Normal Breathing - By Dr. Artour Rakhimov

If you still have doubts and believe that deep or big breathing is good for health or provides more oxygen for the body, perform the deep breathing test. Western doctors have been using this test for many decades without any restrictions in order to find the most vulnerable part of the body. However, Russian Buteyko doctors found that in certain cases some precautions are required.

Warning for asthmatics. People with asthma should not hyperventilate through their mouth. Heavy mouth-breathing can trigger a real acute episode (or asthma attack) in these people due to irritation of airways. Hence, asthmatics can do the deep breathing test while breathing only through the nose.

Warning for heart diseases patients. If you suffer from the heart disease, you should be very careful. The heart rate may rise by over 30% during this test. It can provoke serious heart problems. For your safety, do the test with a heart-rate monitor so that you can observe your pulse during the test. If your heart rate increases by 30% or more, you need to stop the test immediately.

Start to breathe 2-3 times deeper than you usually do while sitting in a chair. Pay attention to your symptoms. What is going on with your ability to control thoughts and bodily sensations? When you get your specific negative symptoms (chest tightness, or wheezing, or angina pain, or skin itching, or dizziness, etc.), stop the test. Try to eliminate these negative symptoms by breathing less. Take about 80-90% of your usual inhalation and relax breathing muscles and all other body parts. Continue this reduced breathing (or breathe less) until the symptoms disappear. You should be able to achieve this in 3-5 minutes.

"If a patient has not understood the essence of a testing procedure or he has not got convinced that his disease was caused by deep breathing, then the test will be repeated. In the event a patient has not assimilated the VEDB method [volitional elimination of deep breathing] and cannot control the breathing process (this is primarily observed in adults who suffer mental disorders or in children under 3) then he is not able to use this method." Buteyko KP, The method of volitional elimination of deep breathing [Translation of the Small Buteyko Manual], Voskresensk, 1994.

According to Buteyko, the test helped to define the most damaged system or organ of the organism. In some cases, it helped to diagnose a patient with another, more serious or life-threatening condition. "For example, if an asthmatic gets, during the deep breathing test, not an asthma attack, but dizziness and other symptoms of brain vessel spasms or spasms of pain near the heart (angina pectoris), then not the lungs' damage, but stroke is the main threat to his life" Buteyko KP, The method of volitional elimination of deep breathing [Translation of the Small Buteyko Manual], Voskresensk, 1994.

Cases, when deep and big breathing (voluntary hyperventilation) improved the health state, while decreased breathing made it worse, have never been observed during over 30 years of clinical practice (Buteyko, ibid.).

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By Dr. Artour Rakhimov, Buteyko breathing teacher and educator