The Oxygen Advantage: Simple, Scientifically Proven Breathing Techniques to Help You Become Healthier, Slimmer, Faster and Fitter―Improve Your Health and Fitness with Efficient Breathing Techniques

I remember that when I was a little kid it was fun to see how long I could hold my breath. Fast-forward to today, and holding my breath for a fraction of the time I did as a child is not fun- in fact it feels like a desperate “brush with death”! The main premise of this book is that we become adapted to over-breathing with significant diminishment of our health and well-being. For the specifics of how and why we have adapted to over-breathing, please refer to the book if you find this review interesting. I believe this premise that we have adapted to over-breathing is true and self-authenticating , from reading and working with the book. This book is truly transformative and deserves to be widely known. There are three components to the Oxygen Advantage program which addresses this over-breathing. They are explained clearly and supported with anecdotal and scientific studies, and tips and exercises are given to develop them. I appreciate the scientific explanation (which is not tedious), because it provides real support and conviction for engaging the process. The three components could be summarized as: 1) Breathe through the nose while awake (including when exercising) and asleep 2) “Breathe Light to Breathe Right” 3) Increase your ability to comfortably hold your breath #1 Breathe through the nose- Personally I already took #1 for granted when I came across this book. The reasons for nose-breathing are explained thoroughly in this book, and a very persuasive case is also made in John Douillard’s “Body, Mind, and Sport”. Reading that book convinced me to learn to run without mouth-breathing, which has already convinced me that nose-breathing is calmer and healthier and more efficient than mouth-breathing. This book has shown me that I still have some work to do in this area, but what got me excited about the book immediately was working with breath holds. However, breathing through the nose at all times would have to be considered the most fundamental building block of the program, I believe. #2 Breathe Light to Breathe Right- In the book, a tai chi master is quoted as saying, “Generally speaking, there are 3 levels of breathing. The first one is to breathe softly, so that a person standing next to you does not hear you breathing. The second level is to breathe softly so that you do not hear yourself breathing. And the third level is to breathe softly so that you do not feel yourself breathing.” The author was told that at tai chi tournaments, judges pay particular attention to the breathing of the contestants, and if they can notice their breathing, points are deducted! More about this topic shortly. #3 Increase your ability to hold your breath- This topic is what initially captured my attention, because I experienced immediate positive effects from practicing breath holds. At my starting level, the exercises are simple and mild affairs, where the breath is held after an exhalation (while walking for example), only to the point of feeling a tolerable need for air (both words, “tolerable” and “need” being key). Breathing should be back to normal after the hold in 3 breaths or so, or the hold is overly intense. This simple exercise, practiced for 15 minutes a day, has had an immediate and continuing effect on my well-being. As the number of paces I can walk comfortably while breath-holding slowly goes up, so does the benign unfolding of this process. There are many things developing at once, but here’s an attempt to summarize my subjective experience so far: 1) The exercise influences my breath to calm and slow down throughout the day. This has brought my attention to the real importance of “Breathe Light to Breathe Right”, which initially went over my head. A deep breath is not something I TAKE, or grab, or force, or make an effort to achieve. I do not get “more” by breathing more! (The specifics of the exercises are in the book, but as the author says, “Breathe Light to Breathe Right is not just an exercise, it is a way of life”.) 2) There is a psychological stress around breathing that this process is helping to dissolve. The first tolerable need for breath is not a danger signal, any more than beginning to get hungry should lead to panic. As this stress unwinds, there is relaxation and calm mindfulness in its place, with more relaxation in movement and effort. 3) I have an undeniable increase in physical well-being. Of course, everyone who works with this book will have a different starting point and experience of the process. I feel that it is a fantastic boon to discover that I have adapted to over-breathing in my life (just the opposite of what I have been conditioned to believe), and begin to unwind it. I think therefore it is only kind to recommend that anyone find out for themselves if they over-breathe. I don’t think there can be many more fundamental discoveries than this to make about oneself - perhaps one or two profound spiritual discoveries would fill the bill! There is considerable information presented on the health benefits of this program, with almost 300 references to supporting theories and compelling evidence. And there are recommendations for how practically everyone can safely engage the process, from someone in poor health to someone in superb physical condition. Check it out!

