Just breathe…and exercise 

The Buteyko Method, which emphasises nasal breathing, breath control, and reduced breathing volume, aims to optimise oxygen delivery by balancing CO₂ levels in the blood. Seeing that during exercise more energy is required by the body the way that we breathe can affect how well we perform during exercise. Furthermore, better awareness of our breath during exercise can improve our bodies sensitivity to carbon dioxide and therefore improve our underlying breathing patterns at all times.

How to bring in breath awareness during exercise:

1. Buteyko encourages breathing through the nose rather than mouth to improve endurance, reduce breathlessness, and enhance recovery. It takes discipline, a bit of discomfort and the willingness to slow down in order to retrain your body. But once you get the hang of it, your lungs might just start thanking you.
   
   To begin with start with a gentle walk of possibly 10 minutes. After 5 or 10 minutes, or at any point you start to struggle to breathe through the nose, be sure to stop, recover your breathing, and then continue. All the time breathing only through the nose even whilst recovering your breath. Gradually increase the time that you walk and after a while you will find it quite comfortable to walk and breathe through the nose.
   
2. Once you can breathe through the nose comfortably whilst walking, see if you can softly reduce the breath. Allow the air to naturally come into the lungs without effort and let the exhale happen without any exertion at all. You can bring this into your everyday life, walking to the shops, walking to public transport or just finding ways in which you can bring walking into your daily routine, being consciousness of softening the breath while walking.
   
3. When you’re comfortable with nasal breathing during walking then you can start to bring this into your exercise routine. Be sure to start off with warming up before going into your exercise. You can walk for 10 minutes breathing only through the nose and then move into a slow and gentle jog. At any point in which it becomes uncomfortable or difficult to breathe through the nose then it is important to stop, continue breathing through the nose and regain your breath whilst walking or standing still. Once your breath is back to being comfortable you can continue to jog. Repeat this process until you’re able to run for longer periods without having to stop. Allow your nose to dictate the speed and duration of your exercise. Be patient in the beginning as you will not be able to do your normal exercise regime.
   This can be brought into any exercise, however swimming is more complicated and will need some assistance.
4. if you are healthy and below 60 years of age you can start to bring in breath holds whilst you are breathing. This is best done under the guidance of instructor, however it is safe to bring in quiet slow breathing into any forms of exercise, cycling, running, yoga, martial arts et cetera. 

If you are curious about improving your breathing 24/7 you can book a call with me to find out more.