Buteyko Breathing Exercise: an Apple – Practice Breathing Less

What do we mean when we say Breathe Less? For some people this direction is perplexing. This food analogy helps.

Imagine that you are hungry but would like to reduce your food consumption. Visualize an apple divided into four parts. You reach out, grab the first slice and eat it. Are you still hungry? Yes. Then, you reach for the second slice and the third one Are you still hungry? Maybe yes but not that much anymore Then leave the last piece alone.

Buteyko Breathing Method Exercise

Based on this imagery, try to reduce your inhalation by approximately one-fourth. Of course, air is not an apple and cannot be easily divided into parts.  One fourth’ is a reference point reminding you to reduce your inhalation just a little bit. If you reduce it too much, you will create stress, which always increases breathing.

In a way, breathing is analogous to eating. When we try to lose weight, we control what we put into our bodies, not what comes out. The same with breathing: control your inhalation but leave the exhalation alone.

Earlier in this blog, I mentioned that once I carried out a breathing exercise throughout a whole day of traveling. It was Breathe Less. From my perspective, this exercise is one of the most difficult since it requires constant awareness. I was taught this exercise by Ludmila Buteyko who is very good at carrying it out throughout her whole life.

Leave a Comment