Breathing Expert James Nestor | This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von #641

Just a reminder guys, you can now watch. video versions of our episodes on. Spotify as well. Today's guest is a best-selling author. and scientific journalist. He's known. for his expertise on breathing and. breathwork. He just published a new. edition of his book breath, the new. science of a lost art. Uh, I'm going to. learn a lot and so are you. Today's. guest is Mr. James Nestor.

>> [music]. >> Uh, James Nestor. Good to see you today, brother. Thanks. for having me. You bet. Um, you have a new a revised edition of. your New York Times bestseller breath. The new science of a lost art. That's. it. And you believe that how we breathe.

can change every aspect of our lives. I don't believe this. I know this. And. not every aspect, but many aspects. Many. aspects that people would not suspect. So, it can change our athletic. performance, uh, vastly improve it. It. can allow us to sleep better, allow us. to think better, better sex if you're. into that kind of thing. Um, a whole. bunch of other, uh, measurable. improvements to our lives and nobody's. really thinking about it. Yeah, I guess. it's something that we just don't think.

about very often, you know? It's just. it's it's it's it's odd because it's. happening all the time, but it's not on. the front of our brains. We don't think. about it because we've evolved not to. think about, which is great. I mean, if. we had to think about every single. breath we were taking all the time, how. awful that would be. But it works in the. background and the problem is we develop. really bad habits and those habits start. working on the background and we don't. notice that those negative breathing. habits are affecting how often we get. headaches, how tired we are, the amount.

of cavities that we're getting, on and. on and on. And so people just don't. think about it because they don't need. to, but if they would start to and start. taking conscious control of this, we. know it has vast improvements. Is that. why you call it a lost art? It's a lost. art, yeah, because ancient cultures, you. look back in ancient Hindu cultures, ancient Chinese cultures, even ancient. Native American cultures, they all. celebrated breathing as a medicine. This. was something they really focused on. It. was as essential as the food you were.

eating or the amount of exercise you. were getting. >> Yeah, cuz it really is a diet for your. lungs. It's a diet. We get most of our. energy from air. Wow. Not from food and not from drink, from air. I can prove this. If you hold. your breath for 6 minutes, you're going. to go unconscious, right? Your body's. going to start to shut down, but you can. go without food for for how long? 40. days, something? You can go without. water for maybe a week and a half or so, but if you go without breathing for a.

few minutes, you're gone. Yeah. Why yeah, you don't even think about. that, how crucial it is, how crucial of. a supplement it is to every moment of. our lives. I know you have so many. amazing practices that you've taught. people and I want to learn some of. those. Take me a little bit through the. history of breathing. Like, what were. some of the first cultures that really. focused on breath work? So around 2,500 years ago, ancient. Hindus were were doing this and they. believed that if you breathed in certain. way, then you could get more prana, more. life force into your body. So they.

developed all of these crazy ways to. breathe that we still do today in some. classes. The ancient Chinese at the same. time, their practice of Qigong can be. translated to breath work. That's what. it means or energy work. And so these. Qigong exercises were built on taking. all the energy that's outside of us, deep within us, right? And concentrating. it and using that energy to better our. health. So, these things have been. around for thousands and thousands of. years and probably well before that, but.

that's the first written document, right? That that established how to. breathe in certain ways to have certain. benefits. It did it seems like it should. be something that should be taught in. our schools then, that it should be just. as basic as learning how to spell or or. or to read. It's like cuz that's like. your lungs reading the the universe. It's like your body reading the universe. moment to moment. Yeah, there's a lot of. things that should be taught at our. schools, right? Nutrition, exercise, like staying away from electronic. devices at night. So, but I would put. brea- We we talk a lot about that,

right? At least this is in the public. consciousness right now, right? So, we're we're having these discussions. Nobody's talking about breathing. Yeah. And even though kids uh you can look at. a kid about there's a 50% chance they. are breathing through their mouths. There's around a 90% chance they are. breathing dysfunctionally. And so, if. you're breathing this way, it's going to. affect your ability to focus. It's going. to affect your oral health. We've also. found if you're breathing. dysfunctionally at night, you have.

something called sleep disordered. breathing. It affects how tall you're. going to grow. It affects your your. facial structure. All of these things. and I don't hear anybody talking about. this. I thought that there would you. know, I was so idiotic when this first. when this book first came out. I was. talking at medical schools. I was. blasting this message all around. I was. like, "Oh, I'm really going to make some. change here." I was completely ignorant. Nothing's changed. So, people have to. take this information and do it for. themselves because I don't trust um you.

know, governments to really get this. information out the way it should be uh. distributed and and accepted and. understood. Yeah, well, they just. finished remodeling the food pyramid, you know? So, I think it's like, you. know, it takes a while for them to. change shape apparently. Um you said. oral hygiene. That's. and you mentioned cavities earlier. Take. me through a Take me through that. >> Yeah, so I was reading a lot of my job. is spending time in these really creepy. medical libraries, right? And looking. through old literature to see what we. were saying way back when to see if it's.

right today. And so many different. dentists and different people in. medicine 100 years ago, 120 years ago, were saying the number one cause of. cavities wasn't sugar, it wasn't. carbohydrates, it was mouth breathing. Wow. And I said, "Huh, I I I guess those. guys were just old, they were stupid, right?" But now the majority of dentists. I talk to who study the airway say the. number one cause of cavities is mouth. breathing. And you look at 50% of kids. are mouth breathing. That's That's a.

high range, but around half of kids are. mouth breathing, especially at night. Most kids are mouth breathing at night. To think that this could be the number. one cause of their cavities, this is. information I would think parents would. want to know about, right? Yeah, it. would be on billboards, you would think. I mean, that's huge. And the money that. they would save them by taking care of. their kids breathing practices. What's. causing kids to mouth breathe that much? So, we're born as perfect breathers, right? A healthy baby Look at a healthy. baby. It's a beautiful thing. Every breath, their stomach's.

moving out, they exhale, the stomach. comes in again, they're breathing in and. out of their nose because healthy babies. learn how to do this because they're. breastfeeding so often. If you were. going to be feeding and breathing, that's the only way to do it, right? >> Right, you have something in your mouth, you have to breathe through your nose. >> Breathing breathing in and out of your. nose. So, we lose this at around the age. of 5 to 6 when we start going to school. and start sitting up and spend 90% of. our time indoors. That environment is. not conducive to breathing. It's against. our evolution. It's against what we have.

become adapted to be doing. So, one of. the first thing that that happens is our. breathing starts going into the mouth. because we tend to have allergies, right? Usually happens when a kid gets. sick and they get congested. So, we have. a mouth, it's cool. You can breathe out. of your mouth whenever you want. But, that becomes the default. This is mouth breathing is supposed to. be an emergency pathway, not the. default. And then the kid just remains a. mouth breather on and on and on.

throughout their youth. I was one of. these kids. And they found that if you. mouth breathe for long enough, it. changes your facial shape. and it doesn't allow your mouth to grow. as wide as it should. And then I guess. if like cranially or of the shape of our. mouths aren't growing fully, then it. would affect the way that our teeth are. Yeah, so if your mouth is open all the. time, right? You have this upper palate. here that tends to grow grow up. I'm a. great example, which is like completely.

malocclusion, which is why I had teeth. pulled and braces and headgear and all. that crap. So, when the mouth is too. small, teeth have nowhere to grow, so. they grow in crooked. That's why we have. crooked teeth. People say, "Oh, it's a. tooth problem." It's a mouth problem. And if you have a mouth that's too small. for your teeth, what's going to happen. to the airway? It's harder to breathe. Meanwhile, that upper palate of your. mouth keeps growing up and it takes away. real estate from your sinus passages, which makes it harder to breathe through.

your nose. So, all these things happen. at once. This is not some crazy. hypothesis or whatever. This is. documented research. This is data. And. if you don't believe me, go look at an. ancient skull from a thousand years ago, two thousand years ago, ten thousand. years ago. They all have perfectly. straight teeth. All of our ancestors had straight teeth. That's a great point. You never You. never see one of those like. archaeological digs and they dig. everybody up and they're all wearing. braces. Yeah, braces, crooked teeth, mouth breathers. And that And the big. headgear. Like yeah, you would be It'd.

be Look at this guy right here. This is. just random skull, first one we pulled. up. Beautiful grill. Yeah, beautiful. And check out his I. mean, not only are his teeth straight, but look at the jaw size. So, this is an. enormous airway that this guy has. >> Big Macs only in there. It would be. it would be hard for for him to suffer. from snoring and sleep apnea, even some. forms of sleep apnea, unless he was. morbidly obese, which he wasn't because. our ancestors weren't morbidly obese.

>> And so, what would what could a parent. do, right? A parent that's their kid is. getting to that 5, 6-year-old age, what. could they do in order to keep their. child breathing through their nose or to. help encourage that? The smartest thing. to do is to look at your child sleeping. And it doesn't matter if this kid is 3. months old or year, year and a half, two, three, whatever. If you can hear. them breathing, there's a big problem. That means the. child is struggling to breathe. And if a baby is sleeping.

12 hours a night, right? That's how how. a good baby, that's how often they're. sleeping and how much they're sleeping. If they're struggling during that time, it is going to have downstream effects. on their brain development, on their. physical development, on so many other. aspects of their health, and we know. this. This is These are facts. So, first. of all, listen. If you can hear the. breathing, huge red flag. Another thing. you can do is you can creep up to the. bed or the cradle or whatever and see if.

they are. >> [yawns and sighs]. >> breathing in and out through the mouth. That's a problem, and you have to figure. it out. So, I can't offer a blanket. prescription because every kid is. different, but I would highly suggest. parents go see a pediatric dentist with. experience in airway health. They can. assess the kids' issue and they can fix. it. And what I've found is if you fix it. early enough. and allow that mouth to grow the size. it's supposed to be growing, guess what happens? No braces, teeth.

grow in straight, no other breathing. problems, nasal breather, better facial. profile, the musculature and the. skeleture develop properly, and you have. a healthier kid. So, if you front-load. some of that work early, you don't have. to worry about any of that stuff that I. had to go through and so many other. people had to go through later on. Yeah, some people have to get the real you. know, they'll get the big braces, they'll get I had a [clears throat] dude. they had like braces then it would hook. into his suspenders it seemed like. It. was like this kid is. They're pulling them up and down.

