Authentic Breathing® Resources LLC
Natural Breathing For Health, Well-Being, Longevity, and Self-Realization
Authentic Breathing® Resources LLCNatural Breathing For Health, Well-Being, Longevity, and Self-Realization
|
By Dennis Lewis Several years ago I visited a Buteyko oriented website and came across a rather unusual article and breathing test. Visitors to the site were told to take several fast deep breaths and to see how they felt after doing so. We were then told that we would probably not feel very good after this effort and that this proves that deep breathing is bad for us. Of course, the article did not point out that many of us, because of our poor breathing habits, don't have the slightest notion of what is involved is free and easy "deep breathing." Since then I have seen this "deep breathing" test on Buteyko oriented sites repeated time and time again. We know, of course, that healthy breathing can often help with a variety of medical problems, from asthma, to hypertension (high blood pressure), to allergies, to emphysema, to heart disease, and many more. But is the Buteyko method of "shallow breathing" the panacea that it claims? In any event, I sent the following letter to the owners of this site. I never did hear back from them. Your article entitled "Buteyko’s breathing test" is misleading and confusing. First of all, there is no one final way to breathe. Our breath is designed to support the physical, emotional, and mental demands of our lives. For our breathing to accomplish this in an optimal and efficient way, our diaphragm and other breathing muscles need to be strong enough and free enough of unnecessary tension to be able to move through their full range of motion in a coordinated way. Sometimes we need to breathe deeply. At other times we need to breathe shallowly. The English word “deep” in the expression “deep breathing” does not (or at least should not) refer to the volume of air in any given time period but rather to the depth that the diaphragm is able to move downward and upward on inhalation and exhalation. The farther the diaphragm can move downward on inhalation and upward on exhalation, the deeper the breath. Except for those with severe pulmonary problems, a person who breathes more deeply most often breathes more slowly as well. Deep breathing depends on the ability of the diaphragm, belly, lower ribs, and spine all to participate in the breathing process. If there is too much stress or tension in and around these areas, deep breathing will not be possible. “Shallow breathing” means, or at least should mean, that the diaphragm moves down and up very little during breathing. In fact, many people are shallow breathers, not because their lives dictate shallow breathing, but rather because of weakness and tension in their breathing muscles, or a lack of good coordination. Instead of using their diaphragms effectively, they try to use the secondary breathing muscles of their chest. Many people who try to do deep breathing without being able to or understanding how, end up simply tensing their secondary breathing muscles and lifting their shoulders and upper chest to try to take in more air. In such cases, their diaphragms move very little, and they lose the many benefits of diaphragmatic breathing, which include an internal massage of all the inner organs, aiding venous blood flow and lymphatic flow, and much more. These people end up having to breathe faster, which can result in an excessive loss of carbon dioxide, which can cause all kinds of problems as you know so well. When your article says, “MANY people think they breathe shallowly but in fact they breathe very deeply. Often those with asthma, allergies, bronchitis, emphysema and breathlessness will say they cannot breathe enough when they are actually breathing three or more times the normal volume of air,” you are clearly not talking about deep breathing, but rather about the volume of air in a certain time period, a volume that is achieved by fast effortful breathing not by deep relaxed breathing. I hope that you and the other Buteyko people, who have been able to help many asthmatics and others with serious breathing problems, stop misusing the English language and begin to see how and when the Buteyko techniques can fit in to the rich panoply of breathing approaches and methods available to all of us for our health and well-being. Deep, full breathing has benefited so many people in so many different contexts and areas of life (physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual) that is hard to imagine how you can continue attacking it, especially when your definition of deep breathing is so far off base. To be sure, much more can be written about the Buteyko method, and the significance of both deep and shallow breathing. If you peruse the Authentic Breathing website, you will find much information about these important subjects. The main intent of this article is simply to show that the deep breathing test as espoused by the Buteyko people isn't really a test at all. The only thing the test really shows, in fact, is that most people don't know how to breathe fully and deeply, and that the fast, shallow chest breathing they often do as a substitute does not make anyone feel very good.
|
|
Please Read: Disclaimer/Legal Notice Send E-Mail
or call us at 1-602-490-0722 (global), Skype: dennis.lewis, or fax us at (480)
237-5436
|
