I Had To Go To Moscow To Find Out The Details of Asthma

So What Did I Do When an Unknown Russian Breathing Method Made My Asthma Symptoms Stop, Start and Stop?

By James Hooper

Back in the 1990′s, I was a pretty well set.  I was working for a multinational drug company and life was great.  The only slight blight was my asthma.

I had asthma from pretty close to birth.  And it did take the edge of life – but I was ok.

One day I saw a documentary from Sydney – it was Current Affair with Mike Willisee I think – that made some outrageous claims in a strong Russian accent about “the doctors are all wrong” – and I will prove it to you!  Then they interview a bunch of people who were VERY believable.

James Hooper with Professor Buteyko in Moscow

Oh well.  So I contacted the clinic in Sydney – and discovered they were very disorganized.   A Russian called Alex (Sasha) Stalmatski had been sent by Professor Buteyko to “show” the Western world that they were missing the obvious.  They chose asthma to show the effects of the training – even though it was originally for use with hypertension – because that would be far more dramatic.  (Which is pretty right.)

The Sydney Clinic sent me a heavy duty 30 odd page document called “The Biochemistry of the Diseases of Deep Respiration.”

When I pounded through this document – it became obvious that there might be something to this very different approach to what I had grown up with.  From just the biochemistry – I “figured” it out that if I purposely changed my breathing – my asthma symptoms would be made to come and go.

It was rather eerie when I first made my breathing deeper – and a wheeze started.  I kept going and the wheeze was joined by a desire to cough.  Exactly how my usual asthma progressed.  [I had my reliever medication VERY handy!]

I then did the opposite to what I had been trained by doctors and physios for 30 years.  I reduced the depth of my breathing so I was totally still.  It was rather scary – but after about 90 seconds of breathing like my dog had farted in my car – the wheeze and cough were gone.  No Ventolin needed!  Cool.  Very Cool.

[If you are reading this as an asthmatic - pay close attention to the above paragraph.  That paragraph is pretty much the first step in retraining your breathing so that asthma symptoms simply do not appear. ]

Now obviously – being scientifically trained – I was a bit slow.  So I repeated the process three times.  Then I resigned my super cushy job and went off to train as an instructor.

And – oh yes – I did have to attend a Workshop as a participant – I did not get all of the nuances from just the biochemistry.  I also traveled to Moscow to learn what I could over and above the offered training here in Australia at that time.

In Townsville I am relaunching some Buteyko workshops because I am appalled that this has not been “picked up” by doctors or physios or educators of some kind.  I stopped doing Workshops a few years back when it looked like Nurse Educators would take it over.

Now it is obvious that this has not happened.  I keep meeting children and young people who have never heard of Buteyko – and simply are doing the same things I did for 30 years – and wasting their life energy.

So for a limited time – I will personally conduct some Workshops here in Townsville.  You do need to contact me [use the form right up the top of this page] so I can send you some information.  I will also make the first Workshop ridiculously low cost – because I want you to tell your friends and start a viral publicity effect.

If you are a doctor, alternative health professional or health educator – please also contact me.  I am happy to have others in the Workshops.  If you already have a group of asthmatics in your practice – I am happy to train  them as a group.

Regards

James Hooper