February, 2011 - I have had asthma and allergic rhinitis since before my teenage years and have struggled with them for over 20 years. I first heard about the Buteyko Method while I was living in Turkey. However, at that time, my opportunity to learn the method properly was limited to; (1) the shared knowledge of a distant relative living in Australia and (2) various reading material on and off the internet. At that time, I was unable to obtain the full benefit of the Buteyko Method because of insufficient instructions. Yet, intuitively, the teachings of the method explained and brought to light the various experiences I was having with my own asthma: why swimming made me feel so much better, why simply taping my mouth at night made my morning attacks literally dissipate, why exercise brought on an attack, why I might be breathless after coming in from the cold to sit still in a warm lecture hall, etc, etc. I knew Buteyko was right, in a way that a regular "healthy" individual may not appreciate.

Since then, with God's help (and those of many dear friends and specialists) my health improved profoundly. Despite this however, the underlying cause that sets off and perpetuates a decline in my health remained: over-breathing. I was aware of this because I continued to experience allergies and allergic rhinitis. I know from past experiences that, for me, nasal decongestants and other available medicines work, at most, for only limited periods of time. I had already had three surgeries to remove nasal polyps and the prospect of having another one was not inviting. I contacted Buteyko Center USA to, once and for all, gain control of my health. The influence of the Buteyko Method in clearing my nasal passage has been profound. Now, whenever I need to, I can restore easy nasal breathing by just applying the Buteyko Method. This is an ability I had been striving to achieve literally for decades! However for me, the influence of the Buteyko Method did not end there. The relaxation and breathing exercises helped me to shift out of the fight-or-flight mode that years of asthma had made me grow accustomed to.

Now, thanks to Buteyko, I am able to spend my days in a more relaxed way. When issues arise, I find that I am able to approach them with greater calm and positivity than I had been able to before. For me this is no small change, and certainly not at all insignificant. That is because; there have been many incidences in my life where I or my family has strongly suspected that a particularly violent or prolonged asthma attack had been triggered by emotional rather than physical causes. I have never desired this kind of sensitivity but have had to manage it just the same. I believe applying the Buteyko method goes a very long way in helping me in this regard. I feel very fortunate to have learned the method properly at Buteyko Center USA. I wish all the best to Thomas and Sasha in there efforts to correctly implement and teach the method. I am very grateful for the relentless work Dr. Buteyko has put into developing his method and to Clinica Buteyko for sharing it with the world. I have much to learn still, and much more progress to make, but I am looking forward to all of it. Breathe less!