Buteyko Breathing Technique: Helpful for Some, Negative for Many
5 Comments
"Breathe less". Bad message.
Around 2002 I was interviewed by phone for two hours by the London Daily Mail. 8 million readers at the time. I was told it was about an article about breathing. It turned out that it was not about breathing but rather about the Buteyko breathing technique. They misled me and got two hours of how I think about breathing fundamentals. Ever since then I have seen my words reused in the wrong contexts and applications.
Buteyko is to me a mixed blessing of about 1/10 of the problem and many misguided insights. It is not based on healthy natural breathing fundamentals. CO2 is not the cause, it is the symptom of what is labeled asthma. CO2 is slightly relevant but the breathing pattern is way more so. I can maintain 40 mm while breathing 30 full breaths a minute.
The pattern is the key.
Buteyko may reduce prescription drugs on occasion but what I want is to SAFELY ELIMINATE THEM ALTOGETHER. The Buteyko breathing technique gives very poor training for breathing MORE. Breath is life. There is a direct relationship between breathing and being alive. Those that breathe more, but in a balanced way, are much more alive to me than those who breathe less.
The key to asthma and anxiety is the breathing pattern: Chest, depth, speed, and combinations of the three. Diet and dirty air also add to it but the pattern is the key. You can have a pristine diet and surgically clean air but STILL have what is labeled "asthma". The pattern is the key.
Recent Letter to Mike (View All)
Included in a recent letter to Mike White from Charles D. Connor, President and CEO American Lung Association. "The recent study published by Robert L. Cowie et al in Respiratory Medicine, which was on of the largest controlled trials of Buteyko, found no difference in the degree of improvements between Buteyko and control groups. The author stated that it was "difficult" to "attribute the results" of the study, and recommended further research".
Recent insightful conversation about Buteyko
"When I started Buteyko my breath hold was under 7 seconds from the gas. Now I can get it up to the 30’s or 40’s. But I will say things my instructor said we’re false. Such as having a control pause of 20 seconds will prevent me from having anxiety attacks. It is also unclear of what the goal is for that program. They say the morning CP is most important. I find it fluctuates through out the day regardless of what I am doing. I don’t know what to base it on, and they say it lowering may cause an attack- which is complete bull shit , and makes me obsess about it. Very unhelpful." ~ Stacey C.
Another recent case: A 23 year highly functional autistic male. We are getting good results (remotely with the kit and occasional FaceTime sessions) which included training him out of what he was taught with Buteyko.
Another case.
"I do understand this is a process and takes time, I regularly meditate 3 times daily so I have replaced those meditations with your practices. The reason I mentioned 3 times a day was in case you thought to back off and maybe just once. I am enjoying them and they are very calming. I didn’t mean to sound alarming, I have been dealing with this anxiety for over 10 years and understand there’s no quick fix. Things are a progress, I’m just trying to be transparent so I stay on the right path and not start rushing into other exercises to soon or before I’m ready.
I did the Buteyko breathing and that dude had me rushing into all kinds of stuff and messed me up big time with all these “quick fixes” and breath holds every hour all day every day for 2 weeks. The stress was insane, That's why I ended up back on medication after not being on any for 6 years. I was doing way better before that breath work.
I resonated with your site and your ways and I’m excited to learn. I like your approach and slow and steady is what I’m ready for.
Thanks for checking in.
-Mark P
Effect of two breathing exercises (Buteyko and pranayama) in asthma: a randomised controlled trial.
I have observed that breathing pattern disorder is the primary cause of asthma/hyperventilation/over-breathing. It gets worsened by food and/or airborne allergy but wheezing mostly disappears when the breathing pattern returns to optimal via certain breathing development techniques and exercises in our Optimal Breathing kit.
If one were to breathe quickly shallow or deep in the more belly front, side and back of the lower abdominal/parasympathetic mode the body can much better tolerate/manage and keep balanced one's energy build up from breathing much more. It is the chest breathing fight or flight pattern combined with the speed of breath rate and trying to get a satisfying breath from the chest while trying harder to breathe deeper there that is mostly to blame.
The Buteyko breathing technique has gotten results with some because it slows down the breathing rate but may or may not change the pattern. Slower is but part of the answer but how slower is achieved is critical to having an optimal understanding of breathing.
And I do not care for anyone telling people they are breathing too much as I have successfully maintained 40 MMG at 30 breaths per minute. It felt great. It is a skill. One of life's many skills.
