Why breath should be not taken for granted?

At the start of 2020, a small team of scientists tried and failed to convince public health organizations that COVID-19 was spread through the air we breathe. Until then, scientists thought that respiratory diseases spread through droplets, and that these droplets had a limited range. Coughed up, these droplets fell quickly to the ground, to use the disgusting terminology of the 1990s which health officials use while speaking about tuberculosis. In reality, however, breath has been a medium of transmission of most invisible things.

Such new insights into the living atmosphere come courtesy Carl Zimmer, through his book Air-Borne: The Hidden History of the Life we Breathe. The text follows the research where Louis Pasteur caught germs from the air and pursues groundbreaking experiments by Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh. It warns the world about airborne infections and chronicles the dark side of aerobiology designed to spread anthrax, smallpox, and an array of other pathogens. Rather than to be taken for granted, the importance of the natural process of human breath is once again established. 

Protecting the most vital of all life processes calls for a well-thought-out strategy. Breath is in itself of immense value -- one breath in and one breath out is the manifestation of life. A breath alone brings a newborn to life; the body turns pink as the first breath gets in. And the last breath accounts for life. The power that ripples through the whole universe comes in the form of breath.

It is an intuitive act of inhaling and exhaling, which is repeated 25,000 times a day. This natural act, often taken for granted, is counted as a necessary biological activity. It is precious nonetheless, but it is more than just an exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. ‘Breath,’ says Prem Rawat, ‘is the greatest mystery, out of nowhere it comes to nowhere it goes.’ In his book, Breath: Wake Up to Life, Rawat writes that breath is the beginning of life, the sustaining of life, and when it ceases, it is also the end of life.

The invaluable gift

Breath is an invaluable gift, but only if it is taken that way. Traditional practices related to breathing value breath and even try to prolong and preserve it. Sage Patanjali has his pranayama practices that add value to age-old breathing practices that have gained popularity among the health conscious. Buddha counted breath as an essential link between the human body and consciousness. The breathing process has many hidden features that are gaining wide acceptance. That breath fuels all life forms and extinguishes it too, is a lived reality. The natural act of breathing, now counted as a biological privilege, is a precious gift given in abundance.

Breathing must be correctively done because nine out of ten people don’t breathe correctly -- aggravating a laundry list of chronic diseases, according to James Nestor. It is surprising that hospitals only deal with breathing emergencies related to specific maladies of the lungs. It is only in recent years that breathing as a branch of medical emergencies has been acknowledged.

The correct way to breathe

The way to correct breathing is an individual responsibility, but to consider that it is a pretty simple act that is well understood could be a fallacy. Only by following a tough breathing regime could four hours of daily snoring be just ten minutes. For this incredible change to happen, one has to go through an awful experience of forcefully breathing through the mouth for the first ten days and revert to nasal breathing for another ten days with lips sealed with a piece of tape. The longer one breathes through the nose, the nasal cavities get clearer and bigger, writes Nestor in his new book, Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art.

Inhaling-exhaling techniques are around for several millennia. Over the years, however, these techniques are being rediscovered and scientifically validated. “The fruits of this once-fringe, often forgotten research are now redefining the potential of the human body,” explains Nestor. Limited but cutting-edge research in pulmology, psychology, biochemistry, and physiology has already demonstrated that many modern maladies – asthma, anxiety, psoriasis – could either be reduced or reversed simply by changing the way we inhale and exhale. 

Stories on the magical aspects of breathing abound in the world of yoga practitioners, as popularity of yoga in the past two decades has brought a large number of huffing and puffing exponents in public spaces. Whether or not they are breathing better remains to be ascertained. From alternate nostril breathing to breathing coordination, and from resonant breathing to Buteyko breathing -- all techniques of breathing impact human health and longevity.

Nestor raises hopes of revolutionizing the health sector by generating a renewed interest in breathing techniques to act as a preventive medicine that helps in retaining balance in the body such that milder problems don’t end up being serious health issues. However, modern medicine has yet to take serious note of this wisdom generated by Buddhist monks over two millennia ago. If face is the index of mind, breath is the indicator of human well-being.

Breath
by Prem Rawat
St. Martin’s Press, New York
Extent: 180, Price: US$ 30.

Air-borne: The Hidden History of Life We Breathe
by Carl Zimmer
Dutton Press, USA
Extent: 492, Price: US$ 17.60.

