Most of the time, we take breathing for granted. On average, each of us inhales 26,000 times a day without even thinking about it. But breathing can be controlled. We can decide how fast or slow, how shallow or deep to breathe.
For thousands of years healers have recognized the power of breath to affect health. Yoga integrates breathing and movement into a series of exercises that can improve relaxation and energy.
Scientists are finding that relaxation and attention to breathing can improve health problems as varied as anxiety, depression, diabetes and hypertension.
People with asthma may find themselves gasping for breath and feeling anxious. We heard from a person who had developed asthma as an adult:
“When I took my child into the doctor’s office, they noticed my wheezing and prescribed an albuterol inhaler, insisting there were no side effects. Once I began using it, my asthma got worse and worse over the years. Eventually, I was sleeping with the inhaler under my pillow and waking several times in the night to use it. When I got a cold I had spells in which I thought I could easily die of the asthma.
“I always thought that the albuterol had something to do with my being so sick, but I needed it to breathe.
“Finally I stumbled on the Buteyko Breathing Method. Dr. Buteyko is an 80-year-old Russian doctor who was also a mechanical engineer. He began studying breathing and discovered that asthmatics take in three or four times the volume of air as normal people. This excessive breathing creates chronic hyperventilation.
“Through the Buteyko method, I learned how to control my breathing. I learned to breathe through my nose all the time and within two days I was off all asthma medication.
“Now, nearly two years later, I only have to buy a new inhaler when the old one expires. I ride horses every day and never get asthma with exercise.”
We have no way of knowing whether other asthmatics will benefit, though we did hear from a physician who also found the Buteyko approach extremely helpful for her own asthma.
Controlled breathing has also been shown to help lower blood pressure. The FDA has approved a device called Resperate that utilizes biofeedback technology to help people learn to change their breathing pattern. Studies have demonstrated that it works about as well as some antihypertensive medications.
We have spoken with experts about how changing breathing patterns can affect health, especially blood pressure and asthma. Those who would like to learn more about Resperate, Buteyko and other approaches may want to order a CD of the hour-long interview. This CD is available for $15 from The People’s Pharmacy (CD-489), P. O. Box 52027, Durham, NC 27717-2027.
Who else might benefit from attention to breathing? Mindful meditation, which incorporates breathing, has been shown to ease pain and improve blood sugar control.
We also heard recently about a person with heart failure. In addition to medications, her physicians prescribed gentle exercise and deeper breathing. She had fallen into the habit of inhaling very shallowly. Now she is learning to use her diaphragm too, as in yoga breathing. Modern medicine has discovered the ancient healing power of breathing.
