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** spoiler alert ** James Nestor makes it clear at the outset of this book that he is a journalist, not a scientist. As a scientist living in the age of COVID-19 and Donald Trump, I have learned to be wary of journalists who speak for the scientific community. At the end of the day, the goal of journalism is to bring attention to a topic, and often at the expense of objectivity.

“Breath��, I will be the first to admit, takes the reader on a fascinating journey, along with Nestor himself, in discovering—and “re��-discovering—breathing techniques that allow the practitioner to exert mindful control over their physiology, from decreasing snoring and combating ADHD to seemingly superhuman tales of curing scoliosis and thinly-garbed monks melting circles around them in the snow, using the mysterious “Tummo�� technique. There is much good to be said about the breadth (pun intended) of this book, and it brings a lot of fascinating case studies to light. Nestor, with his journalistic charm, is never one to shy away from perhaps overly descriptive language, and keeps the reader curious about what will happen next throughout the narrative and descriptive portions of the book.

With all this said, one word was present in the back of my mind the entire time I was reading this book—pseudoscience. I will not claim the infallibility or immunity from ignorance of scientific and medical institutions, but Nestor seems to suggest its presence with a twinkle in his eye, in an apparent appeal to the “alternative medicine�� audience that may find and read this book. Much of the language used is outdated, like “reptilian brain�� and “left-brained vs. right-brained��, and mostly harmless. But at times, I was particularly alarmed. At one instance, Nestor suggests that “nasal cycles��, where one alternates between breathing through the left and right nostrils, are responsible for stimulating logical thinking vs creativity, appealing not only to an outdated and harmful pseudoscientific concept in neuropsychology, but also failing to address the obvious question that would be raised in response to such a claim: both nostrils lead to the same sinus cavity, so there is no reason to suspect such a ridiculous idea, and had the author truly acquainted himself with the anatomy of the nasal passages before attempting to play scientist, this idea never would have been entertained.

While the book is interesting and a good read, for the layperson not equipped to recognize and address the various thinly-veils appeals to ancient wisdom, non-sequiturs, and other logical fallacies and scientific inaccuracies sprinkled throughout what is otherwise a fascinating and informative read, I can not recommend this book. It is far too likely that this book will become a part of the gospel of the “alternative medicine�� community, and that is not something I can endorse. While Nestor does make a genuine attempt at scientific rigor, his final product is ultimately a 200 page op ed.