Helping people improve the way they breathe since 1993
Breathing Retraining approach based on the Buteyko Method
Our breath is our greatest support to not only live, but to live well.
INTRODUCTION TO BETTER BREATHING & TESS GRAHAM'S ONLINE BREATHING COURSE - BreatheAway
– By Tracey Anderson Askew
Physiotherapist and Breathing Educator
When two of my children developed asthma, I was very concerned. I did not want them to have a chronic disease that I knew from my years working in hospitals could be life-long and life-limiting. I sort a solution that recognised and addressed an underlying cause.
After seven years of research I found the work of medical doctor Professor Konstantin Buteyko. He offered a common sense and physiologically sound explanation of how dysfunctional breathing underlay and was a primary cause and perpetuating factor in asthma. In addition he had developed a method of restoring a physiologically normal breathing pattern - thereby addressing a fundamental cause of asthma and other breathing-related conditions.
My children benefited enormously from changing the way they breathed and I have devoted the 30 years since to teaching better breathing and educating the public and health professionals.
WELCOME TO BREATHEABILITY & OUR RESOURCES DEDICATED TO HELPING IMPROVE THE WAY YOU BREATHE.
Breathing is the most fundamental thing we need to get right. It is the first thing we do in life, and the last, and many people get it wrong around 20,000 times a day.
Do you have have Asthma, Sleep Apnoea, Blocked Nose, Chronic Cough, Panic Attacks, Insomnia?
Do you mouth-breathe, snore, breathe noisily, fast, heavy or erratically?
Do you wake up with a dry mouth and feel like you haven’t slept at all?
Do you get short of breath easily, lack energy, and your exercise capacity is down?
Do you have brain fog, or trouble concentrating?
Do you often feel anxious, on edge, panicky, unable to relax?
The above are common indicators and conditions associated with a dysfunctional “everyday” breathing pattern. The most common overriding dysfunction is chronic “overbreathing” - i.e. breathing too much air.
SCIENCE & RESEARCH - BREATHING PHYSIOLOGY
Breathing 4-6 L/min is the physiologically normal Minute Volume (MV) in adults.
Multiple studies show 14 L/min to be characteristic in people with asthma, 12L/min in people with chronic anxiety; 15L/min has been found in the daytime breathing of people with chronic sleep apnoea. Long established principles of physiology and biochemistry explain how overbreathing can trigger, aggravate, and perpetuate these conditions. NB: Testing MV is not part of standard medical assessment.
SCIENCE & RESEARCH - BREATHING RETRAINING
Breathing retraining identifies faulty breathing habits and through awareness and practice, retrains and resets a healthy breathing pattern. The goal is to return you to breathing optimally - just as nature intended.
silent, nasal, easy, rhythmic, slow, light, relaxed breathing- when awake and asleep (4-6L/min)
comfortable and efficient during exercise and speaking
delivering optimal oxygen to every cell of your body.
A study of the Buteyko Method of breathing retraining for chronic asthma sufferers showed a median 71% reduction in symptoms, 96% reduction in daily β2‐agonist (bronchodilator) dose, and 49% reduction in daily inhaled steroid use for the group taught the Buteyko Method. There was a correlation between the amount a person’s breathing volume reduced, and the reduction in the need for asthma relief medication. No significant change was found in the Control Group. (1)
‘Buteyko breathing techniques in asthma: a controlled trial’. Bowler SD, Green A, Mitchell CA. MJA. 1998; 169: 575–578.
COULD YOU BE DEPRIVING YOUR BODY OF OXYGEN?
Overbreathing / hyperventilation involves habitually or intermittently breathing too fast and/or too much air per breath (breathing too 'deeply'). Snoring, yawning, sighing, mouth-breathing, heavy breathing, are all examples of high-volume breaths.
This scan shows a 40% reduction in oxygen in the brain after 1-min of hyperventilation
Red, yellow and pale blue areas correspond to higher O2 saturation.
[Image courtesy of Dr PM. Litchfield, Grad School of Behavioural Health Sciences, Wyoming USA. (1999)]
HAVE YOU EVER HAD YOUR BREATHING PATTERN CHECKED?
Top section of image shows common dysfunctional breathing habits (e.g. in those with asthma, snoring, apnoea, panic attacks).
Lower image shows physiological normal breathing pattern.
The goal of breathing retraining is to retrain the normal pattern - breathing as nature intended.
Take the Breathing Pattern Assessment Quiz
Ready to dive in? Choose your preferred learning method below
Your breathing matters - start now to improve this fundamental component of health, wellbeing and refreshing sleep
The BreatheAway course is the online version of the breathing retraining programs that Tess Graham has delivered to over 6000 people since 1993. It takes you step-by-step through the breathing retraining process. First results typically seen within 24-48 hrs.
Video lessons, handouts, checklists
The books have easy-to-follow explanations and step-by-step guidance in retraining your breathing and establishing the 9 healthy breathing habits. Each book has info on all the common breathing-related conditions for which people seek help from Buteyko breathing educators. Companion products: Workbooks and MP3 instruction audio
Tess Graham - Physiotherapist, Breathing Educator, Sports Breathing Coach
Support and access to Tess Graham's decades of experience in breathing retraining therapy, including the Buteyko Method. Explore aspects of working with breathing you need help with; shorten your learning curve; boost your ability to effect positive change in your clients
CONDITIONS HELPED BY BREATHING RETRAINING
CONFERENCES
Tess Graham has been an invited speaker and workshop presenter at conferences in Australia, USA, UK, New Zealand, India and Taiwan. Here is a sampling of the conferences that have featured her expertise.
What is the correct way to breathe; Why deep' breathing is a problem
Faulty breathing quiz;
Symptoms checklist
Science & art of breathing retraining; How and why it works.
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