What do you think?
Rate this book
The Art of Breathing: Six Simple Lessons to Improve Performance, Health & Well-Being
This acclaimed classic shows you how to transform breathing into vital energy to attain a perfect balance of body, mind, and spirit. Classical singer and chi kung expert Nancy Zi guides you through chi yi (the art of breathing) in 6 simple lessons. Using 24 progressive exercises and mental imagery drills, Zi demonstrates how to use breathing to: look, feel and be healthier, minimize the effects of aging, increase stamina and coordination, work through pain and promote healing, enhance speech, singing, athletics, meditation - and more!
This dynamic book has sold out 4 printings and has been translated into German, Italian, Swedish, and Chinese. The expanded 3rd edition adds 80 pages: 50 questions and insightful answers, 12 targeted exercises, and a thought-evoking Epilogue.
- GenresHealthNonfiction
239 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1986
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 31, 2020
I was going through “couples therapy” In the early nineties with a behavioral therapist (not a Freudian or some other kind of conventional therapist, but one focused on helping change your actual behavior). In the process he noticed a couple things about me that he shared with me (and her, to her pleasure) at one point. He said he noticed I didn’t make good eye contact and my breathing seemed “shallow,” with me drawing air from my chest instead of my abdomen. The latter I knew from choir and sports, that it was better to breathe from the abdomen so I readily accepted exercises he suggested we do every day.
One I recall was to see how long I could measure one breath from intake through complete exhale, which we timed at home. Another was to hold your breath for as long as possible, which we also timed, but all of this quickly got into a kind of competition with my then-partner—I couldn’t believe she could breath longer and more deeply than me, and could hold her breath longer, so we got very competitive about it. I know, hilarious, but sadly so and the therapist agreed it was funny and just wrong.
The other issue, eye contact, I firmly and indignantly denied, and emailed or called maybe a dozen friends and family to ask them about whether I made good eye contact and EVERYONE sided with the therapist! I was shocked. My friend Andrew said, “Oh, you’re famous for making bad eye But I was like huh??! However, I made a commitment to making better eye contact (staring at people without blinking was my approach at first, til people told me to stop, it was getting creepy) which I continue to this day, though more reasonably. But about the breathing, well, I bought this book in 1991 and never read it til now (right, bye bye relationship!), since I am starting to do a bit of meditation. Breathing and calm and meditation, yes! I’ll get it right this time!
So this is a book as it turns out that like a quarter of a million people have actually READ and not just kept it on their shelves to collect dust for decades, a book principally about particular techniques, this former singer and voice coach developed over the years that she claims not only helps your actual speaking voice but also well-being, complexion, gas, motion sickness, conditioning in the legs and arms, “sustaining personal presence,” developing athletic prowess, minimizing the effects of aging, and. . . improving speech and voice, the latter of which I most agree with. And maybe stress relief, though she doesn’t mention it, and freshening the breath, preparing for childbirth (okay, sure, that LaMaze/Bradley breathing approach), improving confidence, stamina, “zest.”
How to get all that? Through a series of exercises, some of them physical, some of them visualization. And yeah, I actually did a lot of it, and yes, if I just pay better attention to breathing for the sake of mindfulness and stress-release and speaking, it's useful, of course. . . but the claims she makes for her system, yikes. . . But hey, that competitive breathing thing I did with my ex, I can recommend that!
One I recall was to see how long I could measure one breath from intake through complete exhale, which we timed at home. Another was to hold your breath for as long as possible, which we also timed, but all of this quickly got into a kind of competition with my then-partner—I couldn’t believe she could breath longer and more deeply than me, and could hold her breath longer, so we got very competitive about it. I know, hilarious, but sadly so and the therapist agreed it was funny and just wrong.
The other issue, eye contact, I firmly and indignantly denied, and emailed or called maybe a dozen friends and family to ask them about whether I made good eye contact and EVERYONE sided with the therapist! I was shocked. My friend Andrew said, “Oh, you’re famous for making bad eye But I was like huh??! However, I made a commitment to making better eye contact (staring at people without blinking was my approach at first, til people told me to stop, it was getting creepy) which I continue to this day, though more reasonably. But about the breathing, well, I bought this book in 1991 and never read it til now (right, bye bye relationship!), since I am starting to do a bit of meditation. Breathing and calm and meditation, yes! I’ll get it right this time!
So this is a book as it turns out that like a quarter of a million people have actually READ and not just kept it on their shelves to collect dust for decades, a book principally about particular techniques, this former singer and voice coach developed over the years that she claims not only helps your actual speaking voice but also well-being, complexion, gas, motion sickness, conditioning in the legs and arms, “sustaining personal presence,” developing athletic prowess, minimizing the effects of aging, and. . . improving speech and voice, the latter of which I most agree with. And maybe stress relief, though she doesn’t mention it, and freshening the breath, preparing for childbirth (okay, sure, that LaMaze/Bradley breathing approach), improving confidence, stamina, “zest.”