Breath: The New Science of Lost Art
by James Nestor
Penguin, New Delhi
Extent: 304, Price: Rs. 433.

First published in The Hindu on June 19, 2025.

The airways of healthy existence

If face is the index of mind, breath is the indicator of human well-being. 

It fuels all life forms but extinguishes it too. Breath makes things come alive, so much that the natural act of breathing is taken for granted. That is where the problem lies because breathing is more than the intuitive act of inhaling and exhaling. Repeated 25,000 times a day, it has the potential to rejuvenate internal organs provided the extraordinary act of breathing is properly followed. Simply put, nine out of ten of us don’t breathe correctly - causing or aggravating a laundry list of chronic diseases. And hospitals only deal with breathing emergencies related to specific maladies of the lungs. With that be so, what then is the way out? 

The way to correct breathing is an individual responsibility, and we owe it to none other. But to consider that it is a pretty simple act that is well understood could be a fallacy. It is here that Breath comes handy to help the reader breathe like never before, and science writer James Nestor peps it up with his personal experience of making breathing a lived experience of immense possibilities. Only by following a tough breathing regime could the author get his four hours of daily snoring reduced to just ten minutes. For this incredible change to happen, he had to go through an awful experience of forcefully breathing through the mouth for first ten days, as his nostrils were plugged, and revert to nasal breathing for another ten days with his lips sealed with a piece of tape. The longer one breathes through the nose, the clearer and bigger nasal cavities do the rest.     

Breath is an account of a protracted journey into the world of breathing, which turns the conventional wisdom of what we thought we knew about our most basic biological function on its head. In a decade of travelling, research, and self-experimentation the author found that the benefits of breathing are vast, at times unfathomable. While many drugs don’t work for panic, anxiety, and other fear-based conditions, slow and steady breathing acts like an effective therapy. Breathing is a missing pillar of health. More important than what we eat or how much we exercise, it is 1.7 pounds of oxygen our cells consume from our daily intake of air that passes through our lungs. The most interesting aspect is that unlike other drugs, breathing as a therapy works for everybody.    

Most of what Nestor found aren’t new discoveries though. A sizeable majority of it, including inhaling-exhaling techniques, are around for several millennia. Over the years, however, these techniques are being rediscovered and scientifically validated. ‘The fruits of this once-fringe, often forgotten research are now redefining the potential of the human body’. Limited but cutting-edge research in pulmology, psychology, biochemistry, and physiology has already demonstrated that many modern maladies – asthma, anxiety, psoriasis – could either be reduced or reversed simply by changing the way we inhale and exhale. Breath is a life changing book that generates new interest on a subject that has eluded modern medicine for long. 

It's interesting how mere curiosity of having benefitted from a breathing course triggered Nestor’s interest in exploring new science in the ‘lost art’. Stories on the magical aspects of breathing abound in the world of yoga practitioners, as popularity of yoga in the past two decades has brought a large number of huffing and puffing exponents in public spaces. Whether or not they are breathing better remains to be ascertained. From alternate nostril breathing to breathing coordination, and from resonant breathing to Buteyko breathing, Nestor has explored all techniques of breathing that make impact on human health and longevity. Having experienced the impact of proper breathing, the author considers himself a self-styled 'pulmonaut' ready to take the readers on a breathing mission. 

Breath raises hope of revolutionizing the health sector by generating renewed interest in beathing techniques to act as a preventive medicine that helps in retaining balance in the body such that milder problems don’t blossom into more serious health issues. Should we lose that balance from time to time, breathing can often bring it back. Afterall, even a small change in the body functions is reflected in its breathing pattern. However, modern medicine has yet to take a serious note of this wisdom generated by the Buddhist monks over two millennia ago. If face is the index of mind, breath is the indicator of human well-being.  

James Nestor, an accomplished writer who lives and breathes in San Francisco, deserves credit for drawing a comprehensive scientific treatise on a subject that has thus far remained part of the cultural traditions of many societies. By validating it scientifically, he lends credence to breathing for its widespread adoption. Breath claims that once it is read, you will never breathe the same again. And there is virtue in letting that claim be.

Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art 
by James Nestor
Penguin Life, New Delhi 
Extent: 280, Price: Rs. 699.

First published in the Hindustan Times on Nov 26, 2022.