From the Lamaze method to Hatha yoga, many exercises incorporate breathing techniques for increased fitness. If you're looking for a specific type of breathing class, try your local hospital or college extension program. Whether you suffer from asthma, high blood pressure or just hope to introduce relaxation methods into your daily routine, learning to regulate your breathing is a useful method for taking control of your health.
Pregnancy
Geared to promote relaxation and ease labor pains, many breathing classes are designed for pregnant women. Lamaze classes, developed in France by Dr. Ferdinand Lamaze, gained popularity in the United States during the late 1950s. These classes promote the view of labor as a normal, natural process. The Lamaze method teaches controlled-breathing techniques to cope with labor, and more recently offers a wider variety of methods to deal with pain. Breathing methods taught in yoga classes also help facilitate labor and reduce pain if practiced during the last 10 to 12 weeks of pregnancy.
Health Disorders
Some breathing classes help with specific health disorders. Buteyko, a breathing method developed in Russia during the 1950s by Dr. Konstantin Buteyko, is a method of shallow breathing used to relieve asthma. These classes teach individuals with asthma to breathe shallowly and only through the nose to combat the hyperventilation, or over-breathing, which Buteyko believed was the cause of asthma. Sleep apnea is another disorder in which breathing exercises may relieve symptoms. In particular, the circular-breathing method learned by playing a didgeridoo reduces the daytime symptoms and severity of sleep apnea. This method entails learning to control the movements of your airway in order to direct your breathing into your nose while simultaneously expelling it through your mouth.
Meditation
Meditative breathing evokes a state of relaxation and benefits patients undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatments. During concentration meditation, patients sit in a quiet place and focus on their breathing. This practice can alleviate pain and reduce your blood pressure and heart rate. Meditative techniques are also taught in classes designed to reduce stress.
Yoga
Yoga reduces stress and anxiety through controlled-breathing exercises. Breathing techniques are taught alongside meditation and specific poses, often named after animals. Certain yoga-breathing exercises are designed to tone the muscles of the throat and air passages and may help relieve medical conditions such as sleep apnea. Ujjayi Pranayama is one example of a yoga technique that may increase lung capacity and relieve snoring. Visit a health club, hospital or yoga clinic to find locally offered yoga classes, which range from slow-paced Hatha yoga to other more vigorous exercises that increase strength and flexibility.
References
- BabyCenter; The Lamaze Method of Childbirth; December 2008
- Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice; Prenatal Yoga May Result in Less Labor Pain, Shorter Labor; S. Chuntharapat, et al.; 2008
- "The New York Times"; A Breathing Technique Offers Help for People with Asthma; Jane Brody; November 2009
- Dr Paulose -- ENT, Plastic and Laser Surgeon; Can Yoga Cure Snoring and Sleep Apnea?; Dr. Paulose
- University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center; Meditation; 2011
- Mayo Clinic; Yoga: Tap into the Many Health Benefits; January 2010
