I was not surprised to learn that I was breathing wrong, but it still feels wrong that I find myself having to fix it.
I'll say it up front: breathing through my nose only when exercising (running, calisthenics, jump roping, etc...) has improved my post-workout recovery. I no longer have to suck down water like I just traveled through the desert; I no longer have exercise-induced asthma from running in the cold.
Also: breathe it all out. You may feel like you're gasping for air, but I've found that exhaling more has improved the intake. Try it next time. When you're breathing heavy, do you actually exhale all the air you can, or do you continuously inhale before the full exhale, and just continue to push down the old air in your lungs.
Breath by James Nestor was a bit dry, but enlightening. I say dry mainly because there was no real passion focused on any techniques - or the change in breathing itself. It was, for all intents and purposes, an overview of Breathing techniques around the world and through history. But that is what I needed. He did the time, and it is fully worth the price.
Now, Mr. Nestor has introduced me to a host of new practices which I hope to visit over the next few months. While I would highly recommend reading the book, his list of breathing videos on his site are valuable on their own.
One thing I did realize after reading it was just how little follow through I tend to have. I stumbled on Wim Hof years ago, and made feeble attempts to do the breathing exercises. They were interesting, but I did not take them seriously. I'm still not doing them, but I will revisit it after some more time with the "through the nose only" exercises (note: these are not formal exercises in the book, just some takeaways that I found).
