Many children diagnosed with ADHD are actually suffering from sleep deprivation caused by breathing issues like snoring or sleep apnea. Assessing a child's breathing and sleep quality should be the first step, as it is often overlooked in favor of medication.
Hotels with "LEED Certified" plaques frequently have the worst indoor air quality. To save on heating and cooling, they recirculate air from all rooms, trapping CO2 and causing cognitive decline, headaches, and poor sleep for guests.
Contrary to popular belief, many elite athletes have suboptimal breathing mechanics, relying on shallow chest breathing instead of their diaphragm. This wastes energy and raises their heart rate. Retraining their breath is a key, often overlooked, way to unlock significant performance gains.
The concept of "writer's block" is largely absent among writers whose livelihood depends on meeting deadlines. They treat writing as a job, pushing through any lack of inspiration to produce work—a mindset applicable to any creative profession.
Many people jump into complex breathwork classes while ignoring their foundational breathing, which is often dysfunctional (e.g., mouth breathing). Mastering normal, efficient nasal breathing provides more significant and sustainable health benefits than occasional, intense breathwork sessions.
When faced with overwhelming research (290,000 words), author James Nestor found clarity by structuring his book around a simple, 20-day personal experiment. This narrative "through-line" provided a skeleton to hang complex topics on, making the book engaging and coherent.
Research found that diverse prayers, like Buddhist mantras and the Catholic Rosary, all guide practitioners into a breathing rate of ~5.5 breaths per minute. This "coherent breathing" state maximizes heart rate variability and blood pressure regulation, suggesting an ancient, embedded wisdom for physiological balance.
"Email apnea"—the unconscious habit of holding your breath while concentrating—raises blood pressure and creates stress. Using a simple oral device like a "Relaxator" provides slight resistance, reminding your body to maintain a steady, calm breathing rhythm during intense focus.
The Body Oxygen Level Test (BOLT) is a practical way to track breathing efficiency. It measures how long you can comfortably hold your breath after a normal exhale. A higher score indicates better CO2 tolerance and more efficient oxygen delivery, which can be improved with practice.