Breathe Well, Be Well: A Program to Relieve Stress, Anxiety, Asthma, Hypertension, Migraine, and Other Disorders for Better Health

Although this book was not what I had expected it to be (i.e. a detailed book with many pages devoted to breathing exercises e.g. paced breathing techniques etc) I did not regret the purchase, in fact I was very impressed. The reason why I rate this work so highly is because it offers a fresh perspective on dealing with so called psychosomatic/psychophysiological ailments e.g. panic attacks, phobias including headaches, migranes, hyperventilating, gasping for breath, Raynaud's condtions, cold hands etc. The idea that irregular breathing patterns are at the heart of most disorders, although not surprising, is explained extremely well in terms of acid-base levels in the blood. The primary topic dicussed in this book is hyperventilation. And as an Asthma sufferer I did not think this work would be useful to me (since I usually struggle to get any air let alone overbreathe!), but I was very wrong!! This book was a great buy, because I now understand the driving factors for my breathing difficulties from a scientific point of view. i.e. inhale/exhale ratios, CO2 levels, warms/cold hands etc. I only have 2 criticisms, the last chapter about Music and Breathing seemed a little out of place and mostly irrelevent. And secondly there isnt much on breathing techniques, the only thing that is covered is deep diaphragmatic breathing (whist in the sitting position) - which is great if thats all you want! 5 stars for information/nutrition/theory content 2 stars for practical exercises with deep breathing

There are a lot of books on breathing. This is probably the only one aimed at laymen that has been written by a world class respiratory psychophysiologist who has written numerous professional texts on various aspects of respiration.

After learning the author's breathing techniques, I have been able to relax more and get to the heart of my symptoms. Easy to follow and comprehend. No outer-worldly stuff here, just factual information regarding how breathing correctly will eliminate many of the stresses in your life. I highly recommend this book!

The author of "The Hyperventilation Syndrome" (1987) and "The Psychology and Physiology of Breathing" (1993), writes in "Breathe Well, Be Well" about the complex subject of breathing for everyone who breathes. Those familiar with Robert Fried's earlier writings will recognize how well he has accomplished the difficult task of translating scientific research and theory into explanations and exercises useful to all readers. It may seem at first that "Breathe Well" tries to do too much by going beyond just relieving stress and anxiety, to showing how the way we breathe can be responsible for asthma, hypertension, migraine and other problems. But this is a reliable and authoritative self-help book for anyone who suffers from these conditions. Here is one of the few places where readers can find information about the effects of foods on breathing and on the numerous disorders which are covered. To this reader's surprise and delight, Fried goes further in this book than in any of his earlier works in explaning how breathing relates to thinking, especially the thinking related to anxiety disorders and panic attacks. "Breathe Well, Be Well" is an important book written with clarity and humor. It deserves a wide audience of people who when they read it will "just have no idea that breathing was the real problem and no one bothered (or knew enough) to tell them."