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Many Top Sports People in Australasia have used Buteyko

Ramon Andersson (Olympic Kayaker)
Emmily Snook ( Olympic Rower)
Mathew Dunn ( Olympic Swimmer)
Dion Russell (Walker)
Jaime Fernadez, Paul Genovesi (Rowers)
Craig Riddington (Iron man)
Caron Clonda (Squash)
Michael Klim (Swimmer) Now British sports people can discover the benefits of better breathing with the Buteyko Method; better health, better performance.

How Can Buteyko Help You ?

By improving your breathing with Buteyko training you will benefit from improved oxygenation of your body’s tissues, reduce your build up of lactic acid in your muscles, improve your sleep, increase your general levels of energy and much more.
Breathing is the foundation of life and better breathing is the foundation of better health but very few of us in the West do breathe well.
We have a culture of training from childhood to adulthood that deep breathing is good, that bigger breaths lead to better health.
It is this myth that the Buteyko Method dispels once and for all.
Over breathing or hidden hyperventilation is at epidemic proportions in the West yet is rarely diagnosed and even when it is recognised it is often left untreated.

The Criteria Check List

Do you recognise any of the following factors in yourself?

* Poor stamina & endurance
* Frequent muscle cramps with exercise
* Low energy levels
* Poor sleep quality
* Dehydration /dry mouth in morning
* Recurrent infections or poor recovery
* Muscle stiffness
* Erratic breathing
* Blocked or runny nose
* Hypertension
* Itching , dry skin, eczema
* Craving for sweet snacks
* Irritability
* Mild depression
* Headaches
* Excessive mucus production
* Allergies/Hay fever

These are just a few of the symptoms often associated with hyperventilation.

Hidden Hyperventilation

Any stress or fright will trigger the ‘fight or flight’ mechanism that leads to increased breathing (hyperventilation), but without increased physical activity (running or fighting) this causes a drop in carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the body.

This has two main physiological effects, first, as the blood becomes more alkaline, less oxygen is released to the tissue cells and more lactic acid is produced causing the breathing sensors in the brain to increase the breathing rate.

Secondly, the low CO2 levels cause smooth muscle throughout the body to spasm. Blood vessels, so affected, narrow reducing the flow of blood to the brain, for every 1mm of Hg pressure reduction of CO2 the brain receives two per cent less blood flow (Raichle 1972).

This combined with the Bohr Effect (reduced release of oxygen from the blood), can mean the brain may receive up to 50% less oxygen, which is a major stress that can result in feelings of extreme anxiety (Ley 1994).

The training and understanding the Buteyko Method gives people enables them to reverse the bad breathing habits at work or play.

Who Can Benefit From Buteyko?

Unless you are among the 10% who are breathing normally (Do the simple breath check yourself)
everyone from 4 yrs old to 95 years can benefit to varying degrees. Most of us, as babies, are born breathing normally but as the years go by and the day to day stresses and traumas of our modern world take their toll our breathing deteriorates.

What Benefits Can I Hope For?

The Buteyko Method is a drug free technique that was researched and developed over a lifetime by Russian Professor Konstantin Buteyko. It is now accepted in Russia as part of mainstream medical care and it was by a lucky quirk of fate that an Australian business man visiting Russia became ill with angina, was treated with the Buteyko Method and was so impressed by its effectiveness that he asked Buteyko to introduce his work to the Australian public. This was the start of the expansion of the Buteyko Method throughout the world.

What the training gives you in five 90 minute sessions is a better understanding of respiration, the way to return to normal breathing and thereby a return to normal physiology.
The key elements being, improved tissue oxygenation, improved muscle activity, reduced lactic acid formation, and improved respiratory function.

Your improvements may include:
* increased stamina & endurance
* increased muscle development
* reduced dehydration
* increased performance in exercises
* reduction in heart rate
* increased energy levels
* Improved sleep quality
* reduced cramp due to lactic acid build up
* improved recovery after heavy exercise
* improved general health & immune system

Buteyko Helps Overcome Fatigue

We know severe prolonged stress is debilitating (Tortora 1984), stress causes hyperventilation
(Timmons 1994), hyperventilation causes stress (Ley 1994) and that it is easy to maintain chronic hyperventilation (Innocenti 1997)

Buteyko teaches how to break the viscious cycle by restoring normal breathing patterns, removing excess stress, developing good dietary habits & drinking sufficient water and having adequate good sleep.

The Facts behind the Buteyko Method, check with your doctor if in doubt:

1. Overbreathing (breathing more than 6 litres of air a minute, either by larger breaths or more frequent breaths or both) leads to a lowering of the carbon dioxide levels in the lungs and body.
2. Lowered carbon dioxide levels (less than 5%) leads to spasm of smooth muscles that wrap around airways, blood vessels, bladder and other vital organs.
3. The Bohr Effect. Lowered carbon dioxide levels lead to the blood holding onto oxygen more strongly and not releasing it fully to the tissues.
4. Respiratory Alkalosis Lowered carbon dioxide levels changes the acid/alkaline balance of the blood therby impairing the entire chemistry of the body.
5. Receptors. Chronic long term over-breathing leads to receptors in the brain accepting and maintaining lower levels of carbon dioxide in the blood, thereby ensuring the continued state of overbreathing to the detriment of the person’s health.
6. Hyperventilation Diseases. Overbreathing and the consequent chemical changes has been shown to be associated with over a hundred symptoms including panic attacks, tightness of chest, hypertension, breathless-ness, asthma, increased heart rate, angina like chest pains, dizziness, seizures, and many more.

Check Your Own Breathing Here