Buteyko: Absence of Disease or the Presence of Balance

The work of medical doctors is driven by the viewpoint that the human body is a collection of individual organs integrated into systems – like in mechanics. Often, an organ’s function is improved at the expense of other organs; the medical work is often evaluated by the success rate of problems being eliminated instead of overall health improvement. As our medical consultant Dr. Ira Packman put it, health is the presence of balance, not the absence of disease.

This fragmentary view of the human body has become so widespread that it is rarely questioned, which is demonstrated by self-test forms submitted through our website. This online test is used to measure breathing and asks participants to describe their health. Often, a person characterizes themselves as “healthy with the exception of chronic fatigue and periodic asthma attacks,” or “in good physical shape, with the omission of high blood pressure, migraines and always present tension with anxiety, as well as seasonal allergies.” Some “healthy” people even list all the drugs they take.

These forms indicate that our society is losing an appropriate sense of what “healthy” means. Every organ and system should be considered when it comes to a person’s well-being. Are you healthy or not? If you are, you don’t need any medication, whether chemical or natural. All organs and systems of your body should act in harmony with each other to produce a stable sense of well-being. If your body is healthy, it should be able to adjust to environmental and social changes while maintaining its essential constants within their norm. These constants comprise of temperature, PH balance in the blood, glucose level, blood pressure, pulse, and others. Dr. Buteyko discovered that the main physiological constant is the CO2 level in the lungs. Without bringing this constant up to the norm, the state of effortless health is impossible. Buteyko Breathing Method programs help to achieve this state.

Leave a Comment