>> [laughter]. >> You think about what those things do, too. And this is something I never. thought about it before because I always. thought like science research is always. moving forward. We're getting better and. better and better. But, what they used. to do for kids 100 years ago, 120 years. ago, is with a kid with a mouth that was. so small that the teeth were growing in. crooked and they had airway problems, what would you do? You would expand the. mouth, right? Bigger mouth, teeth. growing straight, you can breathe. better. But, when I was growing up. around the 1940s, they industrialized.

dentistry. And what they did was the. same treatment for everybody. >> Yeah. Bring you in there, we're going to. start pulling teeth, and then we're. going to take those remaining teeth, and. we're going to crane them. It's like. foot binding, like that old Chinese. practice of foot binding, right? We're. going to crane them in. So, as the rest. of the head and face is growing, the. mouth gets smaller and smaller and. smaller. >> That's a great point. If you have braces. on a young on a young youngish child, it's holding their teeth in one space.

while the rest of their face is growing. It's exactly what's happened, and that's. why you have so many people with these. retrognathic profile. I'm a perfect. example of this. >> Baby mouths they call them. >> my uh brother never had braces, right? And he has a completely different. profile than me. He has a completely. different mouth than than I do. >> Oh, he can probably get through a salad. in 6 minutes. >> he can chomp away, you know? Me, I'm. taking a long time, 30, 40 minutes, pissing off everyone around me, but. that's just how it is. So, you know, that you can't go back in time. I I.

can't do anything about this now, but. what you can do is educate people now so. their kids don't have to go through the. the braces and headgear tied to your. suspenders or your pants or whatever. You don't have to do that. Like this is. a choice. Yeah, this kid was very. dangerous. I remember if he sneezed he. would moon everybody. It's. Like what's wrong with our species that. that's what we've come to? And if you. look at 200 years ago, no one was. getting that. If you look at indigenous. cultures right now, people say, "Oh,

this is just human evolution. Our mouths. are growing smaller." Look at the Hadza, right, in in Africa who have never had. any anything industrialized. They eat a. lot of meat. They drink cow's blood. This is this is their main thing. Their. teeth are perfect and their facial. profile is perfect and their mouths are. wide. When did we bring that up? When. did we start to put braces in the. children's mouths? It's pretty fascinating. Thank you so. much for coming today cuz you. You never think about this stuff. But. once you're saying that to me that now. you have a growing human and you have.

their teeth that are confined. It's It's almost a It almost seems. baffling that you would do that. It. almost seem I mean it's so restrictive. and also the nervous conditions it must. create inside of your body, the stress. it must put on your gums, and then the. rest of your face. Your brain is right. there. And you think of at any time to. get this procedure is like the worst. time to do is when you're a teenager. You're so screwed up already as a. teenager. Then you have to go to school. like that guy. You You know, with with. all this headgear. So, I I don't know.

why they did it. I mean, I think it was. economical be- because you can just. bring kids in. You do the same thing. over and over and over and over. You. also have to think about like I had my. wisdom teeth removed. I don't know if. This was just something you never. question it. It was just some some just. something they did. Why? Why No other species has to have wisdom. teeth. None of our ancestors, if if that. were true that our ancestors were. getting impacted molars and dying of. infections or whatever, we wouldn't be. here today. Yeah. The practice of using braces to.

straighten teeth began in the early 19th. century. French dentist Christophe. Delabarre invented the first modern. braces in 1819. A flat metal strip tied. to teeth with thread to gradually align. them. The term braces emerged in the early. 1900s coinciding with improvements like. Edward Angle's brackets and wires. Wow. Oh, that's fascinating. You You see that. all of these inventions came about at. the exact time that industrialized food.

came into cultures. >> Mhm. And this is why our mouths are so. small, cuz we stopped chewing. And so. right at the time you you always talk. about, at least back in the day, people. would talk about like British British. people and and their teeth, right? This. was This was some terrible joke people. used to make. Oh, yeah, we still make. it. You still make it. The kids today. are still still doing this. But it turns. out that England was one of the first. countries to adopt an industrialized. diet. So their teeth went to hell right. right off the bat. 50% of a population,

50% will have crooked teeth after. adopting an industrialized diet in a. single generation. Unbelievable. People. say that evolution, oh, it takes 100,000. years. Like it takes a million years for. things to change. It happens in one. generation. Well, if you even look at. some of these uh primordial humans like. you're talking about, or primordial. might not be the word, but if you're. looking at some of these early human. skulls, yeah, you can easily see the. difference. And that's fascinating about. the group in Africa. Yeah, it's like. it's like they're running around.

complaining about cavities. No, they're. not complaining about heart disease, they're not complaining about diabetes. Like none of these things exist. So all. of the modern diseases, not all of them, most of them, cuz there are some genetic. diseases, most of the diseases we're. contending with today are diseases of. civilization. These are diseases that. have been brought upon us by. industrialization. And again, this isn't. some crazy conspiracy theory. This is. standard knowledge and if you talk to. somebody who who studies these things in. evolution and in biosciences, then this.

is this is what they say. And I'm a. journal I had no idea about any of this. I'm a journalist. I went out and talked. to people and that that's how I learned. this. And people have a problem with. what I'm saying, go back to the source. These people are at Harvard, they're at. Stanford, they're at. >> Well, what you're saying makes perfect. sense to me. It doesn't sound like it's. like, you know, you're like you're. trying to convince me of some. astronomical idea. I mean, once you. sound it out and you put it in front of. me, it gets clear as day for me. Um, in. in different interviews I've seen you. speak a lot about different breath work. exercises. What is a simple breath work.

exercise that I could start with that. would help me overall? It will bore you to tears if I tell you. what it is and that's the problem with. so much of this stuff. Is it so simple. that anyone can do it at any time. People are like, "Hey, I want the. secret, man. I want the medicinal stuff. that you discovered in a cave in the. Himalayas." I wish it were that easy. So, I can give you a very simple one. that's probably been the most study out. of out of any of these. Most of us tend.

to breathe too much. We tend to breathe. up into our chests. We tend to breathe. through our mouths. And when we breathe. this way, >> [panting]. [sighs]. >> we send stress signals to our brain. And. so, we stay in this state of sympathetic. stress all day long. So, that increases. your risk of diabetes, all of these other heinous problems, autoimmune issues, and more. >> It's inflammation you're causing. yourself, for sure. >> Constant inflammation, right? Constant. constant stress. So, what you have to do.

is go back to the way that you were. supposed to be breathing, to the way. that nature intended you to breathe. And. so, a very simple practice that a lot of. people start off with is you can place. the palm of your hand just below your. belly button, right? And you're going to. breathe in through your nose. And you want to feel your belly expand. And as you breathe out, you want to feel. it come back in. You breathe out through my nose?

>> Through I'm sorry, through your nose. In. and out through your nose. So, as you. breathe back out, you should feel the. belly contract. So, you can actually do. this around 90% of people can't they're. comfortable enough with their guts to do. this. So, if you do that at around 5 seconds. in, 5 seconds out through the nose, Okay, you want to take me through it? I. can. Yeah, so yeah, yeah, just keep keep. your hand there and make sure when. you're inhaling that that hand is coming. out a little bit. So, you're just going to start in a.

couple seconds. You're exhaling now. 3. 2 1 and in. 2. 3. 4 5 and out 2 3 4 5 and in 2 3 4 5 and. out 2 3 4 5.

And you just keep with that rhythm. What you're doing is you are sending. your brain and body signals that you are. relaxed, that you are safe. When your body gets. these signals, it can help restore. itself and recover itself so much more. quickly. If you have high blood pressure, there's. a good chance your blood pressure's. going to go down. The stress hormones. are going to decrease. This is the way. we are supposed to naturally be. Wow. In.

that state, we're not supposed to be. hunched over with our shoulders tense. Sometimes, you know, when you're in a. stressful situation, when you're about. to fight someone, when you have to. defend yourself, stress is an amazing. thing. But, most of the time, our bodies. are built They need time to recover and. to heal all the damage that we inflict. on them. And this is called coherent. breathing because it puts these. different systems of your body into the. state of coherence. Wow. Wow, then and that's really how I feel.

right now. I almost feel like I got a. little high. Yeah. You You just wait. There's some other stuff we can do that. will definitely get you high. >> Yeah. But, what. >> Pack up and it's fall pack of that magic. air, baby. You know, [laughter] that's. what I need. >> You're getting proper blood flow to your. brain. So, they've found that you'll. make better decisions. You can regulate. your emotions so much more efficiently. It's great for heart health, blood. pressure. And again, this isn't like. some woo-woo thing. You don't need to go. out and buy a pill. You don't need to. subscribe to anything.

This is something that is available to. everybody. So, people who think these. breathing practices are Oh, I don't like. yoga, you know, I don't like jewelry or. turquoise or whatever. This is a. biological function that you can do. wherever. If you're driving right now, you can try to breathe at around 5. seconds in, 5 seconds out. And you can. feel what happens. Like, >> I feel calmer right now. And I even. smiled a second ago. It just came into. my face. It's You know. >> You did? That's cool. Yeah.

>> second. >> Yeah, but hey, that's the For me, that's. a lot. That's a lot of a day where I'm. just naturally feeling good. And I'll. tell you this, even momentarily after. and even. it it started to make me want to just. keep doing it as opposed to like, am I. breathing in my nose? Am I breathing in. my mouth? Just not consciously. It. started to like. almost want to do it again and again. because it it feels good. >> Well, here's the trick with these. things. Like, we don't need another box. to check every day, you know? We got to.

Oh, did I get my protein? Did I sleep my. 8 hours? Did I walk 20 minutes? All of. that. What you want to do is to practice. these. techniques enough, right? [snorts] That. this becomes your new default. This. becomes your unconscious breathing. That. can take a couple of months to do. They. found some researchers here we're. helping 9/11 victims. You know, 20 years. ago, when was it? 20 24 years ago. And. they had this terrible condition called.

ground glass lungs because they inhaled. all of these pollutants, right? When. when the towers went down. And nothing. worked for them. Pharmaceutical drugs. didn't work, nothing worked except this. practice was more effective than. anything else. Because it allowed air to. circulate properly in the lungs and. allowed them to expel all the crap in. their lungs. So, not only mentally are. you sharper, are you calmer, is your. nervous system down regulated to to a.

healthy spot, but also physically it can. help your lungs be healthier. Can you. bring that up, Nick? Wow, this is so interesting. Ground. glass lungs refers to a radiological. finding on CT scans. on CT scans showing hazy opacities. Is that the right way to say that? >> Opacities. >> Opacities, thank you. In the lungs often. linked to inflammation or fibrosis from. inhaling toxic dust at ground zero after. the 9/11 attacks. The massive collapse of the World Trade.

