Re: Short of breath

Yeah.  That site normalbreating.com makes Buteyko more complicated that it really is.  I never give that link to people I want to introduce to it.  I've been doing Buteyko for 1.5 years and it's still confusing.

That guy needs to rework his site so it is not so intimidating.  I get a panic attack just looking at it ;)

Coherent breathing will have you breathing slow enough that it is sort of like Buteyko "lite".  I try to practive coherent and breathing when at my desk, driving, at a movie, etc.

Buteyko goes a little further creating air hunger so that it changes your CO2 set-point so you breathe less even when not thinking about it (such as sleeping).  

That's why your measue your control pause in the morning.....to see how much you hyperventilate when sleeping.

A couple of simple Buteyko exercises my former coach gave me.

EXERCISE #1

Exhale.  Pinch your nose for 1-second. Inhale, but not too big.
Exhale.  Pinch your nose for 2-seconds. Inhale, but not too big.
Exhale.  Pinch your nose for 3-seconds. Inhale,.....
Exhale.  Pinch your nose for 4-seconds. Inhale, …...
Exhale.  Pinch your nose for 5-seconds. Inhale, …...
Go all the way up to 10 seconds, and then count back down to 1 second.
Stop after 3 minutes.

You should feel yourself getting warm.  CO2 is a vasodilator, so the blood vessels open to allow more

Currently, I start at 8 seconds and go all the way up to 15 second. But I hard at hard time starting at 1-second when I first started.

Exercise #2 -Extended Pause

Hold your breath on exhale about 25% longer than your Control Pause.  So if your Control Pause is 15-seconds.  Exhale and the pinch your nose for about 19-seconds.

You should feel a little discomfort and your diaphragm might kick out a couple of times looking for air.

Exercise #3 Reduced Breathing
Inhale over about 5 or 6 seconds, then exhale as slowly as possible.  See if you can stretch it out to 15-seconds or more.  

Extending the exhale help maintain relaxation since the parasympathetic nervous system is dominant during the exhale.   Do this for about 5 minutes.

Currently, I can do this and breath about twice per minute with no stress.

Again,  you should feel warm.

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Do each of these exercises in a session, taking a 2 minutes meditation rest in between.

That’s it.  It’s that simple.  And try to stop yourself from yawning or taking big inhales through the day.  I’ve learn to automatic close my throat the minute I feel a big gasp coming.