Recent studies from the University of Sydney have indicated what natural medicine proponents have long known: Breathing exercises can help those who suffer from asthma. The study indicated that patients who were taught breathing exercises and techniques reduced their dependence upon inhalers by up to 86%. This is great news for adults and children who suffer from asthma, as it can enable them to manage their asthma symptoms without having to rely on inconvenient, costly, and often, dangerous drugs.
The great thing about breathing exercises for treating asthma is that breathing is something that is accessible to everyone. No matter where an asthma sufferer lives in the world, whether or not there is insurance coverage, whether or not a doctor is available, breathing exercises and techniques can be employed to get asthma symptoms under control.
In addition, breathing exercises are 100% natural. Even a short glance through literature about asthma that is available on the Internet reveals that asthma patients, and in the case of children, their parents, are concerned about the side-effects and possible damage that can be done by asthma medication. Furthermore, there is some question as to how effective it is in the long-term. With breathing, however, there are no such concerns. Breathing exercises are a natural, safe, and effective way to manage the difficulties that come with asthma.
Interestingly, outside of the western world, many cultures, traditions, and philosophies have a longstanding history of a focus on correct breathing for physical and spiritual health. In the 6th century, B.C., the philosopher Lao Tzo said, “The perfect person breathes as if he does not breathe.” This is in agreement with several breathing exercises that encourage patients to slow and reduce their breathing. Although such breathing is counter-intuitive for the asthmatic who has grown accustomed to gulping and racing for every breath, it does seem to be in keeping with the philosophies and medical practices of a large part of the world.
It will be interesting to see if the study conducted at the University of Sydney has much of an impact in developed western countries where much of the emphasis in medical practice seems to be on pharmaceuticals and the controlling of illnesses and symptoms through the use of drugs and surgeries. However, in a world that is becoming enamored with a return to all things natural, and increasingly skeptical of the claims of modern medicine, if simply breathing correctly or practicing certain breathing exercises can help to keep asthma symptoms in check, more and more people will likely turn to such methods and abandon, or at the very least, use less frequently, their inhalers and other prescriptions.
When you learn and implement breathing exercises for asthma, you improve your total health. The Buteyko Center http://www.breathingcenter.com offers a free breathing test online and a free Buteyko Health Evaluation report with our recommendations. The test will help you determine whether you hyperventilate or not, and if so to what degree, and how that may be affecting the quality of your sleep, as well as recommendations for improvement.
