I’ve often found myself pondering a seemingly simple yet profound question: Is breathing through the nose alone sufficient to achieve and maintain optimal health? Undoubtedly, nasal breathing is essential. It filters, warms, and humidifies the air we inhale, and most importantly, it reduces air consumption, helping us elevate carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels in our lungs—the very essence of what ancient traditions called prana or the breath of life.
Dr. Konstantin Pavlovich Buteyko, the founder of the Buteyko Method, was unequivocal: anyone who breathes through the mouth is not healthy, regardless of whether they exhibit symptoms. So, while nasal breathing is a crucial stepping stone on the path to wellness, is it enough to carry us all the way to optimal health?
Unveiling the Path to Optimal Health
The primary aim of the Buteyko Method is to restore normal CO₂ levels in the lungs—a component Dr. Buteyko referred to as “the main regulator of all functions of the body.” Achieving this balance often empowers individuals to overcome many health issues and step into a state of true well-being. Yet, reaching this pinnacle isn’t a simple task.
If you visit the Buteyko Breathing Measurements page, you’ll find a chart illustrating how various CO₂ levels in the lungs, indicated by the Positive Maximum Pause (PMP), correlate with our health status. Without attaining the optimal level of CO₂, the zenith of health remains elusive. However, any upward movement on this chart typically brings improvements in our well-being.
Many people who learn the Buteyko Method switch to nasal breathing 24/7 and, by doing so, increase their Positive Maximum Pause. Yet often, their readings remain significantly below the norm. Fully implementing the Buteyko Method demands many modifications and adjustments. I often guide my clients along this challenging journey when I work with them over 2-4 months during the Buteyko Breathing Normalization Training course. Changing ingrained breathing patterns and old lifestyles that foster hyperventilation isn’t swift work; it’s a gradual process that yields the best results through sustained effort.
Our work always begins with establishing nasal breathing, but that’s just the first step. Even with flawless nasal breathing, low CO₂ levels in the lungs are possible, leading to a host of health concerns. By the way, it’s not uncommon for individuals with chronic conditions like cancer or autoimmune diseases to have diminished CO₂ levels despite being perfect nasal breathers.
Dr. Buteyko emphasized that achieving optimal health necessitates maintaining normal or elevated CO₂ levels in the lungs (morning PMP of 60 seconds or higher). This requires more than nasal breathing; it calls for a lifestyle consciously designed to augment CO₂ levels. Specific breathing exercises, regular physical activity, mindful living, and other tools are integral pieces of this health puzzle. During the Buteyko Training, I help my clients measure the results of their activities to ensure that each one contributes to increasing CO₂ levels.
The Hidden Trap of Hyperventilation Through the Nose
It’s crucial to recognize that hyperventilation can occur even when we never open our mouths to breathe. While mouth breathing often gets the blame for excessive air intake, it’s actually the volume and rate of respiration that matter most, regardless of whether we’re using our mouths or noses.
You might wonder how it’s possible to over-breathe through the nose. One clear indicator is audible, sometimes even noisy, nasal breathing. People who push themselves hard during exercise, believing “no pain, no gain,” may breathe loudly through their noses, mistakenly thinking this effort will enhance their workout. In reality, audible breathing is almost always a sign of excessive air intake.
More subtly, some individuals can still over-breathe silently through the nose. Their breathing may look deceptively calm and “healthy,” yet without measuring their respiration, it’s impossible to know they’re taking in too much air. Fortunately, this quieter form of nasal hyperventilation is rare.
Over-breathing, whether through the mouth or nose, lowers CO₂ levels in the lungs, draining us of the vitality we’re striving to cultivate. Unless we remain consistently mindful of our breathing patterns, we may unintentionally hyperventilate even while breathing exclusively through our noses.
