James Nestor, an award-winning science journalist and author, visited Brunswick in early October to speak with parents and Upper and Middle School students about the art of breathing well.
Nestor, who is the author of the New York Times bestseller Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art, also worked to convey how a host of chronic conditions and even poor test scores can be linked to poor breathing and poor indoor air quality.
Nestor said that his experience researching free divers, who train themselves to hold their breath for as long as five minutes and more, led him to embark on a mission to find out why humans have become “the worst breathers in the animal kingdom” and to learn how better breathing has been shown to improve learning and even cure certain chronic conditions.
“We can fix it,” Nestor said. “You don’t have to sit in a lotus position and light candles to be a better breather!”
Among his recommendations is to breathe deeply — to take big breaths that begin in the belly and expand into the chest, like a wave.
“Our organs need this massage,” Nestor said. “We’re born great breathers. Any healthy infant is breathing from the belly.”
Nestor also said slow, rhythmic breathing — six seconds in and six seconds out — has been shown to improve memory and decision making, to reduce anxiety, and to bring the body into a state of “coherence.”
“In that moment when you are getting stressed, the single most important thing you can do is take control of your breath,” he said.
Indoor air quality also plays a role. Nestor invested in a portable carbon dioxide detector, which he brings along on his travels, and the results inside airplanes, hotels, and even classrooms have been distressing.
The exception, he said, is Brunswick.
“Here in Baker Theater, it’s barely above 600 ppm,” he said, citing the meter. “That’s phenomenal, given there are so many people in the same room!”
Nestor’s visit served as the first 2024-25 installment of the ’WICK Center Speaker Series, which brings leading health-and-wellness thinkers to campus.