Posts Tagged ‘breathing exercises’

Back to school. Why our younger generation is so unhealthy?

Friday, September 3rd, 2010
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According to the statistics, we are currently raising the first generation of babies who will not outlive their parents.
Despite a multi-million-dollar medical research and having handful of drugs for each and every condition imaginable, despite living in the wealthiest country in the world. We have infants who have severe asthma and are given nebulizers and steroid based drugs. We have 2-4 year old developing cancer and heart disease. My cousin’s 15 year old son recently had a series of strokes!

Respiratory and food allergies, recurrent ear and sinus infections, low immunity, poor dental health, misaligned teeth, eczema and other skin conditions are now considered to be typical components of childhood. Exercise-induced asthma is found in more than one-third of college athletes. Over the past two decades, the obesity rate for children has doubled, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. For adolescents, the picture is worse: More than three times as many are now obese.

What about mental and emotional health? In 1990, 900,000 American kids were on Ritalin. Today some estimate the total number of children on Ritalin has increased to 4 – 5 million or more per year. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has warned about a record six-fold increase in Ritalin production between 1990 & 1995. America now uses 90% of the world’s Ritalin – more than five times the rest of the world combined.

More than 500,000 children and adolescents in America are now taking antipsychotic drugs, according to a September 2009 report by the FDA. Their use is growing not only among older teenagers, when schizophrenia is believed to emerge, but also among tens of thousands of preschoolers. A Columbia University study recently found a doubling of the rate of prescribing antipsychotic drugs for privately insured 2- to 5-year-olds from 2000 to 2007. (NY Times Child’s Ordeal Shows Risks of Psychosis Drugs for Young )

In 2007 it was reported that the suicide rate for 10- to-24-year-olds increased by 8 percent, the largest single-year rise in 15 years, according to a report released in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). Teen suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death among young adults and adolescents 15 to 24 years of age.

We have to understand that development of all chronic diseases, including neurological, brain and mental disorders, has few things in common: tissues starvation of oxygen, metabolic imbalances, excessive excitability of nerve cells, under- or over- production of important hormones, deficiency in vital nutrients and malfunctions of the immune system. The majority of those disturbances, either directly or indirectly, could be the result of chronic hyperventilation.

Why such young kids are affected? Starting with pregnant mothers, women hyperventilate during pregnancy, and that is as dangerous for the baby as lack of nutrients, smoking or alcohol. Lack of education on healthy breathing and dangers of hyperventilation, plus deep breathing that is often taught to pregnant women, add to the problem.

Then, when a child is born, many practices in modern hospitals and neonatal care encourage over-breathing. Swaddling infants is unfortunately a lost tradition. Newborns with signs of respiratory distress are given supplemental oxygen. Later infants and young children are introduced to unnatural diets like most formulas, sugars, white breads, deep fried food, hydrogenated oils, food dyes etc. Children are overfed, overdressed, lack essential physical activity and inevitably start mouth breathing. On top of that, modern society’s stresses enter child’s mind very early and are not properly addressed.

In conclusion, below is a quote from Rosemary MacGregor RN, MS, who, working in traditional health care system, nevertheless understood the vital connection between breathing and health and tried to educate doctors and patients on the importance of breathing awareness and dangers of hyperventilation.
I am a nurse and I can honestly say we were never properly trained in this area, nor are the doctors. I have given many a talk on teaching breathing around the world and have never had a doctor not totally appreciate my information. I have read the respiratory text books doctors are trained with in medical school. It is more likely that you have unlearned very early the good breathing you were born with if you were an average kid. In the United States most children by three years old are over-breathing. Awareness is the only key we have to staying ‘as best we can’ on target with proper breathing. With awareness, we need the knowledge of what to do, and then how to change our habitual breathing response to that situation in that moment.
Rosemary MacGregor RN, MS

Buteyko therapy addresses all the root causes of chronic diseases. We, as parents, always want the best for our children. It is essential to teach them Buteyko, even if they are not sick or have what seems to be a very minor health problem.


Wishing you a healthy school year!

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Buteyko Clinic USA offers unique breathing rehabilitation programs that result in long term drug free control over asthma, allergies, COPD, rhinitis, chronic cough, snoring, sleep apnea, anxiety, panic, chronic hyperventilation syndrome and other chronic conditions. Contact us today for a free consultation.