Passion and purpose in life requires more breathing, not less. The key is the pattern whether it is SNS based or PNS based. Buteyko is to me a typical illness model approach. I prefer a wellness model. Study healthy breathing says I. I do not care for B but it does help some people so I say try it and see. But just reducing inhaler/steroids is not enough. We need to ELIMINATE them (due to withdrawal issues, sometimes with the doctors overview).
Dear Mike:
Just found this while surfing, confirms what you said about Buteyko, I tried it and it was a waste of money, in fact I ended up in the hospital, quite soon after.
-Barbara
From Mike:
Thanks Barbara.
Buteyko is a form of endogenous breathing. It helps some, not all or even most. But also realize that you may well have developed a non optimal breathing pattern/habit UDB and someday it will begin to restrict your ability to breathe and probably so slowly (like boiling a frog-google it) you will never realize it unless someone has shown you how to breathe fully and in balance without limiting your air supply.
From what I have seen, Buteyko controls your responses and conditions you to use more of the same oxygen supply or have less need for oxygen. I believe it does too little to develop your breathing volume (FEV1) to the max. The Framingham Study USA clearly proved it was breathing volume that is the primary market for longevity.
I will add efficiency of exhalation to reduce the oxygen cost of breathing (Carl Stough) and support in rebalancing the nervous system. It is NOT about CO2. Excessive CO2 is a byproduct of a bad breathing pattern.
Environment, stress, allergies, nutrition, immune system dysfunction are very relevant factors but poor mechanics and coordination of the breathing are I believe what sets up the tendency towards asthma in the first place. Also, there is a HUGE emotional factor in asthma. See breath holding.
I have developed hands on and breathing exercise training techniques that have been very successful in reducing or eliminating inhaler and steroid usage, often in a matter of a few minutes.
-Mike
Thanks Mike. I have seen a huge difference from just the optimal breathing exercise number 1. At first I was really light headed for ages after doing it a couple of times but now I can do it for a lot longer no worries. I tried to learn Buteyko from normalbreathing.com which says to take short shallow belly breaths. I had trained myself into creating a speed bump. I'm not 100% yet but this has made a huge difference.
-Daniel Clark
Buteyko, a controversial issue.
"There are people who "compensate" or are able to tolerate lower levels than that because of their lung disease process" quoted from an email to me from a department head respiratory therapist connected with the Mayo clinic. mw
The alt.support.asthma News Group debates its virtues and downfalls ad nauseam. It's proponents tout it as a cure/treatment for everything from Asthma to Migraine, Hay Fever, Sinus and Allergies, Emphysema and COPD, Severe Snoring and Sleep Apnea. Its critics call it "Quack" Medicine, "Snake Oil", or worse, a money making pyramid scheme to cheat desperate people out of their earnings.
According to Buteyko Breathing Page, "...asthma is simply your body's way of helping to restrict the amount of air you are breathing, so that more carbon dioxide is trapped in, and a possibly fatal event is avoided. It is just like plumbing - if you want to reduce the flow through a pipe, simply make it smaller or clog it up."
Buteyko is a technique of slowing respirations and decreasing Tidal Volume in an attempt to raise Alveolar CO2 (PACO2). They state that CO2 is an important factor in determining the pH of the blood, which is quite true, but they neglect take into account the buffering effects of hemoglobin and bicarb, effects of hypoxia on breathing and PACO2, or account for the actions of Asthma Triggers.
This is in direct opposition to the National Institute of Health's definition found in the newest 1997 Asthma Treatment Guidelines: "Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways in which many cells and cellular elements play a role, in particular, mast cells, eosinophils, T lymphocytes, macrophages, neutrophils, and epithelial cells.
In susceptible individuals, this inflammation causes recurrent episodes of wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness, and coughing, particularly at night or in the early morning. These episodes are usually associated with widespread but variable airflow obstruction that is often reversible either spontaneously or with treatment.
The inflammation also causes an associated increase in the existing bronchial hyperresponsiveness to a variety of stimuli (NHLBI 1995). Moreover, recent evidence indicates that subbasement membrane fibrosis may occur in some patients with asthma and that these changes contribute to persistent abnormalities in lung function (Roche 1991)."
Clinical Study: The Buteyko breathing technique can improve symptoms and reduce bronchodilator use but does not appear to change bronchial responsiveness or lung function in patients with asthma. Learn More.
That translates into you may well be stuck using inhalers for life.
