We all breathe – 25,000 times a day – so why aren’t we better at it?

Covid-19 has been bad news for writers with books coming out — unless the book is about breathing. We’re all now gripped by our airways, by the significance of a runny nose, a sore throat or chest tightness. We know to dread that once obscure symptom, anosmia. We debate the risks of breathing through two-ply cotton. Thousands of ITU patients delegate their respiratory effort to machines that punch at compliant lungs. The world was winded by George Floyd’s last words: ‘I can’t breathe.’

James Nestor’s fascinating new book is playful and optimistic. Everyone breathes — 25,000 times each day — but few of us are good at it. Evolution prioritised Homo sapiens’ large brains and complex voices, leaving our respiratory apparatus short on space. Bad breathing habits have worsened the situation. Modern nostrils are pinched, nasal septa bent, sinuses poky, teeth crooked, necks thick, diaphragms sluggish. In fact 90 per cent of us have some form of ‘malocclusion’, says Nestor. This puts us at greater risk of chronic illness, mental health problems and infectious diseases.

Everyone breathes – 25,000 times a day – but few of us are good at it

At its heart, Breath is about enhancement rather than sickness. Nestor collaborates with a troop of ‘pulmonauts’ — mainly male, self-taught body-hackers, experimenting on themselves to discover truths ignored by doctors. For three weeks, he shares his home laboratory with a Swedish breathing enthusiast. No scented candles take the edge off as they suffer through their ‘breathing+’ challenges, surrounded by pulse oximeters, blood pressure cuffs, stop watches and exercise equipment. The resulting headaches, sweating and hallucinations are more than most of us could bear.