Centers released a plume of pulverized. concrete, asbestos, glass fibers, heavy. metals, and jet fuel combustion. byproducts that coated lower Manhattan. Responders and nearby residents who. breathed the dust developed persistent. lung damage including ground glass. opacities. Wow. The dust contained over 2,500. contaminants, 50% construction debris, 40% glass fibers, 9% cellulose and. asbestos, silica, lead, mercury.

Oh my god. The witches brew was highly. alkaline and caught caustic equivalent. to draino in pH. Wow. So the guy who started doing this. Richard Browns right down the street. from us here. He's at he's at Columbia. And he's the one that was dealing with. all these people from from 9/11 who had. PTSD with ground. ground glass lungs and he published this. too, you know, of how effective it was. So that when when COVID came around this.

was the go-to breathing this way for so. many people. I've had COVID like three. times, four times, right? And this did. more for me than than anything. That's. subjective. There wasn't a control. version of me, but this is something. I've heard from hundreds and hundreds of. people is if you don't lay on your back, you get COVID, you're coughing, right? You feel like crap. If you lay on your. stomach and breathe at this rate around. five to six seconds in, five to six. seconds out, right? It can really help.

and it's free and available for. everyone. So so why wouldn't you do it? There's no negative side effects to. feeling better and getting more crap out. of your lungs. There's still something. though when even when you say like it's. so funny some of the most simplest. things. We want something It's like we. want to Well, I need to buy this or no, but I'll go get that or I'll do a. five-hour energy. Like we always want. something else. Isn't that kind of. interesting that that's how we operate? I think it's a lot of people are. apprehensive by things that are free and. easy, right? You think about what's. happened to nutrition, which is insane.

If you look at our ancestors or the. people that are actually living to be. 110 years old, they don't know what a. calorie is. They're not dividing fats. and proteins. They're not taking. supplements. Right? They but they're. eating in line with what the seasons. provide for them in in their backyards. [clears throat]. So I think that breathing's the same. There's so many people that are trying. to overcomplicate this thing by saying. you need to breathe these five different. techniques in the morning, then do the. same thing at night, and then you need.

to subscribe to my service where I'm. going to dole out other techniques. Yeah, I'm going to mail you a jar of my. breath or something. >> Yeah, people people do. So, I think by keeping it simple and going. back to we got so sick because we moved. away from nature. And the way to get. healthy is to move back into that state. in which our bodies understand the world. and understand the inputs. We're not. used to this world. We haven't been.

around it long enough to truly adapt. >> Cuz and it's changed so fast, too. I. think that's part of it. >> so fast. >> Yeah, and I think you're right. The the. people who are. leading a lot of our influences, it's. very industrialized. Um which I think has had a lot of. negative effects. And but I think we are. at kind of like a renaissance right now. where people are really focusing on this. type of thing. So, I'm so grateful that. we're having this conversation right. now. It's February, everyone, and. that's when the truth shows up. January had the vibes, February has got.

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of lung function. 70% of workers showed. respiratory respiratory decline by 2004. A Mount Sinai analysis found asbestos. fibers and carbon nanotubes in. responders' lungs. Wow, that's. fascinating. What what would be like a. more difficult breathing exercise? If we had an hour, I could get you. extremely high with something, but we. don't. So, we're going to have to do. some quick stuff here. Okay. >> If you are driving, if you are near. water, do not do this. Okay? Use common.

sense. I just want to make that super. clear. >> Yeah, I want to say that, too. Okay. Do not do it. This is just for. demonstration purpose only, right? You're sitting in a chair. We're here. It's cool. You can try this. This is a. pranayama technique that when I am. really jet lagged, which is most of my. waking hours, I've I've noticed, when I. need energy, when I need instant. clarity, you can do this. It's a little. weird. You wouldn't want to do it in. public, but here we are, and I think you. want to get a little weird. So, so why.

not? Let's do it. >> Let's do it. >> So, the concept here is we are going to. be breathing uh an inhale through the. nose. Then you're going to be holding. without exhaling. Then you're going to. be breathing in again. Okay. Then you're. going to be holding. Then you're going. to be breathing in. You see where this. is going? You're going to keep doing. that until you reach the very top of. your breath, until you cannot fit any. more air in your lungs. >> Okay. Then you're going to squeeze as. hard as you can. You're going to squeeze. your fists, squeeze your toes, squeeze. your butt, squeeze your stomach, squeeze.

squeeze everything, and try to bring it. inward towards the center of your. abdomen. Okay? Just focus on bringing. that. And then we're going to do it. again. We're going to do this a few. times. >> Okay. Okay? The whole thing probably. take a minute. Okay? But we'll we'll see. what happens. So, just relax, relax your. shoulders. Take an easy breath in and an easy. breath out. We're going to take one more. easy breath in. Easy breath in and easy breath out.

And now we're going to go. We're going. to breathe up, breathe, hold, breathe, Hold. Breathe. Hold. Breathe. Hold. More. More. More. More. More. All the. way up. All the way up. All the way up. Squeeze everything. Hold your breath. Squeeze everything. Squeeze everything. Keep squeezing. Squeeze harder. Let's go. Keep. squeezing. Keep squeezing. Let it go. Breathe in. Hold. Breathe in. Hold. [snorts] Breathe.

in. Hold. Breathe in. Breathe in. Breathe in. Breathe in. All the way up. Squeeze everything. Squeeze everything. Squeeze everything. Keep holding your. breath. We're going to do it longer now. Keep squeezing. Keep holding. Keep. squeezing. Keep going. Keep going. Lift. everything towards your stomach and let. it out. We're going to do one more. Okay? Ready? Breathe in. Hold. [snorts]. Breathe in. Hold. Breathe in. Hold. Breathe in. Breathe in. Breathe in. Breathe in. All the way up and squeeze. Squeeze. Squeeze. Squeeze. Squeeze. Hold.

your breath. Hold your breath. Hold your. breath. Hold your breath. Squeeze. everything towards your stomach. Keep. going. Keep going. Keep going. You got 5. more seconds. 5 4 3 2 1. Let it go. >> [sighs]. [snorts]. [sighs]. >> I can feel my heart racing.

How do you feel different? >> [sighs]. >> Feel pretty chill. Overall. Yeah. I mean, I wouldn't take a. breathalyzer right now. Probably I. definitely feel a little bit buzzed up. >> [laughter]. [snorts]. >> So, what you did right. >> relaxed. Good. What you did right there,

this is a very short version. It's. better to have. a longer amount of time. We can go. through the whole process. It doesn't. make for very good podcast or radio, so. we're not going to sit and listen to you. be be silent for for 20 minutes. breathing. But the point of this is you're. purposely stressing your body out. You're taking control of your nervous. system and you're cranking it up to 11. and you're compounding all of that. stress. Then you're releasing it. So. you're letting.

>> your body know and your brain know. that you're in control of that stress. You turn it on, you turn it off. You turn it on, you. turn it off. What most of us do throughout the day. is we have this chronic low-grade. stress. It's always there. It's buzzing. around. We never let it go, right? So we. never blow it out, but we never truly. relax. And this is one of the main reasons so. many of us are so sick. Again, this is. not some.

crazy hypothesis. >> Well, stress is inflammation. It's. chronic inflammation. Chronic stress is. one of the leading causes of so many. issues. So if you spend a few minutes a. day, you don't have to do the weird. stuff, right? There's other things you. can do in public. No one realizes you're. doing this. It's your own private little. secret that you can do and just to have. that pressure release throughout the. day. A lot of people use yoga or exercise or. weight lifting. All of those things are.

awesome. They work great. But it's not. always available to you. Your breathing. is always available to you. >> Amen. You can do that anytime. Yeah, I. mean, I just even just you reminding me. to breathe in and out through my nose, that simple reminder, um. it just feels good. It just feels. better. It's just like, yeah, no one's. reminding me of that probably ever in my. life, you know, it just doesn't happen. Um I have to pee really fast. yeah. I'm. going to tell you about it because that. [laughter] had in this breath work. person. >> That also happens with some of these.

breath work devices. I should have. warned him. Yeah, I just feel happier. I just feel a. little bit happier even just going. through this. So, yeah, thanks for the. reminders. Um. >> [snorts]. [sighs and gasps]. >> It's funny. I almost want to keep doing. it. It's almost like having a sip of. coffee. It's like I want to keep doing. it because it feels good. Um I I I I. took a breath work session one time with. a with actually a comedian, this girl. Blair Socci, um who's very funny and she. also on the side does breath work. exercises with people.

