James Nestor

Nothing about this place had changed. The threadbare Persian rug. The paint-chipped window that rattles in the breeze. The rumble of diesel trucks chugging up Page Street and the jaundiced streetlight illuminating bits of falling lint. A few of the faces are the same, too: there's the guy with priso…

Things seemed to be going so well in the region, until around 2000 BCE, when a drought hit, causing much of the population to disperse. Then Aryans from the northwest moved in. These weren't the blond-haired, blue-eyed soldiers of Nazi lore but black-haired barbarians from Iran. The Aryans took the …

"Nature is simple but subtle." This premise can be applied to life on the planet today. The more oxygen life can consume, the more electron excitability it gains, the more animated it becomes. When living matter is bristling and able to absorb and transfer electrons in a controlled way, it remains h…

After several rounds of deep breaths to open my rib cage, Martin asked me to start counting from one to ten over and over with every exhale. "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10; 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 - then keep repeating it," she said. At the end of the exhale, when I was so out of breath I coul…

This was the Indus-Sarasvati civilization, named after the two rivers that flowed through the valley. The Indus-Sarasvati was the largest geographically—some 300,000 square miles—and one of the most advanced of ancient human civilizations. As far as is known, the Indus Valley had no churches or temp…

Breathing this way wasn't necessary," Martin told me. "Our bodies can survive on short and clipped breaths for decades, and many of us do. That doesn't mean it's good for us. Over time, shallow breathing will limit the range of our diaphragms and lung capacity and can lead to the high-shouldered, ch…

Once a day, they we're to lie down, take a brief inhale, and then exhale to a count of 6. As they progressed, they could inhale to a count of 4 and exhale to 8, with the goal of reaching a half-minute exhale after six months of practice.

Rama revealed some of his secrets of prana control in group lessons and videos. He recommended students begin by harmonizing their breathing, by removing the pause between inhalations and exhalations so that every breath was one line connected with no end. When this practice felt comfortable, he ins…

Even more confounding are the monks of both Bön and Buddhist traditions, who practice a mellower version of Tummo that stimulates the opposite physiological response. These monks don't huff and puff. Instead, they sit cross-legged and breathe slow and less, inducing a state of extreme relaxation and…

Feinstein and a group of neurosurgeons, psychologists, and research assistants set up an experiment at a laboratory at the University of Iowa hospital. They brought S. M. in and sat her down at a desk, fitting an inhaler mask over her face, connected to an inhaler bag that contained a few lungfuls o…

During rest, about 750 milliliters of blood—enough to fill a full wine bottle—flows through the brain every minute. Blood flow can increase a little during exercise just as it does in other parts of the body, but it will usually stay consistent. That changes when we breathe heavily. Whenever the bod…

Here's the information: To practice Wim Hof's breathing method, start your head. Relax the shoulders, chest, and legs. Take a very deep breath by finding a quiet place and lying flat on your back with a pillow under into the pit of your stomach and let it back out just as quickly. Keep breathing thi…

I ran through a few rounds, counting quickly and loudly, then silently mouthing the numbers. At the end of each breath, it felt like my chest had been plastic-wrapped and my abs had just gone through a brutal workout. "Keep going!" Martin said.

Breathing this way wasn't necessary, Martin told me. Our bodies can survive on short and clipped breaths for decades, and many of us do. That doesn't mean it's good for us. Over time, shallow breathing will limit the range of our diaphragms and lung capacity and can lead to the high-shouldered, ches…