Buteyko Breathing Exercises

What is Buteyko Breathing?

Buteyko Breathing is a series of simple, tailored exercises that are designed to eliminate breathlessness- thus reducing the debilitating symptoms of asthma, bronchitis, emphysema and other forms of COPD.

Buteyko Breathing is also an effective approach for alleviating anxiety, muscle tension, stress, insomnia, and sleep apnoea.

Breathing is the only part of our autonomic nervous system under conscious control. Its the function we rely on the most for life- we can survive weeks without food, days without water but only a few minutes without breathing.

If you are healthy, your breathing is functional- but improper breathing in the form of hyperventilation (breathing too fast, and too shallow- which is very common and usually undiagnosed) can become a bad habit.

Hyperventilation, also known as over breathing, can cause and exacerbate many conditions ranging from a blocked up nose, to anxiety, snoring, asthma, rhinitis, sleep apnoea and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. (COPD).

Breathing occurs on a spectrum, that ranges from functional to dysfunctional- the more dysfunctional your breathing is, the worse your symptoms will be. As your breathing improves, your symptoms get better, and can disappear entirely once normal breathing is established.

Buteyko Breathing aims to normalise dysfunctional breathing patterns through simple, guided, progressive breathing exercises, and will improve/ eliminate symptoms of breathlessness from these conditions.

The exercises need to be done in conjunction with a healthy lifestyle to be effective. For example, if you smoke, you need to stop smoking before Butekyo Breathing will have any positive effect.

By working together and doing the exercises regularly, your breathing will become easier and you will feel healthier and more full of energy, sleep better and be more resilient to stress.

How do I know if my breathing is dysfunctional?

If you persistently experience any of the following, you probably have some level of dysfunctional breathing-

• Feeling out of breath, like you can’t catch a breath

• Feeling tired all the time

• Unrefreshing sleep

• Breathing through your mouth

• Noisy breathing

• Having a constantly dry mouth

• Noticing that you are often breathing quite fast

• Finding it hard to breathe through your nose

• Breathing into your chest, not your abdomen

• Constant sniffing or sighing

• Holding your breath without realising

• Snoring

• Panic attacks

What can Buteyko Breathing help with?

Buteyko Breathing Exercises, when done regularly, can help to reduce the debilitating symptoms of the following conditions-

• Asthma

• Rhinitis

• Bronchitis

• Emphysema

• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

• Snoring

• Sleep Apnoea

• Insomnia

Buteyko Breathing can also help to calm the nervous system, decrease stress, eliminate anxiety, increase energy levels and improve exercise tolerance, normalise blood PH, maximise oxygen absorption, improve lung function and lower both blood pressure and the heart rate.

I will take a quick, effective assessment to check your breath function and will propose an effective, achievable exercise plan to get you breathing properly, day and night.

The NHS recommends slow breathing as one of 10 ways to reduce chronic pain.

I offer online lessons in Buteyko Breathing in West London via Zoom.

Find out more about Buteyko Breathing here.