Ludmila’s Experiment: Testing the Limits of Nasal Breathing
Ludmila Buteyko, the partner of Dr. Buteyko and a master of his method, once conducted an insightful experiment. When her Positive Maximum Pause—a measure of CO₂ levels—was high and stable, she wondered if she could maintain this normal CO₂ level without any special efforts, relying solely on 24/7 nasal breathing.
She began by ceasing to control her breathing patterns for a day at a time. Despite her commitment to nasal breathing, she observed negative results—her CO₂ levels began to drop. Undeterred, she extended the experiment, discontinuing all of Dr. Buteyko’s recommendations except for nasal breathing. Again, her PMP decreased. Consequently, her asthma symptoms, particularly wheezing, resurfaced. She shared with me that if she didn’t promptly address the decline in her PMP through Buteyko breathing exercises or CO₂-boosting lifestyle adjustments, she would have to resort to her steroid medications again.
Nasal breathing alone wasn’t enough to keep her completely healthy, although it did ensure her overall state was far better than before adopting the method. Her health waned, but thanks to nasal breathing, it never deteriorated to its pre-Buteyko depths.
From her experiments, Ludmila concluded that for those prone to over-breathing, maintaining a heightened awareness of our breathing at all times and continuing to practice the Buteyko Method is essential. Reducing air intake, cultivating the right lifestyle, and performing breathing exercises were crucial for maintaining her well-being. I believe that support from a community, like our BreathMastery group, is invaluable on this journey to optimal health. We need to stay motivated to persist with the method, even when we, like Ludmila, feel we’ve “had enough,” because continuous breathing awareness and measurements can be taxing.
My Own Journey: When Nasal Breathing Wasn’t Enough
I, too, embarked on a personal experiment. During the summer of 2024, feeling fatigued from incessantly teaching the Buteyko Method and focusing on my breathing, I faced the additional stress of an unexpected, intense home remodeling project that consumed much of my time. When the BreathMastery Community took its summer hiatus and I went on vacation, I chose to take a break from my Buteyko breathing exercises. Pressed for time, I also halted my daily CO₂-boosting workouts.
Feeling tired, stressed, and in holiday mode, I indulged in more animal-based foods and sweets, abandoning my intermittent fasting routine. I also paused my daily morning chanting—a potent breathing exercise. The sole practice I maintained was nasal breathing. Switching to mouth breathing was unthinkable after years of Buteyko practice. I hoped nasal breathing would suffice, especially since I hadn’t been as ill as Ludmila before starting Buteyko. She had faced three clinical deaths, severe asthma, and breast cancer. My pre-Buteyko ailments? Sleep apnea, migraines, tachycardia, a slew of other “minor” issues, and a severe allergy.
Before practicing Buteyko, my allergy was so intense that it once prevented me from enjoying Crestone, Colorado, where I now live. Each visit to this high-mountain desert, blanketed with dry grass—which I was allergic to—left me indoors for days, battling migraines, tearing eyes, a stuffy nose, and relentless sneezing. These symptoms vanished when I integrated the Buteyko Method into my life, enabling me to relocate from upstate New York to Colorado’s 8,000-9,000-foot elevations. After seven allergy-free years, I’d almost forgotten I ever had a problem.
But during my 2024 experiment, the allergy began to creep back. Not as severe as before, thanks to nasal breathing, but enough to remind me of its presence. My snoring, sleep apnea, and heart issues didn’t return, yet a sense of not being completely healthy started to take hold.
Just like Ludmila, I asked myself, “Is nasal breathing sufficient to make and keep me healthy?” The answer was clear: no.
Watch Sasha share her experience of pausing her Buteyko practice with members of the BreathMastery program, offering insights on nasal breathing and sustaining optimal CO2 levels.
Why Our Old Habits Linger
Ludmila taught me that for most modern people prone to over-breathing, the only way to stay healthy is to maintain a high level of awareness toward our breathing at all times and to keep implementing the method in every aspect of our lives. But why is this necessary?
