The Buteyko Breathing Therapy involves teaching clients suffering from a number of conditions including asthma simple exercises in voluntary breath control, with the intension of reducing the frequency and severity of their symptoms.

It was pioneered by a Ukrainian Doctor, Konstainin Buteyko from which the technique gets its name. Buteyko made the link between health and breathing patterns.

The Buteyko method is based on the observation that many people with breathing disorders unknowingly react to their breathing problems by breathing too much. This excessive breathing is known as hyperventilation.

Hyperventilation means breathing harder or faster than you need to for the amount of physical work your body is dong.  This 'over-breathing' causes disturbances in the body's physiology, which can trigger and aggravate health-related complaints of all kinds. Symptoms vary according to individual predispositions, but can include, asthma, stress, panic attacks and, sleep disturbance.

The technique trains those with breathing problems to avoid the trap of hyperventilation and so prevents them from making their condition worse. Dr Buteyko summed up his method in two words: breathe less, and basically that is what the method aims to achieve.

What happens on a Buteyko Breathing Course?