Atmospheres of Breathing

Atmospheres of Breathing is one of the first books on the philosophy of breathing, or 'Respiratory Philosophy', as it is called here. Drawing mainly on older cultures, and eastern philosophies it gives an overview of the importance breathing has had for human beings in all parts of the world.

Divided into four sections the book presents; Philosophical Atmospheres of Breathing, mainly focusing on more recent philosophers such as Merleau-Ponty, Heidegger and Sartre and presents their thoughts on breathing, Philosophical Traditions of Breathing, focusing on Buddhism, Yoga, Qi and Ki and other ancient philosophies, Voices and Media of Breathing including 'Thoughts that Breathe' and 'Theatre of Breath' and 'Breathful and Breathless World' that discusses the politics of breathing as well as breathing to enhance physical and mental wellbeing.

With its wide-reaching overview of a number of different aspects of breathing it offers an eye-opener into the importance breathing has had throughout history for most cultures around the globe. In particular, in older cultures where modern medicine did not come in to the picture, there was a distinct focus on breathing both for inner peace and for general physical health. For instance, yoga includes a number of very different breathing exercises aim at both calming and energising as well as mind altering.

Given the focus on the philosophy of breathing it may not be the right forum, but personally I missed a discussion of the role breathing has in for instance meditation or breathing techniques aimed at achieving inner peace of mind. Many of the chapters seem to be based on the idea that breathing alone makes the difference. That breathing always is a mind-altering tool, that is to say that the focus is clearly on the phenomenology of breathing.

But breathing is also physiological. We all breathe, every moment of every day of our lives. But not everyone achieves some kind of inner peace as a result of it. So it would have been interesting if at least one of the chapters had had a discussion around if it is the breathing itself or the actual setting of the breathing exercise that brings about altered mind states or inner peace.

During the 1960's many westerners discovered eastern breathing techniques, often after taking mind-altering drugs like LSD. But not everyone taking recreational drugs had positive experiences. For many it was the absolute opposite. At best they had a positive experience that disappeared as soon as the drug stopped having an influence. But for all too many it was a sort episode of madness, often leading to lasting mental problem. This lead to one of the forefront figures, Tim Leary, to talk of Set and Setting as key to using mind-altering drugs as a way of safe-guarding the most positive outcome. By that he meant that you had to prepare yourself, both mentally and physically before you took the drug. That included being in a positive outer environment and to understand the mind-altering changes that may occur. This is similar to for instance yoga where there is an emphasis on preparing both body and mind before starting the breathing practices.

This aspect of preparation in connection with breathing or breathwork is hardly mentioned in the book. Perhaps the underlying assumption is that this is known to the reader, but in my view it makes a difference to understanding the phenomenology of breathing that is described.

Having worked with teaching breathing techniques myself for many years, my experience has been that preparation is an essential part of all breathing exercises if you want to know where the breathing will take you. I would argue that the breathing itself is a tool that can be used for mind-altering purposes, enhancing physical health, creativity among other all the effects changes in the breathing pattern can give. But although a tool is helpful or even essential if you wan to build something, it alone will not be enough. A tool on its own won't build anything. It also takes know-how and practice to achieve the desired result.

As I said, in a book on the philosophy or phenomenology of breathing, the physiology of breathing may not have a place. But, as we all know, nature has no compartments. So including all aspects of breathing would probably have given a more comprehensive presentation, in particular in a book that is one of the first of its kind.