The header image shows a viola, also called heartsease. Music therapist and writer Kate Binnie writes: I am in the hospital. Cardiology ward. My mother sits on the edge of the hospital bed, her swollen and shiny legs look as if … Read more…
Life of Breath PhD student Tina Williams writes: The 2017 Research Without Borders Festival showcase exhibition ran at Bristol’s Colston Hall on May 12th. I, along with ninety-nine other research students, took part in this engaging research exhibition, with the aim … Read more…
The header shows Ascent of Lunardi’s Balloon from St George’s Fields, London, 1788-90 by J. C. Ibbetson, which will be part of the Royal West of England Academy exhibition ‘Air: Visualising the Invisible in British Art 1768-2017’, as does this … Read more…
Please note that audio files of all the talks given at this conference will be available shortly. Life of Breath PhD student Tina Williams writes: On the 16th and 17th March, The University of Bristol hosted a conference on phenomenology, anxiety … Read more…
Dr Megan Wainwright is an international collaborator on the Life of Breath project. She is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Cape Town (Division of Social and Behavioural Sciences, School of Public Health and Family Medicine), and an … Read more…
The header image shows ‘In the same breath’, a 2008 artwork by artist and glass-blower Kate Williams (borosilicate glass / 40 x 125 x 40 cm / courtesy of the artist / Photo © Yiannis Katsaris. See Kate Williams’s website … Read more…
Singing teacher Deborah Hudson writes: There I was, lying on a couch with a whole lot of acupuncture pins in my head when the idea dawned on me. I should write a book which would encourage even the shyest person … Read more…
Durham post-doc Arthur Rose writes; According to Diogenes Laertius, the Ancient Greek cynic Diogenes of Sinope ‘died voluntarily by holding his breath’ (VI, 76). Now, of course, we know that people do not die when they hold their breaths. Legions … Read more…
Composer and academic Toby Young writes: ‘Our business in living is to become fluent with the life we are living and art helps’ (John Cage) Music and breath are inseparable. From a singer inhaling audibly before launching into an epic chorus, to … Read more…
Following on from part 1, Life of Breath PI Havi Carel writes: What is breathlessness? This is a seemingly simple question. Why, it’s the well-known experience of panting, perhaps getting hot and sweaty, maybe a heaving of the chest, or … Read more…
The header image shows a representation of the three wise monkeys, see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil. A parody of these monkeys (each with a different injury, bandaged or in a cast) can be found in … Read more…
The header photograph was taken by Paul Waine, and shows Bev Wears of the British Lung Foundation and Rebecca Oxley, post-doctoral researcher on the Life of Breath. Paul is a member of Breathe Easy Durham Dales, and has written a poem … Read more…
Tina Williams, PhD student on the Life of Breath project, writes a post prompted by the inaugural lecture of Prof. Jerry Nolan (audio recording now available), Honorary Professor of Resuscitation Medicine in the School of Clinical Sciences, University of Bristol: Loss. … Read more…
This is the fourth and final blog post in a series of responses to the British Lung Foundation‘s Battle for Breath report. Join us on Twitter to discuss the issues, Thursday 24 November 2016, 12:00GMT #breathreport. Ian Jarrold, the British Lung Foundation’s Head of Research, … Read more…
This is the third of a series of responses to the British Lung Foundation‘s Battle for Breath report. Join us on Twitter to discuss the issues, Thursday 24 November 2016, 12:00GMT #breathreport. Arthur Rose discusses why, as a literary scholar, he found some of … Read more…
This is the second of a series of responses to the British Lung Foundation‘s Battle for Breath report. Join us on Twitter to discuss the issues, Thursday 24 November 2016, 12:00GMT #breathreport. Researcher Rebecca Oxley considers what insights anthropology can offer: The British Lung … Read more…
This is the first of a series of responses to the British Lung Foundation‘s Battle for Breath report. Join us on Twitter to discuss the issues, Thursday 24 November 2016, 12:00GMT #breathreport. Our principal investigator Prof Jane Macnaughton writes: Lung disease kills one … Read more…
Life of Breath PI Havi Carel writes: The experience of illness is a universal and substantial part of human existence. Like death, illness raises important philosophical issues. But unlike death, illness, and in particular the experience of being ill, has … Read more…
David Scoins (lifelong runner, sometime sports teacher) spent seven years in China; a year or more in each of Xi’an, Nanjing, Beijing and Guangzhou, and shorter periods in other cities. The smallest of these cities has a population far bigger than … Read more…
This post is the first of a series on vaping and vape tricks by Rebecca Oxley, post-doctoral researcher in anthropology on the Life of Breath project. Rebecca is currently looking for people to share their stories about living with breathlessness. E-cigarettes can make the breath … Read more…
This post is written jointly by Jess Farr-Cox (Life of Breath Project Manager (Bristol) and recently back from a trip to Hangzhou, PR China), and her father David Scoins (lifelong runner, sometime sports teacher and resident in China 2007-2014). The title is … Read more…
Kate Binnie, yoga teacher and music therapist, writes: We’ve all experienced the shortness of breath associated with fear, nerves, anger and distress. Think of a tired little boy dropping his Mr. Whippy on the sand after a long hot day … Read more…
In the second of a series of posts on cetaceans (see also ‘The cetaceans may give rise to some perplexity‘), Project Manager (Bristol) Jess Farr-Cox writes: Whaling abounds with breathing, breathlessness, air, death, myth and song. Factory whaling boats were … Read more…
Kate Binnie, yoga teacher and music therapist, writes: In his brilliant book Being Mortal (2015) Atul Gawande calls for all healthcare professionals working with patients at the end of life to “help people to end their stories on their own … Read more…