Podcast appearances and mentions of michael lingard

Podcast # 28  Your Challenge to Save The Planet & Your HealthHi, this is Michael Lingard introducing you to podcast twenty-eight entitled “Your Challenge to Save The Planet & Your Health” in 2020.If everyone on the internet joined forces to ensure a healthy planet for future generations, it could solve the existential problem that no government dare tackle, climate change and environmental pollution and damage. All you need to do is to commit to changing your lifestyle over the next twelve months with a twelve step programme, just a month at a time. Click “HERE” for tips!January: Try to avoid buying anything made of or packed in plastic. Plastics are based on fossil fuel for production and produce an almost permanent environmental pollutant that will take many years to start to rectify. There are biodegradable alternative materials produced from plants. . HEREFebruary: Buy local produce wherever possible. This would both stimulate farmers to shift to plant food production for humans, reduce the vast energy consumption involved in shipping food to and from warehouses and from abroad. . HEREMarch: Cut back on your consumption of “stuff”. We all are encouraged to consume or buy far more material things than we really need, we need to remind ourselves that every article represents a substantial use of the earth’s scarce resources. HEREApril: Help plant a hundred trees. With the estimated 4 billion internet users worldwide this would produce 400 billion trees, the most efficient carbon dioxide consumers would remove around 8 billion tons of CO2 per year, that would help balance the residual fossil fuel use. Global production of CO2 from transport is about this quantity. HEREMay: Support your local community any way that helps the environment. There is a close connection between the health of the planet, the health of individuals and the health of a community. By building stronger communities we would be find mutual support in building a sustainable future for our only planet, the earth. HEREJune: Cut out all meat, fish and dairy foods from your diet. This alone would cut greenhouse gases by between 25 – 50%, stop the loss of the earth’s lungs – the rainforests, reduce the need for food production by 75%, with the right distribution system ensure adequate food for everyone, improve the health of everyone, reduce the incidence of chronic diseases, reduce the pollution of coastal waters from agricultural medicine run-off and animal waste, permit the regrowth of our fauna and flora, especially endangered species, and much more. Currently estimates suggest between 50 – 75% of all grain and pulses go to feed animals! . HEREJuly: Conserve fresh water whenever possible, it’s a scarce resource. Fresh water will be more valuable than oil in a few years’ time. Sources of fresh water are increasingly being depleted due to pollution or over exploitation. Producing animal and dairy foods is a major reason for this. HEREAugust: Make your own health your responsibility. If you have already shifted your diet to a whole plant diet and are getting more exercise walking you are well on the way to meeting this challenge. HERESeptember: Reduce the use of your car by walking more/using public transport. This will go towards the August challenge; taking more responsibility for your health. HEREOctober: Turn your home thermostat down a few degrees lower. Just a few degrees drop will save you over a hundred pounds a year and reduce the consumption of energy nationally. HERENovember: Try to reduce food waste to close on nil. Currently we waste over a third of our food. That would feed most of the undernourished or starving throughout the world. . HEREDecember: Switch your car to any that halves your fuel consumption. Today there is no technological reason why we cannot produce cars that will give over 100 miles per gallon; even this would make a significant reduction in CO2 emissions. This needs to be the most important criteria for car purchase, not its sporty performance. . HERETo learn more about each of these challenges go to the transcript of this podcast to click on related links.The global environmental destruction, pollution and our impact on climate seem problems too big for you and I to have any significant impact on their solution, but just remind yourself that if billions of humans can generate the problems so we can just as easily fix them, one step at a time. All that is needed is ,an awareness, a will and our actions. We have the RESPONSE-ABILITY, let begin to use it! 

**Episode # 15 General Health Questions ** Hi, this is Michael Lingard, your Buteyko Educator, welcoming you to the final episode of Better Breathing Means Better Health and offering you my congratulations on completing this course. You now have the understanding and tools to continue improving your breathing and health in the future. Just to remind you of the powerful impact on your health that improved breathing will have, you can download leaflets on the subjects covered below: If you don’t have access while listening to this podcast, go to my website HERE where you will be able to download them there. Circulation & Heart Disease (Download a pdf leaflet HERE) Lowered CO2 because of hyperventilation constricts the arteries throughout the body, lowered CO2 impairs the release of oxygen from your blood and mouth breathing rather than nose breathing reduces the production of nitric oxide. The effect of the above is to put more physical stress on the heart that now needs to pump more blood around the body to deliver the same amount of oxygen, with narrowed arteries due to smooth muscle spasm and lower nitric oxide levels this means the blood pressure has to be higher leading to further stress on the heart. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome & ME (Download a pdf leaflet HERE) With chronic over-breathing the oxygenation of all the tissue in the body is depleted, this will impair the muscle functioning strength and also reduce the oxygen getting to the brain. The latter effect is made worse by the fact that the body protects the vital areas of the brain by shunting more blood to these centres leaving even less oxygen for higher centres of the brain. Resulting in mental as well as physical tiredness. COPD & Emphysema (Download a pdf leaflet HERE) Both these conditions are associated with loss of healthy functioning lung tissue that causes severe breathlessness and restricted physical activity. Invariably patients will be over-breathing in an attempt to combat the sensation of breathlessness but as we now understand this will worsen the oxygenation of the body. By improving their breathing, eliminating hyperventilation, what healthy lung tissue remaining will deliver more effective oxygenation of the body. Gut & Bladder Problems and IBS (Download a pdf leaflet HERE) We have all experienced how stress can upset our gut, hence when we improve our breathing and reduce the ill effects of stress it benefits our gut. As you know, over-breathing with loss of carbon dioxide, causes spasm of all smooth muscle in the body and that includes the muscle around your stomach, intestines and other hollow organs. Improve breathing is always beneficial to all gut and bladder problems. Watch this short video of a recent client's response to the breath training HERE Stress Anxiety & Panic Attacks (Download a pdf leaflet HERE) As you now realize, stress leads to over-breathing, repeated stressors lead to chronic hyperventilation, what every person suffering anxiety will have. As explained before this impairs oxygenation of the body and in particular the brain suffers from this lowered oxygen supply. If the control pause falls into the lower teens this can trigger a panic attack that is usually accompanied by increased panting or gasping that further worsens the situation. Improved breathing protects against this. Asthma, Sinusitis, Hay Fever & Rhinitis (Download a pdf leaflet HERE) If the Buteyko Method is renown for its dramatic health benefits and been proven with many clinical trials , it is with the support and management of asthma. If you are particularly interested in this condition I would strongly recommend you watch a YouTube video production by the BBC that covers a small trial conducted under the supervision of a leading respiratory specialist in Edinburgh HERE. and the first hand story of a recent asthma client HERE Sports Performance & Breath Training (Download a pdf leaflet HERE) It is not rocket science to suggest that any improved oxygenation to your body will improve your sports performance and general fitness. Many leading world athletes and sports people have used the Buteyko Method to give themselves that critical small percentage improvement that is the difference between winning or losing. Their general health has also improved as a side-effect! Insomnia, Snoring and Sleep Apnoea (Download a pdf leaflet HERE) Over-breathing usually is worse at night when asleep, largely because you are not using much muscle activity, hence lower carbon dioxide production but still over-breathing as during your waking hours, so carbon dioxide levels fall dangerously low. This can lead to sleep disturbances, nightmares with children or if more severe sleep apnoea. Sleep apnoea is a serious problem that can predispose to heart problems. However, the repeated cessation of breathing associated with sleep apnoea is the body’s protection against the severe loss of carbon dioxide. The solution is to improve your breathing 24/7. Eczema, Allergies and Itchy Skin (Download a pdf leaflet HERE) The skin is the largest organ in our body, it requires a good blood supply for normal health and is susceptible to allergens that come in contact or are taken in. Chronic hyperventilation hits the skin two ways, it receives poor blood supply and histamine levels rise as stress pushes our breathing up. The combination paves the way for eczema, allergies and skin disorders. Food sensitivities may well be an important component but you now have the means of checking this as explained in episode seven. Orthodontic, Dental Problems & Gum Disease (Download a pdf leaflet HERE) This is perhaps the most difficult relationship to understand. How can dysfunctional breathing lead to major structural problems in our development of teeth and all the structures of our skull? There is strong evidence that children that habitually mouth breathe will develop orthodontic problems such as crowded teeth as well as poor facial features. If you want a detailed professional explanation of this I suggest you watch a video by Dr. John Flutter HERE. If you have enjoyed this podcast why not check out my general health promoting podcast entitled “Your Health in Your Hands”? HERE Eat Less, Sleep less, Breathe Less and Exercise More!

