Behind The Book
From the author, James Tyler Ball.
Introduction
Inspired by Jon Ronson's The Men Who Stare At Goats, I first started working on Don't Hold Your Breath: The Airheaded World of Breatharianism in November 2020. (And yes, it is 'airheaded' not air-headed or air headed as most autocorrects suggest - I'm English, so I use the Oxford dictionary spelling.) As I explain in the book, I was first introduced to the practice when YouTube recommend a documentary on the subject. After watching it, I was hooked on the idea of exploring this esoteric practice further, but, at first, I didn't take the idea of writing this book all that seriously. Back then I was still focused primarily on producing music under my pseudonym Low-Res Royalty - I had achieved moderate success as a producer, or, at least, more than I had ever know, so I wanted to keep growing my audience. Not to mention I had just started studying at The British & Irish Institute of Modern Music (BIMM), so I felt pretty tied up within the music industry. The more I researched, however, the more engrossed in the whacky, surprisingly human world of Breatharianism I became. And after I began actually talking with followers of the practice, that was it: I dropped all of my other projects to dedicate myself entirely to this book and the airheaded world of Breatharianism. After nine long months, my journey came to an end, and the book was ready for public viewing. And as you can see from the below photos, I was quite happy to see it finally come together.
The Writing Process
I initially split the project into four parts - research, planning, writing, editing - but eventually realised that this system would not allow me to reach my self imposed deadline of August. In the end, after some changes, I was able to have my book completely edited by the middle of July. I grew bored of focusing entirely on research and so began writing the chapters I had already finished researching - I started to relax my process, only doing the things I needed when they were required. Though I was only able to do this as I had already complied research packs to look through on each chapter and subject.
When I first started working on the book I was very undisciplined and found it difficult to concentrate on even just a few minutes of work. Thankfully, this level of immense un-productivity didn't last and I ended up working everyday, hours at a time, even after ten hour shifts as a barman. There were several things I did to discipline myself and drive home the project. Passion alone is often not enough to create discipline and a productive mindset. Firstly, I began journaling every night and setting intentions for the day to come. Each night I would write about the days progress and hype myself up if it had been a particularly productive day. Journaling allowed me to outline any thoughts or plans I had for my book, which meant I had a clear idea as to the direction I was taking it. Moreover, I found that the daily intentions I set meant that I would wake up with a plan fresh in my mind. In addition to making progress on my book, my intentions would include mood-lifting activities and exercises that would help to improve my concentration - I created a strict morning routine. I would get up relatively early, 10am, do some breath work to wake me up, eat a substantial breakfast and then read until 12pm when I'd start working on the book. It doesn't sound all that intense, but the routine kept me going during motivational troughs.
Before I even started working on the book, I had come up with a title. I find it hard to commit to a project unless I've already decided on a title. It sounds silly, but it just means I have a much clearer vision than I otherwise would. Then I designed the cover - I was procrastinating a little by doing this instead of writing but it got me excited. When I started writing it felt like a massive undertaking, I had never written a biography of someone before, and starting with Wiley Brooks, the creator of the fifth-dimensional McDonald's diet, was just a strange place to start. How was I supposed to describe this mans wild life? I worried. But, thankfully, Brandon Dey had provided me with more than enough information to work with, and it became one of my favourite chapters to write. My favourite chapter, however, to write and look back on, is chapter five: The Legend of Egor. I remember being absolutely engrossed in my writing. I caught myself smiling and was taken aback by how much fun I was having writing a parody of Back To The Future and shoehorning in wisecracks. It was great. The hardest chapter to write was chapter nine: The Nun That Scared The Nazi's. I had no idea what I was doing to begin with - I'd never written history. Though, I was certainly happy with the opportunity to cartoon the Gestapo in the way that I did. And with such an obscure story, dates and reports of the events surrounding Therese Nuemann were all over the place and incredibly difficult to follow. Still, I was contented with the way it turned out.
As the book came to an end, editing and all, I was at a point of obsession. I lived and breathed this book, if you'll pardon the pun. After uploading the manuscript to Amazon and ordering proof copies of the paperback, holding it in my hand for the first time made all the work seem worth while. I could breath easy from then on. Or so I thought. Marketing is a nightmare.