And she took me through this experience. one time. I was laying down. I can't remember exactly what it was. I. feel like it was similar to what we just. did, but it was for about maybe 30. minutes. And at the end. I like just tears were. I mean, I had like one of the biggest. like just kind of emotional releases. that I've had um outside of an. experience with drugs like an ayahuasca. or something like that or mushrooms. Um. it was super profound. Um there's a lot. of videos out there of people having.

uh profound experiences after breath. work. Videos of people were just really. breaking down after breath work. Have. you I'm sure you've seen a lot of this. I've seen a lot of it online, but I've. also seen a lot of it in in person. And. the question from a from a journalist. standpoint that I have is how much of. this is the breath work and how much of. it. is these people trying to show off that. they're really having a bigger breakdown. than than than the person next to them. Oh, and it's so funny cuz people get.

competitive. You get in those spaces or. you see a video and then you feel like. you have to go replicate that. That's. fast I I I agree with that. This is one. that uh Oh, is that just pull one? Yeah, you want to play this one? Here's one. that uh. Oh, that one seems. What video is this? Oh, keep going. >> [snorts]. >> Oh, that's it? That's all you need right there. Okay,

that [laughter] one. Do you you really want to see what comes. next after that? No, no, no. I'm not. allowed. We have blockers on this. computer. So, uh yeah, I can't be watching stuff like. that. Um what are some of the. experiences that you've seen with people. that are experiencing serious breath. work? Sorry, I thought that was going to. be better than that. Well, I have a That. was pretty good. If people see that, like pretty pretty good. >> couldn't tell if that was super real or. not. I couldn't tell what was actually. going on. Uh maybe you had just put that. in my head, too, because that does. happen a lot. Um but my own experience. from my own, it was like yeah, it was. just tears flowing out of me. Just such.

a relief. Just such a relief. And I. could It felt like it came out of the. fabric of my existence. That's what was. really fascinating. What have you seen. regarding like trauma release and breath. work? Well, we all have these repressed. emotions, you know, especially dudes. Like we we got to hold it back the whole. time. And once you loosen up enough, once once you. feel, you know, but but that's what's. allowed us to survive. You you have to. be able to kick in that mode. Otherwise, you can't run from a tiger, you know, or. fight off a warring tribe. So, that's.

part of our evolution. We're not meant to stay in it all day. long, though. We're meant to when we're. chilling out, we're meant to be truly relaxed. And and. we don't. So, sometimes in these breath. work sessions, just like in ayahuasca or. other um you know, drug sessions or or. when you're hallucinating for some other. reason, you tend to loosen up, right? And all the stuff comes out. So, I've. seen a whole bunch of whole bunch of. stuff. >> Is it Is it blowing your mind almost.

sometimes? Well, my the critical part of. me is is what's the physiology behind. this? What's actually happening? And so, that's a great question. Yeah, when. you're doing the breathing exercise and. then the trauma release occurs, what. what is happening? >> So, I can I can tell you what what we. know. We know that when you over. breathe, a lot of these My hunch is that. breath work you did is probably [snorts]. pretty intense. Right, okay. >> Yeah, it was fast. It was like a lot of. in and out, in and out, in and out, in. and out. So, when we're overbreathing. like that, we're actually inhibiting. blood flow to the brain. And if we. overbreathe long enough, we can inhibit.

around 40% of the blood flow to the. brain. So, the brain in some ways thinks. it's dying. >> Ah, so it's a DMT release of some sort? People say that, it's never been. measured. I tried to measure that for. for this book, and I was told by the. researchers they could not measure it. because it's so so minute. So, when people say, "Oh, this is my DMT. breathing." That's not based on It's. good marketing, but it's not based on. any measurements. So, so this is a way. of like tricking your brain that that. something very wrong is going on, and if.

you stay there for long enough, it starts to short-circuit in some ways. that can be beneficial. You start. thinking differently, right? You start. hallucinating. I don't know if you were. hallucinating, but that's that's very. common. And all of these safeguards that. you have built up, especially around. your nervous system and emotion, tend to release in certain ways. So, so. we know it absolutely affects your. physiology. I had the one. bit of research, actually there were. many in the book that did not make it in.

is I went to a lab at University of. California, San Francisco, and breathed. for for an hour just crazy. hyperventilation. As they had a catheter. out and were recording my my blood pH, and they had to stop it because. according to their measurements, my. blood was so alkaline, which means I was. blowing off so much CO2 that I should. have been in an emergency room. >> Damn. The this guy is just like, "This is the weirdest thing. You should. not be doing this. This is unhealthy.".

And yet, I felt great, right? Because. our bodies are meant meant to be. flexible. So, we know something. physiological is happening. On the other end, you know, our people. people claim that they're able to revert. to their their caveman cells or revert. to different animals. I think that some. of that is where it gets a little showy. I. was in one like two-hour long session. where you just hyperventilating for two. hours and. you know, some woman. >> it if you're an animal. Get out there. and eat some birds you after. >> guy was doing it. Like he he went he was.

he was. >> [laughter]. >> I shouldn't laugh. He was having his he. was having his own release. Respect. that. That's a beautiful thing. But some. you know, woman turned into a baby and I. think this other guy was like, well, I'm. going to I'm going to turn into a wolf. And and he was he was prowling the room. I'm I'm and snorting at people and they. had to tackle him. Oh. >> Hold him down. Really? So, I wanted to. think in my you know, I was watching. this. >> Probably a South Carolina fan. I.

I mean, who knows? >> I I don't know that information. This is. in California. Anything goes. So, you. you know, it's it's like Yeah, if some. guy is breath if I'm in a breath work. place and some guy's over there huffing. and puffing and then he's like, I'm. going to blow your house down or. whatever. If he starts getting weird. like that like three little pig in me or. whatever. Dude, I'm calling the cops, bro. Just because we're in a breath work. seminar doesn't mean you can be wolfing. around and pissing in the corner or. whatever. No, and and. what was interesting to me, I said,

well, what if this is real? What if this. guy's really then full respect. Like. he's he's reached a pinnacle I will. never reach. At the same time, this is. after like 5 minutes. Where there's not a lot going on. So, part of me was was thinking Yeah, he's. just a Raiders fan. >> probably Yeah. He probably little little showiness, you. know? I I don't know what's better than. a wolf. Like I I don't know who is going. to come after him to to try to want up. his his wolfdom. He picked a good. animal. I do remember that my also my.

extremities got very tight. What is that? I do when I did the breath. work and I had that release, I remember. yeah, I just and I felt so great after. because it was just such a release. It. felt like almost the um sediment, like. say if you looked through. archaeologically, like through the. ground and you saw like the sedimentary. rock, stuff that was really packed down. in there. That's what it felt like. So, there was there was like fissures in. that inside of me. Yeah. Um and I but I. do remember my muscles and everything. got extremely tight after after a lot of. the breathing. That's 100% real, right? That's not psychosomatic. What what.

happens is a lot of people in. breathwork, at least I was I was told. that they told me like cuz I kept. feeling this, my hands like turn into. claws. >> Yes. You're like, "What the hell is. going on?". >> a wolf. And and so they kept saying like. you're reverting back to your primitive. self. I was like, "Okay, but you know, what what's. actually happening measurably to to our. bodies?" And what I found is this is a a. phenomenon that is called tetany. And.

what happens when you over breathe this. this amount, you start to lose calcium, okay? Calcium gets bound to albumin. >> [snorts]. >> And once that happens, you need calcium. for proper nerve and muscle function. So, we don't have enough calcium in. order to function properly. And so. things start to shut down. So, at these. really intense sessions, you can't open. your fist. As hard as you try, you. can't. They turn into these claws, which. is really creepy. If you don't know that.

this is happening, it's like you're in. some cult situation where everyone's. reverting to some, you know, lower level. of of hell and and developing these. claws. But this is a phenomenon that is. measurable. Tetany it's called? >> It's called tetany. And the same thing. happens to to your toes. Tetanying? T E. T A N Y. That's just interesting. I've never even. heard of that, but I've have had that. thing happen to me a couple times in. breathing. Tetany is a medical condition. involving sustained.

uh involuntary muscle contractions or. spasms due to hyperexcitability. of nerves or muscles. It often stems from electrolyte. imbalances like low calcium, low. magnesium, or alkalosis. Huh. To do this on on occasion is fine, right? But if you are constantly over. breathing, which is a problem that so. many people suffer from, they wonder why. their fingers are constantly numb or. cold, why their toes are cold, right? Why they are like this. They're causing.

this permanent imbalance of these. electrolytes. in their bodies. And the body can. compensate because it's going to keep. you alive, but that doesn't mean it's. going to keep you healthy. Ah, I just. have to remember that. This is. That's such a visceral thing. I just. remember that once you did that with. your hands, it brought me to so many. memories. Um how do some of your breath work ideas. compare to like a guy like Wim Hof? Like. take me cuz he's a very popular figure. in the breathing space, right? Um and he. just is such a captivating figure, too, and the fact that he's in the cold and.

he's battling something that, you know, we all want to battle something. So, we. all feel invigorated by uh his journey. and um. yeah, how do some of your practices. compare to some of Wim Hof's practices? Well, most of what I studied and. researched and write about is this. normal breathing. It's so unsexy, right? Just breathe normal. I want to be a. super breather. But what you realize is. the vast majority of people are. breathing dysfunctionally. And so, what. I'm trying to bring awareness to and to. have people do first before they go and.

do crazy breath work stuff is to learn. normal breathing cuz you're never going. to be able to get a ton out of breath. work practices unless your foundation is. solid. It's like you want to run a. marathon, would you just stand up and. run a marathon or would you try to train. a little bit and get a proper. foundation, get the right biomechanics? So, that's what most of the book is. about um is because so many people are. breathing dysfunctionally that they have. all of these underlying issues that are. tied to it, and they don't realize it. Why are they getting migraines all the.

time? Why is their blood pressure so. high? Why are they getting all these. cavities? Why does their kid have. symptoms of ADHD? All of this stuff is. tied to your breathing. So, once you get. that solid foundation, you become a. nasal breather, you're able to do what. you were doing, you're able to become comfortable enough. with your own waist that you can relax. your gut. >> [snorts]. >> as you take a breath in, and as you. exhale, it comes back, right? You can. breathe these slow, low, deep breaths.

You are not mouth breathing at night. You are not snoring. After all those. boxes are checked, then let's bring it. on. Let's go up that next rung of. potential. This is what yoga was. designed to do. It was never intended. for sick people. It was intended for. people that were normal, that were. healthy, to bump you up that next rung of the. ladder. And so, that's what Wim does, right? Wim's an amazing dude. I can't. imagine a better spokesperson for for. breath work. I mean, if there was ever a. cult leader, he should start his It's. kind of is a cult almost. Oh, yeah.