**Episode # 14 Some Important Points ** Hi, this is Michael Lingard, your Buteyko Educator, welcoming you to episode 14 and offering you my congratulations on completing this course. You now have the understanding and tools to continue improving your breathing and health in the future. Chronic Hidden Hyperventilation is a serious condition and as such safety is paramount with the management of this condition. This final episode will highlight areas that you should take particular care over and remember that this course is a general presentation and each individual is unique. No responsibility can be taken for any adverse reactions to the training or your failure to follow the safety recommendations given; always, if in doubt, consult your doctor, or your own Buteyko Educator for advice. You are recommended to check all the following important points now and from time to time in the future to ensure you are following best practice of the Buteyko Method. Under no circumstances should you throw away any prescribed medications without consulting your doctor. For at least the next twelve months always carry your medication with you and use it if necessary. Prevent or overcome tightness, wheezing, coughing or shortness of breath by first using the Buteyko Method (Control Pause or Extended Pause followed by Reduced Breathing) and if this does not help, use your prescribed medication. As soon as possible after taking it, do the Reduced Breathing exercises. Steroid reduction should be discussed with your doctor. When it takes place, it should be a very gradual process - no faster than one puff reduced every seven days and reducing all morning steroids doses first. At the first sign of reaction (accelerated pulse or lowered control pause) then your steroids should be restored to previous dosage. For example, if you start with two puffs night and morning and after cutting out both morning puffs you get worse, then restore one puff in the morning. If this is still not controlling your condition then restore the second morning puff and do not reduce them again until you are stable and your doctor says that it is safe to continue with the reduction. In the early stages of your training maintain nose breathing at all times, especially when faced with factors that usually cause you breathing trouble. If your nose is blocked use the Nose Clearing exercises to unblock it. The most common of factors causing over-breathing are: physical exercise, emotional situations, yelling/shouting, chemical or paint vapours, smoky environments, going out into cold air, alcohol, over-eating and over-sleeping. Adults should keep in mind the importance of the Reduced Breathing exercise. If you must do any deep breathing, for example while playing sport or laughing/crying, then as soon as possible do some Buteyko exercises to return breathing to normal. For most people, the usually the first sign that your breathing is worsening is either a stuffy nose, broken sleep patterns, waking up more tired in the morning than usual or noticing your morning control pause falling day after day. Always sleep on your side (or stomach for adults). Whenever you notice the early warning signs, increase your Buteyko exercise regime. We recommend that you continue to tape your mouth while sleeping for at least six months. If you wish to stop doing this, then use the Control Pause and pulse to test your breathing while you sleep for a minimum of ten days. Keep off all the foods that increase your breathing rate when you are suffering from breathing difficulties. These include: chocolate, milk, cottage cheese, yoghurt, ice-cream, nuts, honey, chicken/fish/beef stock, strawberries, raspberries, coffee, strong tea, and alcohol or any other foods you have noticed cause you to wheeze. Refer back to episode seven if in doubt. Easily digested proteins increase hyperventilation more than other foods, so if you suspect that your condition is deteriorating then avoid these foods. If you must eat protein at this time then try to eat only unrefined vegetable protein. Viruses are a stress on the body and therefore increase the breathing rate, so it is vital to minimize other stresses at this time. When a virus strikes: increase your Buteyko exercise sessions to at least 9 sets a day; take medication if necessary; reduce food intake; avoid foods that increase the breathing rate; avoid known allergens; rest more but sleep less; drink lots of clear fluids, water is best; keep warm but don't get over-heated. The pulse and control pause give a reliable indicator of how your breathing is for adults, the aim being to maintain an early morning control pause of approximately 45 seconds. When the Control pause increases then your condition is improving, when it decreases your condition is deteriorating and there is a greater chance of an health problems. If it should get less than 7 seconds seek medical attention immediately. The pulse and Step exercise are the meter for children, with the aim being to maintain an early morning number of steps of at least 80. When the number of steps increases the condition is improving and there is less likelihood of an health problems. When the number of steps decreases, then the condition is deteriorating. If the number get less than 15 steps, seek medical attention immediately Ideally do nine sets of breathing exercises a day until your condition is totally under control. This usually means that your early morning control pause is consistently between 45 and 60 seconds for adults or between 80 and 100 steps for children. Then do six sets a day for one week. Provided there is no deterioration in your condition, continue to reduce the exercises by one set each week until you are down to one or two sets a day. Even with no symptoms, it is advisable to check your condition every morning on waking because any continued stress will alter your breathing negatively, and you may not be aware of it unless you check. Should your need for drug intake increase significantly or your condition become less than well controlled then that is the time to contact your Buteyko Educator or your medical practitioner. The five main problems people have with using Buteyko are: a. Not putting in the initial effort required to change their automatic breathing pattern. b. Not being aware of their breathing, and consequently breathing through their mouth while talking and exercising. c. No longer monitoring their condition every morning before breakfast. d. Watching their Control pause or the number of steps fall every morning and not doing anything about it. e. Not telephoning their Buteyko Educator or doctor when being confused about using the Buteyko Method. f. You are advised to seek help or advice from a trained Buteyko Educator should you have any questions about the Buteyko Method. Finally congratulations on completing this course and remember: Eat Less, Sleep less, Breathe Less and Exercise More! The next and last episode gives a brief explanation as to how breathing affects the most common problem areas and deals with some of the health questions that patients have asked in the past. If you have found this course useful please pass on the good news to friends and relatives, remember Professor Buteyko hoped his work would spread across the world to improve everyone’s health, you can help do this.

Episode # 11 Posture, Sleep, and Taping. Hi, this is Michael Lingard welcoming you to Better Breathing Means Better Health, episode eleven, entitled Posture, Sleep and Taping. I hope you are finding this course already helping with your general health and that the work you have put in so far beginning to pay off as you feel more in control of your health and perhaps experiencing more energy, better sleep and fewer symptoms. So how does posture affect our breathing? The raised shoulders, expanded chest and tense upper muscles are to be seen on most patients who normally over-breathe. With habitual heavy breathing these ancillary respiratory muscles need to be used repeatedly and they become chronically tense with over-use. We should breathe primarily with just our diaphragm, the large dome shaped muscle under our lower ribs, and we should not normally use the upper chest for normal activity breathing. During Buteyko training the effects of different postures on our breathing, when awake and asleep are discussed, based on Professor Buteyko’s research. He found that sleeping on our left side reduced breathing at night the most, sleeping on the right side or stomach was almost as good for our breathing, but sleeping on the back invariably increased the breathing rate. So try to avoid sleeping on your back as this has been clearly demonstrated to lead to over-breathing in sleep and often also mouth breathing since the lower jaw easily drops when on our back. This is usually the sleep position when snoring is at its worst. Sleeping on the left side was found to reduce breathing the most, on the right side or front was found to keep breathing rate lower than when sleeping on the back. When sitting try to keep the back upright and the diaphragm free to move easily, avoid slouching and restricting the lower ribs and abdomen. Good posture is just part of the many elements taught on a Buteyko course. Good posture permits normal body action and in particular aids better breathing. Improving your posture is part of the bad habit correction. Improved posture will also improve the overall physiology of your body. There are various ways you can train yourself to avoid sleeping on your back and one is to attach a cork or small ball to the back of your pyjama top, whenever you roll onto your back this will painfully remind you to go onto your side or stomach! Obviously during your waking hours you will by now be very aware of how you are breathing but when you are asleep you are no longer in control of your breathing. One of the commonest bad habits when sleeping is mouth breathing and snoring. If you awake in the morning with a dry mouth, the chances are is that you have been mouth breathing in your sleep. If you snore you almost certainly have been mouth breathing. So how do we stop this when we are unconscious? The simplest solution is to use a thin strip of micropore adhesive tape as used to secure dressings. You can use one centimeter wide tape, tear off about 10 centimetres, fold over one end, it's a good idea to reduce some of the stickiness by pressing it on your bedclothes a couple of times then place it diagonally across your mouth. You will still be able to talk and breathe through the corners of your mouth but it will remind you to keep your mouth closed. When you get used to using the tape this way you may need to begin to place it horizontally across your mouth to ensure you do keep your mouth totally closed. Don’t forget to make sure your nose is clear before going to sleep by doing the nose clearing exercises if you need to. Many people have found this simple procedure has stopped them from snoring and that they have the best sleep ever. The next episode 12 will be about When You Are Ill. If you haven’t yet downloaded the book to accompany this course entitled “The Buteyko Guide to Better Breathing & Better Health” by Michael Lingard, you can view it or buy it From Lulu.com HERE

