I am sure this is how a part of me felt, as I opened the first page of the book Breath by James Nestor, taking shallow breaths through my half-open mouth. Last night had been another one of those restless nights for me, where I had struggled to breathe, tossing and turning while feeling like I was suffocating. The harder I breathed, the more out of breath I felt. This had become such a common experience for me that I hardly felt bothered by it anymore. I’d always chalk it up to some excuse. Oh, I ate too much before going to sleep. I just ate acidic food. I did too many push-ups in the afternoon, probably, and hurt my chest muscles or something. It’s just anxiety. I’m just imagining it.

Less than 50 pages into the book, I was sitting slack-jawed. Have I really been breathing incorrectly my entire life? Is it really that simple? I closed my mouth and took a long, deep breath. And then nothing was the same ever again.

Worst Breathers in the Animal Kingdom

According to the American Lung Association, in 2023, close to 35 million American adults reported being diagnosed with chronic lung disease. While the decline of air quality due to pollution has some role to play, the major reason why so many people are experiencing breathing problems today might come down to something much more fundamental: the act of breathing itself.

Modern humans are terrible breathers. That is the simplest way to put it. We breathe too much. We breathe too fast. And we breathe through our mouths, leaving our specialized organ, designed specifically for the act of breathing, our nose, to just hang there, serving no purpose.

The average human breath today lasts around 4 seconds, which results in around 15 breaths per minute. This is considered normal. However, normal does not mean optimal or healthy. Normal merely indicates that it is what most people are doing.

The problem with such short and fast breaths is that, even though we’re inhaling large amounts of oxygen, we expel too much carbon dioxide out of our bodies in the process. Carbon dioxide is essential for the effective absorption of oxygen into the bloodstream. Without it, it does not matter how much oxygen we get into our lungs; most of that oxygen will never make it into our bloodstream, which is exactly what happens during hyperventilation. The person who is hyperventilating is getting plenty of oxygen into their lungs; however, because they’re exhaling too much carbon dioxide, most of that oxygen is just exhaled out, leaving them breathless and feeling suffocated.

And then there is the problem of mouth breathing. Our noses are designed for the purpose of breathing. They regulate the temperature of the air entering our body and filter out dust and other pollutants. However, when we breathe through our mouths, we’re taking in raw, unfiltered air, which destroys our lungs over the long run. Mouth breathing is directly related to increased heart rate and blood pressure because it decreases the body’s carbon dioxide retention. It is also the reason why humans are the only animals with chronically crooked teeth and facial deformities.

Despite these facts, modern medicine puts little to no emphasis on breathing correctly. When you visit the doctor for a check-up, never do they ask you, “How are you breathing?” “Are you breathing through your nose or mouth?” “Are you breathing slowly?” These are questions we have to start asking ourselves.

The Perfect Breath: Spooky 5.5

Through the nose. 5.5-second inhale. 5.5-second exhale. 5.5 breaths per minute. 5.5 liters of air intake per minute.

This is the formula for a perfect breath. Of course, you don’t have to be so precise.

The goal is not to get more oxygen into your system, but instead to decrease the amount of carbon dioxide you expel with each other. And this can be done by breathing less. Elevated levels of carbon dioxide in our body increase our body’s capacity for oxygen consumption. Essentially, when we breathe less and we breathe slowly, our body becomes better at absorbing oxygen. This helps us live longer and healthier lives.

Breathing slowly, breathing less, and breathing through our nose decreases our heart rate and blood pressure, two things that are heavily correlated with longevity. In the Animal Kingdom, animals with the lowest heart rates live the longest. Blue Whales, for example, have a heart rate of 16–24 beats per minute and live up to 90 years. Tortoises live up to 150 years with a heart rate of 10–25 beats per minute.

So, the action plan is clear. Breathe less. Breathe slowly. Breathe through your nose. Bring your heart rate down. Live long and healthy.

A Divine & Lost Art

Breathing is a lost art, which is only now being rediscovered. In the long histories of the various religions of the world, you can find traces of breathing techniques disguised as prayers and rituals. The Buddhist mantra often chanted by monks, Om mani Padme hum, is composed of a 6-second vocalization (exhale) followed by a 6-second pause (inhale). The vocalizations of Kundalini Yoga, Sa ta na ma, also follow the same pattern. Similar breathing techniques can be found hidden in the spiritual and religious practices of various different cultures all across the globe, including Japanese, African, Hawaiian, Native American, Buddhist, Taoist, and Muslim.

A Chinese Taoist text from the 8th century AD calls the nose the “heavenly door” and emphasizes that the breath must be taken through it. “Never do otherwise, for breath would be in danger and illness would set in.”

In the Bible, Genesis 2:7 states that “the Lord formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”

A Chinese adage from 700 AD says: “What the bodily form depends on is breath (chi) and what breath relies upon is form. When the breath is perfect, the form is perfect (too).”

“Miracles” of Proper Breathing

The history books are filled with exceptional examples of the positive effects of breathing properly.

In 1968, the U.S. men’s running team, trained by Dr. Stough to breathe less and breathe slowly even during physical training, set five world records in the Olympics. During that year, American runners were the only ones not to use oxygen before or after the race.

A study in Brisbane, Australia, observed a 70% decrease in breathlessness in asthmatic adults by merely decreasing their air intake by a third. Over the years, there have been a host of other clinical trials that have yielded similar results. There have been records of various diseases and illnesses, which on the surface seem to have no relation to the breath, being cured or significantly eased simply by breathing less and breathing slowly.

Then there are the adventures of the 19th-century painter and researcher, George Catlin, who travelled the Americas and studied the lives of various Native Indian tribes. Within every Native Indian tribe, Catlin noticed a strong emphasis on nasal breathing. Catlin wrote that all these people had perfect teeth and facial structures. According to Catlin, they started nasal breathing as babies. Mothers would gently place their index finger on the babies’ lips, guiding them to breathe through their nose, a habit that would carry over into their adult lives. The Natives believed that mouth breathing made us weak and caused all kinds of diseases — beliefs which are now scientifically regarded as facts today.

Conclusion

It all starts with awareness. The reason we are bad at breathing is because we pay it no mind. We are too busy. All it takes is a few minutes of conscious effort to get started. Even a few minutes of slow, deep breathing through the nose a day can significantly boost health. Of course, the longer you do it, the better. But no matter what, you always want to breathe through your nose.

We look for all sorts of complex solutions to living a better life. But living a good life is all about getting the fundamentals right. And what’s more fundamental than breathing?

Happy breathing.