november book of the month
Welcome to our first book recommendation of the month! The intention in sharing this is NOT to add another book to your list of things to do, but offer a resource to those that it resonates with. Remember that the only thing that matters when it comes to your personal healing journey is that the work you’re doing and resources that you utilize both resonate with you.
If you’ve been in our space, you’ve most likely seen our little book collection in entry room. These books have made major impacts on both Dr. Madison and I’s journey in this journey and continue to influence how we view and experience life.
My goal is to share a brief insight and/or synopsis of the book, share a picture and/or link, and include an “honorable mentions” list as well. Enjoy!
November Book of the Month:
If you’ve been receiving care with us, you’ve most likely heard us mention the breath during the adjusting process or in conversation. The ancients recognized the breath as the vehicle for prana, or the Life Force. Physiologically, our breath is intimately linked with the nervous system and all of the other major systems of the body; when we breathe fast, shallow, and through the chest, our sympathetic (fight or flight) system becomes engaged and our related physiology follows (think elevated heart rate, muscular engagement, adrenaline/cortisol secretion, etc). This is an incredible resource in the appropriate setting, but can become limiting in our every day life. When we breathe slow, intentionally, and through the belly, our parasympathetic (rest, digest, heal, connect) system is engaged and our related physiology follows (slowed heart rate, fuller lung capacity, oxytocin release, etc.). This is our preferred state of being and is intimately linked with the ventral vagal component of our nervous system (more on this in later on or add to your list of topics to research).
Our breath, like everything else we experience in our body, can be a profound insight into how our body and nervous system are doing in each and every moment and can be gently and intentionally shifted to move us to our desired state of being.
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To get to the good stuff - James Nestor wrote this book a few years ago and took a deep dive into the study of breathing and how it influences our physiology and experiences of life.
Some highlights:
James and his colleague underwent an experiment with multi-day mouth breathing (yikes) v.s. nasal breathing (do this) and dove into the subjective experience of both. If you’ve played around with this, you understand how drastic the difference is. If you haven’t, take some intentional time in the next hour or two and feel the changes that happen when you breathe in/out through your nose v.s. your mouth; begin to note the subtle shifts in how you’re feeling.
The book highlights the physiology of breath, breath-work practices from around the world (ie holotropic breathwork, Wim Hof, box breathing, etc.), and the breath’s implications in the structure of our face and jaw (and obviously much more) and how those relate to our well-being. My favorite practice he shared was an exercise to expand our vital capacity (max amount of air that can be exhaled after a deep inhale) - start by taking a deep belly breath in and outwardly count from 1 to 10 (ie 1-2-3-etc.) over and over again without inhaling until only a whisper of breath is exhaled and repeat 5-10 times. Over time you can bring this practice into your walks or hikes or lower-intensity movement and really amplify your system’s capacity for breath.
For me, this book really upgraded my understanding of why the breath is so important and came at a really interesting time when we were all told to cover our noses and mouths for endless months on end. If you’re on social media, you’ve undoubtedly been bombarded with information on breathing, breath work, and the like. If those are overwhelming, you’re not alone; I recommend starting with this book that is a beautiful primer on breathing. If you’re into science and appreciate applicable tools and exercises to improve your breathing and experience of life, this is one to pick-up (at your local bookstore of course).
Dr. Chris