Buteyko Method Hackney. Practitioners of the Breathing Technique in North & East London

Stoke Newington

Kathryn Godfrey

Shine Holistic Complementary Health Centre

52 Stoke Newington Church Street

Hackney, London N16 0NB

Telephone: 020 7241 5033 or 020 7249 9671
Email: kathryngodfrey@blueyonder.co.uk

For more detailed information about Kathryn and the Buteyko Breathing Method for asthma and many other conditions please visit Buteyko Breathing Method

Buteyko Breathing Exercises

The theory behind the method is that carbon dioxide is needed for the body's uptake of oxygen. Overbreathing creates a carbon dioxide deficit and so reduces blood and tissue oxygen levels. This deficit causes the body to try to compensate, and this creates various health problems such as allergies, anxiety, eczema, panic attacks, insomnia, migraine, high blood pressure, haemorrhoids and some 150 other disorders, as well as asthma.

The method developed by Dr Konstantin Buteyko is a series of exercises designed to restore normal breathing.

There may be various triggers to asthma such as exercise, infections, emotional or environmental factors etc., but none are seen as underlying causes. The real cause is seen as a carbon dioxide deficit.

Minute volume is an internationally recognised standard for breathing. This measures the number of litres of air breathed per minute. In good health this should be between 4 - 6 litres at rest. Those with asthma breathe 2 - 4 times as much. This hyperventilation is believed by Buteyko to be the major cause of asthma.

In a trial of 39 people with asthma, 100% of them overbreathed, with an average intake of 15 litres of air per minute.

By normalising breathing it is possible to eliminate bronchospasm as well as inflammation and mucous.

Carbon dioxide, far from being a waste gas is considered to be one of the most important regulators of the body, monitoring the activity of the heart, blood vessels and respiratory system. The rate and depth of breathing is regulated by the amount of carbon dioxide in the blood. Our bodies are extremely sensitive to very small changes in carbon dioxide levels. When blood levels decrease, so do blood acid levels. This change in the acid/alkaline balance can result in all the symptoms associated with asthma.

Asthma, according to Buteyko, is simply a method the body uses to stop sufferers from overbreathing. By learning the Buteko method from a trained practitioner, the patient can learn to breathe in such a way as not to cause the body to bring about this unwanted condition.