Hands behind head: a 10 minute Buteyko breathing exercise to encourage correct diaphragm movement.

Link to Hands behind Head video: • Are your shoulders and...
If you are an upper chest breather, that is you breathe mainly using the muscles in your upper chest then this exercise might help. Breathing mainly with the upper chest is called 'Reverse Breathing' or Thoracic Dominant breathing. We should breathe more using the large muscle in our lower chest called the diaphragm, because that is what the diaphragm is designed to do - help us to move air in and out of our lungs. If we instead use muscles in our upper chest then the body starts to struggle, and we can start to feel anxious. Sometimes we don't know why we are starting to feel anxious! But it is the body trying to tell us that we're breathing wrongly.
Reverse Breathing is a type of dysfunctional breathing that is linked to asthma, COPD, heart failure and panic disorder.*
Forced abdominal expiration is a type of dysfunctional breathing that is linked to COPD.* Here the abdominal muscle is contracted to aid breathing out. The Hands behind Head relaxation may help by encouraging relaxation of the abdominal muscles with each exhale.
Practise this twice a day for around a week and see if you notice any difference in your mood. You may get side effects such as an achy back. No worries! This is GOOD sign that you're starting to use your diaphragm again and these aches will settle down in a couple of days as the muscle gets stronger.
It's easier to learn with an experienced Buteyko teacher look at the Buteyko Breathing Association website www.buteykobre...
Diaphragmatic breathing made easy.
Boulding R et al. Dysfunctional breathing: a review of the literature and proposal for classification. Eur Respiratory Rev 2016;25:287-294.

[@kaywilliams8737]

Honestly I have been surprised by this. I didn’t know what reverse breathing was and I thought my stomach moved when I breath so it doesn’t apply to me. I realised that I have slipped into dysfunctional breathing. I have been caught out by it. About 3 years ago I started to get anxious when I had to leave the house. It manifests in needing the toilet, then worrying about needing the toilet. I don’t feel anxious (I thought, am I going mad) but my vagus nerve is going into sympathetic mode like a runaway train. So if I don’t address it will continue to control my world, my life. I didn’t understand what you meant Janet when you said see if you notice any difference in your mood. I woke up this morning to do my CP and that’s the first thing I noticed. I felt good! It really surprised me because, I’m a happy person but this was different ‘subtle’. Thank you for you’re help. Kay from Devon.

[@witcherpie]

thank you Janet so much for all of this. I've been struggling for 2 years with hyperventilation syndrome, feeling air hunger constantly and yawning excessively ... It's miserable, but now I feel like it's getting better only after 3 days of buteyko breathing 3 times a day.
Starting my CP is 5 seconds and I get 16 breaths per minute which is bad, but I work on it:) thank you very much, there are many people out there that suffer from unexplained air hunger constantly and have no idea what to do about it, no doctor knows about it.

[@JustButeyko]

Well done, keep working on reducing the frequency of yawning. It's surprising how much excessive yawning can contribute to hyperventilation, and it's hard to control yawning. There's a video called Stop Yawning in case you missed it. With hyperventilation you just have to keep nibbling away at it and gradually your CP will increase!

[@witcherpie]

@@JustButeyko yes now after 12 days I noticed that this specific technique of suppressing yawning/sighing is actually the one that yields me the best results, it's like an addiction to a "good yawn/breath". It could be even expressed as a breathing tic in my opinion.
If I get into temptation to take even just one yawn/sigh, my hyperventilation will ruin my day, but if I really try to suppress it and relax for 30' to 1 hour, it will be really hard but after that I feel my breath being so easy and the symptoms/temptations are completely gone.
Janet you are a goddess

[@CaptainNerdseye]

Hey Janet, thanks for all the videos. Would you do one on how to talk and the breath. I find I can run for ages and not be out of breath. But 5 minutes of talking and I struggle.

[@JustButeyko]

Hi, I've already made one called 'Talking too much?'
this is the link. Hope you find it helpful. ua-cam.com/video/ydH7kV9pI_U/v-deo.html