Dr. Buteyko believed that the only way for a person to maintain normal CO₂ levels without special efforts is to be conceived and born to a mother with a morning Positive Maximum Pause of 60 seconds or higher (or at the very least 40 seconds, which is the lowest level of the norm). Ideally, the father should also have a PMP supportive of optimal health. Only then can a person be truly healthy without addressing their breathing or striving to increase their CO₂ levels.
I know I was born a hyperventilator—I snored as a baby and continued for over 40 years until I discovered the Buteyko Method. Most of my clients share similar stories, never experiencing truly healthy breathing, marked by a natural pause after exhalation, until they learned and applied the method. Consequently, before practicing Buteyko, they were never completely healthy.
Hyperventilation Hides in Ambush
Dr. Buteyko would often say that hyperventilation hides in ambush, and we, the hereditary hyperventilators, must remain vigilant. Interestingly, he was part of this group himself and therefore wore a leather belt around his diaphragm to prevent slipping back into habitual over-breathing patterns. He encouraged his patients to do the same.
When in 2009 Ludmila first shared this fact with me, I was taken aback. Shouldn’t we be able to master our breathing so thoroughly that hyperventilation becomes a thing of the past?
While that’s the ultimate goal, modern people face several factors that promote hyperventilation:
- Hereditary Predisposition: Many are born hyperventilators, with a strong inclination toward over-breathing.
- Entrenched Habits: Old, deep-seated habits that support hyperventilation are tough to break.
- Lifestyle Factors: The typical modern lifestyle—stressful, fast-paced, often sedentary, and unhealthy—fosters hyperventilation.
- Environmental Pollution: Polluted air, land, food, and water contribute to over-breathing as our bodies struggle to cope.
- Atmospheric Changes: Dr. Buteyko observed that over millions of years, atmospheric shifts have nudged humans toward a mild propensity for hyperventilation.
This underscores that the tendency to hyperventilate remains ever-present for those who’ve experienced it. It doesn’t simply vanish; we must actively manage it.
The belt symbolizes a tool to heighten awareness about breathing and to continue reducing our air intake even when nasal breathing is well-established. It represents the additional measures necessary to sustain optimal CO₂ levels because, without them, optimal health is not possible.
Charting the Way Forward
So, what does this mean for us?
While embracing nasal breathing is vital, we must also adopt practices that elevate our CO₂ levels:
- Regular Physical Activity: Engage in exercises that promote silent nasal breathing and increase CO₂ in the lungs.
- Breathing Exercises: Practice specific techniques designed to normalize breathing patterns and boost your PMP.
- Mindful Living: Alleviate stress through meditation, yoga, or other mindfulness practices that encourage subtle, peaceful breathing.
- Environmental Awareness: Whenever possible, seek cleaner environments and minimize exposure to pollutants.
- Dietary Choices: Opt for organic, whole foods, mostly plant-based, that support CO₂ levels and overall respiratory health.
Embracing the Journey
Nasal breathing is a fundamental step, but it’s just the beginning of our journey toward optimal health. By adopting a holistic approach that includes lifestyle changes, breathing exercises, and mindfulness, we can work toward maintaining optimal CO₂ levels and, as a result, achieve the vibrant health we aspire to.
Let’s remember that our habitual patterns are strong, but with conscious effort and support from Buteyko teachers and communities, we can navigate the path to better health together. Embrace nasal breathing, yes—but also embrace the fuller journey that accompanies it.
By the way, after the BreathMastery group resumed its regular meetings this fall, I felt motivated to renew my efforts to increase my PMP. I returned to chanting every morning, exercising regularly, and observing my habitual breathing patterns. Today, as I write this article in December 2024, my morning PMP was 65 seconds, and I feel truly wonderful. Yet, I am fully aware that the tendency to over-breathe will stay with me for the rest of my life. I know I need daily maintenance of my respiration, and I am committed to doing so. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to begin my morning hour of chanting, which is my favorite Buteyko Breathing exercise. I won’t be skipping it!
