Should any of Apple's boffins be reading...

I desperately want active breath monitoring. Like measuring breaths per minute. Like nudging me when I'm holding my breath.

These features would greatly help me with managing chronic pain.

Also, the "pulmonauts" are doing a bunch of cool new stuff. Active breath monitoring would be a boon.

"Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art Hardcover" by James Nestor [2020-05-26] https://www.amazon.com/Breath-New-Science-Lost-Art/dp/073521...

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Out of curiosity, I tried using some decibel meter type apps to detect my breathing (breath sounds). Just to see if it's even possible.

I didn't get very far. I haven't had the gumption to investigate further. Use an actual mic and tape recorder, because maybe the iPhone is doing active noise cancelation or something. If there's actually some signal (sound), maybe there's also a way to get the raw data from the iPhone mic.

Asked another way, I'm not smart enough to figure out if an iPhone's stock mics are sensitive enough to pick up 10 decibels (breath sounds). My google-fu is weak.

For me, the amazing thing about the Vagus nerve is that you can stimulate it with your breathing. And since the Vagus nerve affects the autonomic nervous system (involuntary, not consciously controlled) while breathing choices are conscious, this is one of the few ways that humans can directly impact important aspects of their psychology and physiology, like how calm they feel. Mindfulness + breath choices + vagus nerve => altered state. And that's why traditions including yoga and buddhism empathize breathing. Couple great books that touch on this are:

Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art https://www.amazon.com/Breath-New-Science-Lost-Art/dp/073521...

and

Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Brain https://www.amazon.com/Altered-Traits-Science-Reveals-Medita...

Highly recommend reading James Nestor's Breath [1]. There is an incredible body of breathing modalities from ancient to modern. James does an incredible job of presenting a non-biased journey through it with a dose of humility and a childlike sense of awe. I finally got my Wimhof practice on track after it.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Breath-New-Science-Lost-Art/dp/073521...

Apparently yes, nasal breathing is hugely beneficial. This book was a life changer for me — James Nestor’s Breath:

Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art: Nestor, James: 9780735213616: Amazon.com: Books Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art: Nestor, James: 9780735213616: Amazon.com: Books https://www.amazon.com/dp/0735213615

Yes, yes, we all know Pranayama and other ancient sciences already “covered” it, but at least for me, I was totally unaware of the importance and wide ranging benefits of nasal breathing, until I read this book.

For me the key take away was: when running, follow 2 simple rules: always breath through your nose, And make your out breath last (much) longer than your in breaths. I started with 2 steps for out, 3 for in, then 2/5, And now i can do 2/7. I use the nasal breathing rule as a guideline to know when I’m running too fast - if you can’t just breath through your nose then you’re running too fast. Over a few weeks of running 3 times/week I was able to increase my distance from 2 to 5 miles.

For those interested in going deeper into the incredible world of breathing techniques I recommend "Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art" [0]. Part personal account, part research summary, the book covers a lot of the world's ancient breathing traditions (including Wim Hof and his antecedents), as well as what modern science has to say about them.

As with many other aspects of holistic health, it's incredible how Western medicine has ignored verifiable scientific evidence about the wide range of health benefits one can derive from these breathing techniques.

A smattering of advice from the book:

* Breathe through your nose, NOT your mouth (except when talking).

* Breathe slowly, softly, not (necessarily) deeply. Optimal breath rate is roughly 5.5s inhale, 5.5s exhale, 5.5 breaths per minute, 5.5 L of air inhaled.

* * Many people tend to over-breathe, which has a number of detriments, including stimulating anxiety.

* As with most aspects of health, the body does best with most-of-the-time low stress (see above "Breath slowly") punctuated by short intense intervals of high stress. Wim Hof breathing is the high stress workout that exercises your breathing system and builds breath flexibility.

* Chew tough stuff, exercise your jaw. This can help build wider mouths (new bone growth!) and open up your airways.

[0] https://www.amazon.com/Breath-New-Science-Lost-Art/dp/073521...