Functional Breathing for Health
“Is sickness causing the hard breathing, or is hard breathing causing the sickness? ”
— Dr Buteyko
Functional Breathing for Health & Wellbeing
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The Importance of Functional Breathing
Functional breathing is breathing efficiently to meet your metabolic needs. Breathing through the nose, low down in the lungs and slow.
Did you know that over half of the adult and child population are dysfunctional in the way that they breathe?
Did you know that the way that you breathe affects EVERYTHING?
Did you know that dysfunctional breathing
lowers energy levels
reduces sleep quality and increases the likelihood of snoring and sleep apnea
increases anxiety and panic disorders
decreases emotional resiliency and the ability to cope with stress
lowers immunity
can lead to learning and behavioural issues in children
The breath affects everything and evrything affects the breath.
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Functional Breathing Sessions
Sessions are designed to assess and correct dysfunctional breathing habits and provide individuals with prescribed breathing exercises that will reduce the symptoms caused by ‘overbreathing’.
In a typical session a client would
engage in a wellness coaching session to establish wellbeing goals
undergo a breathing assessment
be introduced to relevant breathing exercises
receive follow up check ins between appointments, plus ongoing support and resources.
I am a certified instructor of the Buteyko Method, Oxygen Advantage and a qualified yoga and breathwork (pranayama) teacher.
Take advantage of the free 15 minute discovery call to find out if this method is for you!
Private sessions start from $80 for 60 minutes
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The Benefits of Functional Breathing
Functional breathing is our birth right, but unfortunately life happens and circumstances including occupation type, trauma, illness, posture, exercise and diet all contribute to creating changes in our breathing habits. These habits become our new normal and before long we are breathing at a rate much greater than our metabolic needs.
By addressing your breathing pattern you will
breathe to meet your metabolic needs, increasing energy levels
enjoy deeper more restful sleep
combat the racing mind
reduce stress and anxiety
improve respiratory challenges such as asthma and COPD
improve athletic performance
increase immune function
increase emotional resiliency and the ability to cope
improve your overall health and wellbeing
Buteyko Method
The Buteyko Method was developed by a Ukrainian doctor Konstantin Buteyko in the 1950’s. Dr Buteyko noticed the correlation between dysfunctional heavy breathing patterns and levels of sickness in his patients whilst studying at University. He observed that the sicker a person became the heavier they began to breathe.
During this time Dr Buteyko developed his own health condition in the form of malignant hypertension, when traditional methods of treatment failed to have any impact on his condition Dr Buteyko begun to consider alternative theories. He looked at his own heavy breathing patterns and whether this was causing the significant rise in his blood pressure. Dr Buteyko cured his malignant hypertension by breathing exercises. This method laid the foundations for the now well established Buteyko Method of breath re-education.
The Buteyko method consists of a series of breath exercises designed to return a client’s breathing to meet their metabolic needs rather than above their metabolic needs. This program re-educates the individual in functional breathing, emphasising:
breathing through the nose
breathing light
breathing slow
breathing low
Buteyko Method has helped thousands of people overcome challenges such as
asthma, hayfever, rhinitis,
sleeping disorders (snoring, sleep apnoea, insomnia)
stress, anxiety & panic disorders
chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, long COVID
childhood development including craniofaciial development, dental health and ADHD
Breathing is something we do up to 23,000 times a day, if we are not doing this repetitive action in a functional and optimal way, the effect on our health and wellbeing can become increasingly detrimental.
Rise to Shine Wellbeing offers private coaching, small group sessions, workshops and online courses to support functional breathing, making it a viable way to fully support your overall health and wellbeing.
Rise to Shine clients are saying…
“Breathwork has been the secret weapon to reclaiming my health! So simple, yet so overlooked. Thank you for reigniting my vitality for life.”
— Jessica
“Sleeping has been an issue for me forever. Constantly waking up in the night, racing mind - breathwork changed that, yes it took commitment and practice, but what an investment in your health. I can’t recommend Lea highly enough.”
— Michelle
“the greatest indicator of life span wasn’t genetics, diet, or the amount of daily exercise, as many had suspected. It was lung capacity.”
~ James Nestor