BUTEYKO: CONTROLLING THE BREATHING PAUSE AKA A SHALLOW BREATHING TECHNIQUE (From an email health professional whose name escapes me.)
"I was intrigued with some of the technical stuff, but they're (Buteyko trainers) basically teaching subventilation. Like people need to breathe less. I can't agree with anything that makes someone afraid of breathing too much.
I think the success that some folks get from the Buteyko breathing technique comes with the feeling of control one gets from most any regularly applied breathing practice. It's better to feel in control than to fear that your breath might attack at any moment. But it's nothing like loving breathing. And it doesn't work nearly as well against asthma as stated in the marketing.
I think that asthma, like panic disorder/hyper-vent syndrome, (UDB-mgw) begins as a spontaneous self-healing process. The respiratory system has been challenged, by chronic emotion-suppressing sub-ventilation and/or by some environmental toxin, pollen, etc, and the body (well-designed as it is) reacts by hyperventilating.
This initiates a healing crisis which can be terrifying to child and family if no one knows how to help it play through and resolve. So the healing gets interrupted and the symptoms of healing-in-process now become symptoms of chronic disease. From then on, the struggle for breath feeds the fear of breath which increases the struggle for breath which feeds the fear of breath and on and on.
BTW, the big problem I have with Buteyko is that there's no life-energy in the model. Reducing breath to the oxygen-co2 cycle, is like trying to understand blood circulation without including the heart." MS
BTW, the big problem I have with Buteyko is that there's no life-energy in the model. Reducing breath to the oxygen-co2 cycle, is like trying to understand blood circulation without including the heart." MS
From Mike White:
I agree with all you say and want to add that there is a HUGE mechanical component. The poor breathing can be rapidly changed without the "emotional/confronting" energies of the "overbreathing" breath.
I believe Buteyko works largely because it inhibits sympathetic nervous system response by holding one's energy static for enough time to maintain equilibrium and inhibit or detach from associated thought processes that cause excessive/overstimulated responses. But it is VERY uncomfortable to practice.
An acupuncturist colleague says an asthmatic's energy "goes up" meaning from the belly to the chest. I call it an over stimulation of SNS. A Taoist might say that they are ungrounded.
So when the patient is asked to consciously hold their breath they inhibit the sympathetic response. This is good for SOME asthmatics but not so for others. Asthmatics need to be DRIVEN downward so the foundation of their breathing STAYS where you want it.
If it is too intense, breath holding-back can lock up the entire breathing system. Extending the exhale and stimulating the reflex does not. But stimulating the reflex may not work for asthma as well as breath holding-back.
I believe breath holding gives the wrong inner sensing to the breath holder. There are better ways by using one of our capnometers. A biofeedback device that lets you watch your CO2 levels on a computer screen and manipulate the percentage by breathing slightly less or more.
"I studied the Buteyko system and read a couple of books and various articles. There are a few good ideas and I think the goal is close to yours in getting a free and natural breath. However, some of their means to the end do not resonate with me and I find your breathing programs much better for my needs.
My breathing and my awareness of breath has improved tremendously on your programs. I still go into bad habits at times but those times are becoming less. If I do fall into UDB I can correct it by doing whatever exercise comes to mind and I'm back in rhythm. Breathing well has impacted every aspect of my life for the good. " mike yates
From John Neal Rhodes:
There was a study, The Brisbane Trials, done on the effects, or lack there of, of Buteyko. The study is flawed by losing its double blind component due to leaking the information of which group was receiving which therapy. A quote from the study:
"This loss of blinding might have favorable influenced Buteyko subject's self assessment of asthma control and adversely affected the control group." The study also incorporates a great deal of subjective data, which is always suspect. In addition to that, the Buteyko subjects received more follow up phone calls as to their conditions (seven as opposed to one), further skewing the subjective data.
The only definitive data returned by this study was that steroid use was reduced to a greater extent in the Buteyko group. Interestingly at the end of 8 months there were 4 Buteyko patients on oral Prednisone and 2 in the control group and an equal number participants (3) were admitted to the hospital with acute asthma exacerbation.
Even the reduction of steroid use was not credited to the technique. Rather, the researchers stated that it was possible that the patient where already taking more steroids than needed before testing, quote:
"Although during the run-in phase subjects were exhorted to use beta2 agonist therapy strictly on an as required basis, it is likely that in many subjects, the use of these medications and of inhaled steroids was excessive."