First, I would like to congratulate Patrick McKeown for writing another great book to add to his Buteyko breathing method series. By writing this book Patrick once again demonstrated his world’s leading role as the Buteyko breathing method writer and educator. I have been a Buteyko breathing educator for more than 20 years, and I found this book as an advanced step which puts the Buteyko method on a higher level of development and effectiveness. I would highly recommend the book to anyone, regardless of health level and goals. What makes this book special are three fundamental factors – knowledge, applications of breathing techniques, and how to get yourself in the Zone by using the power of mind. This book will give you power of new knowledge, particularly how to be much better prepared for sport performance regardless of your level of health. For example, you’ll learn “how to bring mountain to you” without extra equipment, by simulating high–altitude training, which would help you to significantly improve sport performance. This knowledge may empower you. The book well described the power of breathing. By learning and implementing a variety of breathing strategies, you may fuel each cell of your body to maximum oxygen capacity. It will make every cell, organ and system of your body healthier and stronger. You may significantly improve breathing control and increase endurance, which is one of the main factors for better performance. In addition to my training in the Buteyko method I have more than a decade of experience in training people in relaxation of mind and body. I found it really valuable how the book teaches you to use the power of mind to bring yourself into the Zone, quiet your mind, and improve focus and concentration. The techniques and ways to get into the Zone are explained very well. I can assure you that these techniques are highly effective and would help you to improve your skills to bring yourself into the Zone for highest performance. If you implement the power of knowledge, breathing, and mind at the same time, you may really experience their synergetic effect. And if you add your willpower, you may expect the highest outcome in areas of improvement that you are looking for. It can help you to achieve the highest level of your ability and capability which gives you an outstanding opportunity to achieve maximum enhancement in health, life style, and performance. So, the details are in the book and the benefits would be from your experience, possibly even in an area you might have never dreamed of yet! This is how “The Oxygen Advantage” may work for you!

I have had this book since 2017. I’ve read the book multiple times not because I couldn’t understand it but because it was very informative. As I started to apply what the author was saying I began to see a difference in my cardiovascular health. I would jog longer distances without feeling so out of breath and my everyday activities were a breeze to handle. Read the book then do what it says. Remember doing what the author is telling is a very important part. No action, equals no results.

Patrick McKeown has put together an educational book on breathing which got me thinking. The book is titled, "The Oxygen Advantage". I really like the title. I also liked that I learned something. There is a chapter in the book titled: "The Oxygen Paradox". It sounds like something out of science fiction (which I love); but make no mistake, it read like pure science. Mr. McKeown's writing style is easy to understand and digestible. He knows his subject. It's a good read. He writes about the Bohr Effect, which was (re)discovered in 1904 by the Danish physiologist Christian Bohr. Christian Bohr wrote, “The carbon dioxide pressure of the blood is to be regarded as an important factor in the inner respiratory metabolism. If one uses carbon dioxide in appropriate amounts, the oxygen that was taken up can be used more effectively throughout the body.” Maybe I missed that lesson in school; but as I read it made sense. The body works a certain way and we set up conditions that are sometimes contrary to optimal health. And the body tells us that what we are doing is wrong; but we don't seem to understand or don't have the knowledge to correct it. I think this book helps fill that gap. Patrick McKeown's book: "The Oxygen Advantage". has something for everyone. I mean, if you are alive, you probably know something about breathing, right? Many people probably feel this way. Breathing, particularly low CO2 tolerance, is taken so over granted that it is constantly overlooked as an indicator or barometer of health. What do we really know about breathing? What do I really know about breathing? I do know if I am cut from air for a length of time things can get really scary, really fast. I mean, "P- A - N - I - C". That's, panic. It's easy to say with breath, not so easy say - or spell - without the breath. And as Mr. McKeown explains in his book, depending how quickly you reach that need for air could be an indication a person who over breathes. In another chapter of the book, Mr. McKeown explained the B.O.L.T. (Body Oxygen Level Test) an individual can use to test his or herself as to their CO2 tolerance. It is a demonstrate the Bohr Model in action. I can go on and on about the book. The ideas presented in this book are applicable to the athlete, the person who talks for living, the person who just wants to get a better handle on his or her health, and health professionals. Many people can benefit from this.