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Natural asthma treatments revised

Friday, August 13th, 2010
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For the countless asthma sufferers worldwide what are the options to treat this chronic illness?
 
The Buteyko Clinic Practitioner’s article has been published in August issue of Minnesota Health Care News magazine.
 

Asthma. Take a shallow breath.
 
Asthma ( `az-muh) n: a chronic respiratory condition marked by spasms in the bronchi of the lungs, causing difficulty in breathing; triggered by hyperreactivity to various stimuli.

By Eugenia Malyshev, CBE

More than 16 million adults and 7 million children in the U.S. have asthma, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That’s three times the total reported just 25 years ago and almost one in 10 children. Asthma, a chronic inflammatory airway disease, is among the top 10 emergency department diagnoses for children in the Twin Cities, according to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). Further, one in 10 Minnesota adults report that they have been diagnosed with asthma at some point in their lives. Despite advances in conventional and alternative health care, asthma remains a puzzling disorder. It ranges widely in severity from very mild to life-threatening, can manifest suddenly at any age, go into short or long remission, and come back unexpectedly. Extensive research adds little to the understanding of the causes of asthma or why it is thriving among the developed countries’ population.

Bronchodilators, corticosteroids

The cornerstone principle of conventional treatment of asthma is to relieve symptoms with bronchodilators and prevent asthma aggravations with corticosteroids. Bronchodilators chemically force constricted airways open for a certain amount of time, while steroids suppress the immune response and fight inflammation. But those powerful remedies come with side effects, and using them daily for years is walking a thin line between benefits and risks. Corticosteroid drugs, especially oral, can cause irreversible immune system damage with prolonged use. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning in February cautioning that long-acting bronchodilators have the potential to exacerbate asthma by masking inflammation, resulting in an increased risk of hospitalization and death. A recent nationwide survey of 2,500 asthma patients 12 and older found that, despite better medications and the increased availability of asthma education, there has been little decline in hospitalizations or ER visits for asthma over the last 10 years and little meaningful improvement in key markers of asthma control – hospitalizations, emergency room visits, unscheduled health care visits, and missed school or work days.

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)

While a number of non-drug CAM techniques and remedies are suggested to relieve asthma, it can be overwhelming to explore all CAM choices as they usually lack clinical trials and systemized data to reach a solid conclusion as to their effectiveness. But with a cautious approach and choosing therapies whose value has been documented, complementary techniques can prove invaluable for managing asthma. The essential difference between complementary and alternative medicine is that complementary methods are used in addition to conventional treatment, while alternative methods are used instead of established medical practice. Therefore, the first rule of safety is to choose complementary, rather than alternative, methods. Of all non-drug asthma treatments, breathing techniques have been studied at greater depth and show more evidence of effectiveness.

The Buteyko Method

The Buteyko Method, named by its creator, Russian Professor of Medicine K.P. Buteyko, is based on the notion that asthma originates from the commonly overlooked problem of chronic hyperventilation (breathing at an excessive depth and rate, which leads to an abnormal loss of carbon dioxide from the blood). By correcting a faulty breathing pattern, the theory holds, a patient can significantly reduce or eliminate asthma symptoms. Unlike other breathing techniques, the Buteyko Method is not just a series of breathing exercises but a comprehensive wellness program aimed at correcting dysfunctional breathing and encouraging healthier lifestyle through stress reduction, nutrition, and exercise. Buteyko therapy is completely safe when taught by a qualified practitioner, and program attendees are required to continue taking their medication as prescribed unless their doctor has approved stopping it. The Buteyko Method has been studied extensively in eight clinical trials. All have shown it to be effective. One of the trials, in Brisbane, Australia, showed impressive results of 71 percent fewer symptoms, 90 percent reduction in reliever medication use, and 49 percent reduction in use of steroid preventers after three months. In 2008 the British Thoracic Society in its “British Guideline on the Management of Asthma”, recommended the Buteyko Method to help patients control the symptoms of asthma and reduce bronchodilator use. It is the only complementary therapy endorsed by this body for the treatment of asthma. …

read full text of the article here


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Buteyko Clinic USA offers unique breathing rehabilitation programs that result in long term drug free control over asthma, allergies, COPD, rhinitis, chronic cough, snoring, sleep apnea, anxiety, panic, chronic hyperventilation syndrome and other chronic conditions. Contact us today for a free consultation.

