What’s The “Buzz” About Breathing? by Orna Adriaansen

Of course we breathe, that’s nothing new – we’ve been doing it from the moment we arrived in this world. We take it for granted; it ensures that we’re alive. Breathing sustains and defines us from birth to death.

But while we all know that it is essential to life, the fact that breathing determines our health is less widely understood. In fact, the connection between wrong breathing and ill-health has been recognized for thousands of years, and ancient body-soul approaches to breath-retraining have been in existence for just as long.(1, 2)

This article will shed some additional light about breathing and may inspire you to consider your own breathing.

There are several reasons why we breathe:

• By inhaling we deliver oxygen from the outside world into our lungs and into the blood system, to be provided to all our cells. By doing this, we enable nutrient exchanges between the world and our internal organs.
• For this oxygen to be delivered from the blood to the cells we need carbon dioxide. This comes as a surprise to those who learnt that ‘oxygen is good and carbon dioxide is bad’. For some unfortunate reasons carbon dioxide got a bad reputation.

In reality correct doses of both oxygen and carbon dioxide are needed. (3) Too much or too little of either hinders our health.

In 1855 the German physiologist Miescher-Rusch wrote:

“over the oxygen supply of the body, carbon dioxide spreads its protecting wings – especially as it cares for the brain”.

Sufficient carbon dioxide is essential for our wellbeing. With out it not enough oxygen will be made available to the cells.

• By exhaling the body should rid itself of excess gasses.
• The constant motion involved in breathing continuously massages our internal organs, and so supports their proper functioning.

Breathing correctly is like driving on ‘automatic pilot’ mode: it happens without us having to steer it. But if a change occurs, we are suddenly fully aware of our breathing or even feel restricted by it: we feel out of breath, short of breath, not able to catch our breath, etc.

Our body has amazing capabilities to adjust and will slowly change its chemical activities to survive in sub-optimal conditions.

Once incorrect breathing becomes a habit, the body’s sub-optimal functioning settles in to become chronic. Gradually a series of symptoms will appear, which may seem unrelated. These symptoms may further alter our breathing and a vicious cycle of compromised health may be established.

In our pursuit of help we will have the symptoms checked out. We may learn that these symptoms have a specific name, and that they can be alleviated with prescribed chemicals.

What is wrong with this picture?

The problem is that the symptoms were not caused by the lack of a the subscribed chemical. Consuming foreign substances can further tax our body.

So what can be done about it?

We now have few options:

• Take the chemicals, overlook the side-effects, be happy with the fix and hope for the best.
• Look into other possibilities: search the internet; talk with family members and friends; consult web-based forums; follow a recommendation, learn and choose a different form of help.
• Combine both.

As breathing determines the chemistry in our body, why not learn to breathe correctly? It has been done for thousands of years, and is always with us.

During the 20th century, the Russian Professor K. P. Buteyko, M.D. (1923-2003) contributed a unique scientific link to the wisdom of correct breathing training. In addition to realizing the detrimental effects of wrong breathing, he devise a structured way of correcting the breathing and regaining the health – the Buteyko method. Under his supervision more than 150 diseases were treated with the method.

Time for action:

If your breathing is labored or noisy, if you are constantly sighing or yawning, tiring easily, wheeze or snore, worry about your breathing, wake up at night with breathing issues, your nose is constantly blocked, you suffer from burnout, hyperventilation, asthma - then it is time to learn to breathe correctly.

Many symptoms can be helped by correcting the breathing, the list is long.

The rewards can be thrilling.

Imagine being free of symptoms – no headaches, no asthma attacks, no noisy breathing, imagine sailing through the day with loads of energy, not feeling exhausted at the end of the day; imagine sleeping through the night without waking up gasping for air (or waking your partner with your snoring), and starting the following day fully refreshed!

Correct breathing is gentle, not heard nor seen.

“The perfect man breathes as if he does not breathe”
Lao Tzu, father of Taoism

The option is here: the decision is yours and the benefits could be too!

References:

1. “Science Studies Yoga” by James Funderburk, Ph.D.
2. www.PubMed.com under: “yoga” or “Tai Chi”
3. QUEEN’S university Kingston, Ontario, Canada: Study challenges routine use of pure oxygen; when CO2 is added more oxygen reaches crucial tissues.

* Orna Adriaansen is a Buteyko practitioner, teaching in The Hague & surrounding areas, The Netherlands. A free initial consultation can be arranged by contacting: Orna@ButeykoPractice.com
A wealth of information can be found on Orna’s website www.ButeykoPractice.com