I’ve had asthma since age two and being very health oriented, have tried EVERYTHING to manage/cure my chronic condition for years. I’ve tried every supplement, tincture, pharmaceutical, long term allergy shots, you name it to no avail. I approached it by eliminating triggers like rag weed, pet dander etc, diet, and trying to get to the root of it by approaching it as an inflammatory situation. Nothing worked, it’s been decades of suffering and no help from docs. From reading this amazing , comprehensive book, I learned my approaches have all been short sighted and would never work long term because they didn’t get to the root of the problem. Remedies we’re temporary fixed. Asthmatics hyperventilate/overbreathe, they breath enough for 4-6 people , counterintuitive for those of us with constricted airwaves who believe we’re not getting enough oxygen . We have low CO2, which allows oxygen to come unbound from platelets so that we can oxygenate properly. When we overbreathe, the body in its need to hold on to CO2 from being over expelled, tightens airways and forms mucus. This book , through teaching a new way of breathing, resets the CO2 set point so the respiration center then allows airways to relax. I was at my wits end, using my inhaler 10-15 times a day, and even on waking in the middle of the night, to using it once or twice a day and I’m only 3 weeks in to reset my CO2 set point with these exercises. I’m already off my steroidal inhaler and still can’t believe it ! It’s astounding that doctors don’t know about the Buteyko method and it’s not taught everywhere! Another failure of modern medicine no longer interested in healing just increasing pharma’s bottom line . Asthma can be cured 100% by anyone who undertakes this method. If you’re like me,have searched and experimented endlessly and in vain , you will never need another remedy or drug.This author is a life saver and it will be the best money you’ve ever spent. The book is comprehensive and easy to read and understand. This method is for everyone not just asthmatics. It gives an edge for competitive athletes and everyone in between because once you understand the reason and method to allow oxygen to be released instead of circulating in your body, and how it relaxes your airwaves and strengthens them, you will enjoy better health and exercise endurance and recovery for life. What would you pay for an asthma cure? 500$ ? 1000$? 10,000$ ? I would have, happily. Now you have that for $10!!!! Patrick M. has changed and probably saved my life!

I find this a very interesting book. One of my martial arts instructors said that you function best when your lungs just have residual air so you should learn to have minimal breathing and always just have residual air. I have always been taught to take big breaths and I thought the instructor was insane. In this book McKeown makes it clear what the instructor was trying to say and how to do it. I notice that I strike faster with minimal air. I ordered this book at the end of November and started practicing as best I could at that time. The book came about December 10. When I started my BOLT score was about 15 and now it is about 50. BOLT is how McKeown measures how well you are breathing. Fifteen is very bad and 50 is very good. My resting pulse has gone from 60 to about 50. Many days my BOLT is higher than my pulse rate. My resting breathing now is almost imperceptible. When I first looked at this I thought that I certainly breath through my nose but when I shut my mouth I found it very difficult for the first week or two. I used to get water in my breathing apparatus and cough violently. That has stopped. My sense of smell has dramatically increased. My sleep has improved but I still do not sleep through the night. The light breathing is very calming but I still get stressed. Keeping my mouth closed has greatly reduced my self-talk. With paying attention to my breathing and body sensations I have gotten very quiet. I still frequently feel bad and that tends to make me melancholy. I had hoped that with better oxygenation of cells my health and "energy" levels would noticeably improve but that has not happened yet. I expected this because some people teach that poor oxygenation is the cause of all disease. I am surprised that my bolt score has increased so much but my breath holding ability is still limited to about 1:30. Maybe I just do not work at breath holding enough. I usually do two rounds a day. I tape my mouth at night. That sounded terrible to me but I do not mind at all. I use surgical tape because I can get it free. I do not explicitly practice aerobic exercise so I cannot measure improvement there but I am running with my mouth closed with this program. I am thrilled with the results I have gotten following McKeown's program. Hopefully with time I will feel noticeably better and have greater vitality.