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The Control Pause demystified

Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

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The Control Pause is the main measurement tool of Buteyko theory and practice. It is essentially an indicator of our health. It reflects our Minute ventilation (breathing volume per minute), which for a healthy person should be 4-6 liters/minute at rest.

Numerous studies show that Minute ventilation in subjects with many modern chronic diseases, such as asthma, diabetes, heart disease and others, is three to five times greater than in healthy subjects. Over time, greater breathing volumes cause drastic changes in our bodies, such as PH balance disturbances, spasms in smooth muscles and blood vessels, and oxygen starvation in tissue.

That’s why to keep your Minute ventilation at norm is as important as to keep at norm your blood pressure, blood glucose, BMI, blood cholesterol and other health parameters. 

You don’t need special tools to test your Minute ventilation. Healthy Minute ventilation corresponds with a certain concentration of Carbon Dioxide in your alveolar air. Professor Buteyko discovered that it is measured by how long a person can comfortably suspend their breathing. The parameter was named a Control Pause, or CP, for short.

Why the time of breath suspension was chosen as a measurement? Breathing is regulated by our brain. Logically, a simple measurement of regulating mechanism’s work can be done by deliberately stopping the process (breathing) and waiting until the  regulating mechanism (brain) signals to breathing muscles to initiate the process (to take the next breath).  Why on exhale? Because after normal exhale the volume of air in the lungs and the concentration of oxygen and carbon dioxide least depend on fluctuating breathing pattern.

So, to measure the Control Pause,  breathing after normal exhale should be suspended, and the time should be measured until the first desire to breathe.

To my experience, many students have difficulty determining  when exactly they feel the first desire to breathe. As we mentioned above, it should not be brain’s psychological instruction (panic, emotional response etc), but the instruction  of the breathing regulating mechanism, i.e. push of respiratory muscles -  of diaphragm,  thorax or  larynx. Usually a person would experience a push of the diaphragm, throat or both.  You’ll know that you didn’t overextend if your breath after letting go is not larger than the initial breath.

To learn more visit our Health Check page.


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Buteyko Clinic USA offers unique breathing rehabilitation programs that result in long term drug free control over asthma, allergies, COPD, rhinitis, chronic cough, snoring, sleep apnea, anxiety, panic, chronic hyperventilation syndrome and other chronic conditions. Contact us today for a free consultation.

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Best Asthma Diet

Saturday, May 29th, 2010

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May 17, 2010 — People who have asthma should avoid heavy, high-fat meals because it can inflame their airways, a new study says. Such meals appear to inhibit relief provided by the common asthma medication Ventolin, generically known as albuterol, Australian researchers report.
They recruited 40 people with asthma as participants in the study. Some received a high-fat, high-calorie meal of fast food hamburgers and hash browns containing about 1,000 calories, 52% of which was fat; others ate a low-fat, low-calorie meal of reduced fat yogurt, containing about 200 calories and 13% fat.
The scientists collected sputum samples before patients ate and again four hours later after they had eaten, and analyzed the samples for inflammatory markers. People who had eaten the high-fat meal had reduced response to the bronchodilators, compared to people who had eaten fewer calories and less fat.
“This is the first study to show that a high-fat meal increases airway inflammation, so this is a very important finding,” says study author Leslie Wood, PhD, a research fellow at the University of Newcastle in Australia. “The high-fat meal impaired the asthmatic response to albuterol. In subjects who had consumed a high-fat meal, the post-albuterol improvement in lung function at three and four hours was suppressed.” (source: WebMD, Asthma Patients: Danger Lurks in Fatty Meals)

The nutrition aspect of asthma management is always discussed at our AsthmaCare workshops. Not surprisingly, what the recent study now finds was concluded over 50 years ago by professor Buteyko’s research.

Although the Buteyko Method is primarily a breathing retraining therapy, for quicker recovery and long-term success, every effort should be made to minimize factors that promote over-breathing. Poor diet is, indeed, one of those factors.

So what is the best diet for asthmatics?

According to Professor Buteyko, foods that increase one’s breathing most include animal protein, saturated fat, dairy, chocolate, excess caffeine and alcohol, and foods you are allergic to. Milk, shellfish, nuts and wheat are among the most common foods that cause allergies.

