New Perfect Breathing Workbook and Guided Relaxation CD NOW AVAILABLE!

Just in time for the holidays!

If you've been enjoying Perfect Breathing: Transform Your Life One Breath at a Time ($19.95), you'll want to pick up our new companion workbook, Perfect Breathing: A 28-Day Transformation to Better Living ($17.95), and our new Perfect Breathing Guided Relaxation CD ($12.95). Just head to the Products section of www.perfectbreath.com. We're now shopping-cart equipped!

Take advantage of our gift-pack specials: Get our hardbound Perfect Breathing book, the workbook and CD for only $39.95! If you already have the book, get the workbook and CD for only $24.95. Order now! Click here for all the details!

Digital downloads of our Perfect Breathing Guided RelaxationCD will also available shortly at CDBaby.com. click to www.cdbaby.com/cd/perfectbreathing

health science

6 Lessons from a Month of Better Breathing

Joe Kita, a respected health fitness author, wrapped up his month-long exploration of mindful breathing, and his verdict is in. Joe has been blogging his findings on his Core Performance One Small Change site using core info from our book, "Perfect Breathing."

We're happy to report that he found great benefit in breath awareness. Over the course of the month of July, he used mindful breathing techniques for Sleep, Game-Day, Pressure, Performance and Healing. Though his results ranged from spectacular to mixed (in other words, for him the jury's still out), he arrived at one thought that we felt was particularly salient:

"A yoga teacher once told me that control of the breath leads to control of the body," he wrote,
"which eventually leads to control of the mind. This experiment helped me understand more fully what she meant. When I was regulating my breath, I could feel my heart rate slow and muscle tension depart, which, in turn, helped me relax and focus."

For that alone, developing breath awareness and learning some simple mindful breathing techniques is worth the minimal effort it requires. And no gym membership, new sneakers or special diet is required!

We are thrilled and grateful for Joe's interest in our work. We hope you'll do your own 30-day breathing experiment. We think you'll find the results dramatic, and will give you a valuable tool you can use in everyday life -- even if you've never set foot in a yoga studio or studied meditation. Mindful breathing is for everybody.

Read Joe's full breathing series here. And don't forget to visit www.perfectbreath.com

health science

Joe Kita Gives Performance Breathing a Try - And Likes It

Noted health and fitness writer Joe Kita continues his month-long exploration of the efficacy of mindful breathing on his blog site at Core Performance. His One Small Change column finds him investigating little changes he can make in his life.

For the month of July, Joe's been practicing conscious breathing, using core information from our book, "Perfect Breathing." This week he tried Performance Breathing, to try and improve his athletic performance.

Writes Joe, "In our single-minded pursuit of fitness, it seems we’ve forgotten that muscles need oxygen to perform optimally, and we get that nourishment through breath. Because he suffered with asthma, marathon great Alberto Salazar had to be particularly conscious of his respiration. He learned that by breathing more efficiently, he could “grow” his cardiovascular system so it could process and utilize more oxygen."

He continues, "Based on research and discussions with athletes like Salazar, Lee and his partner, Don Campbell, devised a drill called Performance Breathing. It’s best for any endurance sport that involves a repetitive motion (running, cycling, swimming…). It’s designed to help you find that sweet spot where the energy coming in balances the energy being expended, and you feel that tireless high so many athletes strive for. Here’s how to do it:

• Inhale through the nose for 2 seconds
• Hold for 2 seconds
• Exhale through the nose for 4 seconds

"The important part is to synchronize this breath with your activity. For instance, if you’re walking or running, inhale for 2 steps, hold for 2 steps, then exhale for 4 steps. Similarly, if you’re cycling, inhale for 2 pedal strokes, hold for 2 pedal strokes, then exhale for 4 pedal strokes."

His conclusion? "I tried Performance Breathing during a 20-mile bike ride over rolling terrain, and it was challenging to maintain. In cycling, your cadence changes so frequently that it’s difficult to find a consistent breathing pattern that doesn’t eventually leave you gasping. But I’m confident that with practice it will come, because I’ve had a similar experience in ashtanga yoga, where the breath must be controlled through a series of flowing poses. Although it seemed impossible at first, I can do it easily now."

Read the full post, and his others on mindful breathing here

health science

Joe Kita - One Small Change

We are pretty excited that Joe Kita - who writes the "One Small Change" blog for Core Performance (www.coreperformance.com) - will be focusing on his breath this month and blogging about it.

Joe is a writer, editor, motivational speaker and teacher. Besides being a contributing editor for Men's Health and Women's Health magazines, he is the author of five books. These include: Another Shot, in which he relived his 20 biggest life regrets, and Accidental Courage, in which he faced his 12 greatest fears.

Each month Joe make one small, healthy change in his life and shares the pros and cons with his readers. Previous changes have been drinking 95 oz of water everyday, napping for 20 minutes, giving up caffeine, and stretching for 30 minutes.

Joe interviewed us to get the specifics of our Perfect Breathing program and will be giving it a go for the next 31 days. Should be fun to follow his progress!

health science