In our latest interview for MysticMag, we sat down with Sasha Yakovleva, MA of the Buteyko Breathing Center, to explore the origins and transformative power of the Buteyko Method. Sasha shares the journey that led her and her husband to discover this unique breathing technique, which has since become a cornerstone of their work in promoting health and well-being.
What is the story behind Buteyko Breathing Center and how was it founded?
The Buteyko Breathing Center was founded about 15 years ago by my husband and me. The story behind it began when my husband had severe asthma and was suffocating all the time. Doctors warned us that his condition was life-threatening. We started looking for a solution worldwide, trying various conventional and holistic methods, and many of them helped but nothing was changing his situation radically.
Eventually, a friend told me about the Buteyko Method, which was available in Russia at the time. Being Russian, it was easy for me to travel to Moscow. My husband, an American, came with me, and we attended an individual program at the Buteyko Clinic where I translated everything for him. As a result, we both learned the Buteyko Method and became certified specialists. After that, Dr. Buteyko’s family asked us to teach the method in the United States and other Western countries and we accepted their request.
Initially, I had zero interest in teaching breathing techniques, however, while learning this method, I realized that the Buteyko method was much more than just a breathing technique. It was a unifying factor for many natural healing modalities I was already practicing and produced incredibly fast and powerful results in health restoration. Then, I became interested and since then, I have been teaching this method for about 15 years.
What are the Buteyko breathing exercises and the Buteyko method in general?
The Buteyko Method is very much in tune with ancient Eastern wisdom and knowledge. For instance, yogis have always talked about prana, stating that a healthy person has a lot of prana, while an unhealthy person lacks it. However, no one could explain what prana actually was. Dr. Buteyko pointed out that prana is essentially carbon dioxide (CO2) in the lungs. Traditionally, doctors considered CO2 a waste product, but Dr. Buteyko identified it as the main regulator of all bodily functions.
When we have plenty of CO2 in our lungs, we are healthy. When we have a deficiency, we become unhealthy, which can manifest as various diseases and health problems. The Buteyko Method helps people become healthier by increasing their levels of prana, vitality or CO2. This is achieved through specific breathing exercises and by modifying lifestyle habits because everything we do either increases or decreases our CO2 levels. We want to turn our daily activities into CO2 (prana) boosting tools.
The main principle behind Buteyko breathing exercises is to breathe less. Dr. Buteyko discovered that most modern people over-breathe or hyperventilate, losing significant amounts of CO2, which decreases vitality. This over-breathing is largely due to our sedentary lifestyle. Unlike our ancestors, who were physically active every day, modern people move from a car seat to an office seat and then to the couch, which leads to a loss of CO2 and consequently health problems.
A fundamental aspect of the Buteyko Method is to breathe through the nose 100% of the time, with no exceptions. Nasal breathing is natural for humans as it conditions the air for our lungs, just like the mouth conditions food for digestion. Breathing through the nose reduces air consumption significantly compared to mouth breathing, which is only meant for stressful, fight-or-flight situations. Chronic mouth breathing signals constant stress to the body that is detrimental to health.
Dr. Buteyko developed various breathing exercises to promote reduced, peaceful, and efficient breathing. These exercises help create a breathing pattern that increases CO2 levels in the lungs. Some exercises are designed for specific health conditions, but most are suitable for everyone. The Buteyko Method not only focuses on breathing exercises but also teaches how to turn daily activities into tools for boosting CO2 levels and improving health.
What individual programs do you offer?
I offer both group and individual programs. Every year, I conduct group retreats at high altitudes, typically in Colorado at about 9,000 feet elevation. Additionally, I work individually and online with people worldwide, offering different programs tailored to their needs.
My main program spans 2-3 months, during which I meet with clients weekly. We do breathing exercises, and I help them modify their lifestyle to support the increase of CO2. Over these months, I assist clients in changing their automatic breathing patterns to make their respiration healthier. This results in higher levels of CO2 in their lungs, enabling them to overcome various health problems.
I work with a wide range of clients, from seriously ill people who want to become healthier and reduce or eliminate their need for medication to athletes who aim to improve their performance through better breathing. I also assist relatively healthy individuals who wish to enhance their overall well-being and longevity.
Can you walk me through a typical or most common session?
Every session is individualized because each person’s needs and triggers for over-breathing vary. Generally, during a session, we identify the personal triggers that cause hyperventilation. For example, some people over-breathe significantly while sleeping; they might breathe through their mouth and snore, which is harmful to their health. Others might over-breathe while exercising, such as lifting weights at the gym, which builds their muscles the same way as harms their health. Others, for example, teachers and public speakers, lose CO2 because they hyperventilate when they speak.
We also examine lifestyle factors, like excessive coffee consumption, which can trigger hyperventilation. By identifying these individual sources of over-breathing, I help my clients modify their lifestyle habits to increase their carbon dioxide levels.
In my online sessions, I also conduct breathing exercises with clients, measuring their CO2 before and after the exercises. The goal is to increase the level of carbon dioxide with each session, promoting healthier breathing patterns and overall better health.
You are also a big advocate of natural healing. What natural healing methods do you use in your work?
I primarily use the Buteyko breathing method, which is the most powerful natural healing modality I have ever encountered. While I am familiar with many healing methods due to my long-standing interest in natural healing, nothing works as effectively as breathing normalization. Dr. Buteyko compared breathing to nuclear energy, saying it is as powerful as radiation. Incorrect breathing can quickly harm or destroy our health, but the opposite is also true—normalizing breathing can help us overcome health problems swiftly.
In my work, I often meet people who have tried everything: regular exercise, eating local and organic foods, fasting, seeing massage therapists, acupuncturists, and more. These are health-conscious individuals, yet they remain unhealthy because they are unaware of the issues related to their breathing. Because of their excessive breathing, especially mouth-breathing, their CO2 levels are low, which triggers various diseases.
It’s also important to note that natural healing modalities are not very effective when carbon dioxide levels are low. This is a significant negative factor. However, once carbon dioxide levels become closer to the norm, these techniques become much more effective. Removing hyperventilation is like removing poison from the body, allowing other healing practices to work more efficiently.
Is there anything else about your work that you’d like to share that we haven’t covered?
I want to emphasize that we can live without food for months and survive without water for a week, but we can only survive without air for a few minutes. Among these three vital substances, air is the most powerful, yet many people are unaware of its significance. Becoming more mindful of our breathing and doing it in a smart, skillful way helps tremendously.
To learn more about Sasha’s work and the Buteyko method, you can visit www.breathingcenter.com