But the very first commandment of Buteyko nutrition is – Do not overeat. Excess food puts enormous burden on not only the digestive system, but on the whole body. Our digestive system’s struggle is reflected in increased breathing volume, which in turn would easily trigger asthma or allergy symptoms. Notice how your breathing rate goes up after consuming big fatty meals. Some people experience frequent sighs, yawns or inability to take a deep breath – common signs of distressed breathing. People with a low Control Pause should be especially careful not to overeat, to not eat 2-3 hours before bed and to make wiser food choices overall.

For healthy breathing, a ratio of 80% alkalizing -20% acidifying foods should be maintained. Alkalizing foods are mostly fresh fruit and vegetables, so eat plenty!

A bit of good news is that the higher your Control Pause, the more tolerant you will become to different food groups, even less healthy ones. With higher CP, digestion optimizes and food allergies ease, so an occasional indulgent dinner won’t have such profound affect on a person with an over 40 second CP as it would on a person with a very low CP. But, even better news is that a person with an over 40 second CP would typically naturally gravitate toward healthier, raw, vegetarian, unprocessed food choices.

To learn more about improving your asthma naturally and permanently, visit our website.



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Buteyko Clinic USA offers unique breathing rehabilitation programs that result in long term drug free control over asthma, allergies, COPD, rhinitis, chronic cough, snoring, sleep apnea, anxiety, panic, chronic hyperventilation syndrome and other chronic conditions. Contact us today for a free consultation.

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Tips for good night sleep

Saturday, May 15th, 2010

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Roughly 60 million Americans are affected by chronic insomnia, and scientists disagree on the best ways to treat it.
There are plenty of tips and tricks written in popular media articles on how to ensure good night sleep. This one article we’ve found on Yahoo’s Shine recently included recommendations like Yawn, Breathe deeply and slowly until you can’t stand it anymore and have a glass of warm milk with Equal (aspartame).  Well, yawning and big breathing on purpose will add to your hyperventilation, and so will a dairy product (milk) with the most harmful artificial sweetener (aspartame).

Practicing Buteyko and adhering to the Buteyko principals of good night sleep will help you to address this tough problem.

Cited in Normal Breathing: the key to vital health (by Artour Rakhimov), “breathing too much makes the human brain abnormally excited due to reduced CO2 concentrations. As a result, the brain gets literally out of control due to appearance of spontaneous and asynchronous (‘self-generated’) thoughts.”

A lower Control Pause reflecting larger breathing volume will result in many of the symptoms below

• Snoring
• Sleep apnea (holding your breath many times throughout the night)
• Disrupted sleep
• Sweating
• Racing mind
• Nightmares
• Needing to use the bathroom at about 5 am or 6 am
• Children wetting the bed during the night
• Fatigue first thing in morning
• Brain fog upon waking
• Dry mouth
• Upper or lower respiratory complaints

The higher the Control Pause, the fewer symptoms you’ll experience, but while you are working on increasing your Control Pause, ensuring that hyperventilation doesn’t occur during sleep is of major importance.

What can you do to reduce nighttime hyperventilation?

 Don’t sleep on your back. Instead, sleep on your tummy or left hand side. Sleeping on your back is by far the worst position as there is no restriction to your breathing.

 Ensure that your mouth is closed at night either by taping mouth or wearing a chin strap.

 Do not eat anything two hours before bed as food increases breathing.

 A cool bedroom is best (but not cold). Ensure your comforter or blanket is not excessively warm.

 Elevate your head and chest, especially if you suffer from asthma

 Reduce your breathing by relaxing for fifteen to twenty minutes before bed (The Buteyko Clinic 20 minute Relaxation/Reduced Breathing CD is a great help)

What might also help

 Go to bed only when you feel really sleepy

 If you are a moderate to severe asthmatic on steroid therapy, do not skip your bedtime dose. If you are gradually reducing your dose of steroid based preventative medication, always reduce the morning dose first

 If you state of health permits, walk every day for at least one hour, preferably outside

 If you state of health permits, ensure at least 2 hours of physical activity daily

 Do not drink caffeinated drinks 3 hours before bed

 Keep your bedroom simple. Eliminate overly heavy curtains, carpet, rugs, excessive accent pillows etc to reduce allergy triggers. For the same reason keep your pets away from your bedroom.

