For Better Health, Breathe Correctly

Most people overlook the aspect of breathing correctly. Breathing is taken for granted until you can’t breathe. There are a lot of diseases that people are diagnosed with that are breathing disorders. There are a number of reasons why people can’t breath correctly, but often it comes down to incorrect breathing at rest led to the diseases. I should know. I was diagnosed with asthma and allergies. As a child, I had almost constant congestion and routinely breathed through my mouth.[easyazon_infoblock align=”right” cart=”n” identifier=”0954599616″ locale=”US” tag=”mcurle08-20″]

After learning about Buteyko breathing and some simple strategies to keep the airways open, I have eliminated colds and congestion from my life. It is the most wonderful thing! A sickness that creates congestion is often the start of poor breathing techniques. We feel the pressure in our nose and open our mouth to get air. This is our first mistake because it leads to poor health and chronic overbreathing.

Buteyko breathing focuses on improving the concentration of CO2 in our blood. This helps our body to utilize oxygen better. Every cell in the body needs oxygen. When cells don’t get the oxygen they need, they don’t function as well. Disease starts to form. It can manifest itself as inflammation or neurological dysfunction, such as epilepsy, as it did in myself.

Buteyko breathing exercises are free, but they aren’t always easy to learn and implement. Many people hire a Buteyko certified coach to teach them the exercises. There are plenty of resources to learn the skill from and master the technique. Online videos are a good way to learn breathing exercises.  Books can help you understand the concept of why you need to breath correctly and how your health will be impacted if you don’t.

One of the books that I recommend and have is, “Close Your Mouth,” by Patrick McKeown. It is simple, direct and to the point. I enjoy Patrick’s writing and his youtube presentations. He has an Irish accent, but I enjoy his explanation of how he helps his clients breathe correctly.  Patrick McKeown also has a program and book out now called the Oxygen Advantage. [easyazon_image align=”left” cart=”n” height=”500″ identifier=”0062349473″ locale=”US” src=”https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51YCk8I8o5L.jpg” tag=”mcurle08-20″ width=”329″]

There are a lots of other Buteyko books to learn the techniques from and learning from a practitioner can be costly.  One of the more budget friendly options is to get a book and DVD. While you won’t get personal feedback as to how you are doing, you will be able to learn in a visual manner.

The Buteyko method has helped me to control seizures, eliminated my asthma and drastically reduced my allergies. Buteyko breathing exercises help me to fall asleep quickly and get very good restorative sleep. I have eliminated my yearly winter time cold as well. I raised my control pause to between 30-40, so I still have a bit more practicing to do before I achieve optimal health and my autoimmune hair loss comes back, but I am optimistic.

The premise of Butyeko breathing exercises is that as  our cultures have evolved, we have started breathing incorrectly. Our modern lifestyle promotes poor posture, overeating processed foods and carbohydrates and oversleeping. These things can be corrected with lifestyle changes such as Buteyko breathing. Increasing our body’s ability to utilize oxygen helps us to use nutrients better.  

Clear, nasal, diaphragmatic breathing can have the greatest impact on your overall health. All of your organs rely on your ability to breath correctly. Any disease that you currently suffer from will likely improve as your breathing improves.

Buteyko breathing can easily be done at home or at work. It requires absolutely no equipment. You will simply decrease the volume of your breath. Some of the exercises are small breath holds or taking steps while you hold your breath. They are simple to learn and easy to do. The biggest challenge is remembering to do them consistently.

8 thoughts on “For Better Health, Breathe Correctly”

  1. Wow I never knew anything about the fact that their are proper ways of breathing. Sorry to hear you were diagnosed with asthma. This post will help me with preventing all the disease that come with improper breathing. Thanx for content you recommended too.

  2. I can relate with not breathing properly, I didn’t realize it but do now after reading this.

    Buteyko sounds interesting and really important, especially with being able to control our breathing helping with seizures, asthma and allergies.

    Thanks for your informative article, I had no idea how serious it can be to not breath properly.

  3. Love your post. My grandchildren was diagnosed with asthma and allergies and it is a constant battle with breathing. I got a few take-ways from this post. Thanks.

    1. I’m glad to hear that. I had asthma and allergies, but with this type of breathing, I haven’t experienced any of these symptoms.

  4. Wow, if I could eliminate colds and congestion just by breathing correctly, I would be a happy camper! Who would have thought that just changing a minor thing in our life could be so good for us. I had never heard of Buteyko breathing, but it sounds like it takes a little to learn? Are there YouTube videos that you know of to help? That would be awesome. I am more of a visual learner for sure.

    1. There are youtube videos, books, practitioners, online courses. I didn’t find it difficult to learn. I picked it up easily with videos, but then I took a course to reinforce my knowledge.

  5. Hi Melinda, I remember listening to this technique on Irish Radio a while back and I heard testimonials of their experiences that it does work. I must check this out. thank you for sharing this

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