My wonderful book by James Nestor, Breath, has this bombshell line: 'The lungs are a weight-regulating system of the body'! How? Nestor says that exhalation has weight! He says: ‘for every ten pounds of fat lost in our bodies, eight and a half pounds of it comes out through the lungs; most of it is carbon dioxide mixed with a bit of water vapour’.

Back to my book about breathing by James Nestor, I'm afraid! I'm unpacking more and more fascinating stories about the power of the inhalation and exhalation. Nestor talks of a character who 'expanded lungs and extended life spans', Carl Stough. He was a pulmonaut, a 'choir conductor and medial anomaly'. He trained opera singers, athletes and emphysema patients.

I’m reading a book about breathing. The un-put-downable Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor, says that 90% of us breath incorrectly which is 'aggravating a laundry list of chronic diseases'. As I read this book I think about all the people I want to give it to!

Do you practice Mantra? Do you sing? Do you chant? Sacred sounds have long been practiced to change states of mind and elevate consciousness. It is part of the yoga practice that has been passed on to us. Sound and song capture something vital in our being and you can feel a physical change. Watch a gospel choir. They know it.

Do you hear teacher instructions about engaging bandhas (Mula, Uddiyana and Jalandhara) and tune them out? It isn’t a surprise if you do. Using bandhas is very much like getting used to postures: they reveal themselves only when the body is ready, that is, when you gain enough openness and steadiness in a posture to spend five breaths exploring it. To recap, Mula Bandha is the pelvic floor lift, Uddiyana Bandha is drawing in and lifting the lower abdominals, Jalandhara Banda is lowering the chin and lengthening the back of the neck.