The most crucial data to prove or disprove the technique, End Expiratory CO2, was unchanged. The whole basis of the technique was to raise this value. On top of this there were no significant changes in PFT values (FEV1 and PEFR), thus no evidence that there was any improvement in the patient's asthma.
Let's look at a couple of facts dealing with Carbon Dioxide, Oxygen, Hyperventilation, and Asthma seen from the traditional medical point of view
First off, Carbon Dioxide (CO2), is a poison, a byproduct of metabolism. The respiratory system eliminates CO2 and provides Oxygen (O2) for the blood stream. CO2 levels effect our rate of breathing, but so do Oxygen levels.
When Asthma Triggers or allergic reactions cause an attack to start, the airways respond with inflammation and bronchospasm. Some of the alveoli become closed off and oxygen levels drop. Once enough alveoli stop taking part in gas exchange, oxygen levels reach a point that causes hypoxemia (low blood oxygen levels), see the article on ABGs for explanation of changes in blood gas values during an asthma attack.
Hypoxemia will cause the respiratory rate to increase. This increase will effect oxygen and carbon dioxide levels. Carbon dioxide levels will fall and the pH to rise. The drop in CO2 levels is the result, not the cause of an Asthma attack.
I challenge the proponents of Buteyko to prove me wrong, not by rhetoric or flawed studies, but by proven, double blind, objective, and published data. I'd love to be proven wrong on this one guys, anything to add to the arsenal we have for this disease.
John Neal Rhodes, About.com
From Mike:
Unless infancy is plagued by abuse, poor nutrition (major causes such as allergies from milk and other dairy etc) and extremely bad air, asthma is largely a mechanical issue. Abuse and fear of abandonment are often the source. Even with poor nutrition, then the mechanical breathing must be optimized to eliminate or minimize emergency drug intervention.
I suspect that if you put 100 people in a room with bad air and you will have little to no asthma. Put 100 people together having eaten allergy causing food and the asthma symptoms will increase. Put 100 people together with bad air, bad food and UDB and you will have MANY people with asthma symptoms.
I strongly suspect that the drugs and steroids group would like to keep it as a strictly non mechanical issue so that people keep supporting the pharmaceutical industry.
I would sum it up to say that the Buteyko breathing technique can be a good emergency medical approach for some. I believe it is inherently misleading towards the healthiest way to breathe. It has a distinct western medical "illness model" bias. Shallow breathing eventually will cause the rib cage to be unable to expand as it should UDB.
Shallow slow or no breathing also inhibits the natural massage of the internal organs. Making the body more efficient to use less oxygen is, I believe, sub-optimal.
Might it be best if you had the oxygen there in the first place? Making an organism more efficient such as endogenous respiration (compressing intra lung pressure to make oxygen more concentrated in the blood) is good (more efficient) up to a point. Efficiency does not beget ease if it is very much smaller in volume UDB. Efficiency can only compensate for volume up to a certain point.
Also, there is a nervous system aspect that has to do with the parasympathetic depth and its relationship to the relaxation/rest/digest/heal response. Without volume and rib cage expansion there is loss of deepest rest.
The ultimate for relaxation, healing, oxygenation would be volume AND efficiency. Then the optimal capacity becomes reachable. Otherwise volume and ease are slowly lost to efficiency. Efficiency also has a stress component to it. Volume does not. The larger car engine runs slower and smoother. The smaller one is faster and less smooth
Take careful note of the oxygen information on the upper left of this page. Judge for yourself whether you believe CO2 is more important or is oxygen the primary focus for a long, healthy and vibrant life.
Note the information on hyperbaric (search it in our web site search engine) oxygen chambers. If the CO2 theory were accurate then having massive amounts of O2 would cause massive wheezing and clearly it does not. Educate yourself and make your choice.
Newspaper interviewed Mike
I also need to mention the fact that I was interviewed for the Daily Mirror in London about an article they were doing on "breathing". It sells 8 million daily and I was very happy about doing the interview. The interviewer spent around 4 hours over 2 days in transatlantic phone calls asking me many , many questions.
When I finally saw the article, I was aghast to see that it was really about the Buteyko breathing technique. This fact had never been mentioned. I was set up and quoted completely out of context as I had no idea the article was being written about Buteyko. They used my words to peddle a flawed concept.
Al-Delaimy WK, Hay SM, Gain KR, Jones DT, Crane J.
Wellington School of Medicine, New Zealand.
Wellington School of Medicine, New Zealand.
