Buteyko Method

[Ash Robinson]

Is anyone trained, or know anyhting about, this breathing method? I had read a bit about it before and found it quite interesteing, but yesterday I heard a disturbing story. One of my clients was recommended to use this therapy to help her overcome stomach problems. She said the method invloved increasing the amount of time she held her breath and supressing yawning and sneezing. While practicing she started having panic attacks and became claustrophobic. She saw a psychologist who told her that it isn't natural to try and suppress your breathing. More than a year on she is still suffering the consequences. Can anyone shed any light? Apparently when she told her practitioner they said that other people had suffered panic attacks while practicing the method.

Sarah xx

 

[Aearokreos]

Hi Sarah,
My aunt has been using the breathing techniques and it has helped her asthma. There is a book on it - probably available from amazon.co.uk. I've never tried it as I can't breathe through my nose so wouldn't like to tape my mouth up at night. Probably a similar principal to rebirthing?!?
There is a woman in the UK who has remortgaged her house to raise money to make Buteyko available to more people because she was so impressed by it. Almost everyone who went on the courses in Russia improved their health dramatically.
Petal x

 

[ShootOutTheLights]

Hello,

There are a lot of breahting exercises in Yoga an dother systems where you hold your breath for some amount of time. But anyone teaching such techniques should make it very clear that you should not go beyond your comfort zone.

Artemis

 

[mariobro94]

This is quite strange because (ive never heard of these techniques before) I sort of hold my breath when im doing cv work at the gym and my performance is really enhanced. I thought that it was strange cause you need to breathe to get the oxygen to your 'bits' (Im not very technical!!) but I have noticed that if I hold my breath and control and slow it down that I can run for ALOT longer.
Is this the sort of thing that u r talking about or am I COMPLETELY off topic!!!!!!
Tx

 

[Meag]

There is lots of stuff about breathing in Bob Frissels book "Nothing in this book is true but it's exactly how things are".

It tells you how to create your merkaba!

Petal x

 

[heart.picklez]

So has no one heard of panic attacks and claustrophobia associated with Buteyko? It seemed strange that she wasn't the first person to report his reaction to her practitioner.

Sarah x

 

[C.Lee]

The only thing I can say is that when I was training for my Holistic Therapy Diploma we were talking about different relaxation methods. Someone mentioned getting the client to breathe deeply and our tutor said that you should never tell anyone that as they can hyperventilate and pass out, so we just decided that we should encourage people to focus on their breathing instead.

Lesley

 

[Guy bein a Guy]

Breath holding is a very common problem, despite the fact that there is a lot more research on hyperventilation (over breathing).

The truth is I don't know of any research on Breath Holding & I would be very grateful if anyone can find any. I think the medical term for this, in it's extreme is hypercapnia.

RE: TrintiyX's gym exploits, then she's discovered that for her that heavy work for some is easier if done anaeriobically (without oxygen), however sustained physical activity is more efficiently done Aerobically (with oxygen). For this one needs to breathe.

One of the best things for hypercapnic folk to do is things that force breathing, such as chanting, yogic/pranic breathing.

And for the hyperventillating type - pranic/breathing exercises that involve holding the breath out.

And if either of the above - 'passes out' in the process, then it will give their respiratory centre in the brain stem a chance to reset to a healthier patern of breathing.

It may be that simple or it maybe that it's not just a habit of breathing - there may well be other physiological maintaining factors, such as nutritional & environmental sensitivities/allergies. This possibility would help explain why the Buteyko method (as much as I suspect that it goes a long way to help a lot of people) doesn't 'cure all'.

I can expand on that one if the interest is there, but much ado at mo.

 

[unliddips]

THE BUTEYKO METHOD

Prof. Konstantin Pavlovich Buteyko, a 75 year old Siberian doctor, has started a veritable Russian revolution in the treatment of pulmonary disorders. It is a revolution which says if you're short of breath, breathe less.
The experts of the old order gasp. "But surely," they say, "more oxygen is what sufferers need. If they breathe too shallowly, their carbon dioxide will increase." Yes. And that's just what the Russian doctor ordered.