I've been in the alternative health field for over 20 years, and devour any new or promising bit of info I can get my hands on, regarding nutrition or any other health protocol. This after having cancer at 21, so I'm pretty serious about this quest. I'd heard of the Buteyko method about 10 years ago, but never tried it. Fast forward to now. I'm 45, suffer from debilitating chronic fatigue, depression, and anxiety disorder. I sleep ok, but wake up 3-4 times a night, which is annoying. I was excited to dive into this, despite having some issues with the book, which I'll address first: 1) The author recommends the ingestion of sodium bicarbonate, to aid in keeping the body's pH normal. Admittedly, this is a very sore subject for me, as I see SO many people talking online in recent years about how, of course, acidity causes cancer, so if you just make your body more alkaline, you will be healthier all around. Now, thank goodness Patrick didn't cite and (mis)quote the research of Dr. Otto Warburg, like everyone else does, when they want to make this point. However, after much research on the subject, it has become clear to me that ingesting sodium bicarbonate is, at the very least, useless, and at most, potentially harmful. Allow me to explain: The body, as a whole, isn't supposed to be alkaline, as everyone "knows." There are certain organs and tissues in the body which are alkaline, but there are others which are acidic, such as the adrenals and the digestive tract. So making a blanket statement like I mentioned before is completely oversimplified and downright inaccurate. So, he advocates ingesting sodium bicarbonate. Generally, if you take a small amount of it, all that will happen is your stomach acid will neutralize it, so it will have no effect whatsoever on your blood or anything else. Secondly, if you take enough to completely neutralize your stomach acid, and make it into the rest of your digestive tract, you are disrupting one of the most important mechanisms the body has for overall health. Your stomach releasing hydrochloric acid is extremely important for MANY reasons: proper gastric emptying, proper motility of the GI tract, absorption of protein, signal to release the digestive enzymes from the pancreas and gall-bladder, etc. If you disrupt that process, you are setting the state for some serious dysfunction down the line, such as the normally harmless yeast in the GI tract morphing into their fungal state, which is a real health hazard. And third, and perhaps most bizarre of all, the recipe he mentions involves using both Sodium bicarbonate and apple cider vinegar. Ok...so... you mix an acid and a base, effectively neutralizing them, then drink a mixture that is essentially inert. Makes absolutely NO sense. My next issue with the book is that most of it was very clearly geared towards athletes. I'm not an athlete, in fact as I mentioned, I have some real health issues, and I think he missed a HUGE opportunity to really get into the real benefit of this kind of work, in the book. I think he should've had at least one full chapter dedicated to case examples of people with common health problems: chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, thyroid issues, etc. etc. and give us a lot more perspective on that side of things. To be fair, he does mention some examples in the book of those kinds of things, but I felt it was just hinting at a possible gold-mine of examples. I was excited to take my BOLT score, but to my surprise, mine is actually pretty good, about 25. Probably because I've been aware of the importance of nose breathing and abdominal breathing for years. I was hoping it would be much lower, so I could see more potential benefit from the program. But here's the catch, with me: according to the author, a BOLT score of 20-30 means you probably won't be able to get much benefit without applying the techniques to some form of exercise. For my BOLT score, he mentions like 30 minutes of exercise per day, while applying the techniques. I can BARELY take a five minute walk without becoming either horribly fatigued or anxious. So 30 minutes is a complete pipe-dream. Now, that doesn't mean I'm not going to try the program (I've already started, in fact) and see if I can gain enough benefit to perhaps start exercising lightly. But for now, it'll have to be no exercise whatsoever. I'll keep at it for a few weeks and see if I'm noticing any objective benefit. I do believe the info in this book has incredible value, but until it works for me, or someone I know, I'm giving it three stars. It does have a lot of good info on the science behind all of this, which is much appreciated, and not hard to follow. I especially liked the info on nitric oxide, as I've recently become aware of how important that particular gas is to our bodies. If I start to notice improvements, I will happily change my review. Oh, one more minor issue: I was surprised he didn't talk about the classic breathing into a paper bag, to help normalize CO2 levels. I'd be interested in knowing if this is a viable option, where people could maybe breath normally into the bag for a certain amount of time, rather than having to pay close attention to their breathing and monitoring it for 10 minutes, or whatnot.