When I first started working on the book I was very undisciplined and found it difficult to concentrate on even just a few minutes of work. Thankfully, this level of immense un-productivity didn't last and I ended up working everyday, hours at a time, even after ten hour shifts as a barman. There were several things I did to discipline myself and drive home the project. Passion alone is often not enough to create discipline and a productive mindset. Firstly, I began journaling every night and setting intentions for the day to come. Each night I would write about the days progress and hype myself up if it had been a particularly productive day. Journaling allowed me to outline any thoughts or plans I had for my book, which meant I had a clear idea as to the direction I was taking it. Moreover, I found that the daily intentions I set meant that I would wake up with a plan fresh in my mind. In addition to making progress on my book, my intentions would include mood-lifting activities and exercises that would help to improve my concentration - I created a strict morning routine. I would get up relatively early, 10am, do some breath work to wake me up, eat a substantial breakfast and then read until 12pm when I'd start working on the book. It doesn't sound all that intense, but the routine kept me going during motivational troughs.
Before I even started working on the book, I had come up with a title. I find it hard to commit to a project unless I've already decided on a title. It sounds silly, but it just means I have a much clearer vision than I otherwise would. Then I designed the cover - I was procrastinating a little by doing this instead of writing but it got me excited. When I started writing it felt like a massive undertaking, I had never written a biography of someone before, and starting with Wiley Brooks, the creator of the fifth-dimensional McDonald's diet, was just a strange place to start. How was I supposed to describe this mans wild life? I worried. But, thankfully, Brandon Dey had provided me with more than enough information to work with, and it became one of my favourite chapters to write. My favourite chapter, however, to write and look back on, is chapter five: The Legend of Egor. I remember being absolutely engrossed in my writing. I caught myself smiling and was taken aback by how much fun I was having writing a parody of Back To The Future and shoehorning in wisecracks. It was great. The hardest chapter to write was chapter nine: The Nun That Scared The Nazi's. I had no idea what I was doing to begin with - I'd never written history. Though, I was certainly happy with the opportunity to cartoon the Gestapo in the way that I did. And with such an obscure story, dates and reports of the events surrounding Therese Nuemann were all over the place and incredibly difficult to follow. Still, I was contented with the way it turned out.
As the book came to an end, editing and all, I was at a point of obsession. I lived and breathed this book, if you'll pardon the pun. After uploading the manuscript to Amazon and ordering proof copies of the paperback, holding it in my hand for the first time made all the work seem worth while. I could breath easy from then on. Or so I thought. Marketing is a nightmare.
Meeting The Breatharians
As you can imagine, meeting people who believe they can time travel or journey through space or live forever was a peculiar experience. During my time with the Breatharians, I met some of the friendliest, most delusional and good-hearted people ever. And I learned a lot about myself too. In the book I speak about how my own flaws were highlighted when talking to Egor and Olga. Arrogant. I was very arrogant in my initial view towards the Breatharian beliefs. But meeting Brandon, Cipher, Egor and Olga gave me an opportunity to assess my prejudices, and open myself up to new ideas. Don't get me wrong, I still think Breatharianism is an insane and dangerous practice, but it was refreshing to be challenged and made to question my world view. Initially, I planned to do nothing but rip the shit out of the practice, but after speaking with the Breatharians, I began to respect them as fellow humans. Talking and laughing with Brandon and Egor made me realise how multifaceted people can be. I expected to meet nut jobs, lunatics and ideological cretins, but this was not the case. There were times, admittedly, when I struggled to keep a straight face and take them seriously - certain conversations, as mentioned in the book, were a chore - but ultimately I found nothing but affability, at least on the surface. Even if the book never happened, I would still be grateful to have met these whacky individuals and to have heard their stories. Since writing this book, I'm certainly not as quick to judge the views of others, no matter how unbelievable they may be. These guys, Brandon, Cipher, Egor and Olga, have all made a noticeable impact on my life. McDonald's, for example, will never be the same.
The End?
As with every project, I felt a deep void within when it came to end. No more fifth-dimension. No more telepathy. No more Egor. No more time travel. No more human photosynthesis. It was hard adjusting to not constantly being immersed in the airheaded world of Breatharianism 24/7, but with a million other ideas, and one in particular fighting to be developed, the building blocks for my next project have been laid. I hope to one day perhaps re-explore Breatharianism; maybe in documentary form. Or in a revised/updated version of this book when I inevitably reach fame. Who knows what the future may hold? Egor, with his time travels, might do.