The #1 Wellness Practice You Probably Haven’t Heard Of – Buteyko Breathing
Hey, what are you doing right now? Well, right you’re reading this blog. But besides that? Nothing, you say? Turn your attention for a moment to your breathing. Aren’t you glad you’re doing something in addition to reading this blog? Breathing is amazing! On average people breathe about 22,000 times per day. Many of us take breathing for granted, but as Mr. Myagi says in The Karate Kid: Part II: “No breathe, no life.” Yes, breathing is fundamental for life. Yet, most of us rarely think about how we breathe.
Enter Buteyko Breathing. This method is based on the principle that how we breathe and how much we breathe affects our health. If that idea is new to you, let me ask you, do you believe that what we eat and how much affects our health? Most people would agree with that. However, we breathe thousands of times more per day than we eat. Breathing begins the process of life-giving oxygen being delivered to every cell in our body so. But why would it matter how we breathe? Isn’t breathing automatic, like our heart’s beating?
Why How We Breathe Matters
That was a question that Dr. Konstantin Buteyko asked when he was training to become a doctor in 1950s Russia. (If you don’t like science, feel free to skip to the next subheading.) He noticed that the more ill people were the more they seemed to breathe and the less oxygen they seemed to get. This didn’t seem to make sense until he thought about something called the Bohr Effect.
Simply put, the Bohr Effect is a scientific principle that an increase in arterial CO2 decreases blood pH, which weakens the chemical bond between hemoglobin and oxygen. This means that it is vital to have enough CO2 in the blood so that hemoglobin can let go of the oxygen molecules and get them to where they need to go – the organs, muscles, and cells.
Dr. Buteyko theorized that one of the reasons that patients were becoming more ill was actually because of breathing more. He posited that conversely, health could be improved by breathing less. At that time, he was dealing with seriously high blood pressure. He developed exercises to train his body to breathe less and was able to cure himself of his high blood pressure. After finishing medical school, he went on to develop his method and eventually catalogued over 200 different diseases that respond well to the breathing method that was named after him, the Buteyko Breathing method.
What is Buteyko Breathing?
So, what does the method actually involve? It involves exercises done several times per day which slowly train the body to breathe less and to reset to a new, healthier level of carbon dioxide. Our bodies love to maintain homeostasis or the status quo, as anyone trying to lose weight has experienced. Additionally, breathing is both a conscious and unconscious function, which originates from part of the brain stem. Because of the autonomic or automatic side of breathing, it’s impossible to just force the body to breathe differently. It takes gentle and consistent practice. A Buteyko Breathing Instructor is trained in assisting students to learn and implement the method, customizing it to their specific needs and health conditions. Over time, this new pattern of breathing becomes automatic, with resulting health improvements.
After the fall of the Soviet Union, the Buteyko Breathing method was slowly introduced to the Western world. More and more people have tried it and have seen the incredible improvements in their health. What health conditions can it help? Dr. Buteyko chronicled over 200, but a few are:
Asthma
Hypertension (High Blood Pressure)
Insomnia
Sleep Apnea
COPD (Emphysema; Chronic Bronchitis)
Migraine/Headaches
Chronic Fatigue
Allergies
Skin Disorders
Anxiety
Diabetes
Seizures
And more…
Since it also improves athletic performance and general well-being, the Buteyko Breathing method can benefit a wide variety of people. That might sound too good to be true, but the reason that it can help most people is because of what we talked about earlier―the potential to use oxygen more efficiently in the body when proper carbon dioxide levels are restored.
And what about carbon dioxide? Most people are taught that carbon dioxide is just a garbage gas we breathe out, only good for plant life. But modern science has proven that is just not true. Consider some of the benefits of carbon dioxide:
• Vasodilation 1—This is when the blood vessels relax and the internal diameter increases. This means more blood goes to our hearts, brains, and other vital organs. Also, it takes less effort to pump blood through a larger tube, so this leads to less work for the heart, which in turn can lead to a reduced resting heart rate and blood pressure.
• Bronchodilation 2—If this term is familiar, that’s because a type of asthma inhalers are called bronchodilators. Dilated or enlarged bronchial tubes are relaxed and easy to breathe through. This is why so many asthmatics have seen dramatic and quick improvements in their asthma symptoms when doing Buteyko.
• Nerve Stabilization 3,4 —Carbon dioxide is a powerful natural sedative, in other words it helps relax the brain and nerves so that they are not so excitable. Oxygen itself is also a calming agent. So the combination of normalized levels of CO2 and Oxygen can decrease anxiety, stress, and even seizures.
• Improves Immune System 5—In addition to the fact that nasal breathing and breathing less decreases the number of harmful microbes we breathe in, Buteyko breathing promotes calm, measured breathing, which can help the body not to be stuck in the fight or flight mode. This is one reason that Buteyko strengthens the immune system, as being frequently in the fight or flight mode is known to weaken a person’s immune system.
• Muscle Relaxation—Since carbon dioxide increases oxygen delivery to the muscles, decreases sympathetic dominance (fight or flight), as well as calms down the nerves, it can cause tense and painful muscles to relax.
So, are you wondering: “if this method is so great, why haven’t I ever heard of it?” Great question. As Arthur Schopenhauer said: “All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.” This method is new in the Western world and the idea that how we breathe is important is unfamiliar for many people. This doesn’t make it any less true or potentially life-changing. Why not be brave and learn more, maybe even give it a try?
Korina, Buteyko Breathing Instructor
and Respiratory Therapist
How can you get started? A great way is to schedule a free zoom consultation with me here. I love talking about Buteyko breathing, so you can ask me any questions you have and see if we would be a good fit. If you’d like to learn more, follow me on Instagram @betterbreathing4health I regularly post educational videos and information. Another great resource is the book Breath by James Nestor. He dives into the science behind breathing and why it can be our secret superpower. Why not leverage what you’re already doing thousands of times a day to improve your health?
If you’d like to learn more about Korina, Buteyko Breathing Instructor and Respiratory Therapist, click here.
References:
https://www.atsjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1164/ajrccm-conference.2012.185.1_MeetingAbstracts.A2848
Zahra Mohamed Hassan, Nermine Mounir Riad, Fatma Hassan Ahmed, Effect of Buteyko breathing technique on patients with bronchial asthma, Egyptian Journal of Chest Diseases and Tuberculosis, Volume 61, Issue 4, 2012, Pages 235-241, ISSN 0422-7638, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejcdt.2012.08.006.
Tolner EA, Hochman DW, Hassinen P, Otáhal J, Gaily E, Haglund MM, Kubová H, Schuchmann S, Vanhatalo S, Kaila K. Five percent CO₂ is a potent, fast-acting inhalation anticonvulsant. Epilepsia. 2011 Jan;52(1):104-14. doi: 10.1111/j.1528-1167.2010.02731.x. Epub 2010 Sep 30. PMID: 20887367; PMCID: PMC3017646. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6309867/
Bucsek MJ, Giridharan T, MacDonald CR, Hylander BL, Repasky EA. An overview of the role of sympathetic regulation of immune responses in infectious disease and autoimmunity. Int J Hyperthermia. 2018;34(2):135-143. doi:10.1080/02656736.2017.1411621. Five percent CO₂ is a potent, fast-acting inhalation anticonvulsant - PubMed (nih.gov)