Episode # 9 Anti-Hyperventilation Exercises Hi, this is Michael Lingard welcoming you to episode nine of Better Breathing Means Better Health. With the best will in the world, every now and again you may find your breathing is getting out of control. This may happen at times of severe stress, when ill or after some trauma. Wouldn’t it be useful to have a simple exercise that you could rely on to bring your breathing back to normal? This is the job of the three anti-hyperventilation exercises I shall tell you about now. The first one is particularly useful as you can do this anywhere, at home, at work or even in company and people will not realize you are doing it. The concept behind this exercise is that when we start to over-breathe or hyperventilate , the gap between breathing out and breathing our next breath in, gets very small or sometimes nil, so this exercise teaches you how to reintroduce this essential gap. Breathe in and out through your nose two times then pause your breath for a count of two in your head. Repeat this again. Breathe in and out through your nose two times, pause your breath for a count of three in your head. Repeat this again. Breathe in and out through your nose two times, pause your breath for a count of four in your head. Repeat this again. Repeat this each time increasing the pause up to a count of ten or as close as you can comfortably manage , then repeat the exercises but reducing the pause each time . Breathe in and out through your nose two times, pause your breath for a count of nine in your head. Repeat this again. Breathe in and out through your nose two times, pause your breath for a count of eight in your head. Repeat this again. Continue this way until you have reduced the pause to a count of two. Follow this with five minutes of reduced breathing if you are an asthma sufferer. This exercise is called the “Rescue Exercise”. Use it when feeling tight-chested, when you need help getting off to sleep, when recovering from physical exercise, for mild claustrophobia, for overcoming an asthma attack on waking, before doing your Buteyko exercises when you don’t feel ready to do them, whenever your breathing is too fast or too deep or for when going into an anxiety-provoking situation. Practice this exercise so that when you need it you will find it easier to do. The second Anti-hyperventilation exercise is more mechanical as you will need a watch with a second-hand to do it. Breathe in for two seconds, breathe out for three seconds then pause your breath for two seconds. Repeat this. Breathe in for two seconds, breathe out for three seconds then pause your breath for three seconds. Repeat this. Breathe in for two seconds, breathe out for three seconds then pause your breath for four seconds. Repeat this. And so on until you get to a pause of six seconds for a panic attack situation or up to ten seconds for asthma if possible, then reverse the exercise each time reducing the pause until you are back to a two second pause. This exercise is useful for overcoming hyperventilation attacks but not for asthma when your breathing is excessively fast, to help getting a child off to sleep when the parent gives the instructions, for dealing with anticipated stress or for an adult to calm an upset child. The third Anti-hyperventilation exercise is similar to the step exercises you learnt about in the last episode. Walk for perhaps three steps while pausing the breathing, breathe in and out through your nose twice. Walk for five steps while pausing your breathing, breathe in and out through the nose twice, Walk for eight steps while pausing your breathing, breathe in and out through the nose twice, Repeat this until you pause your breathing for up to twenty or thirty steps and you are feeling calm, then take the exercise backwards. You are walking all the time whether pausing your breathing or taking breaths. This exercise can be used for: warm up or warm down at sport, for getting out of a place with irritating fumes or odours, to overcome an asthma attack on waking, or for going into an anxiety-provoking situation that may cause you to panic. Always adjust these exercises to suit yourself and the situation. A person with emphysema may have to breathe three or four times between pauses and the pauses may be for very short counts of one or two repeated more often. A person with anxiety may only be able to achieve a breath hold of five seconds for example; in this case they should stay on a maximum of five seconds till they feel comfortable going higher. Do not stop these exercises on the high pause count, always return to the shortest pause. Stopping on the longest pause may set off hyperventilation again. Remember these exercises are reviewed in my book “The Buteyko Guide to Better Breathing & Better Health”, view it or buy it HERE.

Episode # 3 What’s Your Control Pause & How’s Your Breathing Hi, this is Michael Lingard bringing you the third episode of Better Breathing Means Better Health entitled “What’s Your Control Pause & How’s Your Breathing” Now you know your control pause, what does it mean and how can you improve on it? If your control pause was under 10 seconds you are breathing almost 3 to 4 times more than normal and need to try to change this urgently because medicine will not change your breathing, but will simply control symptoms. If you achieved 20 to 25 seconds with your comfortable breath hold, your breathing is about 2 to 3 times more than normal. A control pause of 25 to 35 seconds still means you are over-breathing, almost twice much as you need but you will only have problems when under stress or hit by any of the triggers that make your condition worse. If your control pauses 35 to 45 seconds it is good for most people, but you will still benefit from improved breathing in many other ways. It is very unlikely that your control pause was over 45 seconds as this would mean your breathing would be normal, a rare situation for anyone today. A control pause of 45 to 60 seconds is what we should all try to achieve and this will be the target for this full training course. So just to let you know what the rest of this course will cover I’ll give you an outline of the next episodes. Already you have been advised to try to always breathe through your nose and not to mouth breathe. However many people find it difficult to nose breathe because it is congested or stuffy, this is in part because they haven't been using their nose in the past, and as the old saying goes “If you don't use it, you lose it!” So the next episode will tell you how to unblock and clear your nose to get it back to perfect working order. You will learn how to reduce your breathing through relaxation, you will have advice on good posture for better breathing and what is the best way of avoiding over-breathing when asleep. You will learn how to check your pulse, how to reduce coughing bouts and a later episode will explain how certain foods may cause a problem for people, and you will be given a dietary screening that will help you improve your diet at the same time will improve your breathing. You will learn how to avoid mouth breathing when talking. Towards the end you will learn about anti-hyperventilation exercises that you will be able to use whenever you feel your breathing is getting out of control, at times of stress or after exercise. You'll be told what danger signs you should be aware of and when to see your doctor. And finally when you have improved your breathing you will be told how to stop exercises and monitor breathing with just a minute check-up each day. You'll be told about a summary of the Buteyko Method for your doctor to read so that he or she knows what you're doing and can help you on your way. The next episode is entitled “Nose Clearing & Your First Buteyko Exercise” Remember in preparation for the next episodes and for recording your exercises you should purchase “The Breath Connection – The Buteyko Guide to Better Breathing & Better Health” by Michael Lingard £10.00 from Amazon .co.uk and Lulu.com HERE

Episode # 1 Your Breathing, The Most Neglected Factor in Health and DiseaseFor the people and doctors in the East this is no revelation as Eastern medicine and health care has always paid great attention to the quality of breathing. This is not a surprise when you think that we can live without food for three weeks, without water for three days but we can only survive three minutes without air. Surely just based on this fact alone, we should give more attention to our breathing?Learn more before you start on this course at just click HEREDuring this course you will learn how improved breathing will benefit many diseases including: asthma, allergies, angina, anxiety, circulatory problems, depression, gut problems, hay fever, hypertension, IBS, migraines, ME, panic attacks, skin problems and many more.The common factor in all these conditions is that the individual has developed a bad habit of breathing too much all the time, very often because of stress, some trauma, diet, or other lifestyle problems.You will learn how, by simply improving your breathing and a few other lifestyle changes you will be able to enjoy a healthier life, usually with improved energy, better sleep and fewer health problems. The Buteyko Method has been subjected to clinical trials that have proved its effectiveness and millions across the world have benefited from the training. Until now training was either in small classes or one to one and cost a few hundred pounds, even internet based courses have been over a hundred pounds usually. *With the new facility of the podcast we can offer a very good introduction to the training for free. *The Buteyko Method of breath training was the life’s work of a great Russian physician Professor Konstantin Buteyko who studied the impact of breathing in health and disease and gave this great work to the world to improve the health and wellbeing of as many people as possible. His first teaching of the method in the West was in Australia over thirty years ago, it has since spread across the world and has helped millions of people with many health problems and others have found it has improved their general health or their sporting performance and fitness.What he discovered was that the vast majority of ill health and disease is associated with poor breathing and in particular with over-breathing or chronic hidden hyperventilation. Once the individual’s breathing was returned to normal many of their symptoms and health problems were relieved or eliminated entirely.I would recommend you spend a little time watching my video on YouTube called Chronic Hidden Hyperventilation 21st Century Epidemic that will give you a useful overview of what you are going to be learning on this course. HERESo, when you are ready to start on this journey towards better health go to episode two entitled “Why Most of Us Need Breath Training”In preparation for the next episodes and for recording your exercises you should purchase “The Breath Connection – The Buteyko Guide to Better Breathing & Better Health” by Michael Lingard £10.00 from Amazon .co.uk HERE or from Lulu.com HERE. This is not essential but as a revision book and for exercise recording you will find it invaluable.