OBJECTIVES: To examine the effect of breathing 3% CO2 on exercise-induced asthma (EIA), as a raised airway CO2 level is suggested to mediate the effects of Buteyko breathing training (BBT).
DESIGN: Double-blind crossover study, using a standard laboratory-based exercise challenge, with EIA defined as a fall of 15% or greater in the forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) within 30 minutes of completing a standard exercise protocol
SUBJECTS: 10 adults with confirmed EIA.
INTERVENTION: Air enriched with 3% CO2 during and for 10 minutes after exercise.
OUTCOME MEASURES: Maximum percentage fall in FEV1 after exercise. Area under curve (AUC) of the decrease in FEV1 with time.
RESULTS: Mean maximum fall in FEV1 was similar: 19.9% with air, and 26.9% with 3% CO2 (P = 0.12). The mean AUC for the total 30-minute post-exercise period was 355 for air and 520 for 3% CO2 (P = 0.07). After discontinuing the 3% CO2 at 10 minutes after exercise, there was a further and sustained fall in FEV1.
Mean AUC for the period 10-30 minutes post-exercise was significantly greater for CO2 than air (275 and 137, respectively [P = 0.02]). Mean minute ventilation was increased when subjects exercised breathing 3% CO2: 77.5 L/min for 3% CO2, compared with 68.7 L/min for air (P = 0.02).
CONCLUSION: Breathing 3% CO2 during exercise does not prevent EIA. The shape of the FEV1 response curve after 3% CO2 suggests that a greater degree of EIA (because of increased minute ventilation during exercise) was opposed by a direct relaxant effect of CO2 on the airway. Increased airway CO2 alone is an unlikely mechanism for the reported benefits of BBT; nevertheless, further study of the effects of voluntary hypoventilation in asthma is warranted.
Publication Types:
- Clinical Trial
- Randomized Controlled Tria
PMID: 11245506 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] On November 3 2004
I learned that the Hale Clinic In the UK had ceased using the Buteyko method. The Hale clinic was to the best of my knowledge the non Russian western world's leading proponent of the technique. I suspect that the Buteyko method, while effective with some, may worsen sleep apnea with many others.
Email From Mike.
So essentially what you're saying is that Buteyko reduces one's need for oxygen? I doubt anyone can ever get too much oxygen or need less than they can get breathing naturally. More oxygen is definitely better. Mountain training (under reduced oxygen) is not about learning to need less oxygen for health, it is about extreme conditioning that may be unhealthy in the long or short term. Living at high altitude may require a few generations to adapt.
Actually, slowing the breathing down (overbreathing antidotes are to change to slower, less deeper breathing so O2 uptake may be improved but volume is lessened) can improve O2 uptake due to lessened Sympathetic Nervous System vasoconstriction but to me Buteyko does it in a negative way that is indirect to what I see as the real cause and makes O2 seem bad.
To me it is the WAY they breathe, their breathing upper and lower hemisphere-balance and sequencing and speed that invites excessive vaso-constriction and O2 lessening, not the overbreathing/breathing more. It is to me more an issue of balance of the Sympathetic) fight, flight, freeze, fake it, fumble, fun) and parasympathetic (rest, digest and heal) then faster, deeper over breathing.
When one has developed a strong enough parasympathetic breath as described as "the bottom of the pear" in our Optimal Breathing Kit SOB theme one can maintain focus and function in spite of any excessive energy caused by breathing more/over-breathing.
One HUGE benefit of this ability is increased oxygen reserves.
O2 reserves developed this way create awesome energy for stamina, recovery and self healing due to extra oxygen saturation but it must be accessed without excessive sympathetic stimulation/vasoconstriction that leads to the symptoms that Buteyko, asthma drugs and steroids TRY to address and primarily/only muffle the symptoms.
Still, all things being equal one can only breathe so fast for so long a time then excessive energy begins to cause "distortions" of perception. But given a strong parasympathetic foundation, these "distortions" often include strong but tolerable and manageable feelings of joy and gladness, laughter, orgasms, and ecstasy. There is a develop-able optimal breathing skill level to all this. It starts here.
Another recent email, mike's comments in bold.
"As you surmise, Buteyko has completely missed the point of his own observations. The problem apparently lies in the questions he asked ... he was looking for the specific cause of a symptom, and he ended up transforming, in his own mind anyway, general functions of the body with specific events and outcomes.
1. Respiration performs two primary functions: THREE. the Third is conscious to habituated (hopefully in a healthy functional way) with PNS dominance. It is trained but becomes automatic therefore primary as well.