[laughter] Well, I'd like to get out. There's definitely something about him. that's super exciting. He I think he's. done more to bring breath work to more. people on the planet than than any. anyone else. He He brought awareness. You need and you need someone that is. that inspired and genuine. Not someone. that's trying to always sell you stuff. Like, Wim wants to help people. Wim wants to see what the limits of the. human body are. Wim, when you meet him, he's real. And so many other people in.

breath work have have hopped on the. train to try to to You haven't met him? Okay. >> the the guy is. magnetic. Is he really? I absolutely. That's cool. I mean, it's you can feel. it through the through the screen or you. feel it when you watch him. And you need. an advertising piece for things like. that. Like, you need something like a. shiny figure that's out there so that. people can also then come and absorb. your information. I mean, look at this, dude. Because, dude, you know how many. thick white dudes are just hiding in. their freezers in the garage right now.

all because of Wim Hof, you know? And. forgetting to close the lid and the. meat's going bad. But people were not doing this until So, we knew all about these benefits, but. the people training you how to breathe. properly was a respiratory therapist, you know, in a hospital and a lot of. dudes don't gravitate towards that, you. know? Wim is hiking up Everest barefoot. with his shirt off and hanging out in in. ice for an hour at a time. People are. like, "That guy's cool. I want to be. like him.".

And and he's also the. the other side of this is not only is he. able to bring people from a state where. they're normal to become better than. normal is some research is going on. right now about people with autoimmune. diseases with that that ice combined. with breath work can help lower all of. those stress hormones and help people. who are caught in these vicious cycles. of chronic inflammation and some people.

with multiple sclerosis, you know, people with eczema and more. And this is. something that's that's free. You got to. buy a a freezer, right? Put put some ice. in it. But But beyond that, it's it's a. pretty pretty low amount of of cash you. need to spend up front in order to do. these things. If you can't afford an ice. bath, take a cold shower, right? A lot. of the same benefits. Who are some other known figures or who. are some known figures throughout. history that it's documented that. they've practiced breath work and it was. a big part of their lives? Do you have. it Do you know any?

There's so many and if you look at. ancient literature, there were all these. these swamis, there were all these. Buddhist monks, there were all these. Rinpoches that were supposedly doing. things that were impossible according to. our understanding of biology and. medicine right now until you bring them. into a lab. And so in the '70s they. started doing this. One guy was Swami. Rama, this guy who grew up in the. mountains of the Himalayas, been. meditating. >> Swami Rama, bring him up. Sorry, I. interrupted you.

>> It's No, that's cool. The mountains of. the Himalayas, go on. >> Yeah, yeah, since he was 4 years old, he. was trained to be a monk, and they. brought him into this place called the. Menninger. Clinic, and a Navy physicist tested to. see what he could do, things that are. supposed to be impossible. And he was. able to flutter his heart rate on. command at 300 beats per minute on. command, and then. >> What's a regular heart rate? If you're healthy, 50. He needed 300? >> probably 70, 60, 70. 300 beats was.

supposed to be impossible. >> [ __ ] he's a damn Valentine's Day at. that point. He was able to change the temperature on. the palm of his hand 11 degrees from one. side to the other. One side was all. flush and red, and the other was like. gray and and purple. And in another. test, and this was reported in the New. York Times, he was able to enter states. of deep sleep while still being. conscious and repeating everything that. happened in the room around him. All of.

this is supposed to be impossible. He. proved it, and it also establishes. credence to all these other stories of. these ancient monks doing this stuff. >> Wow. >> And he said the foundation of all of. this was breathing. You have to start. with that. Then then you have to learn. to meditate, then you can do all this. other stuff, but it starts with that. Yeah, I wonder, how would you even be. able to do something like that? You focus on your breath, you meditate, and I I can tell you I've seen people do.

things that are much crazier than that. Like? I've seen people do a lot of things that. I don't feel at liberty to discuss. because people are going to think I'm. insane until I get these guys into a. lab, and that's what I'm working on. right now. But, that. that looks like child's play compared to. the things that I've seen people do when. you focus on your breathing, when you. use your natural body to do these things. that we've been doing for thousands of. years that in the last couple hundred. years we've completely forgotten about.

Wow. You had to come back then. You'll have [snorts] to come back after. that for sure. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. You know, sometimes it can feel like. everybody's got it all together in their. heart. They got things figured out. They. got their love life just organized to a. T. Especially in February when people are. slinging chocolates and Cupid's firing. arrows, and everybody's eyes just are. lit up with little lamps of love in.

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Even look that up, Nick. I bet Carter. would be the only one. Yeah. That would. have been cool enough to do that cuz he. was in all in the. >> He was into health. He he put some solar. panels up on the White House and organic. garden, you know? I I doubt I doubt he. would ever. admit to it, you know? Uh Jimmy Carter put solar panels up on. the White House? Yeah, that's I I. believe you can fact-check that one. That's pretty dope. And then Reagan took. them down, so. >> [snorts].

>> That's so hilarious. It'd be great to see a history of just. all the ridiculous things that have been. put up each time and then taken down. >> taken down again. Yes, President Jimmy. Carter installed 32 solar thermal panels. on the roof of the White House West Wing. on June 20th, 1979. They operated until 1996 when the Reagan. administration removed them during roof. repairs and stored them in a Virginia. warehouse. The panels later went to. Unity College in Maine for cafeteria use. and influenced later White House solar. efforts under Bush. Wow. That's pretty cool.

Be nice thing to just be able to buy and. even in an auction one of those. >> Yeah. Um yeah, I've heard there's a lot. of uh. there's like a lot of celebrities that. are fans of yours. Um Devin Booker, uh who else was I reading? Pink the. musician, Sydney Sweeney. who's probably got a set of lungs on. her, I bet. Um. What is that like? Have you had. celebrities reach out to you? Has there. been like an interesting occurrence. where one of them wanted you to come up. like a private session sort of thing? Yeah, that's happened a few times and. they've been just so disappointed uh.

because they want like the secret thing. They're like, "Oh, I bet you got into. some weird stuff. I'm famous. You need to tell me the. secret." And I tell them what the secret. is. Just what I told you. And they're like, "Oh, that's. That's it?" Yeah. So, it it's about. doing the work, right? It's It's one. thing to tell people these things. You can't just like read it once, do it. once, and move on, right? It's like a.

diet. You think you're going to eat one. little salad throughout the day and then. be eating French fries for the rest of. the day and thinking, "Oh, I. ate my salad. I'm I'm good to go.". We're breathing all the time, right? And. so, you should be breathing in a way. that is. conducive to your body and your health. That helps you. Well, it makes certain. Yeah. That and so, it's it's the most. unsexy thing to to talk about is normal. breathing, but I'm I'm here to tell you.

if you really want to help yourself. become a normal breather, you can do. some of that breath work, but but I. promise you once you become a normal. breather, then you do that breath work, it will take you places. you never dreamed about. >> Let's go, huh? A little long narnia. homie, I'm ready. I'm ready for that. Um it it there's a there's this kind of. phenomenon where it's like sometimes. when I finally sit and take a breath, it. feels like I haven't brea- like breathed. or breathed or whatever uh for for. months sometimes, you know, or for week.

you know, you know you know that feeling. where you're like. like oh, finally got a breath. And it's. something you're like. what um what's happened in our lives. that's made it so that we've gotten so. far away from our breathing? Well, I. think you can. force yourself into pausing and. resetting your your breathing, and you. can force yourself. through yawning or sighing. So, when you are not aware of your. breath and when you are just caught in.

these negative unconscious habits, it. gets so bad that your body needs a. reset. And so what does it do? >> [sighs and gasps]. >> It's an unintentional sigh. Wow. >> It forces you to be like. >> Override the system. >> Let's start Let's start over. Do a. little better this time. It's like, you. know, trying out for a. for acting, you know, trying out for a. play or whatever. It's like, okay, or. doing a different take in in a in a. recording. Yes, like your your lungs are.

reminding you, "Hey brother, we're down. here." But you can take advantage of. that. It doesn't always have to be. unintentional. You can make it an. intentional sigh. So, you can set an. alarm, just a little bell to go off on. your phone three times a day, five times. a day, 10 times a day. That bell goes off and it's just a. moment. You don't have to stop what. you're doing to be like, "I'm going to. check in on my breathing." Takes a. second to just go. >> [snorts]. >> "I'm going to do an intentional sigh.". So, when that bell goes off, follow me.

with this one. It's easier than that. last thing we we just did. I promise. you. Bell goes off. Just stop what you're. doing. Take an inhale. >> [snorts]. >> Hold. Take an inhale. Hold. Take an. inhale. Let it out calmly now. Let it out. calmly. Do it again. Take an inhale softly. Hold. Take an. inhale softer. Hold. Take an inhale. softer. Let it out softly. Softly. I don't want. to hear you letting it out on this one.

Now, take an inhale. Hold. Take an inhale. Inhale. Silent exhale. Right on. Right on. You've just reset. your respiratory patterns, right? And I think you can We're back. You have. a I mean, how long did that take? 15. seconds? >> 15 seconds. >> You can do this on a flight. You can do. it on the train. You can do it in your.

car. And it allows you to start start. again. So, what I've found is a lot of. people have asked. They said, "Where do. I start?" Set those alarms. Do 10 of. them a day. Check in on this. And if you do enough of these, if you go. back to breathing after you've reset it, go back to breathing that 5 seconds in, 5 seconds out. Don't exaggerate it. Real. soft. I shouldn't be able to watch you. breathing, right? It's really subtle. Really soft. This will become your default. And if. this becomes your default, I am telling.

you it changes a lot of things. >> You're going to start cooking. You're. going to start. >> [laughter]. >> You could start cooking. You could start. sleeping. >> No, cooking. I mean, are you going [laughter] to. cook? You're going to be rolling. >> I thought you said cooking. >> Oh, no. That this could. This could get you out on the street. So, children, he said, "cooking.". Cooking. Figurative and literal. language. You could go to the kitchen, make something healthy. >> Yeah, or just get your cooking in your. body. You're making something healthy in. your own life. >> not do that and go out hooking. No, do.

not go out hooking. Take me through. uh some other ailments that breath work. can help us with or that focusing on our. breathing can help eliminate or solve or. uh. or can help fight. Um. and then yeah, uh how about ADHD? Take. me down some of that journey cuz I've. heard you talk about it a lot. Yeah, I. So, this is something I learned after. the book was published years ago. And I. kept hearing this from people in the. airway space, from different doctors and. different dentists. They said, "No one's.

paying attention to this." I didn't. discover it. I spent 5 years researching. writing the book. I didn't discover. I. thought I had covered everything. I. didn't. So, I was able to revise the. hard cover for for the paperback, which. is which is out, and I include this. version. So, this is in the new. revision. >> Yeah, it's it's in the new revision. because and it's something I try to talk. about every single talk I do. I'm going. to talk about this because it's so. important and nobody's talking about it. And I'm so tired of getting these. letters from from parents. I do these. talks, right? And there's these line of.