Episode # 2 “Why Most of Us Need Breath Training” Hi, this is Michael Lingard bringing you the second episode of Better Breathing Means Better Health entitled “Why Most of Us Need Breath Training” The fact that you are listening to this second episode tells me you know this is true and that you are wondering whether you could benefit yourself. I have been teaching the Buteyko Method of breath training for over fifteen years and have been delighted to see what a great help it has been to all those I have taught but it has also been a disappointment to me that this powerful health promoting work has not gained mainstream medical support. There may be many reasons for this lack of interest from the medical establishment and the public at large but two main ones come to my mind. As regards the medical establishment there is a bias towards disease management and treatment rather than health education and promotion, and with something so radical as this, they demand more scientific research before committing resources or recommending it. We now know that doctors are given little training in health promotion and natural medicine during their years of study and this has now been recognized and efforts are being made to improve this aspect of healthcare. So doctors by and large are reluctant to refer their patients to breath educators. We may also have to wait a long time for more research to be done since most is financed by the pharmaceutical companies who would not want to demonstrate simple breath training and other lifestyle changes could dramatically reduce the need and demand for their drugs. As regards the public in general I understand it is a lot to expect of them to believe that they need to train themselves how to breathe since they have been doing it ever since birth! They don’t need to have walking or talking lessons so why should they need breathing lessons? The second barrier to acceptance is that they not unreasonably go to their doctor for all advice on health matters, who either doesn't support the idea of breath training or dismisses it as irrelevant. The third barrier in the UK is that we have all become used to the idea that all healthcare is free at point of delivery and Buteyko Breath training is not funded by the NHS but can cost a few hundred pounds and that can be difficult for many people. I decided that perhaps the time had come to use modern communication technology to launch breath training more successfully, hence this free podcast you are now listening to. I hope I can make a small contribution to the growing awareness and use of healthy lifestyle self-help systems. So let’s start on this journey towards a better lifestyle and improved health and wellbeing. During my thirty-five years as a holistic healthcare practitioner I have found that over seventy five percent of my patients breathe badly and that this may account for much of their poor health or at the very least is contributing to the disease or illness they complain of. In fact I have found only a few percent breathe optimally and these people tend to have already been doing breath work in yoga, tai chi or other such training. There are two major causes of this widespread problem, stress of our modern lives and lifestyle problems including our diet, exercise and work. If you took time out and watched my video I suggested in episode one “Chronic Hidden Hyperventilation 21st Century Epidemic” you will by now realize why stress produces this dysfunctional breathing due to our ancient fight/flight response to stressors. The lifestyle connections are not so clear cut but from my research over the past two years I have found a strong relationship between what we eat and how we breathe and also that how we breathe influences what and how we eat. You may never have considered the possibility that you over-breathe especially as we are advised to do deep breathing, encouraged to take deep breaths when stressed and generally taught to increase our breathing to get more oxygen into our bodies. But we have been taught wrong! It is not as simple as that and the truth is quite the opposite. Over-breathing lowers our body oxygenation and in fact if you are stressed you will already be over-breathing and the last thing you want to do is to forcibly increase your breathing! To summarize the physiology quickly; we all need to breathe about five litres of air per minute at rest, and our breathing is automatically controlled, not by the level of oxygen in our body, but the level of carbon dioxide. The level of carbon dioxide should normally be around 5 to 6 percent ideally for optimal oxygenation. We produce far more carbon dioxide than we need, so breathing is the body’s way of controlling this. If the carbon dioxide level is too high breathing is increased automatically to expel the surplus, if too low, breathing is reduced to conserve it. So why does carbon dioxide matter? Professor Buteyko called carbon dioxide the hormone par excellence, as it has a profound effect on all of the body’s functioning. When carbon dioxide levels fall too low smooth-muscle wrapped around airways, blood vessels and other hollow organs begins to contract. This is the sensation every asthmatic feels when an attack is imminent, airways narrow & constrict and make it hard to breathe, this is one of the reasons many people suffer hypertension as the narrowed arteries demand a higher blood pressure and why others may suffer panic attacks through restricted blood flow to the brain. Many people breathe through the mouth rather than through their nose and this makes over-breathing more likely because of the large mouth compared with small nasal passages. Breathing through the nose filters out dust and irritants and so mouth breathing leads to more irritation of the airways. Also when we breathe too much there is an increase of histamine production that makes us more sensitive to pollen and other allergens. The nose is for breathing, and the mouth is for eating and talking. When we breathe through the nose dust and irritants are filtered out, the air is warmed if it is cold, the air is moisturized if too dry and most bacteria are killed off while passing through the nose so protecting us from infections of the chest. When carbon dioxide levels are low, the blood carrying the oxygen to all the cells in the body doesn't releases oxygen readily and holds onto it. This creates a sensation of a shortage of breath that makes us try to breathe even more, but as we breathe more we expel even more carbon dioxide and our problems gets worse. So perhaps you now see why breath training is essential for most of us in the West. But let's check whether you are breathing too much now. We're going to measure what Professor Buteyko called the “Control Pause” (CP). The control pause is the maximum comfortable breath hold after exhaling while at rest. It gives a fair measure of how well your body is oxygenated. If you are breathing normally and have good oxygenation, you will be able to hold your breath for 45 to 60 seconds without any effort. If you are very poorly oxygenated you may need to take a breath almost immediately or manage only a few seconds before you have to take another breath in. So let's try it now. Make sure you're sitting comfortably and relaxed and that you haven't just eaten as this will affect the result, wait at least an hour after eating before checking your control pause. Keep your mouth shut and breathe in through your nose a normal breath, breathe out through your nose and then hold your nose. Checked the time on your second hand of a watch or start a timer. Hold your breath until you feel the need to take another breath in, release your nose and breathe in. Note how many seconds you were able to hold your breath. This was your control pause, make a note of it and in the next episode will discuss how well your breathing is and what the control pause means. In preparation for the next episodes and for recording your exercises you should purchase “The Breath Connection – The Buteyko Guide to Better Breathing & Better Health” by Michael Lingard £10.00 from Amazon .co.uk or Lulu.com HERE

Episode # 5 “Getting Started” Hi! This is Michael Lingard bringing you episode five of “Better Breathing Means Better Health” entitled “Getting Started”. Now have completed one Buteyko exercise you can begin to do more on a daily basis using the booklet “The Buteyko Guide to Better Breathing & Better Health” you should have purchased from Lulu.com by now. If you don’t have the booklet you can download a worksheet to print off copies from HERE Try to do at least one exercise in the morning and perhaps two in the evening, you can choose how long you spend doing the reduced breathing depending on how much time you can spare. If you want a short exercise that will take less than 10 minutes make the reduced breathing just three minutes long each time but if you have time you will get better results with a reduced breathing of five minutes each time giving you an exercise that will take about 15 minutes. You should find each time you do an exercise your control pause will rise from start to finish, and your pulse will fall or remain unchanged, depending on how far above your normal pulse rate you were at the start of the exercise. There are a few tips you can note when doing the exercises. Firstly make sure you are relaxed and undisturbed before beginning an exercise don't try to push your control pause for breath hold to try to increase the control pause, the control pause should always be the maximum comfortable breath hold and should not be in any way stressful. When doing the reduced breathing there are many ways patients achieve this but it is always through relaxation. Remember to be sitting comfortably feet on the floor, all muscles throughout the body relaxed, eyes closed, mouth closed, only breathing through your nose. Most people find it helps to visualize some favourite scene, for instance by the sea on the beach or in the garden or by a gentle flowing river. Whatever the scene you use, try to focus on small details there, so as to take your attention away from the daily problems and chores, to quieten your mind. This is not the same as meditation, since you need to keep fully aware of your breathing and relaxation. Some people find listening to certain music can help them relax more. Whatever you choose you will know you have found the right way if your exercises give good results. I usually suggest plotting the average of the start and end Control Pause. If you use a computer you can do this easily on Microsoft Excel or similar programs, these programs will allow you to add a trend line also. You may decide to monitor your progress this way once a week. In the next episode we will discuss what to do if you find you are not making progress and not achieving an increasing control pause. I will introduce some simple things you can do during the day that will help improve your breathing habits. It will help for you to read the sections on reduced breathing in your workbook as suggested before. Remember in preparation for the next episodes and for recording your exercises you should purchase “The Breath Connection – The Buteyko Guide to Better Breathing & Better Health” by Michael Lingard £10.00 from Amazon .co.uk or from Lulu.com HERE

