Buteyko Breathing Exercises: Do You Need Them and Why?

People often ask our Buteyko specialists, “Isn’t breathing supposed to be natural? How come you say that most people hyperventilate?”

If we followed a natural lifestyle, we would not hyperventilate and our breathing would remain normal. But what is a natural lifestyle? Dr. Buteyko was an outstanding physiologist who looked at all areas of human life and determined what is natural for us and what is not. He believed that if people follow their natural lifestyle or, as I prefer to call it ‘our original programming,’ they would be healthy and there would be no need for breathing exercises. However, since our initial design was mostly abandoned for the sake of comfort, we have to face the consequences.

Many westerners spend most of their active time sitting in an office chair, a car seat, or on a couch. Carbon dioxide is the product of metabolism; when metabolism is passive, it does not generate a sufficient amount of carbon dioxide. To compensate for our sedentary lifestyle, we immerse ourselves in rigorous exercises, which is damaging for our breathing. Aside from that, many people breathe through their mouths and by doing so; lose a great deal of CO2. Furthermore, we as a society eat excessively, talk too much, perceive our life as stressful and don’t have much time for self-improvement. We also like to advise others to “Take a deep breath!” Our polluted environment also contributes to over-breathing. All of this works against our breathing, gradually rendering it dysfunctional.

Buteyko Breathing Method programs help to overcome this problem and restore health.

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