Upcoming Courses:
Course (a): 4 Saturday afternoon sessions (2:15 pm to 3:45 pm)
Dates: 6, 13, 20, and 27 August 2016
Venue: The Novara Centre, 11 Fitzwilliam Terrace, Strand Road, Bray, Co. Wicklow
Course (b): 4 Wednesday evening sessions (6:30 pm to 8:00 pm)
Dates: 7, 14, 21, and 28 September 2016
Venue: The Glenview Hotel, Glen of the Downs, Co. Wicklow
Course (c): 4 Saturday afternoon sessions (2:15 pm to 3:45 pm)
Dates: 3, 10, 17, and 24 September 2016
Venue: The Novara Centre, 11 Fitzwilliam Terrace, Strand Road, Bray, Co. Wicklow
Course (d) 4 Wednesday evening sessions (6:30 pm to 8:00 pm)
Dates: 2, 9, 16, and 23 November 2016
Venue: The Glenview Hotel, Glen of the Downs, Co. Wicklow
Course (e): 4 Saturday afternoon sessions (2.15 pm to 3:45 pm)
Dates: 5, 12, 19, and 26 November 2016
Venue: The Novara Centre, 11 Fitzwilliam Terrace, Strand Road, Bray, Co. Wicklow
Course fee per person: €275
The fee includes: Course notes, a copy of the Buteyko Breathing Clinic Self Help Manual, and a relaxation CD.
A Buteyko training course is delivered in 4 sessions. The course is designed to create an awareness of their breathing in course participants, and to enable them to understand, control and manage their breathing. During sessions, the instructor teaches participants a series of exercises which they initially practise in the training sessions, with feedback and guidance from the instructor. They are also encouraged to practise the prescribed exercises between sessions. Participants are also made aware of, and encouraged to make, potentially beneficial lifestyle changes.
Teaching nose breathing is an essential element of a Buteyko training programme. It is common for those with respiratory symptoms such as rhinitis and sinusitis, often associated with asthma, to breathe through their mouths. Participants are taught how to clear their noses and instructed to breathe through their nose when undertaking a number of breathing exercises.
The Buteyko breathing technique can be used to empower participants to self-manage their asthma. They are taught to normalise their breathing pattern at rest, and to control their breathing and limit hyperventilation when breathlessness occurs due to exertion, contact with asthma triggers or at the onset of an asthma attack. Essentially, they are taught to change their breathing pattern with the aim of breathing less (in terms of volume). The technique aims to restore the natural balance of breathing. Teaching participants how to breathe less, is facilitated by relaxation and improving control of the respiratory muscles, gradually increasing tolerance for the feeling of breathlessness, and by gaining an understanding of how external factors can affect breathing.
For course participants, the challenge is to carry out the prescribed breathing exercises on a daily basis, in order to gain benefit. In most cases, motivated and committed participants will see a benefit in the first two to three weeks. Once they begin to see the benefit, it is easier to establish a regular routine of exercises. For parents accompanying child participants, the challenge is to encourage their children to do the exercises regularly.
Practising the prescribed breathing exercises requires a considerable commitment from an individual in terms of time and effort. It is not a ‘quick fix’. It suits people who are motivated to be closely involved with the effective self-management and control of their asthma or other breathing related conditions.
Buteyko Breathing Clinics (Dublin and County Wicklow)