I felt an immense calm for the first 4 days of breathing through my nose and breathing less, it did come back to near normal levels but overall, i am much calmer now with this breathing method. The methods in this book have improved several facets of my life. I may be an extreme case since i have been mouth breathing for probably most of the 28 years of my life. I am pretty sure not nearly enough Oxygen was being distributed throughout my body and also my body's Co2 retention was very poor. By doing the exercises in this book i was able to achieve all of the below mentioned improvements. Also note, progress is not linear, you will have days where you feel the system no longer works or not as well, but this is to be expected of almost anything. You will have ups and downs but as long as you are disciplined and stick with a program the direction of your overall progress will be forwards. Things Improved by Adopting the Buteyko Method > I have more energy > I wake up refreshed and require less sleep since the quality of my sleep is much better breathing through my nose > My posture has improved ( it was horrible before-even though i worked on improving- i believe my depletion of CO2 and lack of Oxygen distribution through the body may have been the culprit) > My Anxiety has reduced drastically whereas the thoughts of being anxious are starting to be habitually broken > My teeth and gums look much healthier > The skin around my face looks much healthier (also the sometimes rotten smell around my head dissipated - i know - gross!) > The Ear Wax Build up i had to clean every month is now much less > My Muscle size grew, as the oxygen to my muscles increased and CO2 retention improved ( i have always been skinny but with this breathing method, I am starting to fill out) I have tried to gain muscle mass most of my life but this breathing method is the most improvement i have ever seen in my gains > My nose cleared up, there was a bunch of gunk in there (some came out black or grey and most of it bloody) > My vision improved to where i stopped wearing contacts and am going to get rechecked by Doctor ( I expect a improvment in vision verdict from the Doc) > My eyes also open wider and I look more alert and healthy whereas before i would always look groggy with barley open eyes. These are my improvements and as i cant say what works for me will work for you, but i believe almost anyone can take away some great lessons from the evidence and exercises in this book.

Only after reading the book that I realized the significance of nasal breathing over mouth breathing. This improves a lot of the well being of my body.

The following text was part of an e-mail sent to the author of the book in which I shared my experiences with him. I just wanted to share my experience with the breathing techniques with you and my thoughts about the innovative insights for people like me who don’t yet have any specific health problems. And I’m looking forward to stay healthy with all the great information out there, including your knowledge and your shared experiences with thousands of people, working with them and changing their lives to the better. For me the formula „Breathe Light to Breathe Right“ helped to get more focused in everyday live. I can concentrate better while working on my tasks on the computer. But more important, I first just had to stop breathing through my mouth while working on the computer. I would never have thought it myself that my mouth breathing while working impeded my concentration, my productivity and probably finally my career (or at least my wellbeing). I’m so glad that I discovered your book (thanks to Amazon recommendations). Now to my insights with breathing reduction and my heart rate variability, which captured my attention 3 years ago and began to really change the view of my health and my autonomy in this area of my life. With the HRV analysis using the Autonom Health tool and using the Elite HRV App on my iPhone, I found out that the best way for me to heighten my heart rate variability is to do the exercise „Breathe Light to Breathe Right“. Compared to a guided breathing session (with Elite HRV) my HRV is even better doing reduced breathing (contrary to the notion that coherent breathing with 3–6 breaths per minute is the best way to train your nervous system and heighten the HRV). It gets higher when my SpO2 drops to 93% and lower. Maybe it is a stress response and the effect is not the same in the long run as with the coherent breathing technique without breathing reduction? I’ve also been practicing the exercise „High Altitude Training“ since last Sommer and changed my BOLT Score from under 20 seconds to 30 until 40 seconds or more (additionally I keep this Score using a tape on my mouth while sleeping, as recommended by you). According to my HRV analysis with Autonom Heath, my health and my fitness is really good (unfortunately I just began to measure this seriously some weeks ago and not already last summer before I began to implement your exercises). However, I had some problems to heighten my BOLT Score sustainably and it dropped under 30 after having stopped the regular exercise of breathing light to breathe right (just keeping the mouth breathing day and night and High Altitude Simulation while walking at least 3–4 times per week). At the moment I do the exercise every morning and evening for 15 minutes and heightened the score to 40 seconds again, which corresponds with my feeling of being able to stay focused longer in my working day and to get things done better and with more energy and enthusiasm.

Livro sobre técnicas de respiração para melhora da saúde.

Actually reading it. The “book” that I was looking for! Excellent content, information, details and exercises. Sometimes I have the feeling that it’s repeating subject …again and again… by way of sentences with identical meaning…maybe it is only me. Helpfull for a lot of people. Health issues that is not covered by your Doctor because…you are not bleeding or have a broken bone sticking out!!!

This book can be a life-changer if applied in real life. It is written very clear in a quite humoristic style sometimes, which makes it a very 'down to earth' scientific book and very easy to read. You get lot of great scientific background information, case studies and exercises. It should be on everybody's book shelf. And after reading, you can easily apply it in your daily lives, whether you' re at work, playing with the kids, running, cycling, watching TV, and even sleeping!