Buteyko Practitioner Training Review - By Dr. Artour Rakhimov

Buteyko practitioner training is now organized by numerous centers around the world. Since the Buteyko method was brought to the Western world mainly by Alexander Stalmatsky, who taught thousands of patients and numerous practitioners, his pupils and some other practitioners also offer their courses in Buteyko practitioner training.

From a typical Buteyko course, you can expect to get about 25 seconds for the body-oxygen test, with some possible unnecessary additions and adaptations of the original Buteyko method taught by Soviet and Russian MDs for the Western world. These additions and adaptations of the Buteyko method are also reflected in Western Buteyko practitioner training.

In order to understand the levels and content of many Buteyko practitioner training courses, one needs to know first what is to expect from a typical Buteyko course and what the differences between typical Russian medical and prevalent Western teaching are.

Buteyko practitioner training: Russian medical vs. Western

The main advantages and important features of Russian medical teaching of the Buteyko method and Russian Buteyko practitioner training relate to the following topics:
- much better knowledge related to lifestyle and other factors in order to get the Buteyko golden standard of health or 60 seconds for the body-oxygen test
- more professional use of cold showers, hard beds, barefoot walking and barefoot running for breathing retraining
- better knowledge and application of the Buteyko method to people with hypertension, panic attacks and migraine headaches (some Western practitioners apply maximum pauses for these groups of people when they still have low CPs)
- some other topics mentioned below.

In order to evaluate the efficiency and professionalism of Buteyko practitioner training and practical skills of the Buteyko trainers who organize Buteyko practitioner training, you can ask them the following questions:
- Do you know the methods and techniques that are required to break through 40 seconds morning CP threshold?
- Do you know how to deal with loss of CO2 sensitivity?
- What are independent signs that appear after breaking through the 40 s CP threshold?
- Is taking cold shower an important part of the Buteyko method?
- How much physical exercise per day is required to achieve over 60 s CP?
- and some others.

Generally, most Western additions and adaptations, in Buteyko courses and Buteyko practitioner training, relate to the poor health of trainers (according to Buteyko standards - 60 s CP, they have low CPs) indicating simplification and popularization of teaching the Buteyko method. However, even this application still makes a huge difference on the health of students, who after 3-6 months make about the same improvements as for the Buteyko clinical trials. However, later, most students stop practicing breathing exercises and their health gets slightly worse or about at the same level as the majority of population.

While many Buteyko practitioners encourage their students to go further, there are many Western Buteyko practitioners and trainers who do not tell to their students that, at over 50-60 s CP, there is another life up there (see the Table below). This prevents their students from being motivated to become really healthy. Possibly, this omission also relates to the low CPs of many trainers and practitioners, as well as to a desire to look more confident in the eyes of their students. All these factors indicate that there are serious improvements that can be made in Buteyko practitioner training.

Lifestyle factor:	Body oxygen < 30 s	Body oxygen > 50 s
Energy level	Medium, low, or very low	High
Desire to exercise	Not strong, but possible	Craving and joy of exercise
Intensive exercise with nose breathing	Hard or impossible	Easy and effortless
Typical mind states	Confusion, anxiety, depression	Focus, concentration, clarity
Craving for coffee, sugar and junk foods	Present	Absent
Addictions to smoking, alcohol, and drugs	Possible	Absent
Desire to eat raw foods	Weak and rare	Very common and natural
Correct posture	Rare and requires efforts	Natural and automatic
Sleep	Often of poor quality; > 7 hours	Excellent quality; < 5 hours naturally

Contact details:
Postal address: Dr. Artour Rakhimov, 6250 Bathurst St. #525, Toronto M2R 2A4 Ontario Canada
Email: "artour", then "@", and then "normalbreathing.com"
Skype ID: artour_rakhimov

Or you can leave your contact details in the comment box below and explain your situation and reasons of your interest in breathing retraining and the Buteyko method

Reference pages: Breathing norms and medical facts:
- Breathing norms: Parameters, graph, and description of the normal breathing pattern
- 6 breathing myths: Myths and superstitions about breathing and body oxygenation (prevalence: over 90%)
- Hyperventilation: Definitions of hyperventilation: their advantages and weak points
- Hyperventilation syndrome: Western scientific evidence about prevalence of chronic hyperventilation in patients with chronic conditions (37 medical studies)
- Normal minute ventilation: Small and slow breathing at rest is enjoyed by healthy subjects (14 studies)
- Hyperventilation prevalence: Present in over 90% of normal people (24 medical studies)
- HV and hypoxia: How and why deep breathing reduces oxygenation of cells and tissues of all vital organs
- Body-oxygen test (CP test) : How to measure your own breathing and body oxygenation (two in one) using a simple DIY test
- Body oxygen in healthy: Results for the body-oxygen test for healthy people (27 medical studies)
- Body oxygen in sick : Results for the body-oxygen test for sick people (14 medical studies)
- Buteyko Table of Health Zones: Clinical description and ranges for breathing zones: from the critically ill (severely sick) up to super healthy people with maximum possible body oxygenation
- Morning hyperventilation: Why people feel worse and critically ill people are most likely to die during early morning hours

References: pages about CO2 effect:
- Vasodilation: CO2 expands arteries and arterioles facilitating perfusion (or blood supply) to all vital organs
- The Bohr effect: How and why oxygen is released by red blood cells in tissues
- Cell oxygen levels: How alveolar CO2 influences oxygen transport
- Oxygen transport: O2 transport is controlled by vasoconstriction-vasodilation and the Bohr effects, both of which rely on CO2
- Free radical generation: Reactive oxygen species are produced within cells due to anaerobic cell respiration caused by cell hypoxia
- Inflammatory response: Chronic inflammation in fueled by the hypoxia-inducible factor 1, while normal breathing reduces and eliminates inflammation
- Nerve stabilization: People remain calm due to calmative or sedative effects of carbon dioxide in neurons or nerve cells
- Muscle relaxation: Relaxation of muscle cells is normal at high CO2, while hypocapnia causes muscular tension, poor posture and, sometimes, aggression and violence
- Bronchodilation: Dilation of airways (bronchi and bronchioles) is caused by carbon dioxide, and their constriction by hypocapnia (low CO2)
- Blood pH: Regulation of blood pH due to breathing and regulation of other bodily fluids
- CO2: lung damage: Elevated carbon dioxide prevents lung injury and promotes healing of lung tissues
- CO2: Topical carbon dioxide can heal skin and tissues
- Synthesis of glutamine in the brain, CO2 fixation, and other chemical reactions
- Deep breathing myth: Ignorant and naive people promote the idea that deep breathing and breathing more air at rest is beneficial for health
- Breathing control: How is our breathing regulated? Why hypocapnia makes breathing uneven, irregular and erratic.

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