It was a familiar scene; a friend’s overnight birthday party, lots of giggling

10 year old girls, and I was making more and more frequent trips to the bedroom

where my asthma inhaler, which gave me instant relief from the discomfort, was

hidden in my bag. Near midnight, I realized that my now severe wheezing was

worsening, despite the last puff of medicine only 20 minutes ago. That eerie feeling

began to set in, as fear and panic overtook me, as the gasping for breath began, and

I began to fade...

Vaguely as if in a dream, I hear Elizabeth calling to her mother. “Mama,

Dodie’s got her asthma again, really bad.” A call to my parents, a call to the doctor,

a call to the ambulance. The next thing I know, I’m being lifted by strong, gentle

arms which carry me to the waiting ambulance.

“Dodie, do you want us to put the siren on this time?” I hear a familiar voice

ask. I smile and nod weakly; the siren makes me feel important. And then I”m gone...

When I come to the next day, I am in the hospital that I know so well, and

there is my favorite red-headed nurse. I feel safe. I’m exhausted, but I can

breathe. Aaahhh. Back to sleep. Later the nurse comes in prepared to start an

intravenous line because I’m so dehydrated. I throw a feeble fit and insist that I

be allowed to call Dr. Middlemas in protest. The red headed nurse knows me well

and understands my irritability and fragility.

“Okay honey, I’ll let you call him.” She talks to him first, and then hands me

the phone. I love this man who knows me so well. He agrees to wait as long as I

drink 2 big glasses of water now and whenever the nurse brings me another. I

guzzle the water triumphantly as she watches. Hoorray! One less needle! I hate all

the shots and needles that are so much a weekly part of my life, and I’ve already

learned not to trust the nurses who always say, “This won’t hurt.” Truth is, it does

hurt, every time.

By the next day, all is well and I’m up walking the halls in my pink robe and

bunny slippers, helping the nurses. This is my home away from home, and of course,

I want to be a nurse when I grow up.

Thirty years later, asthma had become my life's journey. Scenes similar to

the one above had long ago become a regular occurrence. I had had hundreds of

emergency hospitalizations, 30 years of steroid therapy, sixteen years of weekly

allergy injections, including yearly trips to the asthma and allergy specialist where I

would get tested with a series of 30-40 “shots” to determine what the next years’

vial would include. As time went by, I grew to dread these trips. One year I ran

away into the woods behind our house and hid, listening to my parents call for me,

finally emerging victoriously once I knew that we had by now missed the scheduled

appointment.

“My life’s journey” ultimately became the vehicle through which I was able

to experience and explore first hand so many of the different therapies available

for asthma, and I tried them all; homeopathy, acupuncture, biofeedback, water

cures, colonics, diets and fasting, Chinese and indigenous herbal medicine, yoga,

rebirthing, holotropic breathwork, psychotherapy, hypnotherapy, isolation tanks,

shamanic healings, massage, rolfing, aromatherapy, moxibustion, vitamins and

supplements, and of course just about every pill and medication which allopathic

medicine had to offer. All of them seemed to help, some more than others but

eventually the asthma would return. I delved into the psychosomatic realm, and

began to change the way I perceived this “condition”, no longer referring to it as

“my” asthma. And then one evening, while sorting through paperwork during an

especially stressful time of my life I discovered Buteyko breathing, little knowing

that it was to change my life forever.

The discovery came from an article sent to me by a friend (Mothering

Magazine, March-April 1998, pgs 35-41). I was astounded by what I read, since I

had been a nurse for 20 years and asthmatic for 40, yet never had I heard an

explanation of breathing such as this. I read the article 3 times, eager to

understand this theory and technique. The next morning, during a brief visit to my

daughters’ school, a young girl came rushing into the office clutching her throat

with a look of panic in her eyes and gasped, "I can't breathe, help me!" She had

inhaled chalk dust while cleaning the erasers. I gently took her by the hand. "Come,

I'll help you", I said and proceeded to teach her what I had read the night before.

Twenty minutes later, her breathing calm, she looked at me and said, " I feel fine

now and I’m not wheezing; thank you", and returned to her class. In that moment, I

had a feeling that truly, I had touched upon my destiny. Stories like this were to

become commonplace as I brought this new breathing method into my life;

eventually I immersed myself fully into practice and study.

The link between asthma and hyperventilation, or overbreathing, has been

observed throughout history and has been written about in medical literature since

at least the 1940’s. Chronic “hidden” hyperventilation is now being recognized as

one of the underlying causes of all disease, and one of it’s most common symptoms

is asthma. Normal breathing, as measured in liters of air flow in and out of the

lungs per minute, is approximately 4-6 liters. Most asthmatics breathe 15-17 liters

per minute on a regular basis, and during an acute attack, the air flow can increase

up to 24-26 liters. At this rate, a vicious cycle is established which encourages

spasm of the bronchi, inflammation of the airways. and a severely decreased

efficiency of oxygen release into the blood stream.