of parents afterwards, and they're. they're yelling at me and they're crying. because their kid isn't getting any. help. They're like, "You need to help. me." I was like, "I'm a freaking. journalist, right? I'm not a doctor.". But they're not getting the help from. their doctor. So, this is what I've. learned. I'm a filter. I don't do this. research, but I talk to the leading. experts in the field. I spend a lot of. time doing this. They have told me this. that ADHD is diagnosed as a neurological. problem, right? It's a problem with the. brain. And it's treated.

as a problem of the brain, right? So, we. can give kids uppers to wake them up in. in the day, Ritalin, whatever. It absolutely works. You can give them. downers at night to go to sleep, right? And 10% of the population in the US has. ADHD and around 60% are on these. pharmaceutical drugs, and these drugs. absolutely work. But what these guys are saying, and the. story that's starting to come out, is. for so many kids with ADHD. it's not a neurological problem that has.

caused this. It's a breathing problem at. night. It is a plumbing problem, not an. electrical problem. They said that the. vast majority of kids with ADHD suffer. from something called sleep disordered. breathing. What this is is when you're. sleeping. you're choking on yourself, you're. snoring. >> [sighs]. [laughter]. >> struggling the entire time. You don't. enter those stages of deep restorative. sleep. This affects human growth.

hormone, so again, it affects how you're. going to grow. It also affects your. brain development, your ability to think. clearly the next day. So these kids wake. up exhausted. Everything around them. drives them crazy, right? I mean, think. about how you are when you're jet lagged. after. a flight that's 12 hours long, right? You're anxious. Like like bright lights. bother you. They have told me that for so many kids. this is the core issue. We've been.

diagnosing it and we've been treating it. wrong, which is why these kids. necessarily aren't getting better. They're on these drugs forever. So the. number one thing you should do, especially for young kids is to check. their breathing at night. And if they're. snoring or have sleep apnea. that could very well significantly be. contributing to their symptoms of ADHD. And I can say anecdotally I can say this.

cuz I cannot tell you how many letters. parents have sent me. They are so pissed. off now because their little Johnny. for 5 years was on 20 different drugs, right? Nothing was working. He's 12. years old, still wetting his bed. They taught the kid how to breathe in. and out through the nose. They got rid. of the snoring, the sleep apnea, and the. vast majority of little Johnny's. problems go away within 2 weeks. >> Wow. >> Sometimes within a single night. I just.

got a letter within a single night. Mhm. This kid who was wetting his bed from. from day one, couldn't stop it, is now. not wetting his bed. And so, a lot of. this is caused by that chronic stress. Yes. >> at night. And another reason why people. wake up and pee three times throughout. the night is we aren't releasing the. proper sleep hormones that shut that. down, right? And And so, there's another. thing I just heard today. We just got a. letter today that that some old grandma. was like, "I have to wake up and pee.

twice." And she's like, "Since I learned. how to breathe through my nose, I no. longer snore." She's like, "I don't have. to do that anymore." And you could say, "Oh, these are anecdotes. These are neat. stories." But we know the mechanism, right? >> one pissed apple. I love it. Yeah. Yeah, who Who wants to do that? Wake up at. 2:30 a.m.? It's awful. >> Especially with that age. If you trip on. something, you're done. >> Yeah. >> [laughter]. >> You know, a trip [snorts] to the. bathroom in the dark at 74? Yeah. What. do we You're [ __ ] Lewis and Clark. >> I mean, at at any age it sucks. We can. acknowledge that. But But yeah, if if if.

you're older and you're fragile and your. bones are brittle, >> you're like Bear Grylls out there. Yeah. it's it's bad news. You're trying to. figure it out. Um. So, So, when you sleep, what about. snoring? What about snoring? So, what is. snoring? What is snoring? And is that Cuz you see. a lot of people that get like sleep. apnea and masks, you know, like a lot of. thick, rich, white dudes like laying in. bed at night trying to just really hide. from their wives, probably from. intimacy. But also, um just pretending.

they're Bane or whatever in their fancy. houses or whatever. But what's really. going on with snoring? What's really. going on with sleep apnea? So, snoring. has been so normalized, right? That. around 50% of the population does it on. occasion and something like 20 or 30%. might might do it chronically. Depends. on how you measure that. But it's not. normal. Right? That there is no part of that. that is normal because if you are. struggling during sleep, during the time. that we're supposed to be lights out, shut down, the body needs to repair.

everything in order for you to function. properly and not get chronically sick. the next day, the next week, the next. few years, right? We have to have. restorative sleep. This is a known. thing, right? Every everyone's talking. about sleep now. If you're snoring, you're not allowing that to happen. So, in the back of the throat, >> [snorts and sighs]. >> those soft tissues, right? Most snoring, not all of it, is through. the mouth.

Some people snore through their noses. What I have learned from from a lot of. people that have helped people who have. chronic snoring issues, is there are a. lot of things you can do at home to fix. this. There's surgeries, which which. absolutely work. Sometimes with sleep. apnea, it's the tongue, other issues, but. the first thing is chronic congestion. Because what we know is during allergy. season, snoring and sleep apnea go. through the roof. That's not an. accident. That's because your nose gets.

clogged, right? And you're breathing through the mouth. Another thing is during the day, we are. breathing so heavily, like over. breathing all day long that we carry. that over to night. So, what these. people do, there's a bunch of different. things. You can put little tape on your. mouth, you can sleep on your side, but. one of the main things they do is to. train you to breathe very lightly during. the day. Just that that breathing that. we were doing. For instance, if I were. to ask you to breathe heavily through. your mouth right now and make a snoring.

sound, how how hard is that? >> [snorts and groaning]. >> Okay, you can do this without. a very very rich snoring sound. There it. is. Now breathe very slowly in and out. through the nose and try to make that. same sound, very slowly. With your mouth closed. and try to make that sound. A lot of people say this is a mechanical. thing. You're over breathing. >> do it. There's too much There's too much. air. flowing in. >> [snorts].

>> And so you make that snoring sound. Sleep apnea is a different thing. That's. when you choke on yourself. It can be. from your tongue. Most of the time the. tongue is falling back or there's. constriction. If you are morbidly obese, very obese, you can get this lateral. compression against the throat, right? And there's some things that happen in. in the nose. People are given CPAPs as a. cure for it. It cures nothing. CPAPs can. actually make your sleep apnea worse. over time. And around 50% of people. given CPAPs within a few months aren't. going to use them anymore. But they're.

too embarrassed to give them back to. their doctor. So. >> Wow. So to be clear, if you have sleep. apnea, these things are an amazing. band-aid to get you over that hump. You. you can't be choking at night, but it's. not fixing the core issue. The core. issue for so many people is that mouth. that is too small for your face. It's an. airway that is not properly developed. The back of our airways is covered in. this flesh, right? That flesh needs to. be firm. Right? We exercise everything. else in our bodies, right? Our muscles, our biceps, our legs, but we're not.

exercising our airway. >> Mhm. So you can do this with exercises, with myofunctional therapy, very stupid. name for an amazing therapy that allows. people to stiffen those tissues to allow. you to take that easy breath. without any constriction so that you. don't snore. I guess I don't I mean I've been told I. but I think it's just sometimes. It's. just kind of occasional. But I I certainly understand how like. just starting to breathe through your. nose and just have a like a pattern that.

your body can rely on would make. everything less stressful, you know? What about What about mouth tape? You. hear about mouth tape a lot. Is that. just So, we do know around 60 to 65% of. us sleep with an open mouth. We do know if you're breathing through. an open mouth at night, it makes you. more susceptible to snoring and and. milder sleep apnea. We know this, okay? We know that if you convert to nasal.

breathing, we know anecdotally at least. that a lot of people claim that their. snoring a lot less, that they're sleeping a lot better. I. did a very small experiment at Stanford. in which we compared mouth breathing. over 10 days to nasal breathing at. night. When I was mouth breathing, I. don't snore. When I was mouth breathing, I snored. throughout the night. I also had sleep. apnea. The moment I went to use the sleep tape.

to breathe through my nose, it all went. away. I've heard this hundreds and. hundreds of times because of those. mechanics. When air is coming in slower, when it's coming in pressurized, it's a. lot harder to make that. >> [snorts]. >> Doesn't work for everyone. And so, you. see these advertisers on Instagram or. whatever saying everybody needs mouth. tape. If you're part of the 40% that. sleeps with a closed mouth, you don't. need mouth tape. For other people, it's. something you might want to explore. I'm. not here to push this on anyone. I can. say it's absolutely changed my sleep. I.

track my sleep. I have proof that it. works. I can also say that thousands of. other people have found the same thing. Is it hard to use? I've never used it. >> Very, very easy to use. And I'm so. addicted to it. This is how neurotic. I've become that I have a hard time. sleeping without it, which is why I. travel with it when I'm camping. I bring. my little piece of tape. I brought a. little piece of tape today. >> [snorts]. >> I had a feeling you were going to ask me. about this. Yeah. In the morning, I had. my little roll of tape by me. And I.

said, "I know I'm going to forget this, so I'm going to put it on the back of my. watch." So, the mouth tape thing there's. there's all these all these different. brands that that weren't around, you. know, until a couple years ago. And. they're all saying, "Mine mine's the. best. You can only use this." Blah blah. blah. Don't listen to any of that, right? So, any micropore tape, surgical tape, this. is the technology I'm going to show you. This is how sophisticated this. technology is. This is micropore tape. You can buy it at any drugstore. What I do for my mouth tape,

I'm done. I can talk to you. I can cough, right? If I had a straw, I. could take a sip of water. Doesn't look. so hot, but what this is doing is it is. reminding me throughout the night to. breathe through my nose. The point is. not to do a hostage situation. I have. found and a lot of other people have. found it's just a reminder. And if you. snore, and there's a way that you you. can test this, I'll tell you about it.

