Hacker News

I don't think circular breathing is the goal. It's just a means to an end. The goal is strengthening the muscles that keep the airway open. The resistance from blowing into the didgeridoo seems to be what does that. I have no idea how that compares to bagpipes, however.

I would imagine some basic breathing techniques may help, wonder what the research in anuloma viloma pranayama shows, but beware there's a lot written by random people on the internet about it without scientific evidence.

If you're talking about the great highland bagpipes, circular breathing can be really helpful while learning. Because of the "practice chanter," every piper have one or two and use it to learn new tunes or just practice technique.

Several varieties of bagpipe I'm aware of don't even require breathing, since they're powered by bellows. The pipes are surprisingly hard to learn by the way. One normally starts on the chanter, which is more like a recorder and is not bag assisted.

Didge isn't that loud unless you're really going for it. Nothing compared to bagpipes.

Probably summoning a fish demon.

They objected to the Paper Straw Mandate

There's some science on training those muscles, even without upside down drinking. "Dry swallowing" while on an incline seems to do the trick just fine.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9550520/

Did it work?

Underrated question

Personally, when I have not slept well and need to be productive in a day, I’m much more likely to want to load up on sugar and unhealthy food

Almost certainly plays a role. Also increased activity levels due to better less fatigue.

Certainly is not defeating thermodynamics, assuming calorie absorption is not disrupted somehow it's likely the above.

I do death metal growling at karaoke sometimes. It makes a nice change after the umpteenth Abba or Pink Pony Club rendition.

There is a technique to it. You have to sing from the chest not the throat.

Just read how this works and tried it. A bit tricky at first but actually quite easy once you get the hang of it. And it's kind of a fun exercise. Now I'm wondering if I should get a Didgeridoo too.

There is plenty of proper science on this. Weight gain does not cause obstructive sleep apnea until you get into extremes (e.g. huge necked bodybuilders or people with so much fat on their chest that they physically struggle to move it to breathe). Sleep apnea makes it harder to lose weight and easier to gain weight. Having sleep apnea and being heavier can make sleep apnea worse. Losing weight quickly can make sleep apnea worse when you lose muscle mass along side fat (e.g. on ozempic).

There are plenty of tools for doctors to treat sleep apnea. The problem is that they refuse to use them. Many people on CPAP would benefit greatly from being on BiPAP instead, but doctors commonly refuse to prescribe it. Some cases of sleep apnea can be treated using positional therapy (typically side sleeping), but there's no prescription for that. Some cases can be solved by exercising throat muscles (with or without a didgeridoo), but there's no prescription for that either, and there are virtually zero speech/physical therapists who focus on that. There are some surgeries that can really benefit some patients, but most sleep labs and ENTs refuse to even to even perform a proper sleep endoscopy.

The idea people aren't doing 'proper science' on this is a spectacular level of oblivious. There's nothing in here that I haven't at some point had a discussion about with my sleep doc in the last 20 years (well, not specifically a didgeridoo, but circular breathing and other types of breath exercises, including 'straw breathing'). Yes, some people do loose weight when they get their apnea under control, among other health benefits. That also is not new, and it's not some sort of miracle insight that noone has considered.

I had textbook symptoms of sleep apnea with a BMI of 19, before I was diagnosed. The sleep tech told me bluntly that plenty of slim people, even children, develop sleep apnea.

Obesity increases the chance of developing sleep apnea, yes. But sleep apnea also increases the chance of becoming obese. It is not just a simple unidirectional cause and effect.

same, my fat ass is ultra curious

this is incorrect lol. the water is just to help with humidity, to prevent a dry mouth and sinuses. all resumed cpap machines for example can be used without the water tank as long as you have the backplate.

the water in the tank is heated to increase the humidity of the air circulating.

cpap machines work by increasing the air pressure on breath-ins and help open your airways by keeping your genioglossus tensor veli palatini muscles engaged.

Kind of, yeah. When I first got onto CPAP I was worried that it would cause my muscles to atrophy over time because it makes the inhale so much easier. But the pressure is still there on the exhale, which is exactly like breathing out through a straw into water (with 5-20cm water on top of the straw, depending on the CPAP pressure).

So, if you breathe in an intensive manner for a few minutes, oxygen percentage in the blood won't change?

?Yothi Yindi? I listened to this song a bit back in the early nineties but it sounds a bit dated now. (Ironically the traditional instruments sound a lot better than the synths.)

Didgeridoo (when played properly) can sound great. Like the bagpipes there are a lot of people who can barely play, but go out busking.

Twenty years ago my neighbor, a retired surgeon, made me a PVC didgeridoo and did the wax buildup thing - I still mostly play that didgeridoo. Years later my wife bought me a traditional heavy didgeridoo from Australia, but it doesn’t play as well; still, when I played at a friend’s wedding I used the Australian one because it looks better :-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiqEhJJqtbc

I had excellent results using a large section of black bamboo, though I forget the exact taxonomy (lako?). I meticulously beat out the segment walls, then with a rasp fastened to a long stick, filed down the ridges. After sanding, I finished it with oil based stain, which necessitated it living outdoors for a while. In the end it proved a fine primitive instrument. I gifted it to someone and miss it. I can attest to the therapeutic effects of mastering the didge.

PVC works, but the acoustics do seem superior with actual plant material. Certainly the feel.

Update: I used beeswax for the gob hole.

For added fun, two tubes of roughly that size that air seal fit one inside the other makes for a slide didgeribone.

addendum: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1d7Eztj7Eg

I've only got "Firefox Multi-Account Containers" and "Privacy Badger". I tried reloading with Privacy Badger disabled, still the same behaviour. Works in Safari and Chrome with no issues at all!

Because anatomy not consistently used declines in fitness?

> I also suspect the intense vibrations have a similar effect…

My gut says that there are some interesting discoveries waiting around the intersections of frequency of vibration, individual resonant frequency, and duration

I doubt many of them actually figured out how to circular breathe after one lesson. Source: have been playing sax for 20 years, tried learning it many times, still no good.

Aulos it is then!

45 seconds of didge, and then be puts it down!

Hope he sleeps well tonight!

Not really related, but worth repeating: there's an old saying, "A gentleman is one who knows how to play the accordion, but doesn't".

Thx for linking that. Just … wow

That's not a placebo. A placebo would be learning to play some other instrument like a piano, that doesn't involve breath. I also RTFA and saw no mention of any meaningful control group. For all they know the effects would come from learning any instrument, or just going to regular classes, or...

Skinny person with OSA here and three corrective jaw surgeries from world-expert sleep surgeons. You won't believe how many GPs told me to my face that it was impossible for me to have sleep apnea because I'm thin. Then the sleep study results came in with 30 AHI (severe range).