Episode # 4 Nose Clearing & Your First Buteyko Exercise Hi, this is Michael Lingard bringing you the fourth episode of Better Breathing Means Better Health entitled “Nose Clearing & Your First Buteyko Exercise” Perhaps the simplest advice is to try to always breathe through the nose. Why? Because the nose functions to deliver air to the lungs in as perfect condition as possible. It makes over-breathing physically more difficult simply because of the smaller size of the nostrils compared with an our large open mouth. It filters out most of the dust and particulates found in the atmosphere. It moisturizes the air when it's dry, as in centrally heated rooms, delivering air that doesn't irritate and dry out the delicate membranes of the lungs. It conserves water and helps reduce the risk of dehydration. It contains active organisms that trap and destroy many potential infective agents in the air we breathe, protecting the lungs from infection. It is also found to be responsible for the production of up to 50% of nitric oxide in our body when we breathe normally through our nose. Nitric oxide has many vital functions in the body that are still being discovered, we know nitric oxide can dilate blood vessels and improve circulation hence its use for treatment in angina. When people have not been habitually nose breathing for many years it may take a little time and perseverance to retrain the nose to do the work of breathing it was designed for. A Buteyko Conference I attended in Brisbane a marathon runner told, how with Buteyko Training she had learned to nose breathe throughout the entire marathon and this had improved her performance by doing so. Many Olympic athletes in Australia and New Zealand have undergone Buteyko Training to improve their sports performance, endurance and recovery, so breath training is not just for anyone who is not well but also for those who want super fitness and endurance. What if it is difficult to breathe through the nose? There is a saying “If you don't use it you lose it!”, this seems to be what many people are found who have difficulty breathing through their nose. However it is the experience of all Buteyko Educators that with specific exercises and perseverance practically everyone can relearn to nose breathe easily. Whether there is a history of chronic catarrh, deviation of the nasal septum, polyps, old injury or any other condition, everyone can improve their ability to nose breathe. Two simple exercises are taught to help regain normal nose breathing capabilities. Nose clearing exercise number one. On a normal out-breath, hold your nose and keep the mouth shut, and nod the head forward and backwards about eight times gently, then released the nose and breathe gently through the nose, always keeping the mouth shut. Repeating this up to 3 times will clear most stuffy noses and mild blockages. You may need to repeat this procedure a number of times in the first few days until the nose remains clear. Note clearing exercise number two. This is similar to the first exercise but more effective when the congestion or blockages are more severe and long-standing. On an out-breath hold your nose, keep the mouth shut and walk as many steps as you can. When you feel the urgent need to breathe, keep your mouth shut, release the nose and breath in gently through the nose. Repeat till the nose becomes clear. Despite the simplicity of these exercises they have been repeatedly shown to work remarkably well. Remember, always breathe through your nose it's what it's there for, it’s our beautifully designed breathing tube! Reduced breathing. Since Professor Buteyko claimed over a hundred common diseases are due to hyperventilation or over-breathing, a substantial part of the full Buteyko course is spent teaching patients how to reduce their breathing. This is probably the greatest conceptual hurdle for most of us to overcome, and reasonably so! Everyone has been breathing all their lives and we assume we know how to do this; we don’t need to be taught how to walk do we? It is only when we understand the physiology of tissue oxygenation, which is part of this training does it then makes sense that we can still function but can be breathing very badly. The basic background for most poor breathing is stress or lifestyle factors that cause us to hyperventilate. Some people require a lot of individual support and help to learn to reduce their breathing and to break often a lifetime's habit of habitual chronic hidden hyperventilation, others find it easier to learn quickly. At its simplest level the secret is to be totally relaxed, as Professor Buteyko said “Be soft as a cloth”. When we clench our fist we need more energy hence more oxygen to meet the muscles demand, hence more breathing to provide the oxygen. If all muscles are relaxed, a demand for oxygen goes down and are breathing is reduced. If we then relax our breathing muscle, the diaphragm, breathing is reduced further. Because some people may initially have unpleasant reactions when they do strong reduced breathing they are carefully monitored during training to avoid this, but if reduced breathing is achieved only through relaxation most people will not suffer any ill effects. There are many tips and techniques which we will give to help people individually with this vital component of training. The long-term aim is to alter our breathing habits so that all our breathing becomes “reduced breathing” or in other words we return to normal breathing. At this stage further exercises are unnecessary. Thus reduce breathing exercise are a short-term training and become unnecessary when normal breathing is restored as the new habit. So how do we get so bad? Apparently man was not the hunter but the prey and our survival depended on fast reactions to danger, the fight or flight reflex evolved that was life-saving for our ancestors but is a potential health hazard for us today. Repeated stressors for modern man with little or no physical activity, leads to raise heart rate, increased breathing, increased blood directed to muscles increase clotting of blood, reduced immune system activity, increased sweating, and increase histamine production. Our body gets locked into a state of anxiety, our carbon dioxide receptors get used to this low level of carbon dioxide and our over-breathing is maintained. We become hidden chronic hyperventilators. There are two possible reasons that seem to make sense in the West, we are subjected to recurrent stressors from an early age and there is a culture of deep-breathing. It is primarily the recurrent stressors that leads to a chronic hidden hyperventilation but also because Western man has developed a culture of over-breathing; we are encouraged to breathe deeply when we are children, when we are stressed and whenever we take exercise or do keep fit. This is quite the reverse in the East where a perfect man was once judged to breathe “as if not breathing” in other words very softly and quietly. We can now do our first Buteyko exercise, just record this simplified exercise on any notepad at hand. Write down eight headings across the page. Control pause, pulse, reduced breathing, control pause, reduced breathing, control pause, pulse. If you have difficulty finding a pulse on your wrist don't worry at this stage just leave this section blank. Now check your control pause and record this under the control pause heading, if you can easily find your pulse, count the number of beats in 15 seconds and multiply by 4 to give your pulse rate per minute and record under pulse. Now make yourself comfortable, sitting upright and try to totally relax, close your eyes and try to keep your mind quiet by imagining some pleasant scene in a beautiful sandy shore on an island, a special garden or any picture that keeps your mind occupied quietly. Keep your mouth closed and breathe gently through your nose. Keep reminding yourself to be completely relaxed. If you have a timer set it for three minutes. When the timer rings open your eyes and when you are ready check your control pause again. Record this control pause on your notepad. Now, once again return to relaxation for another three minutes setting the timer as before. When the timer rings wait for about a minute before checking your control pause again and your pulse if you're able. The minute wait is to measure what your breathing is now like after the exercise. If you have been able to relax well you should find that either your end control pause is a little higher than your start control pause or your end pulse is lower than the start pulse. This was your first simple Buteyko exercise. Well done! Remember in preparation for the next episodes and for recording your exercises you should purchase “The Breath Connection – The Buteyko Guide to Better Breathing & Better Health” by Michael Lingard £10.00 from Amazon .co.uk and Lulu.com HERE

**Escape from Asthma Episode # 15 Some Important Points ** Hi, this is Michael Lingard, your Buteyko Educator, welcoming you to the final episode of Escape from Asthma and offering you my congratulations on completing this course. You now have the understanding and tools to continue improving your breathing and health in the future. Asthma is a serious condition and as such safety is paramount with the management of this condition. This final episode will highlight areas that you should take particular care over and remember that this course is a general presentation and each individual asthma sufferer is unique. No responsibility can be taken for any adverse reactions to the training or your failure to follow the safety recommendations given; always, if in doubt, consult your doctor, asthma nurse or your own Buteyko Educator for advice. You are recommended to check all the following important points now and from time to time in the future to ensure you are following best practice of the Buteyko Method. 1.** **Under no circumstances should you throw away your bronchodilators or steroids. ** ** For at least the next twelve months always carry your reliever medication with you and use it if necessary. Research has shown that while overuse and heavy doses of bronchodilators may worsen the asthmatic condition, when used correctly in the early stages of an asthma attack, they can stop severe asthma from developing. Prevent or overcome tightness, wheezing, coughing or shortness of breath by first using the Buteyko Method (Control Pause or Extended Pause followed by Reduced Breathing) and** if this does not help, use your reliever medication. As soon as possible after taking it, do the Reduced Breathing exercises.** **Steroid reduction should be discussed with your doctor. ** When it takes place, it should be a very gradual process - no faster than one puff reduced every seven days and reducing all morning steroids doses first. At the first sign of reaction (accelerated pulse, lowered control pause or asthma attacks) then your steroids should be restored to previous dosage. For example, if you start with two puffs night and morning and after cutting out both morning puffs you get asthma, then restore one puff in the morning. If this is still not controlling your condition then restore the second morning puff and do not reduce them again until you are stable and your doctor says that it is safe to continue with the reduction. In the early stages of your training maintain nose breathing at all times, especially when faced with factors that usually cause you asthma. If your nose is blocked use the Nose Clearing exercises to unblock it. The most common of factors to cause asthma are: physical exercise, emotional situations, yelling/shouting, chemical or paint vapours, smoky environments, going out into cold air, alcohol, over-eating and over-sleeping. Adults should keep in mind the importance of the Reduced Breathing exercise. If you must do any deep breathing, for example while playing sport or laughing/crying, then as soon as possible do some Buteyko exercises to return breathing to normal. For most asthmatics, usually the first sign that asthma is returning is either a stuffy nose, broken sleep patterns, waking up more tired in the morning than usual or noticing your morning control pause falling day after day. Always sleep on your side (or stomach for adults). Whenever you notice the early warning signs, increase your Buteyko exercise regime. We recommend that you continue to tape your mouth while sleeping for at least six months. If you wish to stop doing this, then use the Control Pause and pulse to test your breathing while you sleep for a minimum of ten days. Keep off all the foods that increase your breathing rate when you are suffering from breathing difficulties. These include: chocolate, milk, cottage cheese, yoghurt, ice-cream, nuts, honey, chicken/fish/beef stock, strawberries, raspberries, coffee, strong tea, and alcohol or any other foods you have noticed cause you to wheeze. Easily digested proteins increase hyperventilation more than other foods, so if you suspect that your condition is deteriorating then avoid these foods. If you must eat protein at this time then try to eat only unrefined vegetable protein. Viruses are a stress on the body and therefore increase the breathing rate, so it is vital to minimize other stresses at this time. When a virus strikes: increase your Buteyko exercise sessions to at least 9 sets a day; take medication if necessary; reduce food intake; avoid foods that increase the breathing rate; avoid known allergens; rest more but sleep less; drink lots of clear fluids, water is best; keep warm but don't get over-heated. The pulse and control pause act like a natural peak flow meter for adults, with the aim being to maintain an early morning control pause of approximately 45 seconds. When the Control pause increases then your condition is improving, when it decreases your condition is deteriorating and there is a greater chance of an asthma attack. **If it should get less than 7 seconds seek medical attention immediately. ** The pulse and Step exercise act like a natural peak flow meter for children, with the aim being to maintain an early morning number of steps of at least 80. When the number of steps increases the condition is improving and there is less likelihood of an asthma attack. When the number of steps decreases, then the condition is deteriorating. ** If the number get less than 15 steps, seek medical attention immediately ** Ideally do nine sets of breathing exercises a day until your asthma is totally under control. This usually means that your early morning control pause is consistently between 45 and 60 seconds for adults or between 80 and 100 steps for children. When your asthma is controlled, do six sets a day for one week. Provided there is no deterioration in your condition, continue to reduce the exercises by one set each week until you are down to one or two sets a day. Even with no symptoms, it is advisable to check your condition every morning on waking because any continued stress will alter your breathing negatively, and you may not be aware of it unless you check. Should your drug intake increase significantly or your condition become less than well controlled**** then that is the time to contact your Buteyko Educator or your medical practitioner.**** The five main problems people have with using Buteyko are: a. Not putting in the initial effort required to change their automatic breathing pattern. b. Not being aware of their breathing, and consequently breathing through their mouth while talking and exercising. c. No longer monitoring their condition every morning before breakfast. d. Watching their Control pause or the number of steps fall every morning and not doing anything about it. e. Not telephoning their Buteyko Educator or doctor when being confused about using the Buteyko Method. You are advised to seek help or advice from a trained Buteyko Educator should you have any questions about the Buteyko Method. ***Finally congratulations on completing this course and remember: Eat Less, Sleep less, Breathe Less and Exercise More!*

