning that early Hindus calculated a normal respiratory rate at a much higher rate of 22,636 breaths a day."
"Running 400 meters, for instance, would require much more oxygen to keep up with metabolic needs."
"For steady, medium-level exercise like this, long breaths are far more efficient."
"Using 'slow and less' breathing techniques, subjects showed a significant VO2 max increase over a control group."
"Details from this biography were taken from several sources."
"Breath resistance devices like the Relaxator can help monitor a consistent flow of air."
"The most effective technique in hypoventilation training is to extend exhales and then hold the breath with lungs half-full."
"Just five minutes of this training can lower blood pressure by 12 points."
"Throughout our jogging, we used a device designed to restrict airflow during exhalations."
"The breathing rate for an average male has significantly increased over the decades."
"Studies suggest an increase in breathing volume over the years, possibly indicating a trend towards overbreathing."
"Think of the lungs as a solar panel; the larger the panel, the more cells there are to soak up sunlight, the more available energy."
"The effect of voluntary hyperventilation depends on multiple factors including regional blood distribution and changes in cardiac output."
"Ancient Indians believed the body contained from 72,000 to 350,000 channels."
"There was some very weird, and fascinating, government-supported research into the possibilities of moving this 'vital energy.'"
"The higher the capacity for endurance exercise, the larger the brain. Oxygen equals energy equals evolution."
"All living organisms are very much alike in regards to their chemical composition and reactive behavior."
"In every culture and in every medical tradition before ours, healing was accomplished by moving energy."
"If I had to limit my advice on healthier living to just one tip, it would be simply to learn how to breathe correctly."