Buteyko Manual For Asthma Continued.

Page 72

“Sit down and relax for a moment. Now gently close your eyes and pretend there is a really big elephant standing right in front of you.

It is a very friendly elephant, and will not hurt you.

Look at how tall he is. He is as tall as the roof. Wow, he is really, really huge! Look at his big ears, and his trunk. He is a light gray colour and has big brown eyes.

Now look at how much he is breathing. He is putting his trunk over just in front of you so you can feel how big his breath is.

Keep your eyes closed and put your finger up high under his trunk so that you can feel the breathing. [Parent — place the child’s index finger of the right hand up parallel to the ground in front of them — to “feel” the breath. Blow on the finger or wave air onto the finger.]

Wow its huge — it almost blows you over. You can even smell what the elephant had for lunch!

WOOSH — WOOSH — it is pretty noisy too!

Now that is called “elephant breathing”. It is big, and noisy and you can feel it on your finger.

Keep your eyes closed for a little bit longer, and we will look at the next animal. The elephant has gone away....