The Breathing Book: Good Health and Vitality Through Essential Breath Work

I guess I bought this book a few years ago, when I was dealing with some insomnia, and developing a meditation practice. I don't do much in the way of yoga, but am an avid swimmer, and stretch each day. Recently I noticed the need to combine my stretching and my breathing, using my breath to find the stretch. After more searching to find a book in that vein, I came back to the Breathing Book. This has it all: understanding your breath, using it to stretch, to grow, to meditate. I can't imagine how much work went into making this book just right. It's wonderful, nuanced, appropriate, accessible, complete. It has just the right amount of pranayama, just enough to start meditating (though I use a different method), just enough to find a good stretch, to find your "history" in your body and release it. It's good for beginners as well as more advanced students. I've read many books on the subjects of meditation and breathing. This is the go to if you want to start a practice on the breathing side. And, btw, yes, meditation and breathing practices are effective in treating insomnia and anxiety.

Clear & to the Point, helpful

Having chronic breathing problems, I've read a lot of books about self-help breathing techniques. This is one of the best, as it has info even I hadn't read before. For starters, when people try to breathe properly from the diaphragm (instead of from the upper chest), they can develop an equally bad habit of tightening other chest muscles, to stop the upper-chest breathing. The author stresses the importance of allowing the entire body to be part of the breathing cycle, and she gives many exercises to help the reader do just that. The black-and-white photos and diagrams are helpful learning aids, as well.

Sitting and breathing well is the weakest part of my yoga practice. This book has been quite helpful. Her style is good. Now to make myself finish the second half. It does take some time to work through it correctly so I keep putting it off even though I know it's a real benefit. Typical.

This book really helped me deal with some of the dysfunctional ways in which I breathe. Often, when I have been in the middle of a yoga class, I have found myself all tangled up in the breathing: when the instructor says to breathe in, I am halfway into an outbreath. I tense up trying to do the pose, so I breathe high up in my chest and fail to bring enough breath into my body to maintain the position. Like many women, I don't always breathe into the sides of my abdomen. The author gives experiments that help the reader diagnose where the problems are. Then there are excellent exercises to open up where one needs to or to strengthen an area that is weak. I intend to keep it close to my side as a tool and reference for both hatha and meditation practice.

This book is very easy to read - has lots of pictures and diagrams with great explanations. I have a lot of tension in my shoulders - the left side in particular - and when I feel the burn of tension, I know I'm not breathing properly. It helps SO MUCH! I can get the pain to go away almost instantly when I realize how I am breathing. I constantly check in with myself now. It definitely helps me feel more grounded and just plain better in general. And I'm not even through the entire book yet - I can't wait to see how much it helps in other areas - such as with my horses!

Plenty tools to work with to help me in various ways! Excited to learn more on this subject and use these tools/exercises regularly.

Donna Farhi is an extraordinarily gifted teacher and author. This book has been a wonderful adjunct to my yoga library. As a teacher, both in the college system and in the yoga studio, I have found many helpful tips from this gem of a book. In the book, she teaches specific practices of Pranayama and also the physiology of breath, hitting both Western and Eastern traditions of healing. If you have in interest in learning more about the power of breath and energy, this book will be a good guide for you.