More than forty simple breathing exercises to help you transform your physical and mental health and improve performance and emotional well-being
We take between seventeen to twenty-nine thousand breaths per day. Yet most of us aren't aware we're breathing incorrectly, and in the process are increasing our chances of fatigue, headaches, digestive issues, sleep disorders, chronic stress, and anxiety.
However, having more energy, sleeping better, and performing at your best can be as simple as taking some breaths in certain ways. Breathing is the secret weapon you never knew you had!
In Exhale, Breathwork coach Richie Bostock shares more than forty exercises to use your breath to feel and perform at your best. With strategies researched in the lab, along with practices employed by ancient cultures as well as Navy SEALs, Exhale will show you how to find a solution to many of life's everyday challenges. Whether you're hoping to reduce stress and anxiety, increase energy levels, improve sleep, rejuvenate creativity, tackle a hangover, or boost athletic performance, the easy-to-master conscious breathing techniques you'll learn in Exhale are the ultimate tools to transform your well-being.
I feel like this could have been so much more than it was.
I liked that it was a quick read and easy to get through, but there's not really a lot of substance. The real meat of this book comes from it's explanation of the Wim Hof method, which isn't even his work? Like, you could probably read up on Wim Hof and get just as much - if not more - out of it as you would this book.
There are some interesting breath exercises that are worth trying, and I'll definitely go back and have a look through, but for a book about breathing I found it hard to really practice anything while I was out and about. So I feel like maybe the methods weren't explained particularly well and/or were too specific to places/positions. Also, so many of them are similar. So, again, not a lot of substance.
It would have been more interesting if the author went into details on all of the other breathwork practitioners he learned from, because it really feels like he just learned from all of them and is now labelling their collective knowledge as his own research. Seems a bit suss to me. If I sing the chorus of five different songs as one song, does it then become my original song? Not quite. (And it's probably not going to sound particularly cohesive, either.)
Honestly, I wanted more. This had not nearly enough substance to be considered informative, but there also wasn't enough variety to the exercises to make this a worthy handbook.
Interesting to a point, but ultimately a weak and disappointing introduction to breathwork.
This is one of the most comprehensive books about breathing. Unlike other yoga or meditation books, when breathing is only a part of the bigger process, this book concentrate in the mechanism of a breath, how it influence one's body in different ways, and tens of exercises to improve your health, performance, and reduce stress. The exercises are normally pretty short, just a few minutes and can be done through out the day. If you have been hesitating to practice meditation, this could be a good starting point.
A few key takeaways: - People have different breathing style, depending on where they hold the air, what muscles they use to inhale/exhale, the rhythm of their breath. - Style of breathers: Reversed, chest, belly, diaphragmatic (natural way) - Breathing abnormalities: no-breather, breath holder, hypocapnia, controlled exhaler, aborting exhaler. - 21-day practice to correct your breathing style, to improve vital capacity and CO2 tolerance including 15-min core exercise and 5-min focusing exercise. - Daily: morning motivator, afternoon booster, stress buster, evening calmer. - Other specialty exercises: + Mental well-being: road rage, anger, nervous, panic attack, performance anxiety, mental rehearsal, decision making, creativity, concentration, meditation. + Sport performance: high altitude, post-workout. + Physical health: better sex, quit smoking, headache, asthma, high blood pressure, pain, hangover, nausea/motion sickness, + Wim Hof Method: autoimmune diseases, endometriosis, chronic pain & fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome, altitude sickness.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
For a person with anxiety, this breathwork is transformational. Have been practicing this for about a month now and I’m much more conscious. This is a staple guide to regard to for various circumstances.
5/5 ⭐ (I got this book from my therapist and personal trainer.) He's really good and it helped me a lot. However, I skipped some exercises because I felt they were pointless, at most about 3. My performance in any activity improved by about 40%, which is a lot for me. I try to do the emotional part every time I wake up or leave the house, always removing dead weight before entering the house, just thinking about something related to myself, and, as incredible as it sounds, it works. I thought some of it could have been more direct, or they are repetitive and complicated, and fitting this into everyday life requires a lot of patience, so something complicated makes you not want to do it, but it's effective.
A practical breathwork guide with an abundance of exercises for any life situation.
We take around 17,000-29,000 breaths daily and yet almost 40% of us are doing it incorrectly. Improper breathing can exacerbate symptoms of fatigue, headaches or cause digestive issues and sleep disorders.
To address the issue of improper breathing, Richie Bostock wrote a book ‘Exhale’ which aims to help you alleviate stress and anxiety, and improve health and physical performance through breathwork.