The Buteyko Breathing Method seeks to break the cycle of hyperventilation,

or overbreathing, by normalizing ventilation through a series of Eucapnic (defined

as normal amounts of carbon dioxide) exercises, aimed at increasing carbon dioxide

(CO2) levels . There is a myth in our modern world that CO2 is a waste gas; in

truth, it is only a waste gas in excess, as it is in fact essential for the utilization

and release of oxygen into the body. CO2 is a natural bronchodilator, as it relaxes

the smooth muscle of the airways as well as decreasing inflammation.

Hyperventilation leads to a loss of CO2, which affects pH and ultimately every

system of the body. By increasing CO2 levels, oxygenation and circulation are

improved throughout.

For an asthmatic, the essential work is to focus on slow, quiet, reducing

breathing and to not let go into fear and panic; in other words to break the habitual

cycle of hyperventilation that has become the norm. Studies have shown that when

given a set of Eucapnic-Buteyko breathing tools , the asthmatic can begin to

separate self (as in “my” asthma) from identification with what is only a symptom,

NOT a disease, and can reclaim normal, deliciously fulfilling breaths. These

“breathing tools” such as slow breathing, reduced volume breathing and breath

holding on a gentle exhale work to rebalance the chemistry of the body by

normalizing CO2 levels, which in turn increases relaxation and oxygen utilization

throughout every system in the body. As CO2 levels rise and the breathing rate

and depth decrease, as deep relaxation begins to inhabit the body, a frequently

reported manifestation is a sense of euphoria, or well-being such as individuals have

never known before.

The Eucapnic - Buteyko Breathing Method also teaches the importance of

nasal breathing. One of the most common causes of CO2 depletion in the body, in

addition to hyperventilation, is exhaling through the mouth. The narrow air passages

of the sinus cavities and nose make it possible for the body to retain needed CO2,

as well as activate the release of nitric oxide, also a vaso/bronchodilator, and found

in highest concentrations in the paranasal sinuses. Inhale through the nose is

essential, as the air is filtered, moisturized and warmed prior to entering the

delicate lung tissue. Repeated breath holding exercises can be used to unblock

sinuses, as the quick increase of CO2 which results opens the airways and allows

for easy movement of air. One theory of asthma is that it is only the body’s natural

defense mechanism against exhaling large amounts of CO2; this is why the

passageways become narrowed and tight.

Results are often immediate as an individual with asthma begins to work on

controlling symptoms with the breath vs. medication. Long term effects such as

increased immune system health appear when higher CO2 levels become permanent.

At this point, awareness of breath, balanced, slower breaths, and nasal and

abdominal breathing become the norm and need to be maintained on a regular basis,

always and forever. When one is able to quiet the hyper- reactive breath and

“respond” by choice to life and situations which arise, the benefits are beyond

measure.

“I've learnt a lot about myself during these (breathing) sessions; it has taken me

to the point of the genesis of my asthma which started when I was 3 or 4. Beyond

that there is nothing as elemental as Breath, I believe it holds the keys to many

gateways, the further you go the further you travel into yourself and the deeper

the understanding of yourself. For an asthmatic there is an essential question- Why

did my breathing become dysfunctional? Buteyko makes you confront this question

head on. I thank Buteyko for bringing me closer to myself. I think anyone who has

had a lifelong battle with asthma and is coming to grips with it through Buteyko will

understand what I'm talking about.” (Spring 2001, from the internet)

The Buteyko Breathing Method offers some of the most important and promising

tools available to us today for reestablishing internal balance within our bodies, and

reversing the devastating symptoms of asthma. Success depends on the willingness

to apply the method when symptoms occur, and especially in the beginning, the

incorporation of regular 20-40 minute breathing sessions once to three times a day.

Individuals feel a sense of control over their condition as they reclaim

responsibility and gain confidence in their health. Children from the age of four

have successfully learned the method, and their young bodies are especially

receptive to early correction and prevention of potential lifelong imbalances. When

a child knows that within, there is a place of self control of symptoms, they are less

apt to loose themselves into the panic and fear often seen in the adults caring for

them.

As for myself, I have finally broken my lifelong dependency on my precious

inhaler. I still have one, and will occasionally take a puff, usually during one of

those days where I have way too much going on, and do not take time for stillness.

At times when I have mistakenly left the inhaler at home, I no longer panic. I am

much less reactive in communication and am able to respond when necessary from a

deep inner sense of peaceful well-being. I am confident that I will never again be

hospitalized for this condition, and I feel that I owe my life to the awareness which

has come to me through learning the Eucapnic-Buteyko Breathing Method.

A slogan recently caught my eye:

LIFE SHOULD TAKE YOUR BREATH AWAY, NOT ASTHMA

...aahh yes, it does (and now I’m able to retrieve it immediately)!

Dorisse Neale is a Registered Nurse and has a private practice in Respiratory and

Buteyko Education in Northern California. She offers ongoing classes and individual

instruction to children, teens and adults and can be contacted through her web site

California, 95473, USA.

Originally published in “Breathe – The International Breathwork Magazine”,

June-August 2002