2. Oxygenation, bringing oxygen (O2) into the body.
b. Elimination, removing light metabolic acid byproducts (primarily as CO2) from the body.
b. Elimination, removing light metabolic acid byproducts (primarily as CO2) from the body.
3. Exhalation controls respiration. That is, the strength and ability for the lungs to expand of our exhalator muscles largely determines the degree to which we empty our lungs when we exhale and therefore our capacity to inhale. In addition, our vitality with respect to cardiopulmonary function has a significant influence. Most definitely, but never confuse conditioning with volume, ease and balance with a dominant PNS. We want BOTH conditioning AND volume with a dominant PNS.
a. So what do we mean when we say that someone hyperventilates? Deeper and too high chest.
We mean that this person is exhaling spastically?, not exactly. It is more SNS biased via high chest spewing out CO2 and not allowing time for his/her lungs to reinflate. So of course his/her body rapidly becomes depleted of both CO2 and O2 at the same time. However if the deeper breathing is dominant PNS the body vasodilates and the law of mass action fills the plasma and transfers to the hemoglobin regardless of what the CO2 5% advocates believe.
The key is the breathing pattern: Chest, depth, speed, or any combination of the three
4. But none of these things is the problem ... all symptoms. The problem is located in the cause of the hyperventilation, which is likely not even discussed. The breathing pattern: Chest, depth, speed, or any combination of the three.
5. Relaxation inherently leads to slow, deep breathing, not the reverse. Better said PNS based relaxation instead of SNS reduction inherently leads to slow, deep breathing, not the reverse. When we breathe deeply (only if PNS based) , our entire being becomes better oxygenated AND our elimination improves ... both benefits occur together.
6. The deep breathing Buteyko observed in those dying patients likely reflects their letting go of holding onto life, their relaxation into death. Cross breathing aka co-medition is an ancient Tibetan peaceful transitioning to the next expression technique. Many find it spontaneously. But such an interpretation would be "off the map" for a medically minded researcher. And since we humans tend to find what we are looking for AMEN, he would never have "found" this understanding of his own observations. Instead, he attempted to translate everything into symptoms, and conditions ... to medicalize it all.Yep. He did what he was trained to do, nothing more, nothing less.
7. Tension is the opposite of relaxation. This is equally true in physics, engineering, biology ... across the sciences and in our everyday vernacular. Spasm consists of uncontrolled bursts of extreme tension ... literally, hypertension. That is, spasm is the antithesis of relaxation. And to say that hyperventilation leads to hypertension is really oxymoronic. But it does by definition. I am referring not to the traditional illness model hyperventilation when the SNS is stronger (too strong) but to MY definition called hyper-INHALATION when it is PNS dominant.
8. Regarding his experiments to raise and lower his own breathing: breathing is an autonomic function. Most people cannot consciously control it for more than a short time, and not all all during sleep. Not exactly true. The fundamental way you breathe during waking hours is significantly carried over into sleep.
9. But he was correct in this regard: Chronic deoxygenation of the system is indeed a primary "deficiency", and therefore a primary cause of impaired vitality. AGREED and nutrition and metabolism is also a key factor. Not "disease", for that refers only to some collection of symptoms. Yep. Rather, loss of capacity to live, and therefore vulnerability to whatever may come along. The only unpredictable element lies in "whatever may come along", hence the diversity of diagnoses associated with this (and other) causes of "disease". Sounds good. Thank you for sharing. MGW
Hello Michael White, how are you?
(Mike's comments in bold)
I am writing because I am interested in ordering one or more of your products, however I have a lot of confusion about my breathing and what may be right for me so I hope I can ask some questions before ordering.
Firstly I want to say that my main problem is hyperventilation and an irregular breathing pattern. I think I breathe faster than I should but that is not the main problem - I also breath from my chest and tend to hold it in and also I think to use too much effort breathing and push out too much air when I breath out. Good insight.
I have had for many years a lot of physical symptoms which I realized some months ago were related to my breathing. The most bothersome are altered skin sensations but also include feeling out of breath a lot - especially when talking or singing or even just walking at times, having an irritable bladder, low back pain, mental tension, tiredness, worry.
Stress, sore muscles, tension in chest etc.etc. I have had various scans and medical tests all which seem to be normal. I do have a very mild level of anemia but doctors didn't seem to find it significant enough to take iron pills. See this.