Author’s background
Richie Bostock, a renowned breathwork coach, author, and speaker, is on a mission to reintroduce the world to the power of purposeful breathing.
Through his commitment to the field, he has collaborated with numerous influential organisations to advance the practice of Breathwork worldwide.
Bostock’s involvement as a board member of the Global Professional Breathwork Alliance further demonstrates his dedication to promoting training and ethical standards in Breathwork, as well as facilitating its integration as a recognised and effective healing modality on a global scale.
What is the book about?
‘Exhale’ by Richie Bostock is a transformative guide that unlocks the power of purposeful breathing. Drawing from years of experience and the wisdom of breathwork masters, athletes, therapists, and researchers, the author presents essential knowledge and techniques to help readers harness the full potential of their breath.
Starting with an inspiring exploration in Chapter 1, the book unveils a real-life superpower that lies within each of us – breathing. Discover how proper breathing can enhance energy, mental clarity, calmness, meditative states, athletic performance, sleep quality, and overall happiness.
Chapters 2 and 3 provide insights into different breathing habits and offer a 21-day ‘Breathe Right’ program to transform and optimise breathing patterns.
The book goes further by presenting a range of breathwork techniques in Chapter 4 for everyday use and delving into specialised techniques in Chapter 5 to address specific situations, such as panic attacks, athletic performance, hangovers, and chronic ailments.
With a focus on unleashing the untapped potential of our breath, ‘Exhale’ empowers readers to embrace the profound impact of breathing on their life journey – from the first breath to the last –and breathe with purpose every step of the way.
Key takeaways from ‘Exhale’
1.What is e-mail apnoea and how to cope with it?
You must have heard about people who are chronic over-breathe, mouth breathers, or belly breathers. But have you ever heard of people who hold their breath unconsciously or about a phenomenon called ’email apnoea’
The book explains that this type of apnoea stems from unconscious breath-holding caused by a reflex in response to a stressor or threat. For example, when you are writing an email to your boss or are just fulfilling some work task, you might suddenly realise that you are not breathing. Surprisingly, email apnoea is a rather prevalent phenomenon in any office environment.
‘Exhale’ emphasises the importance of becoming aware of breath-holding moments and provides a simple technique to release tension and restore relaxed and rhythmical breathing. Instead of immediately inhaling, the book suggests exhaling through the nose while consciously relaxing the body. By scanning for tension and letting it go, people can cultivate a state of calm and maintain a more effortless and natural breathing pattern.
2.Stretching can aid the way you breathe
Our posture and neck muscles are more related to breathing than we think. Thus, improper breathing can cause muscle tightness while bad posture may exacerbate breathing patterns.
Muscles, engaged in the process of breathing, can often be stiff or tight. Frequently, these are the same muscles that become tense due to prolonged sitting or extensive computer work. Therefore, the book recommends stretches that are designed to specifically target the muscles that have a direct or indirect influence on breathing, aiming to alleviate stiffness and enhance the overall respiratory function. These stretches include vertical dogs, forward folds and cat cows.
3.Breathwork can increase energy levels
Breathwork is well known for its stress-relieving properties. But did you know that breathing exercises can actually boost energy levels?
Breathwork can help activate the part of your nervous system responsible for relaxation, which slows down your heart rate, increases oxygen flow, and enhances your overall sense of well-being. It also helps circulate positive energy, improve your mood and energy levels.
In his book, Richie Bostock provides an exercise, called ‘Breath of fire,’ which is said to increase energy levels. Here is its procedure, try and decide whether it works for you😊.
Note that this breathwork should not be performed by pregnant women or individuals suffering from stomach issues.
‘This breath can be done seated or standing.
Exhale forcefully through your nose, also with a forceful contraction of your abdominal muscles.
Following the exhale, allow the inhalation to happen by itself as you relax your abdominal muscles.
Complete 20 rapid breaths.
Inhale through your nose completely.
Hold your breath for 10 seconds.
While holding your breath, relax your abdomen, back, chest, shoulders, and neck—you may feel some slight pressure go into your head.
Sigh out through your mouth and relax for a few seconds.
Repeat this 3 times.’
Strengths and weaknesses, according to readers’ reviews
Strengths: • Offers a variety of breathwork exercises suitable for beginners and those looking to incorporate breathwork into their daily routines. • Covers a wide range of topics, from managing anger and stress to improving concentration and creativity. • Provides specialised exercises for mental well-being, sports performance, and physical health.
Weaknesses: • Lacks an explanation of how the respiratory system works as well as research to support the effectiveness of certain exercises.
Best quotes from ‘Exhale’
“Breathwork is when you intentionally become aware of your breath and use it to improve your physical and mental health and performance and emotional well-being.”
