Breathology? -"Bedlam 1946"-from the "Physics Diet" thread

[Cayenne]

Hey Bedlam:

I found your references to the Breathology book on the Physics Diet thread very interesting. The limited reviews on Amazon were quite favorable.

If you could please expand on your impressions of the book, I'd appreciate it. (I'm inclined to buy it.)

TIA

[Bedlam 0-0-0]

I bought the book mainly to get a World Class freediver's perspective on pranayama. The book covers a wide range of topics including pranayama, diet, cpr, bandhas, relaxation, breathholding, concentration and some asanas/warm ups. I have found there to be a general fear of pranayama in many yoga pracitioners that I have met due to the numerous cautions and prohibitions written about pranayama. There should be some fear but not so much that it prevents people from practicing. Breatheology makes pranayama more accessible than books like Iyengar's "Light on Pranayama" and in some parts gives a more scientific view of what is happening during breathing exercises. The presentation of the book goes a long way to alleviate the fear surrounding pranayama. Severinsen has participated in a number of experiments related to breathing and the book touches on these experiments which I found very interesting. If you are familiar with with pranayama the techniques in the book will be nothing new but I enjoy and continue to reference the book in my training. It is on my short list of yoga books that I think are worth their weight.

Xian and I discussed this book and maybe he will share his thoughts on the book as well.

[buckethead]

From a slightly different perspective, I didn't like it. Stig is the man, there is no doubt. But for me, this was way to loaded with mumbo jumbo and pseudo scientific BS. Even if you stripped all that out, there would be about 30+ breathing exercises that are interesting but not that novel. Alternate nostril, rythmic, etc...

[Cayenne]

Thanks for the replies Gents:

Bedlam: Is the fear you mention due to breath holding exercises? If not, what then ?

Buckethead: So not worth getting ? If not, best book you've found on the topic ?

[buckethead]

I've been up and around the bend on breathing and found myself not really sure exotic breathing exercises are all that necessary or effective.

Mindful breathing is always useful. Just put your awareness on breath and try to stay the hell out of the way. Shit, that's a life lesson everytime.

I did like Carl Stough's "Dr. Breath". His breathing coordination seems right.

[TerryB]

I just....I don't even...Words cannot...Just....

[Bedlam 0-0-0]

The fear people seem to have is from all the prohibitions and cautions that are written about in relation to different pranayam exercises. In addition there is usually a story of how somebody someone else knew went crazy doing some breathing exercise. If there are problems...stop the exercise. Problems don't start out full blown.

[nafod]

The F22 story made me think back to my days wearing an O2 mask, and then to yesterday, where I wore a trusty 3M Dust Mask while sanding my cedar strip-built kayak almost the whole day. Cedar dust being highly toxic to me, it turns out. I found that breathing through the mask made you really aware of your breathing due to the extra noise and a bit of additional effort required, which resulted in a chill experience.