 Do not keep a TV or other electronics in your bedroom

 Insomnia might be connected to Calcium-Magnesium deficiency. Ensure you are getting enough, either through diet or supplements

 If you suffer from anxiety and overactive mind, pick up a very helpful book by Patrick McKeown “Anxiety Free”



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Buteyko Clinic USA offers unique breathing rehabilitation programs that result in long term drug free control over asthma, allergies, COPD, rhinitis, chronic cough, snoring, sleep apnea, anxiety, panic, chronic hyperventilation syndrome and other chronic conditions. Contact us today for a free consultation.

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Wellness Paradigm

Sunday, February 14th, 2010
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Starting this month we are featuring inspirational guest writers – Buteyko educators, enthusiasts, students and natural health advocates.
dorisse   The following article is kindly provided by Dorisse Neale, a Registered Nurse, Herbalist, Mother, Writer, Performing Artist, Respiratory, Movement, Wellness and Buteyko Breathing Educator who has been teaching people of all ages about natural health for over 33 years. She has a private practice based in Asheville, NC, and travels and teaches throughout the country. 
The erroneous preconception that medicine and doctors somehow have absolute understanding and responsibility for people’s health has been the issue of my life and so many of us who might be called “wounded healers” – those who grew up with potentially life threatening illness, turned it around, and now teach what they learned. 20-30 years ago people began talking about the need for a paradigm shift. I began asking myself what exactly does that mean, and how do we apply it to health? The foundation of my work is in the embracing of the “Wellness paradigm” and unless people really understand it, therapeutics often are short lived.

In nursing school 33 years ago, we were taught that there was a wellness/illness continuum, with wellness at one end and illness at the other. In that model, there is forever a degree of illness present. As a paradigm shifter, I put wellness at the center of that continuum, which is our inherent right as human beings. That being our center, recovery from any condition depends on bringing the body back to center by nourishing, toning, remediating and supporting the body in doing what it intuitively can do by strengthening the respiratory, immune, cardiovascular, digestive, integumentary and other systems. So in any given situation, we can have individuals with different symptomatology, and the work of getting out of the ruts (symptoms) and returning to health is the same (yes, with some tweaking needed for the individual with asthma vs diabetes vs hypertension). This is the responsibility of the individual, and health care practitioners are here as guides and helpers, not to do it for them.

In the illness paradigm, “curing” is a matter of fighting and doing battle with “what’s wrong”. The problem becomes the focus. Endless diagnostic testing, supported by a system that is financially dependent on people being sick, often exaggerates the problem and creates new ones. Mentally, people are brought on board immediately by the diagnoses, and fear becomes their guide as they become more and more entwined with the doctors who have convinced them that they have a problem.

I remember an incident when I in my early 40’s, a few years before I discovered Buteyko breathing, although I had been involved in holistic health and wellness for almost 20 years. I was lying in my hospital bed after another severe asthma crisis which had landed me in the emergency room 36 hours previously, during which time I had been given nebulizer treatments every 4 hours. Finally the broncho-constriction had relaxed; I was exhausted yet could breathe easily. The doctor, on his hurried morning rounds, came in with my chest xrays, held them up in front of the window for me to see, pointed and waved his finger at me, and angrily said, “Look at this. You have the lungs of an 80 year old, and you need to be on steroids for the rest of your life, otherwise, go find another doctor.” Wow! That hit me like a brick, and my immediate reaction inside was anger, as I thought, “well !@#%&* you, I WILL find another doctor! “That was the moment which began my eventual move to California in search of a greater destiny which I knew I had, having no idea at the time that it would be as a respiratory educator. The point of this story is that I held that image of “my lungs are those of an 80 year old” for years, until I finally got it that what I needed to do was hold the image of perfect, healthy, vibrant lungs as a crucial part of returning to my optimal health and well being. THIS is a major player in a shift to the Wellness paradigm, the images and beliefs that we hold about ourselves. And since then, I have met many 80 years who I know have healthier lungs than I probably did at 40 anyway!

In the Wellness paradigm we make it clear that we take responsibility – no longer will the doctor take care of our body in the same way that the mechanic takes care of our car. Gently yet firmly reminding people that each time they say “my asthma” or “my heart disease”, they do not have to own that condition; they can rethink the issue and see it as a symptom that is reversible. I have seen so many miracles in my years in health care (tumors disappearing, quadriplegics walking) that I believe anything is possible if we make the commitment to change. And yes, this is a tall order for some, although it is what we are given and the choice becomes ours regarding how to deal with it and achieve the outcome that we desire.