When I first realized about my breathing being the main cause I think I twigged partly because I was trying to practise yoga pranayama, and noticed that instead of making these sensations in my skin feel better as I hoped, it would often trigger or worsen all the symptoms. not surprised.
Also I understood that the reason I feel worse when I'm at the computer is because my breathing gets really bad when I am doing that. It seems like only a small increase in my breathing sets everything off.
Well to cut a long story short I have been very frustrated trying to improve my breathing. I first bought a home teach buteyko kit. (I live in .... ) and nobody here has heard of hyperventilation or knows how to treat it at least where I am. I do.
The buteykomethod involves reducing your breathing for set periods of time and also some out breath holding. While I sometimes got a lot of relaxation in my mind when practicing this, I also found that afterwards, the practices seemed to increase my out of breath feeling, and reducing the breathing so fast also seems to trigger some of the same symptoms as over-breathing and I was finding it hard to get the balance right, so I finally gave up.
My main dissatisfaction with that was that although it teaches you to reduce your breathing there isn't much emphasis on anatomically how to breathe right.Exactly. I have been trying to practice diaphragm breathing and sometimes it does seem to come better but I still don't really know what is actually the correct breath because I think when I was starting I was pushing out my belly and that didn't feel right.
Reading your program has given me some hope, however before purchasing anything - I would really be happy if you could answer the following questions!!
In your website you have a quote by Elizabeth Browning - he who breaths most air breaths most life. But my understanding is the more I breath the worse I feel!! It is the pattern not the air. The key is the breathing pattern: Chest, depth, speed, or any combination of the three.
Also in your information you mention deep breathing a lot , but when I did the yoga deep breathing that seems to involve taking in even more air and also triggering symptoms. PROPER deep breathing. The key is the breathing pattern: Chest, depth, speed, or any combination of the three
You also mention bellows breath (bhastrika) which to me means fast breathing and I am a bit concerned about doing that type of breathing. I don't really know what deep breathing means - can you explain briefly? The key is the breathing pattern: Chest, depth, speed, or any combination of the three
Also I know that a lot of hyperventilation correction people recommend having an outbreath twice as long as the in breath. I am sure there must be logic for that - but when I was practicing the pranayama before I found that practices such as chanting OM or humming bee breath involve breathing out a long out breath and they were what triggered the symptoms more than anything? I suppose because my already low CO2 is getting more and more depleted. Does your program involve making a very long out-breath? Not for you. Breaks my law of The Optimal Breathing Window.
Finally in Buteyko they recommend paying attention to your breathing all the time to stop hyperventilation. Baloney. That will drive some people crazy. I can understand why they say this but at times I felt like I got obsessed and being conscious of my breath all the time made it worse also - do you have any recommendations about that? Let it be. Practice correctly then let it be.
I don't know fully what is going on with my breathing but I suspect it is a bit more complex than just hyperventilation and I wonder - given the information I'm giving you if your program is likely to be appropriate. It should be. It is for most.
I really hope you may be able to help because i have been really in despair about not being able to correct this - I really do have a lot of discomfort because of this and have even felt suicidal at times before I knew what was going on - it feels like everything in my life would be fine if only I could manage to breathe!! Breath is life in many ways.
Also if I do purchase some of your products to help me and I get stuck, to what degree can I email to ask for help or what would you recommend I do in that case? You can pay for a private session if needed.
As I am in ..... to have one to one sessions is not a option at least at the moment.
Click here AND the BVS option. mike
many thanks for your time and I really hope to hear from you soon,
"As you've noted Buyteko breathing is very unpleasant to practice. I much prefer your techniques. They seem more intuitively correct and achieve a similar end of hugely slowing the breathing while utilizing all of the lungs." Kurt
We simply develop a larger "engine"' and the larger engine runs slower.
Recent Letter to Mike
Included in a recent letter to Mike White from Charles D. Connor, President and CEO American Lung Association. "The recent study published by Robert L. Cowie et al in Respiratory Medicine, which was on of the largest controlled trials of Buteyko, found no difference in the degree of improvements between Buteyko and control groups. The author stated that it was "difficult" to "attribute the results" of the study, and recommended further research"
Wikipedia.
"Research into the use of the Buteyko method has focused almost exclusively on the treatment of asthma, and have had methodological problems. Studies have not found objective measures to support its use such as improvement in lung function, though there are results showing it could possibly improve subjective measures such as asthma symptoms and quality of life. Reviews of this literature have generally concluded that the evidence is not strong enough to recommend its use based on the available evidence. Those exceptions that have recommended considering its use have noted it should be used as an adjunct to more traditional therapies and is unlikely to affect or cure the underlying cause of asthma."
