If you were told to stop from breathing through your nose, could you do it? Journalist Nestor made it for about 10 days, (plug) up his nose and breathing only through his mouth as part of an experiment at Stanford University. The effects were systemic—sleeping troubles, high blood pressure and, of course, discomfort.
Breathing is so automatic an activity that most of (we) never think about doing it. But as Nestor shows through his own experiences and conversations with dozens of (expert), the way we breathe makes difference to the body's overall health. (base) on the results of the experiment, he published a book Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art, where he explores everything from the role our noses play in hormone regulation(激素調(diào)節(jié)) and digestion, to some athletes build up the lung capacity(肺活量) to run marathons in extreme conditions or div e into icy water for more than an hour at a time. The topic is (seeming) simple—an entire book about breathing. But actually every chapter (reveal) new details about how body and breath work together at the same time.
Nestor's daring attitude and curiosity were infectious: I not only noticed myself paying attention to my own breathing every time I sat down to read, my new-found comfort with my own lungs even (inspire) me to go for my first jog in years.