Other/Mixed Breathing: Schools of Thought and Practice, Philosophies, and Science

[Steve Freides]

When you've gotten through the initial phase, it can be as little as 10-15 minutes, twice a day, which is 20-30 minutes per day in total. But that is the minimum for maintaining what we consider a good level. There are those who teach the techniques and then tell people they don't need to practice them - the Wiki even says that. I can't understand that approach because almost everyone's levels will revert back to what they were.

-S-

 

[Lew]

... This time of year, I just keep the house in the low-mid 60s, with a lot of pushback ;]

I'm a lucky man.

My wife agrees with 60 in the winter and 80 in the summer.

 

[wespom9]

@Kyrinov My human physiology knowledge is limited to 2nd year university courses, but on the surface I want to agree as well - upregulating the SNS seems counter intuitive. To me, this will only promote sub-optimal breathing patterns. I have had great success with my self and others teaching breathing that focuses more on the PSNS and decreases the breathing rate per minute.

I have read a little bit about the buteyko method through Leon Chaitow's Breathing Pattern Disorders text, but @Steve Freides are there other written resources that you would recommend?

 

[Steve Freides]

There is very little written about Professor Buteyko. I have a copy of a "novelization" of his life, apparently a three-volume work for which I have the first volume. It's insightful to read but, at the end of the day, those of us who teach this really do go over all the same points.

If you understand the Bohr effect, you understand the mechanism behind what the Professor advocated. The rest is, much like we do at StrongFirst, polishing the chrome: trying to find the methods that are the most useable, user-friendly, repeatable, and give the best results.

Unfortunately, the Professor didn't teach the same thing to all of his students because, as it became clear that his work was quite controversial, he elected only to teach the least controversial parts at times. If you poke around on the Internet, you will find widely diverging views and methods as a result. Practicing "Buteyko Light" is better than nothing, but the full protocol has reversed chronic disease symptoms for many, many things, not just breathing disorders. E.g., I've never had an issue with being overweight but my appetite changed dramatically with breathing training, and I lost five pounds of bodyfat I'd carried around for years without even trying to do so. I am currently teaching someone with a diagnosis of fibromyalgia - the breathing practice doesn't cure the disease, whatever its cause may be, but it definitely "reverts" the symptoms - my student reports feeling better and is about to ask her doctor about trying to take less medicine for her condition.

-S-