How to get all that? Through a series of exercises, some of them physical, some of them visualization. And yeah, I actually did a lot of it, and yes, if I just pay better attention to breathing for the sake of mindfulness and stress-release and speaking, it's useful, of course. . . but the claims she makes for her system, yikes. . . But hey, that competitive breathing thing I did with my ex, I can recommend that!
May 5, 2016
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I can hear you now, “Grady sure reads some strange things. And The Art of Breathing: Thirty Simple Exercises for Improving Your Performance and Well-Being by Nancy Zi has got to be the strangest.” (Or maybe not. Remember Food at Sea: Shipboard Cuisine from Ancient to Modern Times by Simon Spalding or Bible Code II: The Countdown by Michael Drosnin? Now those were really strange.) But maybe The Art of Breathing isn’t so strange after all. Breathing is the simplest and most important thing we do. Like everything else we do, our actions can be rated. How efficient are we? Are we accruing benefits or are we creating harm? Physiologically breathing is the ventilation process of delivering oxygen where it is needed in the body and removing carbon dioxide through exchange of gasses. Metabolically, breathing is essential for the conversion of energy. Zi maintains that there are things we can do to make the process more efficient and beneficial to our overall health. She has developed a set of principles she calls chi yi, influenced in part by the ancient Chinese art of breath manipulation known as chi kung. For centuries the Chinese have applied the fundamentals of this discipline to voice and singing, athletics and exercise, healing and meditation. Chi, inner energy, can be fostered, focused and developed, thereby reducing stress, promoting relaxation, combating physical ailments, increasing stamina and promoting general well-being. Is all this a load of hooey? Perhaps. On the other hand, Zi’s principles and exercises seem to be based on sound physiological, kinesthetic and medical research. Take a deep breath……..
January 31, 2015
Nancy definitely comes from the Qi Gong / Tai Chi tradition as her breathing techniques focus on bringing the chi/prana/energy down to the lower Dantian, what she calls the core.
One thing I appreciate about her book is the different breathing visualizations she offers. In general the traditional visualization are bellows, accordion, and cup being filled. Adding to these Nancy gives us the eye dropper, funnel balloon, tumbling pebble, steam funnel, sink and drain, drinking straw, and others.
Each visualization and accompanying practice helps us gain familiarity and control over the breathing process, in addition to increasing our breathing capacity, balance and so forth.
Another thing I appreciate from The Art of Breathing, that I have not, as of yet (12 books read and many videos watched on pranayama) come across, is an emphasis on relaxing and doing tongue exercises. Granted, this is likely due to her singing profession, but in my experience, since working with her exercises, this is something every pranayamic student should work with.
For those looking for a standalone book to help them become aware of their breathing, increase the basic good stuff in their life, harmonize their voice, and boost their vitality, The Art of Breathing is for you.
If, on the hand, you are a yoga student studying pranayama as I am, while The Art of Breathing has many helpful exercises and visualization, beyond the tongue exercises, Nancy's book adds very little to the scope of pranayama in comparison to some of the other books I have already reviewed.
One thing I appreciate about her book is the different breathing visualizations she offers. In general the traditional visualization are bellows, accordion, and cup being filled. Adding to these Nancy gives us the eye dropper, funnel balloon, tumbling pebble, steam funnel, sink and drain, drinking straw, and others.
Each visualization and accompanying practice helps us gain familiarity and control over the breathing process, in addition to increasing our breathing capacity, balance and so forth.
Another thing I appreciate from The Art of Breathing, that I have not, as of yet (12 books read and many videos watched on pranayama) come across, is an emphasis on relaxing and doing tongue exercises. Granted, this is likely due to her singing profession, but in my experience, since working with her exercises, this is something every pranayamic student should work with.
For those looking for a standalone book to help them become aware of their breathing, increase the basic good stuff in their life, harmonize their voice, and boost their vitality, The Art of Breathing is for you.
If, on the hand, you are a yoga student studying pranayama as I am, while The Art of Breathing has many helpful exercises and visualization, beyond the tongue exercises, Nancy's book adds very little to the scope of pranayama in comparison to some of the other books I have already reviewed.
July 23, 2017
Excellent for learning different ways of breathing deeply and using the breath for health and well being.
May 7, 2008
Bu Nancy mengajar bagaimana bernafas yang efektif untuk bernyanyi tapi ia tidak mengajarkan bagaimana menjadi seefektif vokalis kangen band yang bisa meledakkan album hingga dibajak dari lampung sampai kampung2.
November 13, 2009
Fantastic. It works and will change how you see the world
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews