In this episode of Bulletproof Radio, you’re going to learn how to breathe. And the person who’s going to explain it is my guest James Nestor. He’s a San Francisco-based science journalist, author, surfer, free diver, adventurer, and speaker. His new book, "Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art,” takes on a topic that we all take for granted.

So why is the topic of breathing so fascinating? Apparently, as “natural as breathing” really isn’t. Our breathing has evolved, and not for the better. Even though we think we know how to do it, our lives since the Industrial Age have been disrupted in ways that now are harming us. 

James set out on a decade-long quest to find out where our breathing went wrong—and how to fix it. He uncovered the history of ancient breathing techniques and the science behind breathing. His book draws on thousands of years of medical texts and recent cutting-edge studies in pulmonology, psychology, biochemistry, and human physiology. He takes an intense and interesting look at this basic biological function of ours. 

One of the astounding things he discovered had to do with mouth breathing. 

“Twenty-five to 50 percent of the population are chronic mouth breathers,” James says. “So, we don't use our noses either because we can’t, because they're always plugged up, or we just choose not to. … So many people have chronic sinus. So many people are mouth breathing. And so many people have asthma that we've accepted this as completely normal, and it's not. And the science is very clear what damage this is doing to us as a population.”

You’ll be thrilled at the stuff you’ll learn in this episode that you didn’t know before. From bone structure to oxygen intake to heart rate–and even your genitalia–breathing is at the center of it all.  

James is here to talk about ways that proper breathing can help heal modern medical conditions, ease anxiety and basically change your life.

Enjoy! And get more resources at https://blog.daveasprey.com/category/podcasts/

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