#829: James Nestor — Breathing Protocols to Reboot Your Health, Fix Your Sleep, and Boost Performance
Description
James Nestor is a science journalist and the author of the international bestseller Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art, with more than three million copies sold in 44 languages.
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Timestamps:
[00:00:00 ] Start.
[00:01:37 ] Why I waited years to interview James about Breath.
[00:02:35 ] Maurice Daubard: The mysterious 90-year-old who preceded Wim Hof.
[00:05:01 ] Tummo breathing: Ancient Bon Buddhist heat generation.
[00:08:13 ] James’ personal breathwork practice and the Wim Hof method (with warnings).
[00:09:25 ] How breathwork cured James’ chronic respiratory issues.
[00:11:46 ] Sudarshan Kriya: The weekend workshop that changed everything.
[00:16:56 ] My nine-minute breath hold experiment (hyperbaric chamber edition).
[00:18:57 ] Post-book revelations and angry doctors’ offices.
[00:20:41 ] The ADHD-breathing connection: A controversial Venn diagram.
[00:22:00 ] DIY breathing assessments for kids.
[00:25:55 ] Mouth tape: From hostage situations to sleep optimization.
[00:28:48 ] James’ seven-year mouth taping commitment.
[00:31:14 ] CO2 levels: Your LEED-certified hotel is suffocating you.
[00:36:50 ] Monitoring CO2 with the Aranet4 and building a CO2 database.
[00:39:51 ] James’ travel kit: Red lights, granny packs, and a Soviet-era PEMF device.
[00:51:59 ] In Weirdville, eyes sing The Body Electric.
[00:52:58 ] The supplements included in David’s granny packs.
[00:54:16 ] Natto vs. nattokinase.
[00:56:18 ] Athletes and breathing: The BOLT score explained.
[01:03:25 ] LeBron James’ alternate nostril breathing and diaphragmatic dysfunction.
[01:04:47 ] Inspiratory muscle training and the back soreness warning.
[01:08:47 ] The Relaxator: An adult breathing pacifier for focus.
[01:12:54 ] San Francisco Writers Grotto and the trustafarian invasion.
[01:16:10 ] Writer’s block: A convenient excuse for hobbyists.
[01:19:04 ] Cutting the corporate cord: James’ visceral “I quit” moment.
[01:23:25 ] The freediving story that launched a book deal.
[01:25:41 ] Deep‘s disappointing launch and publisher betrayal.
[01:28:10 ] Breath: From 290,000 words to 85,000 in a house in the woods.
[01:31:51 ] Finding the skeleton: The Stanford experiment as through-line.
[01:35:44 ] Prayer and coherent breathing: The 5.5-second secret.
[01:38:44 ] James’ critique of breathwork culture and barriers to entry.
[01:41:07 ] Sleep optimization: SnoreLab, side sleeping, and incline bed therapy.
[01:44:56 ] Parting thoughts and where to find James and free breathing protocols.
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Show notes for this episode: https://tim.blog/2025/09/30/james-nestor-breath/
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