Buteyko Manual For Asthma Continued.

Page 68

Straightening your spine and relaxing your chest will cause your breathing to be in your belly. It will also cause you to breathe less “deeply”! ie. each breath will be “shorter”! This is a surprise for most people. Let’s now begin to work with your children.

The Procedure

Read all of the following information carefully, then follow the “directions” that follow.

The Basic Breathing Exercise — “STEPS”

This is used as both a measurement and as part of the training. It is used for measurement in children because they lack the sensitivity to accurately complete a “Measurement Pause”.[Which is discussed in the comprehensive Manual.]

1. Get ready. Child is standing. The child takes a normal [not large, not forced] breath in, then passively releases a small out breath.

The goal of this is to ensure that the lungs are not full or empty, but are “comfortable”. Using the same procedure also allows some degree of consistancy for measuring progress. ie. always start the same way. Note that all breathing — both in and out are always through the nose.

2. The child now pinches his nostrils shut with thumb and forefinger. This is best done with the hand above the nose so that the thumb and forefinger resemble a clothes peg.