Notes from the Yahoo Buteyko Group

Sit quietly for 10 minutes and then check your pulse rate. Now do a
Control Pause in the normal way. Carry on doing reduced breathing until it
is time to do your second CP. It is important to make sure your automatic
pause is as long as possible otherwise you will not achieve the maximum
benefit from the exercise. After a second CP you should be able to pause
for longer than you were doing between the first and second CPs. If you
stay with the same length of pause as before then there would probably be
no drop in your pulse. Repeat this story for the remainder of your half
hour RBE session. I think it is best to check your pulse just before your
final CP at the end of the half hour session. This avoids the problem of
your pulse fluctuating madly due to the Control Pause. Again compare your
initial and final pulse rates. If you want you can check your pulse at any
time during the exercise but remember that this involves a certain loss of
concentration in reducing your breathing.

Now compare the results Do you have similar results from the two tests? If
not, which gives the maximum desired drop in your pulse rate? Did the
Control Pause have any effect on the results? If so, was it beneficial? The
final action to be taken is to write in and tell us of your conclusions. I
hope that many of you will try these tests to see if you come up with the
same answers as I did.

If you have a heart monitor, that makes Test 2 that much more interesting
as you can see the changes in your pulse as they happen including that
sudden huge decrease in your pulse during a Control Pause and just after it.

>By the way, is there such a think as the "ideal menu" for the
>exercises or does every practitioner have his/her own?

Although Hooper allows 10 minutes of reduced breathing between CPs this is
longer than many others do. In his book Artour Rakhimov says that the most
common timing in Russia and elsewhere in the world is between 3 and 5
minutes. Thirty to forty minutes seem to be the normal length for the whole
exercise. Apparently it is difficult to concentrate adequately for longer
than that.
Ian

"BTW, my set consists of Pulse-CP-RB-EP-RB-CP-RB-EP-RB-CP-Pulse"


Since it takes about 12 minutes for changes to percolate through to the
breathing centre in the brain just doing a single CP could not possibly
effect the breathostat setting. From my reading of the Buteyko therapy I
was of the opinion that to change ones CP it is necessary to combine
reduced breathing and control pauses for at least 20 minutes while 30 to 40
minutes are suggested as normal

Practitioners

Rosalba Courtney D.O.,N.D,C.A.
Alive & Well! Institute of Conscious Bodywork
100 Shaw Drive
San Anselmo, CA 94960
U.S.A.
Phone: (415)258-0402
Fax: (415)258-0635
Toll free in US: 888-259-5961

-- MattWalsh - 29 Jul 2005