Natalia Molchanova

Assume a comfortable position. Now close your eyes, exhale slowly and steadily, then draw a long deep breath, completely filling your lungs — and hold that air. Notice that as the seconds slowly tick past all of your attention turns inward, bodily. There’s pressure in your chest; you become more aware of your heartbeat. As the urge to breathe again builds you have a choice — give in to the rising panic, or enter a deeper state of calm, trying to slow down the heart, calm the racing mind, silence the energy-sapping restlessness as your body prepares to fight for air.

How long can you maintain that breath? The average adult can manage about thirty seconds. Can you reach one minute? Perhaps two? Can you fathom reaching nine minutes, two seconds? Natalia Molchanova achieved that time, the women’s world record in static apnea — holding her breath while motionless in a pool — in 2013. It has not been broken in the decade since. Two years