BUTEYKO BREATHING

If you already know that you would like to book on a program, the booking calendar is here, or you can contact Annette directly.

"Chronic over-breathing leads to loss of health, poor fitness and compromised performance as well as contributing to many ailments including anxiety, asthma, fatigue, insomnia, heart problems and even obesity. It may seem strange that such a disparate range of complaints can be caused by over-breathing, but the breath of life influences literally every aspect of our health."

~Patrick McKeown Director of Education and Training at Buteyko Clinic International

Buteyko breathing, developed by the late Ukrainian doctor Konstantin Buteyko, focusses on the restoration of health when poor breathing has caused or worsened physical conditions. Whilst the Buteyko Breathing Method is best known for improving respiratory conditions such as asthma, poor sleep and anxiety and panic disorder, it is also the case that better oxygenation of tissues and organs can lead to a range of beneficial health outcomes that may seem less likely to be linked to breathing. Equally, conditions that are driven by stress and inflammation may also respond well to the breathing exercises taught through this method. Good functional breathing also impacts favourably on posture.

Which Conditions Can Be Addressed With Buteyko?

Some of the conditions we have seen improve through the implementation of the exercises for ourselves and those we've worked with, include snoring, breathlessness, anxiety, bloating, exercise induced asthma, frequent sniffing, frequent sighing, blocked / stuffy nose, stress, tension, poor quality sleep and insomnia, lower back pain, Long Covid, sleep apnea, migraine and PMS symptoms.

Poor breathing may have begun even in childhood and these long-term habits are difficult to break without awareness of them first and foremost, and then re-education to restore good habits. If you recognise some of the traits of disordered breathing as outlined on the previous page, you will almost certainly benefit from some guidance and motivation to improve your breathing and give you exercises which are yours to use for the rest of your life.

If you would like to work with an accredited Buteyko Breathing Instructor, contact Annette to find out if this would be useful for you. You may also wish to book a free exploratory Zoom call with her to find out if a retraining program is right for you.

Areas of Special Interest

Annette’s areas of particular interest are: anxiety, sleep issues, female breathing, chronic fatigue and post covid breathlessness. She has written about her reasons for immersing herself in breathing information and Buteyko especially in the following blog posts:

An Embarrassing Admission - how she discovered she had dysfunctional breathing

The Elephant in the (Bed)room - the early results and outcomes

Extinguishing the Anxiety Lurch - a welcome side-effect

When You REALLY Cannot Sleep, outlines some of the strategies that can be employed when sleep is problematic despite all of one's best efforts.

And she's written a post explaining why something as seemingly modest as breathing can be so significant for those experiencing an illness such as Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia or Long Covid - Multi-System Illnesses. How Breathing Can Make a Difference.

Annette has subsequently added Oxygen Advantage Functional Breathing Instruction to her Buteyko qualification. By doing this, she can build in more flexibility with students and thus respond even better to individual needs. Her chosen areas of special interest from Oxygen Advantage are mindful breathing and focus and concentration. The latter feels especially poignant to her after a career in teaching during which many students and pupils could potentially have benefitted from the knowledge and expertise she now has.

How is the Program Delivered?

Training sessions are typically once a week. In most cases there are 5 of these sessions, but more sessions, or a longer program duration may be needed, especially for anyone with Chronic Fatigue or Long Covid. Each session is 1 hour.

About Booking

The charge is €199 for a standard 5 part program. Any additional sessions are priced at €25.each

Start dates for your 5 part standard training program are published on our booking calendar. The subsequent 4 sessions, typically over the course of consecutive weeks, will be arranged with us but are likely to be on the same day of the week and at the same time as the start date. We will, however, allow for some flexibility in our mutual planning for the following reasons:

One party may not be available at the precise time suggested so a new time / day for that session may need to be found.
It may be desirable to extend the training period, especially once week 2 is completed, without increasing the number of sessions. This provides extra practice time with the exercises and potentially more feedback (for you and for us) in respect of any progress you're hoping to achieve.

If you have any questions or if you think it's possible that you may need one or more additional sessions, e.g. if you're healing from Chronic Fatigue / Long Covid, then don't hesitate to get in touch. If appropriate, we can arrange a brief zoom call with you to discuss your requirements.

If your primary interest in breath training is to improve your exercise threshold, sporting performance, or focus and concentration then you may wish to investigate the Oxygen Advantage with Graham.