Buteyko Breathing Test


 PART I   
'Deep breathing' test (hyperventilation challenge)
  
WARNING!   If you are seriously sick do not do it! If you feel strong discomfort during the test stop it immediately!
This test is not recommended for people with severe chronic asthma, panic disorder, epilepsy and other severe conditions.
 

All we are going to try is just to check whether deep breathing is as good as you are led to believe by your medical practitioner, physiotherapist, yoga guru etc. If they told you that, they were WRONG! Deep breathing is bad for you. Let's check it:

 

  • TAKE 10 deep breaths, very deep ones!
Do you feel like coughing or dizzy? No? Then
  • TAKE another 10 deep breaths.

Do you feel tightness in you chest? Yes?

Is it pleasant? No?

You can see that as soon as you increased your breathing body gave you some unpleasant symptoms showing that deep breathing is not good at all! If you do not listen to your body and continue you might even faint! So, better stop taking deep breaths now.
 
You can say: Of course I was breathing too much. But generally I breathe normally. Is that true? What does it mean to have 'normal' breathing?
 


 PART II  
  'Buteyko' test
Everybody can do this test.
 

Breathing is normal when it does not exceeds metabolic requirements of the body. When you breathe normally you have proper balance between elimination of carbon dioxide and its production. If you breathe more than you need you are loosing carbon dioxide constantly and deplete its reserves in the body. This type of breathing is called  "hyperventilation" and you have found already that it is bad for you (test PART I). Thus, if your breathing is normal, the content of carbon dioxide in your lungs is 6.5%. But how to measure it? In respiratory laboratory only? Fortunately, not!

Doctor Buteyko invented very simple way to measure carbon dioxide in lungs using only stop watch. He found that the level of carbon dioxide in our lungs correlates to our ability to hold breath after exhalation. Thus, to indirectly measure carbon dioxide content simply exhale normally start your stop watch and then hold your breath. When you feel FIRST slight discomfort stop your stopwatch and resume breathing.

If you breathing is normal reading on your stop watch should be 40-60 sec. YES! According to Doctor Buteyko if our reading is 60 sec it corresponds to 6.5% of carbon dioxide in lungs alveoli. It is perfect health, but if your reading is between 40 and 50 it is still good health. If your reading is less than 30 sec you are likely to have problems with your health:

Your reading, sec you breathe your condition
30 TWICE more than you need may be no obvious health problem
20 THREE times more than you need mild to moderate asthma or other problems
10 SIX times more than you need moderate asthma or other chronic problems
<5 >TWELVE-plus times more than you need severe asthma or/and other chronic problems

Is there anything beyond 60 seconds? Some patients go on to reach 90, 120 or 180 seconds and many of them report the development of unusual extra abilities: healing power, super endurance, super memory, artistic talents and so on. This is in keeping with ancient wisdom: “The perfect man breathes as if he is not breathing” (Lao Tze).

If your breathing is not healthy you HAVE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. Imagine, for example, that you eat six times more than you need. Will you have any problems then?

 

    

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