“You’re sitting at your desk, writing an e-mail to your boss, updating her on your work progress. Suddenly, you realize you’re not breathing! So you take in a big gasp of air. You’ve just experienced “e-mail apnoea,” a term credited to former Apple executive Linda Stone, describing unknowingly going without breathing for extended periods of time. If this is you, don’t worry, you’re not alone. Just ask your fellow employees if they’ve experienced this before. You may be surprised how prevalent it is.”
“In 2018, a UK-wide survey on stress showed that 74 percent of the participants had at some point over the past year felt overwhelmed or unable to cope with a situation as a result of stress.”
Final takeaway
‘Exhale’ by Richie Bostock is a breathwork guide that explores the power of purposeful breathing. The book focuses on explaining how to perform breathing exercises rather than on the theoretical knowledge behind breathwork.
Thus, the book is best suited for people who already have knowledge about the science behind breathing and want to enrich their daily routines with different breathing exercises.
The power of the breath, something that is often taken for granted. We don't have to give it much thought since we do not need to be aware we are breathing for it to occur. This book was a great intro into breathwork and how you can utilise it to make improvements to your your health.
I hold my breath a lot, often causing stress to my body when I'm not actually in stressful situations. This book has greatly helped me to work on bringing more awareness to my breath throughout my day. It's a great source for different routines from breathwork for headaches to concentration to anger and frustration.
Excellent! I’m doing the exercises outlined in this book, the 21-day breathing reset, and already on day 6 I’m noticing a change in my CO2 tolerance. I breathe more through my diaphragm now than I did before, which helps with feelings of chronic stress, anxiety, and PTSD. Before picking up this book, I didn’t know that the way I was breathing reflected my troubled history, and I didn’t know that bad breathing habits impact mental health in turn. This has been such a valuable read, and I’m glad I own a copy to reference continuously in the near future. It feels like I’ve discovered a brilliant new hack for improving my mind, body, sleep, and overall well-being.
This is the 2nd book on breathing that I read this year. Because of this book I have been doing a twice daily deep breathing practice. I use it to manage my chronic low back pain and it’s helped reduce my pain levels. I recommend this book to anyone living with chronic pain who thinks, “Well, it’s worth a try!” I find that even a slight reduction of pain makes a big difference in my life. I give it 4 stars for the excellent content. I don’t want to give it 5 stars because the writing style is not really appealing to me.
I listened to the audio version of this book. I am a big believer in the power of breath work, but if someone is unfamiliar with what it is I suppose the content might not be as interesting. I however did find the information given in this book fascinating and useful, though I'll admit to not having practiced the techniques given. But if someone is looking for some useful breath work exercises this one has plenty! It also gives a brief overview of various types of breath work which is helpful to know the differences between them.
Books which provide guidance through research, experience, and peer review can add significant value as information, facts, and science continues to evolve. With that said, this book lacks the discipline and methodology of a data-driven, research-backed, or peer reviewed text. Additionally, several statements are mere fallacies and far from supported. The premise and idea are encouraging, but the execution is far too poor to believe this received publication support.
I found the exercises to be meaningful and easy to follow. My review copy had formatting issues, but I was able to find a lot of interesting techniques to try out. I practice yoga so I can see how yoga enthusiasts might find them useful in their practice.
Thanks to the publisher for early access to the book
I always enjoy learning something completely new that I had no idea about its benefits. So, how much you enjoy this book also depends on whether you're willing or not to learn something different. I loved this book and I am so pumped to learn more about the benefits of breathing and to start applying small changes into my daily routines. Totally recommend this book!
It’s amazing how relaxed and focused I can be when using the techniques. When my mind races or thoughts are not allowing me to sleep, I concentrate on my breath work. Helps tremendously.
A good book to help you do some proper breathing. I found it to be helpful and improving how I breathe and even to calm down if you get excited or stress.
Contains a lot of breath work exercises and some explanations. Though deeper understanding of why it is done that way could be explored. But as for a beginner in breath work it’s a very nice book.
Audiobook: Good concept and eye opening but VERY detailed but think a much shorter book with video links would be better. I will research on my own and pull up exercises on YouTube when I need them.
what a fun read! this is my first book on my journey into breathwork and I am glad this was a first guide. it was easy to understand and informative. would definitely recommend!
I got this book because I wanted to read about breathing techniques and exercises to reduce stress. It was heavy on science and I skipped ahead to the stuff I needed.
I have even finished this book but it’s so full of great ideas, warm ups, and breathing techniques that it’s already 5 stars! If you like breathing, read this book 🥰