My choir director assigned this book for us to read and discuss (online, right now). I am so glad she did. This is an amazing book; I had no idea of the intricacies of breathing. While I certainly know how to breathe to sing, this book will add to my knowledge, and, hopefully, allow me to sing better. The author posits that we have lost the ability to breathe properly and it's to our detriment. He includes info on years of medical texts (ancient and modern) and recent cutting edge studies in not only pulmonology but psychology, biochemistry, and human physiology. Non-singers will appreciate the engaging way the author discusses the research, including reading about how he experimented on himself with various breathing techniques. I highly recommend this book.Publisher Description:
No matter what you eat, how much you exercise, how skinny or young or wise you are, none of it matters if you're not breathing properly. There is nothing more essential to our health and well-being than breathing: take air in, let it out, repeat twenty-five thousand times a day. Yet, as a species, humans have lost the ability to breathe correctly, with grave consequences. Journalist James Nestor travels the world to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it.