Boost your oxygen uptake for a healthier life
Tuesday, July 1st, 2008
In contrast consider the millions of words written and spoken about how we can improve our nutrition with this diet or that food or drink. Today eating has become a complex science we all have to study in order to survive. We are daily made aware of the minefields of foods that may be cancer stimulating, obesity risky, toxic, lacking essential nutrients, damaging to this or that organ, or the governmental advice that we must have our five fruit & vegetables each day or perish, or the news on Monday that a glass of wine will give long life, yet on Wednesday it may damage your health. All this leaves most of us bewildered and deaf to the barrage of advice about a subject that used to be based on common sense and the enduring joy of eating and sharing food together in family or social gathering, the delight of company (from the Latin 'Companionem,' which was, 'one with whom you would eat bread' -- 'Con' (with) and 'Pan' (bread) -- presumably, your 'companion' was someone with whom you would 'break bread.')
Why, I must now ask, has not the question of good respiration or breathing been a subject worthy of at least a mention in our daily news or journals? There is no more sociable activity than breathing from the same air around us all, and if, as we all agree, the uptake of air is so vital for life, is it not astounding that it has received so little attention?
Until, I would suggest, now!
Once in a while society is enriched and enlightened by a great philosopher or thinker. Sadly it usually takes a few generations for society to recognise their wisdom. Our mind set or habitual behaviour makes it difficult for most of us to raise ourselves to a new level of consciousness necessary to embrace new ideas that challenge our old thinking and behaviour. In a small village near Kiev in the Ukraine one such man was born on January 27th 1923 Konstantin Pavlovich Buteyko. This simple yet extraordinary man devoted his life to studying breathing and made one of the most profound discoveries in the history of medicine.
After forty years of dedicated medical research and constant struggles with the Soviet Communist system and the medical establishment Professor Buteyko eventually prevailed and gained full approbation from his native country for his work on breathing. This work became known in the West when Professor Buteyko and his associate Sasha Stalmatski were invited to Australia to give training courses for asthmatics and others suffering from breathing related problems. These courses had such amazing results that caused a great impact on the public and medical profession there, leading eventually to a major clinical trial at the Mater Hospital in Brisbane that clearly demonstrated the effectiveness of what had become known as 'the Buteyko Method'.
The Buteyko Method teaches normalisation of breathing which gives a multitude of beneficial effects on health. The central tenet of Buteyko's work is that most modern diseases are associated with poor oxygen delivery to tissue, along with impaired biochemistry and the body's protective reactions of smooth muscle spasm, increased histamine and mucus production all arising from dysfunctional breathing. The most common problem being chronic hidden hyperventilation (CHVS) that he claimed was the main cause of asthma and over a hundred other modern diseases.
The science underpinning Buteyko's work is sound and is based on standard medical research and teachings of Western medicine. The simplest scientific concepts are often behind major leaps forward; Einstein's 'e=mc2' is a perfect example. Buteyko looked, questioned and revealed what was really already there for all to see, but few, if any, had the conceptual eyes to see what was really so obvious.
The practical application of his work takes the form of Buteyko Method courses that are taught throughout the world by Buteyko Practitioners, they benefit everyone who has developed CHVS. Sufferers from asthma, hypertension, anxiety panic attacks, sleep apnoea, IBS, chronic fatigue syndrome, hay fever, eczema, breathlessness, or a myriad other conditions associated with poor oxygen uptake and biochemical dysfunction arising from CHVS and also those without any significant health problems who just want better sports performance or health, can all improve with the Buteyko Method training.
Do you want to know how well you breathe? Either send for a free introductory leaflet on the Buteyko Method which includes two simple breathing tests or visit our website at www.buteykokent.co.uk.