Escape from Asthma Episode # 11 Posture, Sleep, and Taping. Hi, this is Michael Lingard welcoming you to Escape from Asthma episode eleven, entitled Posture, Sleep and Taping. I hope you are finding this course already helping with your asthma and that the work you have put in so far beginning to pay off as you feel more in control of your condition and perhaps experiencing more energy, better sleep and fewer symptoms. So how does posture affect our breathing? The raised shoulders, expanded chest and tense upper muscles are to be seen on most asthmatic patients and others who normally over-breathe. With habitual heavy breathing these ancillary respiratory muscles need to be used repeatedly and they become chronically tense with over-use. We should breathe primarily with just our diaphragm, the large dome shaped muscle under our lower ribs, and we should not normally use the upper chest for normal activity breathing. During Buteyko training the effects of different postures on our breathing, when awake and asleep are discussed, based on Professor Buteyko’s research. He found that sleeping on our left side reduced breathing at night the most, sleeping on the right side or stomach was almost as good for our breathing, but sleeping on the back invariably increased the breathing rate. So try to avoid sleeping on your back as this has been clearly demonstrated to lead to over-breathing in sleep and often also mouth breathing since the lower jaw easily drops when on our back. This is usually the sleep position when snoring is at its worst. Sleeping on the left side was found to reduce breathing the most, on the right side or front was found to keep breathing rate lower than when sleeping on the back. When sitting try to keep the back upright and the diaphragm free to move easily, avoid slouching and restricting the lower ribs and abdomen. Good posture is just part of the many elements taught on a Buteyko course. Good posture permits normal body action and in particular aids better breathing. Improving your posture is part of the bad habit correction. Improved posture will also improve the overall physiology of your body. There are various ways you can train yourself to avoid sleeping on your back and one is to attach a cork or small ball to the back of your pyjama top, whenever you roll onto your back this will painfully remind you to go onto your side or stomach! Obviously during your waking hours you will by now be very aware of how you are breathing but when you are asleep you are no longer in control of your breathing. One of the commonest bad habits when sleeping is mouth breathing and snoring. If you awake in the morning with a dry mouth, the chances are is that you have been mouth-breathing in your sleep. If you snore you almost certainly have been mouth-breathing. So how do we stop this when we are unconscious? The simplest solution is to use a thin strip of micropore adhesive tape as used to secure dressings. You can use one centimeter wide tape, tear off about ten centimetres, fold over one end, it's a good idea to reduce some of the stickiness by pressing it on your bedclothes a couple of times then place it diagonally across your mouth. You will still be able to talk and breathe through the corners of your mouth but it will remind you to keep your mouth closed. When you get used to using the tape this way you may need to begin to place it horizontally across your mouth to ensure you do keep your mouth closed. Don’t forget to make sure your nose is clear before going to sleep by doing the nose clearing exercises if you need to. Many people have found this simple procedure has stopped them from snoring and that they have the best sleep ever. The next episode 12 will be about When You Are Ill. If you haven’t yet downloaded the book to accompany this course entitled “The Buteyko Guide to Better Breathing & Better Asthma Management” by Michael Lingard, Click HERE

Escape from Asthma Episode # 9 Anti-Hyperventilation Exercises Hi, this is Michael Lingard welcoming you to episode nine of Escape from Asthma. With the best will in the world every now and again you may find your breathing is getting out of control. This may happen at times of severe stress, when ill or after some trauma. Wouldn’t it be useful to have a simple exercise that you could rely on to bring your breathing back to normal? This is the job of the three anti-hyperventilation exercises I shall tell you about now. The first one is particularly useful as you can do this anywhere, at home, at work or even in company and people will not realize you are doing it. The concept behind this exercise is that when we start to over-breathe or hyperventilate , the gap between breathing out and breathing our next breath in gets very small or sometimes nil, so this exercise teaches you how to reintroduce this essential gap. Breathe in and out through your nose two times then pause your breath for a count of two in your head. Repeat this again. Breathe in and out through your nose two times, pause your breath for a count of three in your head. Repeat this again. Breathe in and out through your nose two times, pause your breath for a count of four in your head. Repeat this again. Repeat this each time increasing the pause up to a count of ten or as close as you can comfortably manage , then repeat the exercises but reducing the pause each time . Breathe in and out through your nose two times, pause your breath for a count of nine in your head. Repeat this again. Breathe in and out through your nose two times, pause your breath for a count of eight in your head. Repeat this again. Continue this way until you have reduced the pause to a count of two. Follow this with five minutes of reduced breathing if you are an asthma sufferer. This exercise is useful for overcoming an asthma attack on waking or for when going into an anxiety-provoking situation. It is called the “Rescue Exercise”. Use it when feeling tight-chested, when you need help getting off to sleep, when recovering from physical exercise, for mild claustrophobia, before doing your Buteyko exercises when you don’t feel ready to do them or whenever your breathing is too fast or too deep. Practice this exercise so that when you need it you will find it easier to do. The second Anti-hyperventilation exercise is more mechanical as you will need a watch with a second-hand to do it. Breathe in for two seconds, breathe out for three seconds then pause your breath for two seconds. Repeat this. Breathe in for two seconds, breathe out for three seconds then pause your breath for three seconds. Repeat this. Breathe in for two seconds, breathe out for three seconds then pause your breath for four seconds. Repeat this. And so on until you get to a pause of six seconds for a panic attack situation or up to ten seconds for asthma if possible, then reverse the exercise each time reducing the pause until you are back to a two second pause. This exercise is useful for overcoming hyperventilation attacks but not for asthma when your breathing is excessively fast, to help getting a child off to sleep when the parent gives the instructions, for dealing with anticipated stress or for an adult to calm an upset child. The third Anti-hyperventilation exercise is similar to the step exercises you learnt about in the last episode. Walk for perhaps three steps while pausing the breathing, breathe in and out through your nose twice. Walk for five steps while pausing your breathing, breathe in and out through the nose twice, Walk for eight steps while pausing your breathing, breathe in and out through the nose twice, Repeat this until you pause your breathing for up to twenty or thirty steps and you are feeling calm, then take the exercise backwards. You are walking all the time whether pausing your breathing or taking breaths. This exercise can be used to overcome an asthmas attack on waking, or for going into an anxiety-provoking situation. For warm up or warm down at sport, or for getting out of a place with irritating fumes or odours that may trigger an attack. Always adjust these exercises to suit yourself and the situation. A person with emphysema may have to breathe three or four times between pauses and the pauses may be for very short counts of one or two repeated more often. A person with anxiety may only be able to achieve a breath hold of five seconds for example; in this case they should stay on a maximum of five seconds till they feel comfortable going higher. Do not stop these exercises on the high pause count, always return to the shortest pause. Stopping on the longest pause may set off hyperventilation again. These exercises are reviewed in my ebook “The Buteyko Guide to Better Breathing & Better Asthma Management “ HERE

Escape from Asthma Episode#5 Hi! This is Michael Lingard bringing you episode five of “Escape from Asthma” entitled getting started. Now have completed one Buteyko exercise you can begin to do more on a daily basis using the worksheet you have downloaded and printed off, my book "Better Breathing Means Better Health" fror recording your exercises and for revision HERE or the booklet The Buteyko Guide to Better Breathing & Better Asthma Management you may have purchased from Lulu.com.HERE Try to do at least one exercise in the morning and perhaps two in the evening, you can choose how long you spend doing the reduced breathing depending on how much time you can spare. If you want a short exercise that will take less than 10 minutes make the reduced breathing just three minutes long each time but if you have time you will get better results with a reduced breathing of five minutes each time giving you an exercise that will take about 15 minutes. You should find each time you do an exercise your control pause will rise from start to finish, and your pulse will fall or remain unchanged, depending on how far above your normal pulse rate you were at the start of the exercise. There are a few tips you can note when doing the exercises. Firstly make sure you are relaxed and undisturbed before beginning an exercise don't try to push your control pause for breath hold to try to increase the control pause, the control pause should always be the maximum comfortable breath hold and should not be in any way stressful. When doing the reduced breathing there are many ways patients achieve this but it is always through relaxation. Remember to be sitting comfortably feet on the floor, all muscles throughout the body relaxed, eyes closed, mouth closed, only breathing through your nose. Most people find it helps to visualize some favourite scene, for instance by the sea on the beach or in the garden or by a gentle flowing river. Whatever the scene you use, try to focus on small details there, so as to take your attention away from the daily problems and chores, to quieten your mind. This is not the same as meditation, since you need to keep aware of your breathing and relaxation. Some people find listening to certain music can help them relax more. Whatever you choose you will know you have found the right way if your exercises give good results. I usually suggest plotting the average of the start control pause and end control pause. If you use a computer you can do this easily on Microsoft Excel or similar programs, these programs will allow you to add a trend line also to clearly see how you are progressing. You may decide to monitor your progress this way once a week. In the next episode we will discuss what to do if you find you are not making progress and not achieving an increasing control pause. I will introduce some simple things you can do during the day that will help improve your breathing habits. It will help for you to read the sections on reduced breathing in the workbook suggested

