I was asthmatic from as early as I could

remember, from age three on. I remember a

lot of doctor visits from my early childhood

and despite all those visits my asthma just

seemed to get worse. By age five, my asthma

was severe enough that I was put on a lot of

medications, and continued to take them for

30 years. I had hundreds of emergency hos-

pitalizations and for sixteen years I suffered

through weekly allergy injections. Part of this

regimen was yearly trips to the asthma and

allergy specialist where I would get tested

with a series of 30 to 40 injections to deter-

mine what allergens were affecting me. The

first time I went through that process is was

horribly traumatic, and was, I feel, the first

step in disassociating myself from my body.

So my first experiences with asthma treat-

ments were not positive ones.

I had 30 years of steroid therapy. The side

effects are widely known. At the time I was

interested in all the new drug treatments.

But then I began my nursing career in the

late 70s, which was the early exploration of

holistic health and through that my under-

standing of the foundations of healing were

drastically altered. After much exploration

and discovery I eventually left the health

care system. Now I’m an educator. At one

time I was a nurse who educated, and now I

am an educator who happens to be a nurse.

In 1998 a girlfriend sent me an article from

Mothering Magazine that explained the

Buteyko Method. I remember thinking,

“Why do I not know this? I’ve been a nurse

for years, and an asthma sufferer for even

more, and I’ve never come across this treat-

ment.” Then, the next morning, at my

daughters’ school, a young girl came into the

office clutching her throat with a look of

panic in her eyes, having an attack. I took

her by the hand and I sat down with her and

taught her what I had read the night before.

Twenty minutes later, she was fine—her

breathing was calm. In that moment, I felt I

had found my calling.

The first year I learned about the existence

of Buteyko, I was gung-ho about spreading

the word. I contacted the American Lung

Association to see how we could do outreach

By Denise Esteves, Associate Director,

the Teleosis Foundation

about it. Of course, they didn’t want to hear

it. It has taken a long time, and like many

new ideas it is being brought forth from the

grassroots. When I first started in ’99, I

remember doing a web search and there

were three sites, and they didn’t have very

good information. But now if you do a

search you can find hundreds of references.

And there have been clinical trials, in partic-

ular at the Mater Hospital in Brisbane,

Australia, so there is more awareness in the

medical community as well.

I see two main challenges: the first is that we

are a society of people disconnected from

our bodies and our own heath. We abdicate

responsibility—whenever people feel some-

thing wrong, or sense something wrong in

their children, the reaction is, “Let’s go to

the doctor. Let’s have the doctor look at us

and fix us.” The health care system is set up

to take care of our bodies like mechanics

take care of cars. And that leaves too small a

role for personal responsibility, for aware-

ness, for prevention. There is so much that

we can do for ourselves, to heal our own

bodies. And yet people can’t let go of the

idea that if it is related to health then it

needs to be supplied and performed by the

doctor.

And the second reason is that the

inhaler and treatment industry is a multi-

million dollar one, and it preys on asthmat-

ics’ fear. Asthma is a fear-based disease. We

can live without many things, but we can’t

go without air for long and that can be terri-

fying to an asthmatic. So the inhaler indus-

try preys on that.

That is exactly why this treatment was

created in Russia in an environment where

people with asthma do not have access to

basic asthma medications or medical care.

Buteyko helps patients manage their own

illness.

The first thing I stress to patients is paying

attention, being aware, and reconnecting to

their body. After the first session, patients

walk away with breath awareness. That is

paramount. The ideal program is five one-

and-a-half hour classes over a two-week

period, which is a rather standard method

for most practitioners. I might see a patient

Monday-Tuesday-Thursday the first week

and Monday-Thursday the following. I may

also recommend three half-hour sessions a

day if someone is really suffering. The results

are directly proportional to the time spent

practicing the method. It all comes back to

breathing. We can talk and talk and talk

about it, but for this treatment to work you

have to do it physically.

Breathing is first—you can do a million

other things, but if you don’t focus on

breathing it won’t get better. The breath is

unconscious, and you have to make it con-

scious. I want my clients to realize their

responsibility. It isn’t about taking some-

thing outside of yourself. Even the supple-

ment industry is huge and commoditized:

“Take this herb, use this supplement and

you’ll feel better.” It reinforces the discon-

nect between ourselves and our bodies.

That said, second to the breathing is

hydration, nutrition, rest and exercise. Water

is essential. I find asthmatics are highly

dehydrated. Nutrition is always important.

And asthma can be an allergic reaction, so of

course certain foods should be eliminated.

I’m an herbalist, too—there is a whole class

of respiratory allies—nettle, mullein, teas.

Rest is critical, as is exercise and learning

how to use breathing in exercise. This is all

part of a total lifestyle.

The children I work with are the most

responsive to this treatment because they

don’t have preconditioning. The children

who respond best are the sickest. A lot of

these kids are so embarrassed about their

inhalers—it makes them think, “I’m not as

good as other kids, I’m dependent on this

medicine, I can’t do PE.” When I teach kids

like that, they are thrilled—they have an

easy technique they can do at their desk and

no one knows they’re doing it. And as for

elderly patients, many are suffering from

chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and

although Buteyko won’t cure it, the quality

of life is improved. Just being able to walk

outside and enjoy their lives. A patient of

mine, 72 years old, got completely off his

oxygen tank. Can you imagine how he felt?

Ultimately the highest realization for

my patients is that we have it all within us.

I want people to find ways to really connect

with themselves and within themselves,

bypassing the intellectual and the emotion-

al, focusing on the physiological and physi-

cal processes. I’m a nurse—the body fasci-

nates me. And the power we have within

our bodies is huge.