If you wish to contact Dorisse, send Email to dorisse@breathdance.org.

 



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Buteyko Clinic USA offers unique breathing rehabilitation programs that result in long term drug free control over asthma, allergies, COPD, rhinitis, chronic cough, snoring, sleep apnea, anxiety, panic, chronic hyperventilation syndrome and other chronic conditions. Contact us today for a free consultation.

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Posted in Buteyko Method, Guest writers, Health and Lifestyle | 2 Comments »

22 reasons to use your nose for breathing

Monday, February 1st, 2010
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picture1   The first (and a very strict) rule of the Buteyko therapy is to switch to nasal breathing.  It is amazing how a lot of health problems could be avoided just following this rule, yet rarely doctors or dentists would emphasize that.    
Think it is no big deal? You’d be amazed at how many important functions the nature’s perfect instrument for breathing, your NOSE, performs
 

1. Warms the air to about 95 degrees Fahrenheit, the optimal temperature for lungs.

2. Humidifies the air. Humidity supports tiny microscopic hairs (cilia) which assist in moving sticky mucus, debris and allergens out. Without enough humidity, cilia don’t work. Debris is trapped causing a cough.

3. Filters the air during inhalation through nose hairs and triggers the release of anti-bacterial molecules helping to clean the air.

4. Stimulates the release of odiferous molecules, so that we can smell the quality of air.

5. The nose has very sensitive nerve endings at hair roots, which warn about unhealthy particles in the air. Turbinate (or concha nasalis – a long, narrow and curled bone shelf which protrudes into the breathing passage of the nose) cause air to centrifuge any particles inhaled which then stick to the mucous membrane, preventing it from being sucked into the lungs.

6. Regulates incoming volume of air by providing extra resistance and anatomical dead space which is important in the regulation of breathing. Mouth breathing promotes hyperventilation.

7. Moves the air along the nasal septum, slowing movement of air and facilitating a more complete integration of ventilation process with other biological processes.

8. Exhalation through the nose reduces the rapid loss of Carbon Dioxide, which is needed to release oxygen from the blood to the brain, organs, muscles and cells (Bohr Effect). CO2 also dilates airways and blood vessels.

9. Promotes Oral health. Mouth breathing causes a drying out of the gums, increases the acidity in the mouth promoting both cavities and gum disease.

10. Stimulates normal Facial development. Nasal breathing allows the tongue and lips to properly form the natural arch around the mouth, thereby preventing tooth malformation. Improves the aesthetics of the entire face as the jaw forms in a healthy way.

11. Helps children to form sinuses by activating their growth with the movement of air. Mouth-breathers often have very narrow faces. The sinuses start growing at age 4.

12. Lubricates sinus membranes, lessening the chance of sinus infection. Reduces swelling and congestion of nose tissues and other airways. Keeps the nasal passages open.

13. Reduces snoring.

14. Reduces anxiety.

15. Due to reduced air volume fewer allergens are breathed in.

16. Increases sense of smell, linking it to the limbic system, the seat of emotions making us more aware of our emotions; also an important environmental factor for survival.

17. Activates movement at several head and neck joints.

18. Allows excess tears to have a clear passageway for drainage.

19. Allows air to pass structures that mark the head center , keeping you balanced. Paranasal sinuses produce nitric oxide, which is a potent vasodilator and a powerful sterilizing agent (klls bacteria).

20. Activates the production of immunoglobulins to strengthen the immune system

21. Helps increase the fluctuations of the cerebral spinal fluid by activation and movement of the sphenobasilar joint thereby nourishing the central nervous system.

22. Facilitates a deep meditation.

Hope you are convinced and started watching your breathing already!
More on nasal versus mouth breathing, including dental health and facial development, is coming up in our February Newsletter and future articles. Don’t miss it!



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Buteyko Clinic USA offers unique breathing rehabilitation programs that result in long term drug free control over asthma, allergies, COPD, rhinitis, chronic cough, snoring, sleep apnea, anxiety, panic, chronic hyperventilation syndrome and other chronic conditions. Contact us today for a free consultation.