If you get acclimated to wearing this in. the day, this is so important, is wear. for 10 minutes answering email, doing. the dishes, sitting around watching TV. Increase that time throughout a couple. of weeks, and then move on to trying it. at night. >> It just is a reminder. This little piece. of tape we have heard stories about, including asthma, autoimmune issues. Again, this is not These were not. studied in in an official randomized. clinical trial, but it's still important. that now with all these wearables,

people can track everything. They have. their own data, and they see what works. But this is it. And it's freely. available for everybody. Wow, that. simple. And so, that's just basically 3M. medical tape? It's uh. I I use I'm I'm not endor- I don't get. paid by any of these brands to say any. of this stuff. The stuff that I found is. pretty good is the 3M micropore. sensitive skin tape. Um but you can use any other kind of. surgical tape. Surgical tape is made to. be put on skin and off of skin. What you.

don't want to use is stuff that has a. really thick adhesive because you don't. want chapped lips. And also important. when you take it off, use your tongue. Do not. do this. If you rip it off after a. couple of days, your lips are going to. be chapped, you're never going to want. to do it. If you use your tongue to take. it off, no hands, use your tongue, then. you're not going to have a problem. I've. used this stuff for consistently for. like 7 years and I cannot tell you what. a difference this made for my sleep. I. didn't think I was a mouth breather at. night until I tested it. Until I saw the.

difference. Just as you saw, you're. like, "Oh, I'm just going to take a few. breaths for 15 seconds." You're like, "Wow, I feel so much better." Try to do. this at night if you're a mouth breather. and you're going to wake up the next. morning and be like, "Oh my god, I feel. have so much more energy. I have so much. more clarity.". >> Wow. I want to try that. Yeah, cuz I've. heard about it. And I guess it also just. trains you to breathe through your nose. more. Trains you to breathe through your. nose and it that's especially important. at night and then in the morning, you're. already habituated to breathing through.

your nose. Yeah, does that roll over to. the daytime where your brain you just. start getting used to it? Is that Is it. really good practice for breathing. through your nose? I was a mouth. breather my my whole life. When I was. surfing, when I was doing exercising, doing martial arts, whatever, I was. breathing through my mouth. Nobody told. me to do otherwise, right? Once I. converted, even started doing it during. exercise, I had so much more energy. My. recovery time was cut in half but just. doing this. So, I started at the night. time, right? And then it was so much.

easier to do in the daytime because your. nose gets used to it. It's like, "Oh, I. can't be congested now, right? This is. the primary way in which you're. breathing. And for a lot of people, things clear up pretty soon. For some. people have structural issues, deviated. septum, uh problems with their. turbinates, whatever, you need surgery, you need you need other more deeper. interventions. But for a lot of people, it's just a habit you need to create. Yeah. Having some new habits for. yourself. Um. yeah.

Yeah, just this is so good to have a. nice just like a. just a reminder. And especially right. now in my life cuz one of the big things. for me is just I just. >> [sighs]. >> Yeah, I just feel over Yeah, you just. feel overwhelmed a lot. Um What What. about nasal strips? People use those a. lot. I use those sometimes. They're great. They're amazing. Right now, if you take. your fingers, right, and go like this, is that easier for you to breathe this. way? So nice. >> Then you [snorts] are a good candidate. for nasal strips, right? So many people.

have. issues with their nostrils. Nostrils. aren't big enough or they flutter when. you take an inhale in. And this is. called the Cottle's maneuver. Some guy. had to name it after himself, of course. But nasal strips will open up your. nostrils to the way they were supposed. to have been, right? Around 30% more airflow. And this is why. they're marketed to people who suffer. from snoring. There's a brand called. Mute. I've tried them. I don't Again, I. don't get any money from any of this. I. thought they were okay. They go in your. nose. I didn't like that feeling. Yeah.

>> It's like this corkscrew thing that goes. in your nose. But they're called Mute. because they mute you at night from. snoring because they allow all that. airflow up through your nose. Oh, and so. your nose is supposed to have more. intake because we're supposed to. because we're supposed to breathe. through it more. >> We're not supposed to be this congested. No other animal is this congested. You. see a bear out there that's just like, oh, I have seasonal allergies and. asthma. I can't get up today. Oh, yeah. >> exist. Around mouth breathing all the. time. You'd be like, look at this.

freaking. Look at this bastard over here. Yeah, and I wonder if we breathe in if. we're if we start breathing more in. through our noses or if we breathe in. through our noses, do we take more or. less breaths in a day than if we do in. our mouths? We take far fewer and that's. good because we're taking fewer, but. we're taking deeper breaths. Most of us. are over breathing, which is a really. bad habit cuz you offload this gas. called carbon dioxide, right? Which. causes this vasoconstriction, which. causes blood flow problems. So, by. taking fewer, richer, deeper breaths,

we're able to get more oxygen, more. energy for less effort and that's. exactly what we want. And our noses are. also our first line of defense. So, you're you've got nose hair, right? Most. most people do and there's also all of. these other pathways that air has to. follow through as it makes it into our. lungs. Those are there for a reason. They help filter out bacteria, viruses, pollutants, dust, and everything else.

So, when we're breathing through the. mouth, >> [gasps]. [sighs]. >> all the crap in the air is going. directly to my lungs, which causes. inflammation and which causes. congestion, right? It causes other. issues. I've heard you talk about how. there's more CO2 in a lot of the air we. breathe like we get stuck in places like. planes, office buildings, even schools. and we're stuck breathing kind of. recycled air, I guess. Yeah, this is. something I didn't really pay attention. to when I was doing the the the first. edition of the book, which is something.

I learned a lot about during that time. and wanted to put in a bunch of new. pages about the science that I. discovered. So, I heard this about 3-4. years ago that in indoor environments, carbon dioxide levels are through the. roof. We We always hear about outdoor. environments, CO2's going up every year, which is true. It's like 422 parts per. million outside. Everyone's talking. about the outside, no one's talking. about the inside. And the reason why. they measure CO2 inside is if we're all. sitting here, right? And the CO2 levels.

keep going up in here, that's not from a. a coal plant or exhaust from a car, it's. from our exhalations. So, when you're measuring CO2, you're. measuring how many other people's. exhalations are in the room. So, at a. CO2 level of around 2,000 parts per. million, which is found in a lot of schools and. offices, about one in every 40 breaths. or so is someone else's exhalation. No.

>> Right. Yeah. Yeah. And if you get up if. you get up to like 4,000, 5,000, it's. one in every 10 breaths is someone. else's exhalation. So, I started cruising around. I travel. a lot like like you do. I'm always on. airplanes, hotels, and all that stuff. And I always feel like crap in these. hotels. If if you've noticed, new hotels, they've glued up all the windows. Back. in the day, you're too young to know. this, but back in the day you used to be. able to open a window. Maybe not all the.

way. You could. >> be able to take your own life. Yeah, if. Well, I think back in the old day in the '50s, they you want to take your own life, there it is. Like, that's your that's. your problem, not our problem. Lawyers. got involved, so Yeah, that ruined. everything. At least you could open it. this much, right? To get fresh Now, you. don't have that choice. So, I'd wake up. in these hotels and be and having not. had anything to drink the night before, I would feel totally hungover. Head. would hurt. I was like, I wonder how. much of this has to do with the air. quality, how much CO2 is in the. environment? Because if we're in an.

environment with high levels of CO2, anything north of 1,500 parts per. million, we have increased chance of. having headaches, lethargy, uh it can cause a bunch of uh other. issues like hypertension, which is high. blood pressure, kidney calcification if. you're in it for for long enough, which. are kidney stones. Like like really rank. stuff. This has been measured around the. world. It's not not controversial. So, I've been traveling with with this. thing, this this little monitor. And it.

tells me how much the CO2 is. I just want to see it. Really? So, do you have to breath Is it. a breathalyzer? No, no. It's just it's. recording the amount of CO2 in this room. right now. Okay. And I I kid you not, this is some of the best quality air. that I've seen. Usually this shows like. 2,000 parts per million, which has been. shown 1,500 parts per million in one. Harvard study showed that a 50 50%. decrease in test scores at 1,500 parts.

per million. Cuz your body is. struggling. It's placing you in that. state of stress. Most airlines I've. recorded are. >> have it in my class then. So, one study. I read from Harvard said that 1,500. parts per million, that's about three. three four times higher than what the. air is in the outside, right? The amount. of concentration of carbon dioxide. can create a 50%. decrease in some cognitive tests. So,

test scores. If you think about what. we're doing to kids, we're placing them. in a classroom for 8 hours at a time. with air quality of 2,500 parts per. million. So, well north of that 1,500. parts per million. And that could change. place to place, for sure. It changes all. the time. In areas that have nice. climate, right? You you have these. things called windows. You could just. open it. You have a door you have opened. up. But, a lot of new schools right now, just like new hotels, new offices, you.

cannot open the windows. And what I've. found is these offices and hotels do. this to save money because it costs a. lot of money to either heat up air or. cool it down. So, instead they just. recycle the same stale air, everyone's. exhalations from room to room to room. And I can prove this now because I. cruise around with one of these things. and I've got a small army of 20 other. people collecting data and we're going. to put all this data available for free. that people can start seeing what the. air quality is in these hotels and.

airplanes. It's fascinating. Yeah, and. when you think about where we spend most. of our lives, especially since we're. more indoor creatures a lot of us are. these days, gosh, we're just in our own little air. tomb kind of. Yeah, ni- I mean 90% of. our time we spend indoors and if that. time spent indoors is not with fresh. air, right? Your body is always going to. be playing catch-up. I don't want to get. too neurotic here. Some people get. >> No, I don't want to make it sound too. dour. >> crazy, but this is it's a biological.

thing and we know that our ancestors. always had access to fresh air and it's. also measurable. We can see what happens. to the brain, we can see what happens to. the body. We're in an old hotel right. now, an old classic, right? These. windows you can open here. What a. difference that makes to get fresh air. >> When you think about an open window and. just the the energy that it does to a. room, too, it's so nice. >> It's it's not only the the psychosomatic. effect, it's it's a chemical effect on. on your blood pH, right? To be able to.

have fresh air and I think that this is. something that is easily fixable. Like. there's some airlines that have great. air. There's others that consistently. have terrible air. There's some hotels. that have great air. There's others. So. you know it's a fixable problem. It's. not. >> noticed an airline that does or one that. stands out to you? >> Yes. I've I've all all that will be. will be released when it's time cuz I. want to get confirmation from other. people. >> Well, dang, I don't want to die between. now and then cuz I'm. >> We'll have a little talk off camera. I'll I'll tell you what to fly and what. what not to fly. Um there.

