DMITRI FEOKTISTOV

What do we really know about breathing?..

Do we need to control our breathing function?..

Is deep breathing really beneficial to us?..

 

As we are now familiar with asceticism, one of the fundamental aspects of our health and well-being, let’s see if the same principle can be applied to our breathing, and whether breathing in moderation (or breathing less) is indeed beneficial to our well-being.

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These questions were at the heart of life’s work of Dr Konstantin Buteyko – a Russian doctor who got interested in the breathing function and its effects on the human body very early in his career. Dr Buteyko was a resident in a hospital where he was monitoring dying patients. He noticed that the depth of his patients’ breathing would increase as their death approached. He started wondering whether deeper breathing was, in fact, a sign of quickly deteriorating health of his patients, and what would happen if one managed to reverse this process and reduce the depth of breathing. Being diagnosed with chronic hypertension (i.e. high blood pressure), Dr Buteyko decided to test his ideas on himself. One day when he felt sick due to the typical hypertension symptoms (throbbing headache, deep and laboured breathing pattern, kidney ache), Dr Buteyko decided to try and reduce his breathing. He reduced his inhale by about 50% (i.e. decreased inhalation cycle), exhaled freely and then tried to repeat the cycle. However, he struggled to maintain the cycle as he felt as if he was running out of air. After a few attempts to decrease his inhalation cycle, Dr Buteyko discovered that he could maintain about 10% reduction in inhalation followed by normal exhalation. Despite the ‘running out of air’ sensation, Dr Buteyko managed to maintain the decreased inhalation cycle for a short while.  After a few minutes of maintaining decreased inhalation cycle (i.e. reduced breathing), the hypertension symptoms were almost completely gone… Dr Buteyko was astonished to discover that his hypertension symptoms could improve so quickly. In order to test the correctness of his observations, Dr Buteyko increased the depth of breathing only to discovered that the hypertension symptoms started coming back shortly after. Over time, Dr Buteyko continued practicing decreased inhalation cycle and noticed that the hypertension symptoms would disappear just after a few minutes of reduced breathing.

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This is how the Buteyko Breathing method was born. However, it took over 50 years of research, laboratory tests and trials (both in Russia and overseas) to eventually scientifically establish and patent the most successful breathing method to date. This method is known as a powerful alternative to medical treatments of Asthma and Sleep Apnoea conditions.  In Russia, Buteyko Breathing method is used to treat more than 150 different conditions, including cardio-vascular, respiratory, digestive, and others. This breathing method helps you re-train and modify your breathing cycle in order to improve your health. It has now been recognised all over the world as a non-invasive effective technique based on physiological laws, e.g. Bohr Law (otherwise known as Verigo-Bohr Effect). It can be practised by people of all ages, starting from as young as 4 years old. The instructions and exercises involved are fairly simple to follow, however, it is recommended that the initial stage of familiarisation with the Buteyko Breathing method is done under the supervision of a qualified Buteyko practitioner.

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To re-emphasise, it is strongly recommended that the Buteyko Breathing Method Course as well as breathing exercises are learnt under the supervision of a qualified Buteyko practitioner. Statistics shows that people who try to learn this method on their own are often unsuccessful. Moreover, breathing exercises done incorrectly can potentially cause or lead to serious health complications. Therefore, careful supervision is necessary, especially at the initial stages.

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In case you are interested in the Buteyko Breathing Method Course, there are two options for you to choose from:

1. We recommend that you visit www.buteyko.info and pick a qualified Buteyko Practitioner in the area closest to you.

2. Alternatively, you can register on our website and learn this method via Skype under our supervision (especially if there is no qualified Buteyko Practitioner in your area).  We will do our best to accommodate your schedule and answer any questions you might have. The first consultation is always free.