Asthma Episode #4 Nose Clearing & Your First Buteyko Exercise Hello this is Michael Lingard welcoming you to “Escape from Asthma” episode 4, “Nose Clearing and Your First Buteyko exercise”. Nose breathing, an aid to better asthma control. Perhaps the simplest advice is to try to always breathe through the nose. Why? Because the nose functions to deliver air to the lungs in as perfect condition as possible. It makes over-breathing physically more difficult simply because of the smaller size of the nostrils compared with an open mouth, it filters out most of the dust and particulates found in the atmosphere, it moisturizes the air when it's dry, as in centrally heated rooms, delivering air that doesn't irritate and dry out the delicate membranes of the lungs, it conserves water and helps reduce the risk of dehydration, it contains active organisms that trap and destroy many potential infective agents in the air we breathe, protecting the lungs from infection, it is also found to be responsible for the production of up to 50% of nitric oxide in our body when we breathe normally through our nose. Nitric oxide has many vital functions in the body that are still being discovered, we know nitric oxide can dilate blood vessels and improve circulation hence its use for treatment in angina. When people have not been habitually nose breathing for many years it may take a little time and perseverance to retrain the nose to do the work of breathing it was designed for. A Buteyko Conference I attended in Brisbane a marathon runner told, how with Buteyko Training she had learned to nose breathe throughout the entire marathon and had improved her performance by doing so. Many Olympic athletes in Australia and New Zealand have undergone Buteyko Training to improve their sports performance, endurance and recovery. What if it is difficult to breathe through the nose? There is a saying “If you don't use it you lose it!”, this seems to be what many people are found who have difficulty breathing through their nose. However it is the experience of all Buteyko Educators that with specific exercises and perseverance practically everyone can relearn to nose breathe easily. Whether there is a history of chronic catarrh, deviation of the nasal septum, polyps, old injury or any other condition, everyone can improve their ability to nose breathe. Two simple exercises are taught to help regain normal nose breathing capabilities. Nose clearing exercise number one. On a normal out-breath, hold your nose and keep the mouth shut, and nod the head forward and backwards about eight times gently, then released the nose and breathe gently through the nose, always keeping the mouth shut. Repeating this up to 3 times will clear most stuffy noses and mild blockages. You may need to repeat this procedure a number of times in the first few days until the nose remains clear. Note clearing exercise number two. This is similar to the first exercise but more effective when the congestion or blockages are more severe and long-standing. On an out-breath hold your nose, keep the mouth shut and walk as many steps as you can. When you feel the urgent need to breathe, keep your mouth shut, release the nose and breath in gently through the nose. Repeat till the nose becomes clear. Despite the simplicity of these exercises they have been repeatedly shown to work remarkably well. Remember always breathe through your nose it's what it's therefore. Reduced breathing. Since Professor Buteyko claimed asthma is a disease of hyperventilation or over-breathing, a substantial part of the full Buteyko course is spent teaching patients how to reduce their breathing. This is probably the greatest conceptual hurdle for asthma sufferers to overcome, and reasonably so! They find themselves breathless, struggling to take another breath, then to be told they are breathing too much and should reduce their breathing to overcome the symptoms takes a great leap of trust initially. It is only when they understand the physiology of tissue oxygenation which is part of this training does it then makes sense to them. The basic background is that triggers or stresses cause us to hyperventilate and the hyperventilation produces the symptoms. Some people require a lot of individual support and help to learn to reduce their breathing and to break often a lifetime's habit of habitual chronic hidden hyperventilation, others find it easier to learn quickly. At its simplest level the secret is to be totally relaxed, as Professor Buteyko said “Be soft as a cloth”. When we clench our fist we need more energy hence more oxygen to meet the muscles demand, hence more breathing to provide the oxygen. If all muscles are relaxed, a demand for oxygen goes down and are breathing is reduced. If we then relax our breathing muscle, the diaphragm, breathing is reduced further. Because some people may initially have unpleasant reactions when they do reduced breathing they are carefully monitored during training to avoid this, but if reduced breathing is achieved only through relaxation most people will not suffer any ill effects. There are many tips and techniques which we will give to help people individually with this vital component of training. The long-term aim is to alter our breathing habits so that all our breathing becomes “reduced breathing” or in other words we return to normal breathing. At this stage further exercises are unnecessary. Thus reduce breathing exercise are a short-term training and become unnecessary when normal breathing is restored as the new habit. So how do we get so bad? Apparently man was not the hunter but the prey and our survival depended on fast reactions to danger, the fight or flight reflex evolved that was life-saving for our ancestors but is a potential health hazard for us today. Repeated stressors for modern man with little or no physical activity, leads to raise heart rate, increased breathing, increased blood directed to muscles increase clotting of blood, reduced immune system activity, increased sweating, and increase histamine production. Our body gets locked into a state of anxiety, our carbon dioxide receptors get used to this low level of carbon dioxide and our over-breathing is maintained. We become hidden chronic hyperventilators. There are two possible reasons that seem to make sense in the West, we are subjected to recurrent stressors from an early age and there is a culture of deep-breathing. It is primarily the recurrent stressors that leads to a chronic hidden hyperventilation but also because Western man has developed a culture of over-breathing; we are encouraged to breathe deeply when we are children, when we are stressed and whenever we take exercise or do keep fit. This is quite the reverse in the East where a perfect man was once judged to breathe “as if not breathing” in other words very softly and quietly. We can now do our first Buteyko exercise, just record this simplified exercise on any notepad at hand. Write down eight headings across the page. Control pause, pulse, reduced breathing, control pause, reduced breathing, control pause, pulse. If you have difficulty finding a pulse on your wrist don't worry at this stage just leave this section blank. Now check your control pause and record this under the CP heading, if you can easily find your pulse, count the number of beats in 15 seconds and multiply by 4 to give your pulse rate per minute and record under pulse. Now make yourself comfortable, sitting upright and try to totally relax, close your eyes and try to keep your mind quiet by imagining some pleasant scene in a beautiful sandy shore on an island, a special garden or any picture that keeps your mind occupied quietly. Keep your mouth closed and breathe gently through your nose. Keep reminding yourself to be completely relaxed. If you have a timer set it for three minutes. When the timer rings open your eyes and when you are ready check your control pause again. Record this control pause on your notepad. Now, once again return to relaxation for another three minutes setting the timer as before. When the timer rings wait for about a minute before checking your control pause again and your pulse if you're able. The minute wait is to measure what your breathing is now like after the exercise. If you have been able to relax well you should find that either your end control pause is a little higher than your start control pause or your end pulse is lower than the start pulse. This was your first simple Buteyko exercise, well done. Before the next episode download the Buteyko work sheet and print off copies for future use, you will find this at www.totalhealthmatters.co.uk/Worksheet.pdf or you may prefer to buy the companion eBook "The Buteyko Guide to Better Breathing & Better Asthma Management" HERE or my book that accompanies this podcast for recording your exercises and further studies entitled "Better Breathing Means Better Health" HERE

Podcast 22: What’s The Cause of a Disease? Pathology or Ethology? Many years ago I asked myself the question, “What is the cause of health or what is the etiology of health?” A much wiser and experienced doctor also asked himself this same question over eighty years ago, he was a pathologist and although he understood the origin of most diseases, he had no answer to this question. He spent the rest of his life researching the question and his work is still as valid today as it was then. I have published a podcast on this, Episode 7 entitled “Health is Based on Family and Community” Seventy years on we find the medical profession is now trying to encourage this approach with “Social Prescribing” Well, returning to the question of “What is the origin of disease?” "Connection" by Michael Lingard may be obtained from Amazon HERE We have been taught that most diseases have specific causes, usually just involving one or two, they could be a virus, smoking, a gene or other such factor. This has become more and more confusing for the public as researchers discover links between more and more factors and particular diseases. So perhaps the answer is far more complex than we have been led to believe? What if, instead of concentrating our research and study in the field of pathology, we chose to shift our attention to more research and study in the field of ethology, or the study of health? A few years ago I published a small book entitled “Connection – Towards a better understanding of health in medicine” that made the case for the fact that health is connected to practically everything and that health could be regarded as the normal state of affairs. The forward in my book drew on the wisdom of Leonardo da Vinci who combined reductionism and holism in all his work. We need to study the finer parts of any problem (this is the task of reductionism) to help our understanding but we also need to see how the whole system works (this is the task of holism). Medicine has placed too much emphasis on reductionism to the detriment of understanding the whole, or holism. So if we are to understand where any particular disease comes from we need to take a far broader inspection of the sufferer’s life history to the emergence of their disease. Just as health depends on many factors including: our physical structural integrity and functioning, our food and fluid consumption, our quality of breathing, our levels of stress, our family and community support, the environmental factors of pollution in our air and water, infections from bacteria or viruses, our genetic make-up, our physical exercise, our mental health, our work, and many more factors. So too, any disease condition will require some or all of those same factors to allow its development. The good news is that we all have control over the vast majority of those factors, sometimes we may need professional guidance and help and indeed there are such factors as toxins in our environment that are difficult to avoid. Even here, our bodies have the capacity, when health is optimized, to eliminate or nullify the effects of toxic substances. To summarize I would contend that the greatest protection against every disease known to man is HEALTH! This is not a crazy oxymoron as it might seem, a health-promoting lifestyle has been shown to offer remarkable resistance against all the major diseases. So perhaps we should all take the optimistic view that by making every effort to improve our health we will give ourselves the greatest protection against every disease and live a long healthy, fulfilling life.