During forty years of research, Bureyko treated over 100,000 patients with asthma and discovered that 90% of them are chronic low-level hyper-ventilators. But his research remains in the cold as far as the Western scientific communities are concerned. It is, after all, only forty years since the Russians beat the West in the first lap of the space race. Then the doors to Russian research were begrudgingly prised open, but just enough to allow a peak. The West didn't want another Sputnik to sneak past.

Alexander Stalamatski, a 45-year-old treated by Buteyko for allergies and chronic fatigue, is in the vanguard of the Western front. In 1994 he made some in-roads in Australia by persuading the Mater Hospital, Brisbane, to do a trial to determine if the Russian doctor's methods actually worked. One group of asthmatics were given conventional advice and asthma education, including relaxation techniques and abdominal breathing exercises. The second group were taught Buteyko's methods. This involves learning to control the urge to breathe ever more deeply.

An asthma attack progresses through four very well defined stages. Conventionally perceived, the first stage is a narrowing of the airways (the bronchioles) leading to lack of oxygen. This is immediately followed by hyperventilation, an attempt to inhale more oxygen. This causes further narrowing of the bronchioles and still less oxygen. Since oxygen is alkaline and carbon dioxide acidic, the unbalanced oxygen/carbon dioxide ratio creates the fourth stage, acidosis, which traps air in the lungs and heightens hyperinflation.

Buteyko controversially claims that the real first step goes unrecognised. That, in fact, asthmatics chronically blow off too much carbon dioxide, the chemical stimulant for breathing. Furthermore, Buteyko claims that the body copes by narrowing the bronchioles in an attempt to reduce breathing. It is the asthmatic's maladaptive response, blowing off ever more carbon dioxide, that causes further constriction of the bronchioles and the rapid downward spiral into a full-blown asthmatic attack.

Lower levels of carbon dioxide also binds oxygen evermore tightly to haemoglobin, causing a shortage of free oxygen for the nourishment of other cells in the body. Carbon dioxide, as a smooth muscle dilator, is therefore important in keeping the bronchioles as well as the blood vessels (and heart) open. Blow off an excessive amount and the bronchioles go into spasm. Those with frank hyperventilation, such as phobics, can even bring on symptoms which mimic (and in extreme cases, not only mimic,) a heart attack.

The Australian study confirmed Buteyko's findings - that non-asthmatics have higher carbon dioxide levels than asthmatics. This has been corroborated by other studies. The Australian trial also replicated Buteyko's success, with 90% of those in the Buteyko group coming off their bronchodilators (compared with a poor 5% of the conventionally treated group). For those patients who were dependant on steroids, 25% in the Buteyko group were able to come off, as compared with 4% in the conventionally treated group. On numerous scores, including mood, energy, anxiety levels et cetera, the Buteyko group consistently came out on top, and continued improving as time went on. Their conventionally treated fellow-suffers, after initial brief relief, only got worse during the nine month follow-up period.

Stalamatski, during teaching sessions at London's Hale clinic, displayed an attitude towards officials (including doctors) which may be typically Russian. "I hate Doctor's: They're i

 

[Abdiel]

Hiya
I know someone who is now trained in this....and also following a couple of case studies....it is mainly used to treat breathing problems, sleep apneoa, asthma, snoring, etc etc... seems a bit strange but I hav heard once you have the hang of it it is very calming....

T
x

 

[greengirl]

I'm sure I've seen short courses on our beloved HP on this very subject!

 

[AbAzAbAdAbA]

Hi Sarah,

I'm sure it is used for asthma and not tummy trouble, or perhaps some practitioners are doing more with it than they should?

This is weird, my first impression is that the practitioner is perhaps not all they should be.