Asthma and oxygen
Back to Mike.
Asthma is a mixture of several factors, none of which are clearly defined so as to make any program 100% dependable.
Try Buteyko anyway. See what you get. It may or may not help. Just do not assume it is the all to be all.
In closing, the bottom line is that shortness of breath symptoms have been reduced with improved diet, environment, breath holding, extending the exhale, fasting, emotional balance or catharsis and developing one's breathing. None of these involve drugs or steroids. Learn about UDB. Better breathing is possible for everyone. Our approach to asthma.
Lyme and Buteyko . Mike's answers in bold
I have a question, I'm struggling with meshing the concepts that
1. breath training to reduce the breath (the O2-CO2 relationship is often confusing due to what you outlined. One camp has the too much oxygen and the other has too little oxygen.
The key is the breathing pattern: Chest, depth, speed, or any combination of the three. When the pattern is too high chest it causes vasoconstriction and hyperstimulation. Oxygen is clearly an aid for lyme and has been with hyperbaric chambers for many years. But the hyperbaric is too pricey for most and not insurable for very long hence our leaning towards oxygen enhanced exercise and rest. Learn more about Turbo Oxygen System
Again,The key is the breathing pattern: Chest, depth, speed, or any combination of the three is the key as when they are together they vaso-constrict blood vessels and hyperstim the adrenals and cortisol levels and wear out the immune system. AND the breathing PATTERN STILL needs to be PNS (lower abdominal) dominant.
2. breathing in oxygen from an oxygen concentrator to increase oxygen intake is very beneficial to health. See the O2E2 Clinical Studies.
It seems like it should be one or the other best since they contradict...less oxygen with breath training and more oxygen with supplementing with a concentrator. Back to the breathing pattern. Breath rate, depth and high chest pattern is the key as when they are both together they vasoconstrict blood vessels and hyperstim the adrenals and cortisol levels and wear out your immune system.
Options: Either get a hard case hyperbaric chamber which we can help you find or our O2E2 and exercise and sleep with it. Oxygen Enhanced Exercise and Rest
Again, the breathing PATTERN STILL needs to be PNS (lower abdominal) dominant. So we added the breathing mastery kit.
This post came closest as it somewhat calmed him down (we do that as a matter of course but you see he still has lyme. Our approach is to develop the breathing "engine" so it runs slower and naturally deeper and allows the immune system to strengthen.
Buteyko is over simplified and part of the equation but only about 5% of optimal breathing. I can show you a faster way of using the pause/breath effectively but if you must maybe try B and see how it works so we can have that experience teach you how well it works if at all. It is after all part of our system though we call it extended pause instead of control pause. Same thing only it is about 5% of good breathing and it is often misused.
Economically I would do the O2E2 and the SOB kit each day. Hope this helps.
Coordinating all this will probably require a few fee based skype, zoom, whatsapp or facetime sessions over time.
Call if you need more info +1-704-597-6775. Mike
Add the TurboOxygen system for exponential progress.
Overview of the Turbo Oxygen System
EWOT ON STEROIDS Based On Oxygen Multistep Therapy aka OMT
Accelerating wellness, physical endurance, mental clarity and more. People today are more health conscious than ever. Men and women have always used the gym as a social venue as well as a fitness venue, but many of these people that used to belong to gyms now find it easier and more convenient and lately even gas saving to work out at home with store bought equipment.
You know the feeling when you actually wake up early to workout?
5 Comments
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Malcom. If Buteyko worked as well as they say then you should not have hyper-inflated lungs.
Mike,
I am male, 75 years old and a life long Asthma sufferer. I am UK based. I have used Buteyko since 2013 and have found it very beneficial. This past few months my breathing has not been so good. An X Ray has shown I have hyper-inflated lungs. I am doing straw breathing which is helping me. I have always been and still am very active. I briskly walk 20 miles a week and spend 40 minutes on a static bike 5 times a week. I am considering purchasing your Optimal Breathing Kit to see if it improves my breathing. Any comments please?
With Very Best Wishes,
Malcolm.
Yes, and in a way that long term alters a healthy breathing pattern. It is not natural breathing. Our breathing kit develops natural optimal breathing.
Could Buteyko could stress on the lungs?