The Global Wellness Summit (GWS) has announced James Nestor, New York Times bestselling author of Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art, will be a keynote speaker at its 2020 conference in Florida, from 8-11 November 2020.

The GWS 2020 theme is “Resetting the World with Wellness,” and Nestor will be one of a host of experts that explore how innovative and more democratic wellness concepts could transform human life post-COVID-19.

Nestor’s book is the result of his decade-long investigation into thousands of years of medical texts and new studies in pulmonology, psychology, biochemistry and human physiology.

Challenging Western medicine’s philosophy of breathing, narrowly focused on lung pathologies, his research highlights alternative paths to optimal breathing and how that can positively impact weight, sleep, immunity, circulation, mood and ability to focus – while addressing the modern maladies of asthma, allergies, snoring and autoimmune disease.

“After several years of research, I’m now convinced that no matter what you eat, how much you exercise, how skinny or young you are, none of it matters if you're not breathing properly,” said Nestor.

“For thousands of years, breathing was considered a medicine in Eastern cultures – more recently, modern science is proving what our ancestors accepted as common knowledge. Breathing is an absolute pillar of health, and our attention to it is long overdue.”

Nestor’s book has been so successful that it’s scheduled to be translated into more than 15 languages in 2021.

“Nestor’s brilliant, well-researched book has utterly shaken up my thinking about how the simple act of changing our breath – and boosting our lung capacity and our oxygen-CO2 exchange – is the most overlooked approach for improving our health and extending our longevity,” noted Susie Ellis, GWS chair and CEO.

“His work interweaves the latest science with lost approaches for optimal breathing – something which needs to become a cornerstone in preventative wellness.”

The GWS recently switched venues from Tel Aviv to the US, following travel disruption due to the pandemic.

The event will now take place at The Breakers in Palm Beach, with Tel Aviv hosting the following summit from 15-18 November 2021.