Hi, I’m Michael Lingard , Orthopath, Buteyko Educator and Plantrician introducing Podcast 12 entitled “Forget Your Drugs, Sort Your Lifestyle!” Forget Your Drugs, Sort Your Lifestyle! Almost all chronic diseases and most acute illnesses are the product of years of many lifestyle stressors on the body. It is wishful thinking or just ignorance to believe we can take a single pill to fix a disease. Let me emphasise the fact that some people may be totally dependent on certain drugs, this podcast is about the rest of us. This trust in the drug based solution has been driven by two main forces, the commercial profit motives of the pharmaceutical companies supported by the modern reductionist medicine and the demands from patients to be given a pill for every ill rather than accept the need to make changes in their lifestyle supported by a failure of health promotion education for both doctors and the public at large. I am not deriding the enormous advances that have been made in drug treatment that are keeping millions alive and in a functioning state that without their use and without any significant change in lifestyle most would suffer far more and meet an early death. So what are the factors that might ensure most of us would live a long, active, disease free life? What evidence is there to support this concept? Essentially, could it be true that vibrant health is the normal state of affairs and that diseases should be the remarkable exceptions? Health is based on normal structural integrity (almost ignored in modern medicine yet the fundamental tenet of osteopathy that recognizes the fact that “structure governs function”), health is founded on the optimal diet (once again a factor almost ignored by modern medicine despite the fact that 90% of chronic diseases are closely related to diet, “we are what we eat”), health is dependent on normal breathing (few doctors routinely check their patient’s breathing despite the fact that almost all diseases are linked to dysfunctional breathing and that most people in the West suffer from over-breathing or chronic hidden hyperventilation), health is dependent on an adequate level of physical activity (our sedentary lifestyle and increasing reliance on wheels over legs has become a major issue), health is severely damaged by stress or our mental outlook and state (this is the most complex factor affected by our childhood, our family, work, education, emotional traumas etc., so it would seem pretty unlikely that such a complex, multifaceted problem could be fixed with a drug or two), health is dependent on our environment (this is for most of us outside our individual control, pollution of the air we breathe or the water and food we consume along with many other toxins found in our modern lives, there are few drugs that can eliminate or neutralize these poisons to our body), the list could be extended indefinitely for the simple reason that health is connected to, well, everything, as I expand on in my book entitled “Connection- towards a broader understanding of health in medicine.” As a first small step in this direction I offer a short Skype Course “ Optimal Health Lifestyle Course” that addresses the three most important factors, diet, breathing and stress. Download details as pdf: http://www.totalhealthmatters.co.uk/Skype%20Lifestyle%20Course.pdf All this is not new but can be found in the growing interest in “functional medicine” that tries to find the causes of ill health, where the body’s functioning has gone astray and then to address these factors. Looks very much like the above, don’t you think!

Hi, I’m Michael Lingard, Orthopath, Buteyko Educator and Plantrician introducing podcast number 11 entitled “Enjoy Optimal Health with The Skype Lifestyle Course” This course is based on a six lessons over three-weeks. Health is both simple and complex, when anyone asks me what are the factors affecting our health I am now quite clear that the answer is, everything. Our health is affected by many things including body mechanics, our diet, our breathing, our stress, our work, our family, exercise, the environment, and much more or as I said before, everything, but we only have any substantial control over two of these factors. The good news is that by taking control over the two key factors we are better able to live with the others. So what are these two health-promoting activities in our lives? They are what we eat and how we breathe! There is an old saying “We are what we eat” or I tell children “We can’t make eyeballs from chocolates, they usually get the idea from that” Today it is now recognized that bad eating habits have led to an epidemic of obesity, heart disease and diabetes but the public are still not given the facts that scientific research proved over twenty or so years ago. This is in part due to the fact that the food industry would rather keep us all in the dark, also because doctors do not have any significant training in nutrition so feel unable to offer any good advice to their patients and often their patients don’t want to hear any advice that might involve them cutting out foods they have come to love. However the fact is that ninety percent of our major diseases are diet related, in other words we can reduce or eliminate the risk of developing the major diseases like, Heart Disease, Diabetes, Strokes, Alzheimer’s Disease, Cancer, MS, Arthritis and more by changing our diet. Yes, it’s that simple and that powerful, we have the power to improve our health without drugs. We can live for three weeks without food, three days without water but barely three minutes without air. Would this alone not make us think that breathing is the most vital activity in our lives? Over seventy five percent of us breathe badly, most of us over-breathe or suffer some degree of chronic hidden hyperventilation. Dysfunctional breathing impairs oxygenation of our body, causes restrictions of blood vessels, disturbs the entire chemistry of the body and may be associated with over a hundred diseases including Asthma, Angina, Anxiety, Hypertension, ME, Poor Sleep, IBS, Allergies, Sleep Apnoea, Orthodontic Problems, Panic Attacks and many more health problems. We can all learn how to improve our breathing in just a few weeks, because bad breathing is just a bad habit and the body is ready and waiting to return this vital activity back to normal. The really good news is that my research over the past year, based on over two hundred patients I have screened for breathing and diet, has shown that the way we breathe affects the way we eat and the way we eat changes the way we breathe. This means every improvement of one will automatically lead to improvements in the other. I have a Skype Lifestyle Course that teach you how to improve both your diet and your breathing and is based on two major research works; the dietary advice is based on the largest epidemiological study ever done in the field of nutrition, backed by over 25 years of clinical tests and used by over 12,000 success of doctors worldwide, often referred to as “The China Study”. The breath training is based on the clinically proven system the Buteyko Method developed by the Russian doctor Professor Konstantin Buteyko. The course is based on six half hourly sessions and usually extends over three weeks. See my website for details : www.Totalhealthmatters.co.uk

Hi, I’m Michael Lingard, Orthopath, Buteyko Educator and Plantrician presenting podcast number ten entitled “What is a Plantrician?” Although I have been in practice as a therapist for over 35 years I only began including nutrition screening and advice three years ago. This was not because I didn’t believe nutrition to be one of the most important factors underpinning good health, far from it, I had decided twenty years ago that health was founded on good structure, good diet, good breathing, good mind as well as a good supportive environment from birth, but I had not been able to find any substantial scientifically based nutritional advice to give my patients. Only when I read “The China Study” by Dr. T Colin Campbell that detailed the research that began with the largest epidemiological study in nutrition ever conducted. This was the information I had been looking for all those years, superbly presented and backed by many years of clinical research as well. My next step was to enroll on an intensive eCornell University Course over the internet called “ Plant Based Nutrition”. Once again I was given an educational feast from the leading doctors and practitioners in this field. Very soon afterwards I added “The Food Connection” to my website and began introducing this work to all my patients. By this time I had been in close communication with the founders of the 4LeafSurvey, Dr. Kerry Graff & J. Morris Hicks, exchanging my research on the connection between diet and breathing, and began using this simple but effective questionnaire routinely with every patient. Since then I have been doing whatever I can to promote the use of this simple screening for doctors and other heath workers who want to offer sound nutritional advice to their patients as part of their practice service. It takes just a few minutes for the patient to complete the questionnaire, just one minute for the practitioner to mark their results with a guide to changes to be made over time, backed up with an A4 information sheet plus, in my practice, access to a substantial library of cook books the patient may borrow, giving them the guidance they need to get started towards a better nutritional lifestyle. What I find so rewarding is that I now know I can help every patient I see with sound nutritional advice that is simple to understand but not always so easy to follow. Whether they decide to make changes in their dietary habits is their decision but at least they now have the information how to change for the better if they so choose. Only two nutritional supplements may be suggested, B12 if they make all the advised changes to their diet or if blood tests indicate a need for this supplement, and Vitamin D in winter for some, again if there is any concern a blood test will clarify whether this is needed or not. Any patient on medication from their doctor is advised to have this checked out as they make substantial changes to their diet, often improved nutrition leads to reduced need for medication. So a Plant-ri-cian is a physician or clinician empowered with knowledge of the benefits of whole food plant-based nutrition. I can most strongly recommend the Plant Based Nutrition eCornell University Course to every doctor or therapist who wants to give good guidance on diet to their patients. For me it was the best value educational training I have ever had, based on the study time involved and the benefits derived. For more information visit my website “thefoodconnection.org.uk” or “theplantricianproject.org”