Disclaimer
This workshop is educational and complementary. It is not medical treatment and does not replace your physician’s care. Always follow your prescribed medications and consult your doctor before making any changes to your health routine. If you experience asthma symptoms such as shortness of breath, chest tightness, or dizziness, stop immediately and use your inhaler. Seek medical help if symptoms worsen.
Breathing Retraining for Asthma Workshop
Inspired by the Buteyko Protocol and Functional Breathing Science
Asthma causes airway sensitivity and inflammation, often leading to symptoms like shortness of breath, chest tightness, and coughing. Many individuals with asthma tend to overbreathe—taking in too much air too quickly—which lowers carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels and causes airway narrowing.
This workshop offers a counterintuitive but science-based approach: learning to breathe less in order to breathe better.
By slowing down and softening your breath, you restore a healthy CO₂ balance, calm the nervous system, and improve oxygen delivery through the Bohr effect—a biochemistry principle illustrating how CO₂ facilitates oxygen release to tissues.
Gentle breath holds after exhalation introduce “homeopathic doses” of CO₂ to retrain chemosensitivity, particularly in brain centers like the amygdala and medulla oblongata that regulate breathing drive and stress response. This helps reduce airway inflammation and promotes relaxation of the airways.
What You Will Learn:
How to breathe less yet improve oxygenation
Transition to nasal breathing to filter, warm, and humidify inhaled air
Use gentle Buteyko breathing pauses safely to retrain your brain’s breathing control
Calm your nervous system to reduce asthma flare-ups triggered by stress
Relax and strengthen your diaphragm for more efficient breathing
Recognize early signs of over-breathing and how to self-correct
Science-Based Benefits:
Reduced coughing and airway constriction
Improved CO₂ tolerance and tissue oxygen delivery
Better sleep quality, focus, and daily energy
Greater calm and control during physical or emotional stress
Increased confidence and comfort in your breathing
Workshop Practices Include:
Nasal, light, slow breathing with mouth gently closed
Small, comfortable breath holds after exhale
Cadence breathing around 5–6 breaths per minute
Posture and relaxation techniques to ease breathing effort
Why Breathe Less If You Feel Short of Breath?
Though counterintuitive, breathing more deeply and rapidly reduces CO₂, which tightens airways and hinders oxygen release (Bohr effect). Breathing slower, lighter, and through the nose restores optimal CO₂ levels, relaxing the airways and improving oxygen delivery, which alleviates breathlessness and anxiety often accompanying asthma.
Buteyko breathing is a clinically studied approach shown to improve asthma symptoms, reduce medication reliance, and enhance quality of life by stabilizing respiratory patterns and improving biochemical and biomechanical breathing function.
This workshop guides you through this integrative method, combining physiology, neuroscience, and behavioral retraining to help you regain control and breathe easier every day.