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Posted in Buteyko Method, Health and Lifestyle | 5 Comments »

Buteyko and Yoga breathing (Pranayama)

Wednesday, October 21st, 2009
  <Like this article? Visit our website www.asthmacare.us>

 
Yoga   This is probably one of the most frequently asked questions coming from health-conscious Buteyko students  – What about Yoga breathing? Is it good for asthma? Is it in alignment with the Buteyko teaching? Can I practice Pranayama while trying to recover from my condition using the Buteyko Therapy?
To answer these questions, we’d first like to separate two aspects of Yoga – Yoga fitness and Yoga breathing (because they are often taught together).Yoga fitnessWe strongly encourage Butyeko students who are not already practicing Yoga to do so. Not only does it strengthen the body and improve flexibility thus eliminating many back, neck and other muscular-skeletal problems, but building core strength and good posture greatly assists Buteyko students to do breathing exercises correctly and more efficiently.  Good posture also allows a person to naturally sustain healthy diaphragmatic breathing because it allows for an effectively-opened abdominal area.  Back and core strength is a great aid in achieving the much-desired relaxation state during Reduced Breathing Practice, one of the most important Buteyko Breathing exercises. 

The same core strengthening could be accomplished with any Pilates-style workout, but the beauty of Yoga is that:

  1. it is probably the least-competitive physical activity, and any beginner can find their level and gradually build up
  2. it combines mild physical stress and relaxation, and emphasizes that both are equally important

Yoga fitness is very much in alignment with the Buteyko teaching, as it supports some of the core principals of Buteyko:

  • physical activity that gently pushes our body’s limits
  • reduced breathing practice (natural breath holds while holding postures )
  • reduced breathing  achieved naturally  through good posture and core strength
  • reduced breathing  because of effective relaxation techniques (e.g., strengthening  poses followed by relaxation poses)
  • reduced breathing  and deep relaxation  achieved through mind-body techniques such as meditation

Yoga breathing

Yoga evolved as a teaching quite a while ago. Breathing-wise, people at that time were a hundred times healthier than we are now. It is essentially our modern lifestyle that brought us to a state of chronic over-breathing and subsequent development of increasingly-emerging chronic health conditions.  Professor Buteyko, when asked about Yoga, suggested that some parts of its teachings might have been misinterpreted or distorted while being brought into modern society.  He stressed that Yoga masters trained themselves to hold their breath for minutes, and through that practice often attained a super-human state of body-mind awareness. They have been known to possess excellent health.

I am not expert enough to speculate on the topic, but to my knowledge, there is no solid evidence or studies on the effects of Pranayama breathing on our health. Whether Ujjayi pranayama (victory breath) or other Yoga breathing techniques have or don’t have any health benefits, it is likely that practicing them did no harm to people with healthy breathing (and even might have done some good). 

Because the Buteyko Method’s objective is to reduce our breathing volume, gradually pushing it to a maximum accepted by our body without too much stress, until healthy volumes are achieved, we aim to reduce or eliminate any activity that might make us to do otherwise.  So when we are working on reversing our condition with the Buteyko Method, we do not want to combine it with any other breathing techniques.  For that reason, we do not recommend our students who also participate in Yoga or workout classes, to follow any deep (big) breathing or forced breathing patterns suggested by their yoga/fitness instructors.

When breathing retraining takes a person out of the disease zone to an excellent health state, it is then that person’s choice to experiment with whatever breathing techniques they might like to try. At that level, a person pretty much owns their breathing and is in good control of their health.

 Research

One randomized, controlled study investigated and compared the effects of the Buteyko and Pranayama techniques in 69 patients with mild stable asthma (Cooper S, Oborne J, Newton S, et al.: Effect of two breathing exercises (Buteyko and Pranayama) in asthma: a randomized controlled trial. Thorax 2003, 58:674-679). The results showed significant improvement in asthma symptoms-reduction and bronchodilator use in the Buteyko group, as compared to zero progress in the Pranayama group.

I would like to point out again that, unlike the Butyeko Method, Pranayama has no scientifically-based researches or publications in the Western world, and very limited studies of health benefits. However, the Butyeko Method has a significant scientific basis, a number of clinical trials confirming its effectiveness, and years of successful treatment of respiratory patients.



