Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor

6 reviews

ikiteahill's review against another edition

hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

5.0

Fascinating read and very accessible. I feel like there were so many points while reading this book when I thought about various people I need to send a copy of this book to. I learned a lot from this book and I feel motivated to practice breathwork more throughout my daily life to keep myself healthy. Very interested to get this author's other book, 'Deep'. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Chronic illness

Minor: Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

fkshg8465's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

5.0

Of course I started breathing more consciously while reading the book 😂. Some of what is described feels outside of convention, but I was raised on eastern medical practices, so none of it felt out of the realm of possibility. I’ll be rereading this book many times throughout my life. For as long as I have breath, I want to be living my best health.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Blood, and War

mi_chlo's review

informative inspiring medium-paced

4.0

This is the first non-fiction book I've read that has actually really captured my attention and taught me new things which I've actually absorbed and been able to tell others about

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Chronic illness, Death, Sexual content, and Medical content

Minor: Cancer, Cursing, Drug use, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol

euphemiajo's review against another edition

informative inspiring medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Animal death, Cancer, and Chronic illness

orcgrotto's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, and Mental illness

Minor: Death

emusing's review against another edition

medium-paced

It was an engaging read; I got through it fairly quickly and enjoyed it. I thought the section on panic disorders and possible therapies was very interesting. He acknowledged the successes of mainstream therapies, while also analyzing the problems in the system and offering a solution to look into.  I haven't tried many of the techniques in the back of the book yet, but I will try out some of them, although I'm definitely not doing any of the Breathing+ techniques.

There were some points in the book that just felt intuitive, for instance that using your diaphragm to breathe deeply is good (maybe that's just because I'm a theater nerd). There were some points that cited reputable-looking sources, such as the section on alternate-nostril breathing, although I didn't look deeper at the studies in the endnotes.

HOWEVER, there were also some techniques that seemed to be very dubious, and although Nestor has a disclaimer at the end of his book that you should see a doctor if you are facing serious medical problems, most of the book portrayed these procedures in a very uncritical light. 

Another problem I have with the book is that Nestor doesn't present any "healthy" alternatives to breathing through your nose if you have a deviated septum or other nose problems. While I understand that he may not have come across any methods like this, it would have been nice if he had devoted some time to it. 

tl;dr: An interesting book to read with a healthy dose of skepticism.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Eating disorder