What about this? I've always had this. thought, if you have a lot of plants in. your home, does that make it better for. you in a room? Like is it is is like the. the cycle between plants and humans and. your lungs and air, is it that quick. enough? Absolutely. So, fill your room with. plants. Snake plants are great. Not only. do they create more oxygen really. efficiently, but they can remove. pollutants as well. And who doesn't want. to be in a room with a bunch of plants? It's such a cool look. >> Yeah. >> Right right from the get-go, but it's so.

beneficial. And also to have that. energy, you know, there's the ineffable. thing. It's like you're around a bunch. of living things. It's a good feeling. Bring up a snake plant. I want to see. one. I think my old assistant just sent. me a snake plant that came in the mail. the other day. I just put some more Yep, she sure did. I got this tall box and it had a plant. in it. But yeah, it was a snake plant. So, those are big like those those. leaves it's it's amazing. Those are like. big air filters, right? Because that's. what leaves are. They they suck in CO2. and they give off oxygen. That's what.

forests do. It's like nature's lungs. kind of. >> It's nature's lungs and it's was this. perfect balance, you know. >> that lady. She got a big one, huh? That's a black one. Yeah, her air is her. air is fresh. I mean, and look at how. fresh her pants are. It's the poop. >> Yeah, yeah, huh? She likes it a little mixed below the. waist. You could tell down there. Uh Could I even put plants in my car? Like is it that close of enough thing? You could be one of those people that. puts LEGOs on the outside of your car. and plants on the inside. Like there's.

no no judgement here. No one is saying. >> have an art car. That's okay. I think a. small plant like that isn't going to do. much. It might look cool. So, why not do. it? Yeah. You know, what what some. companies are doing like algae is really. efficient at sucking up CO2 and giving. off oxygen. So, some companies are. selling. >> Algae is? Algae. They're they're selling. these these big tubes of algae that you. feed. So, you have I don't know if that. looks as cool as a snake plant, but to. me it's kind of Yeah. >> it's it's a nice talking point at dinner.

parties. Yeah, it's super interesting. Algae. I mean, that's what happens to. the the ocean is is the world's lungs, right? That's That's where we get what. half of our oxygen. I think it's even. more than that is from from the ocean. From algae. Yes. Yes. Wow, I didn't know that at all. Is Isn't that funny though? If you look. at that they're just mimicking leaves of. a large tree of a large plant, you know? It's an artificial. plant, which is cool. It is cool, but.

it's definitely like, "Hey, just get. some plants.". >> Just get some plants. But you can't. you know, to charge an airport 20 grand. for that thing or for 200 for plants, no. one's making a lot of cash from that. Yeah. Yeah, that's a good point. They. always find a way to take something that. we already have, redo it, and make it. like more fancy, and then sell it back. to you, and really it's just the same. thing. Germany uses algae tubes on. buildings to produce biofuel, generating. energy, and absorbing CO2 at the same. time. Well, that's pretty pretty.

interesting. They use that to make a. biodiesel that that you can run that oil. that they extract from that in a diesel. car. I have a 40-year-old Mercedes old. 300D that you can run it off of. vegetable oil, use vegetable oil. No. way. Yes. I've been doing this for. years. It's a real thing. So, they're. kind of they have a twofer right there. They're removing CO2, making new oxygen, and they're also. creating fuel. Yeah, in Germany buildings are going.

green, literally. With the use of. algae-filled tubes mounted on their. exteriors, these transparent tubes house. fast-growing microalgae that absorb. carbon dioxide from the air and use. sunlight to grow all while producing. valuable biomass. The living facade. serves two purposes. It helps cool the. building by providing shade and. generates biofuel. The system is known. as the bioreactor facade. The algae not only captures CO2. emissions, but also produce oxygen, making them natural air purifiers. What. plants produce the most oxygen? I.

believe it's algae. I think Irish ivy, snake plants are also really good. They're all going to do it, but at. different levels of efficiency. I'm. curious what what the researchers here. find. Erica Erica palm and snake plant top the. list for indoor plants that produce the. most oxygen. These plants excel at. photosynthesis and air purification, releasing significant oxygen while. absorbing toxins like benzene and. formaldehyde. Um.

Let me see. Other high po- po- pothos p. o t h o s reduces CO2 effectively and. filters pollutants at night. Spider. plant purifies air of carbon dioxide and. formaldehyde while boosting oxygen. Aloe. vera releases oxygen nocturnally and. removes toxins like benzene. It's kind. of cool you go to sleep and your plants. are out there helping you out. Night. little soldiers. >> Yeah, I mean you got 4 billion years of. evolution here to build systems. Yeah, it is crazy. It's so crazy how it's like.

um we do all these steps to get back to. to just try to get back to baseline. Yep. Um. and that's pothos right there. Oh yeah, I've seen those before. I think my mom. has moms have a lot of those. Um yeah, you just forget it I forget. about Most people don't, but I forget. about nature so much unfortunately. Um I. don't forget about I long for it I. think. I just. I work a lot mostly indoors, you know. Um I I I wanted to ask you about asthma. I feel like growing up like we all had a. problem with asthma or being lazy,

that's what our PE teacher called it. But um. what what. uh Do you Do you have any advice for. parents that have children with asthma. or for people suffering with asthma um. about how they could adjust their. breathing techniques or is that. not associated? Sure. So, asthma's. treated now with bronchodilators and. oral steroids. This is what they give. people with asthma and they both work. really, really well. But again, they're. not addressing the core issue. What's.

the core issue of asthma? Like sudden. inflammation of of the airway, right? >> [snorts]. >> To where you can't breathe. And it's. this constriction and this paranoia. What we have learned irrefutably, this. is what we've learned, is that people with asthma. almost always have a very low tolerance. for carbon dioxide. And another way I'll. I'll say this is they can hardly hold. their breath. You ask an asthmatic to. hold their breath, they go.

>> [sighs and gasps]. >> Wow. So, they have habituated. themselves, not not all asthmatics, but. a lot of them have habituated themselves. to be mouth breathers, to be constantly. over breathing. So, when they sense. that they are unable to breathe and that. CO2 goes up, because that's what happens. when you hold your breath, that CO2 goes. up, it sets off alarm bells in their. brain that this is an emergency. They're. having an attack. So, then they over. breathe more,

which constricts everything more, makes. it harder for them to breathe, makes it. harder for them to get oxygen, and then they over breathe more, and. then they have an attack. So, what we've. known for over 70 years is that one of. the most effective ways of reducing. symptoms of asthma is to learn to. breathe slower, is to learn to breathe through the nose, and is to learn when you feel an attack, instead of hyperventilating and.

exacerbating that attack, to take control of it. Mhm. To start to breathe slow, to hold your. breath for 2 seconds, 2 3 seconds, to. let it go, to slightly and calmly build that carbon. dioxide, which will keep your airways. open. There is a Russian doctor called Buteyko. who studied this and researched it for. decades 70 80 years ago. This is still. taught all over the place and I have.

heard from so many people. There's about. two dozen studies showing how effective. just learning how to breathe slower. and how. intimately your breathing habits are. tied to your symptoms of asthma. >> [snorts]. >> Yeah, I never I I never struggle with. it. But yeah, when you see people that. struggle with it. uh yeah, I know that's yeah, I know a. lot of people deal with that. Um oh, before you leave, uh. you always hear the theory uh you always. hear the saying in through your nose out.

through your mouth. Is that true? It. depends if you're working out sometimes. that's really effective. When I'm. talking about mouth breathing just be so. people aren't confused. I'm not talking. about if you willingly want to take a. breath through your mouth. You're doing. some breath work, you want to breathe. through your mouth. You're LeBron and. you're dunking on some dude and you want. to take a mouth breath. All that's good. because that's something you're. consciously doing. I'm talking about the. unconscious stuff. I'm talking about the. stuff at night. So in through the nose. out through your mouth can be effective. in some stages of athletic performance.

For most zone one, two, and three in. through the nose out through the nose is. going to be so much more beneficial. And. this is the one thing elite trainers are. really getting into now. The number one. thing they have their athletes do. Doesn't matter if they're an Olympian or. a fighter or a cyclist, is they look at. their breathing and they teach them how. to breathe slower and lower. If If you. think about it, if you're able to. conserve more energy by taking fewer. breaths and getting more oxygen, what.

can you do with that energy? Mhm. You. can beat your opponent, right? And. that's why they're interested in it. But. not only for competitive athletes, but. everybody can benefit from this. So it's safe to say then we can go ahead. and change it then. It's in through your. nose out through your nose. Uh absolutely. Well, depending on what. you're doing, right? It's so you need. context around this. It is the vast. majority of the time for 80 85% of. athletic endurance sports, it's in. through the nose out through the nose, yes. >> Amen. I like that. >> Yeah.

>> [snorts]. [sighs]. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Um for. people that have smoked most of their. lives and are changing that now, are. there breathing techniques that they can. do or anything specific or is it is it. just in through the nose out through the. nose? I don't know. Uh I don't think it's been well studied. I I would suggest if. in through the nose out through the nose. for that 5 to 6 seconds in 5 to 6. seconds out, if that can help people. with ground glass lungs the way it can.

the way we know it can, it could. probably be very beneficial for smokers, but I don't know any data that would. support that. But again, you're going to. get other benefits. you know, beyond the potential benefit. of removing more toxins from your lungs. >> Yes. You know, if you got a 9/11 lung or. you got I'm sure they can handle. Parliament lungs or whatever. >> [laughter]. >> You know? Um James Nestor, thanks so much for. joining us today, man. Thanks a lot for. having me. Yeah, I appreciate it and I. appreciate your patience. Um you guys. can all go grab his New York Times best.

seller. The revised edition is out now. It's out now. [snorts] Yeah, just just. released about last week. Breath, the. new science of a lost art. Thank you so. much, brother. Thanks a lot. Yep. Now. I'm just falling on [singing] the breeze. [music] and I feel I'm falling like. these leaves. I must be. cornerstone. [music]. Oh, but when I reach that ground, [music] I'll share this piece of mind I. found. I can feel it.

in my [music] bones. But it's going to take. a little.