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Breathing Exercises For
Everyone

New Zealand Fitness
Magazine



We breathe in, breathe out, breathe in and breathe out, all day
long. We don't notice our
breathing when we're healthy, mainly because we're not conscious of
it, writes DR IGOR BORISOV.
It's
automatic.



Centuries ago people such as the Greek athletes and Indian Yogi
learned to control their
breathing with special breathing exercises in order to attain
certain results.


Today, breathing specialists use both old and new methods to teach
people to control their
breathing. Controlled breathing at present is practised by
gymnasts, swimmers, weight-lifters
and track-and-field athletes, to significantly improve their sports
performance. Asthmatics and
others with health problems also resort to breathing gymnastics to
considerably alleviate their
condition and improve their
health.


Controlled breathing is very important for the 600,000 New
Zealanders who are suffering from
asthma and who are spending millions and millions of dollars for
treatment and prevention of
this dangerous
disease.



This is not economic if one takes into account that different
breathing systems can be used to
control and reduce the frequency of asthma symptoms. It saves time
and money on the treatment
of asthma, and improves the physical condition of many
people.


As an example such effects can be achieved by using a well-
established system, which is also
known by the name of its practitioner, educational specialist
Alexandra Strelnikov. It is this
system of simple breathing exercises for both sick and healthy
people that I want to tell
readers
about.



I will try to explain the essence of it using the following
example:


Imagine you are pumping a car tyre. Your legs are straight, your
hands are down, and you make a
deep bend. You breathe out as you go down, and you breathe in as
you come up. It comes
naturally. You do not control your breathing. You do not try to do
it the other way round. This
is an alternative breathing technique, which was developed and
tested by Mrs Strelnikov.


It was initially used to treat professional singers for the loss of
voice. Mrs Strelnikova
recommends breathing in through the nose when the chest is
squeezed, and breathing out through
the mouth when the chest expands. This is a paradox - not what one
would expect - and that is
why her new system of breathing exercises in combination with a set
of simple physical
exercises is called paradoxical breathing gymnastics (PBG). This
new breathing system received
a patent and became very popular both professionally and non-
professionally in a number of
countries
overseas.



PBG increases the amount of oxygen in circulating blood. At the
same time superficial
breathing, when performing paradoxical gymnastics exercises, helps
to maintain the required
amount of carbon dioxide in the blood. This is very important as
carbon dioxide expands the
blood vessels and our body receives more oxygen and different
nutritious components with it.


PBG can be done while standing, sitting or lying. Children and
adults alike can enjoy breathing
gymnastics. It does not call for special conditions or equipment.
The exercises can be
practised indoors and outdoors, at home or at work, any time of
day.


This turns them into a simple and effective means of arresting
asthmatic attacks as well as
preventing them when used on a regular basis. In medical records
there are examples of asthma
effectively responding to the treatment by paradoxical breathing
after a set of exercises
practised on nine successive days, but other patients required more
time, about 45 days, during
which their asthmatic symptoms gradually reduced and ultimately
stopped altogether.


Researchers write that both long-term and short-term patients
respond equally well to
paradoxical gymnastics. Their sleep grows sounder, their constant
fears as well as asthmatic
attacks causing them, gradually
vanish.


Usually PBG includes 12 different breathing and physical exercises.
However the core exercise
of PBG is the
following:



Feet shoulder width
apart.



Hold your body
straight.



Bend your arms at the
elbows.



The most common ones are moving from position one to either two
or three.


In position one, cross your arms over your chest so that your
hands reach your shoulder
blades (position two)
or



In position three, you cross your arms over your chest and lean
back. In both positions your
chest is squeezed when breathing
in.


The sequence of actions is as follows: take a short and
energetic breath in (position two or

three).



Then when you extend your arms it makes you automatically breath
out.


When you do this exercise you have to concentrate specifically
on breathing in. It is
important that your breath in is not deep. It is followed by a
short natural breath out. On
the whole it is a very easy
exercise.


Do seven sets of 64 breaths both in and out or four to five sets
of 96 breaths in and out.


The frequency varies from 64 to 96 repetitions per minute
depending on your personal

condition.



After every set there should be a little break of about four to
five seconds.


PBG also helps in alleviatory symptoms or in some cases
arresting bronchitis, tracheitis,
chronic colds, pneumonia, arthritis, stammering or loss of
voice. It calms down the nerves,
normalises blood pressure and reduces
fever.


Paradoxical breathing can help both sick and healthy people. A
generally fit person can give
it a go when waking up with a dull or heavy head or when
starting a physical training

session.



Thanks to breathing exercises in combination with a set of
physical exercises all athletes
can develop breathing muscles, increase lung ventilation and
blood composition. Apart from
that, PBG decreases warm-up time, improves efficiency and
rehabilitation after physical

training.



As a rule, it is sufficient to exercise for about five to six
minutes before and after
training or competitions to obtain the desired effect. Asthmatic
patients need to exercise

more.



PBG is not a panacea, but it is one of the most effective and
simple methods of combating
respiratory disorders, as well as improving resistance to life-
threatening diseases. It does
not require extra expenses; it is simple and easy to adjust to
any person's needs. Once
mastered it can be easily done by anyone without any
aid.


For further information, contact:
igor.borisov@...










Cheers

Terry