Breathe

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY SEPT 5, 2016

In this debut work, Vranich, a clinical psychologist and health commentator, asserts that changing one's breathing can change one's life, and to this end offers illustrated exercises for altering "dysfunctional" breathing patterns. Citing experience with her personal clients, she makes the case for breathing awareness and improvement, maintaining that better breathing can alleviate digestive problems, lower blood pressure, and help a person lose weight, heal faster, and control stress. The author asserts that most people have forgotten how to breathe fully, or are "underbreathing," due to unhealthy lifestyles and environments. The concept of breathing awareness may strike some readers as far-fetched and unsubstantiated by scholarly research, but Vranich will win them over with her detailed descriptions of strenuous-sounding but practical exercises to expand lung capacity and improve diaphragm strength. For those suffering from shortness of breath or ailments related to breathing or core strength, this work and its accompanying exercises depict an appealing and methodical program for improvement.