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Buteyko Clinic USA offers unique breathing rehabilitation programs that result in long term drug free control over asthma, allergies, COPD, rhinitis, chronic cough, snoring, sleep apnea, anxiety, panic, chronic hyperventilation syndrome and other chronic conditions. Contact us today for a free consultation.

 

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The Age of Respiratory Obesity

Tuesday, April 7th, 2009

To explain the very core of Buteyko theory, I would resort to the following analogy:

We all know that there is a nutritional norm for the modern human. Through the research of nutritional science we now recognize that this norm centers around a recommended 2000 calories a day. If your lifestyle is more active, you require slightly more, and vice versa.

Because we’ve always assumed that breathing is more automatic, controlled subconsciously by the brain, we have never given a thought to the fact that there could be a norm for breathing.  As for nutrition, we are well aware that both going significantly below or above the norm jeopardizes our health.  By eating below the nutritional norm for a prolonged period of time, we risk acquiring diseases from malnutrition.  By eating above the nutritional norm for a prolonged period of time, we may become obese which can lead to a whole host of health problems.

With breathing it is hard to go below the norm.  Respiratory drive is one of the strongest physiological manifestations, and unlike food consumption, most of the time we do not deliberately control our breathing pattern.  We assume the body takes perfect care of it.   The “Eureka Moment” of Dr. Buteyko’s discovery came when he realized that there is a possibility that we breathe above the norm on a continuous basis without being aware of it.  And because breathing is supreme in the hierarchy of physiological functions, it affects our health profoundly in many negative ways.  

But doesn’t our body know better? 

Not necessarily.

Let’s say you continuously consume 2000 calories a day, then start to gradually increase food consumption until you reach 5000 calories a day.  If after a few months on 5000 calories a day you are forced to eat just 2000 calories a day, there is no doubt you would feel  hungry.   The hunger would not result because your body needs those 5000 calories, it would result because your brain has been “reset” to expect that amount.

To continue the analogy, a few questions must be answered:  What is the norm for breathing?  What exactly are the consequences of chronic overbreathing?   What makes us overbreathe?  How can we measure to what degree we overbreathe?   All those questions were indeed answered by Dr. Buteyko’s research and years of practical application.

Considering the analogy of nutritional obesity not only helps us understand the problem of chronic hyperventilation, but it also gives us new perspectives on the potential solution.  How would one battle obesity?  We could go through a number of choices, but the only healthy and reliable way is to begin gradually reducing calorie intake while maintaining nutritional requirements and increasing physical activity.  Believe it or not, to correct our “respiratory obesity,” we should do exactly the same.  As unnatural as it might sound, we should gradually reduce the volume of inhaled air and  increase our physical activity.  With the Buteyko therapy, we are essentially “resetting” our brain to accept smaller volumes of inhaled air as the norm.  Once a good habit is established, all kinds of positive changes start happening in your body – reversals of pathological processes, strengthening of the immune system,  weight normalization, improved digestion and nutrient absorption, etc.

To summarize, our biggest problem as modern humans is that we are all “respiratory obese.”  Our over-breathing epidemic has led us to over one hundred “diseases of civilization” for which modern medicine is still searching in the dark for cures.  Those diseases were virtually absent even in the nearest past of human history.   Professor Buteyko has established through his work that healthy breathing patterns should retain 6.5% of carbon dioxide in the lungs.  He also has established that a person’s breath-hold could be used as a reliable measurement of that amount.  If a few decades ago, you would have randomly gathered people in the room and measured their comfortable breath-hold after a normal exhale, it would have fallen somewhere around 30-35 seconds.  Nowadays, the average breath-hold of the random group, even a group of so called “healthy” people, would likely fall between 10 and 20 seconds.

We all are well aware of nutritional obesity.  It distorts our bodies, thus we can see it.  It puts extra effort in our every move, thus we can feel it.  The consequences of  “respiratory obesity” are less obvious, but more immediate and devastating.  Our society must be compelled to realize it’s dangers and begin addressing “respiratory obesity” as we have with nutritional obesity. 



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Buteyko Clinic USA offers unique breathing rehabilitation programs that result in long term drug free control over asthma, allergies, COPD, rhinitis, chronic cough, snoring, sleep apnea, anxiety, panic, chronic hyperventilation syndrome and other chronic conditions. Contact us today for a free consultation.

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