James Nestor

Breathe.

Do you know the power of this single word? 

We usually take this ability for granted. But do you know that breathing, particularly if done through the nose, is not just beneficial to our physical health but also to our mental and sexual health?

Today’s episode talks about the power of optimizing something as simple as breathing and how it can make a difference in our lives. With the help of author and journalist James Nestor, we will rediscover the long-forgotten truth about breathing and finally understand how we’re doing it wrong.

Whether you’re an athlete, a sufferer of sleep apnea, or just looking for meditative ways to go through life’s challenges and surprises, you’ll surely find value in today’s episode!

So take a deep breath, and let’s dive in!

Who Is James Nestor?

My guest today is author and journalist James Nestor. He has written for Scientific American, Outside Magazine, The New York Times, The Atlantic, National Public Radio, Surfer’s Journal, The San Francisco Chronicle, and several other publications. 

In short, James Nestor believes that the world has lost the ability to breathe properly. 

After spending his years in laboratories and ancient burial sites with researchers from educational institutions like Stanford and the University of Pennsylvania, he finally learned what went wrong with our breathing and found ways to fix it.

He discovered that the problem lies in the fact that an estimated 25% to 50% of the population habitually breathes through their mouths. He believes that being conscious of the proper way to breathe would save us from stress and diseases and give us the deep relaxing sleep we have always wanted.

From his discovery, James has spent the last several years working on a book called Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art. It was released on May 26, 2020, and was an instant New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Los Angeles Times, Sunday London Times Top 10 bestseller.

James continues to educate his friends and other people on the positive impacts that changing a simple habit such as breathing can do in your life and protect you against diseases. And today, he shares his breathing expertise with you all so you can improve your health, happiness, and overall life. 

The Truth About Breathing: Why We Should Breathe Through Our Noses

The beauty of breathing lies in the fact that it requires no practice. This is because breathing is something that our bodies naturally do! Though it is simple and natural for living organisms, it can be a powerful tool to achieve a life of health and happiness. 

By breathing properly, we can let go of the negativities that surround us and achieve a state of mindfulness. We all know that the ability to be positive and live in the present even during life’s challenges is a gift that only we can give ourselves.

James pointed out that despite the benefits of breathing, many do not know that there is a correct way of doing it. According to him, many of us breathe through our mouths, which is definitely not the right way to do it:

“Breathe with your nose. When you are breathing through your nose, you are humidifying the air. You’re pressurizing and filtering it so that you can use that air so much more efficiently. Yes, we can breathe through our mouths, and that’s a wonderful thing. But this does not mean that you should be breathing through your mouth the whole day.” – James Nestor

This is the first foundational truth of breathing that we need to understand. By remembering to breathe through our noses, we are opening ourselves to endless benefits to our physical, mental, and emotional health. James laid out other truths that come with proper breathing that I’d love to share with you!!

• Truth #1. There are many negative effects of being a mouth breather. You make yourself more susceptible to respiratory ailments, and you deny yourself of more oxygen. When mouth breathing starts at a young age, you can also change your facial structure’s shape. The bones in your face and jaw will start forming to that slack jog posture, resulting in a long face. 
• Truth #2. We take the art of practicing how to breathe for granted. This lack of understanding of how to breathe is the reason for the many challenges we are faced with as humans — whether it be our teeth, inflammation, or the ability to exert energy in workouts.
• Truth #3. When we breathe through our noses, we dictate how the air should be coming in and how we should be using it. It’s harder to breathe through the nose because it requires more time to pressurize the air that enters it. This allows our lungs to absorb more oxygen. You get 20% more oxygen breathing through your nose than you do from equivalent breaths through your mouth.
• Truth #4. There is no such thing as a “best breathing strategy routine.” Everyone’s different! Some people may benefit from deep breathing, while others prefer the Wim Hof Method. What is important, though, is to breathe through your nose.
• Truth #5. There are many reasons why we cannot breathe through our noses. It can be because of sleeping disorders such as sleep apnea (which can be solved through oral pharyngeal exercises) or other environmental factors. Add pollution, allergens, or working in an office in an uncomfortable chair to the combination, and you have stress as the answer. By this time, you can’t take a deep breath, even if you want to. 
• Truth #6. Breathing through our noses has the benefit of allowing air to enter our nostrils alternately. This natural cycle affects us physiologically and mentally. There are about 20 years of studies showing that you will lower blood pressure when you breathe through the left nostril and stimulate more of your brain’s right creative side. When you breathe through the right nostril, you’ll experience the opposite effect. It stimulates you — blood pressure goes up, heart rate goes up. This is similar to a yoga practice called alternate nostril breathing. Using alternate nostrils can elicit different moods or put you into different emotional states.
• Truth #7. Research and science back up the claim that breathing through the nose can help cure asthma or other respiratory problems.
• Truth #8. Breathing through the nose can help those who struggle with extreme anxiety or panic attacks. By controlling your breathing, you can take control of your thoughts. 80% of the messages are coming from the body to the brain, not from the brain to the body. So allow yourself to think, but slow down your breathing to the way that you should be breathing. You will then start shooting calming messages into your brain to take control of those emotions.
• Truth #9. Breathing through your nose releases a significant amount of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide can be artificially produced in laboratories and is found in sex enhancement drugs such as Viagra. Also, nitric oxide helps to fight or reduce symptoms for viruses responsible for flu and COVID-19. 
• Truth #10. Proper breathing can reverse aging. This has to do with enlarging lung size, leading to larger lung capacity. Lung size is a very accurate marker for life span. You can’t do anything about your genetics, but you can do something about your breathing. If you can really focus on that, your body’s health will show some substantial difference.