Health Q and A
Page 3

Weight Loss by Body Flex

Snoring

Hi Mike,
It was an interesting article about snoring in your website articles page. Funny enough, I woke up this morning around six. My wife has some snoring problems and I think that can be one important reason why she wakes up tired. I checked her breathing and it seems as her in breath is double length of her out breath. I know I snore some too, but if this is the case, the opposite of how to breathe, it must be of vital importance, I think, to breathe the proper way at daytime to improve at night-time. Is this correct Mike?

From Mike:
Absolutely! To consciously change one’s breathing can be like learning to play the piano. You struggle some and the more you practice it the easier and more “spontaneous” it can become. But you must practice properly. Practice makes permanent, not perfect. Also, sleep on a hard bed. Recommended approach

Pregnancy

I have been suffering with chronic hyperventilation for years....I'm 5 weeks postpartum....it disappears during pregnancy....any ideas?

Several exercises in the Rapid Breathing Improvement Program work quite well.

Blood Gases

From a respiratory therapist head of department with 25 years experience:
Mike sorry not to get back to you sooner but here goes. Blood gases can show many things , the one thing I'm interested in is the PO2 which is the oxygen level (shown in mmHg not a percentage). The critical value for a PO2 is 40 mmHg. There are people who "compensate" or are able to tolerate lower levels than that because of their lung disease process. Pulse oxymetry shows the amount of oxygen level as a percentage. This is done with light diffusion, where light passes through the nail bed and is picked up by a microprocessor and is displayed on a screen as a percentage, along with the patients pulse. I've seen levels as low as 57%, right before someone dies. As far as the life support thing, any of these lab values certainly warrants ventilator support and supplemental oxygen would be given with the vent. Fine tuning the oxygen level would be done after the patient has been placed on the vent for while not very long). I'm not good with vents as I have very little call for them nor the experience due to the low volume of critical patients kept here in a small hospital. Hope this has helped.

The manual and tapes are easy, step by step self directing teaching and training tools. Some seem to need clarification at some time or other. Email me with any questions.

Oxygen Bars

What about them?
An oxygen bar opened up on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, AP reports. O2 offers customers a 20-minute shot of oxygen for $13. For $2 more, the oxygen can be spiked with lemon, lime or orange. Proponents of recreational oxygen blasts claim it eases headaches, boosts alertness, fights fatigue and reduces stress. "It gives you a nice little buzz," The club has had a steady flow of customers since opening last month. A club room has disc jockeys and dancing on weekends, and yoga classes and nutrition lectures are in the planning.

From Mike:
EXCESSIVE oxygen can have a suffocating effect. Though the oxygen bar can , if properly managed, raise the consciousness around breathing, it may simply profit by it and leave a wrong impression with the customer. The body and the mind, if you don’t use them you lose them. If you don’t use the natural breathing mechanism it weakens over time. This O2 bar seems to be another byproduct of the “quick fix” attitude of “modern” medical science. It may encourage more alcohol consumption due to its limited ability in remedying a hangover. Clearly the Yoga and nutritional classes planned will do some significant good if the teachers are adept at the breath. Most think they know it and most clearly do not. My take on it is how well the bar introduces other health factors and uses the O2 aspects in a responsible conservative manner.

An oxygen bar is probably not excessive intake of oxygen and may even benefit. For cost effectiveness contact a hyperbaric oxygen chamber manufacturer like Tampa Hyperbaric and you will probably learn that the amount of oxygen you get in a hyperbaric oxygen session (Michael Jackson was photographed inside one some years ago) would cost thousands of dollars via the oxy bar way. Not a very efficient way to get more oxygen. Learning to breathe better is much more efficient. I am also experimenting with the Gammow Bag which looks like it might function like Reich’s Orgone (energy) Accumulator. Stay in touch with this website for more on this.  Oxygen, O2, health, beauty, oxygen, bar, NOBA, Aromatherapies, essential oils, free, sample, therapies, Fresh Air, Support, Athletes, Celebrities

Learning to breathe better is many times senior to sitting in an oxygen bar. It even works while you sleep. If you are interested in helping people then sponsor an Optimal Breathing workshop in Seattle and let that be a way to draw people to your ideas and values. We can work together if you can get off your victim/antagonist position. Also, I am working on a video that you can show and sell and train people to work with in your bar AND at home.  

 (never heard from him)  mike     Recommended product

Running and Sports in Youth

Dear Mike:
I am 14 years old and I play little league baseball. The other kids Say I don’t run fast enough and I never get a hit that will take me past first base what are some tips on running faster and sprinting longer and faster.
I suggest you join the school choir (whether you think you can sing or not) and it will help you with your running. Take the Breathing Tests for hidden signs of breathing blocks. Purchase the Sports Performance Program
Mike

Panic Attacks

I am interested in the connection, if any, between anxiety (panic) attacks and proper breathing. I have the book by Gay Hendricks. It seems very good. But I have no baseline.  I have done many of the exercises, but do not see any improvement. Therefore, I do not know if there is a connection.

From Mike:
There is a DEFINITE connection.   Recommended program

Sacral Breathing

Mike.
I tried something different with my patients today. With those that had an anterior sacral base (top of sacrum tilted >anterior) I had them do your ssss exhale exercise. I was looking to see if with this exercise the sacral base would right itself, without my chiropractic intervention. Results: Yes! In all but one of the 10 or so cases. It usually took repeating the exercise twice to get the sacrum back in alignment. And the pts often commented on how much breath they then had, and more fully realized the adverse affects of not having full, deep breath.
Just thought you'd like to know :)
What originally brought this concern to my attention was seeing your retirement community workshop attendee’s sacrum so jammed up. I was concerned that day that she couldn't begin to get benefit from your work when her sacrum was so jammed anteriorly. But after you worked with her, her sacrum had let go some of its adverse tenacious hold.

From Mike:
The way I explain the breath to many is that it is connected to every part of the body. I series f tubes, pouches, rings and sphincters, all interconnected and interdependent in varying degrees. . As you get in touch with the various parts you can reestablish the interconnections and allow one to let go of excessive tensions and restrictions in optimal ease and flow. A tight body part when loosened will reflect itself in a deeper breath.   Recommended product

Asthma - Exercise Induced

I am a freshman distance runner at Columbia University in New York. Our team is Division I-A so needless to say I have been running very hard. A couple years ago I was diagnosed with slight exercise induced asthma. For three years I have been taking a pill that has pretty much kept it suppressed. Lately, however, I seem to be maybe getting a little nervous before workouts and my breathing has been pushed to the limit far before my legs. This is certainly inhibiting my training and I'm not sure what to do. I would appreciate any help you could give. Thank you.

From Mike:
Breath heaving, or straining to breathe during the final moments of a long distance race or the entire time during a sprint causes the breathing coordination “lock up”. The accessory breathing muscles that ordinarily support the breath become overactive and actually get in the way of an easy full deep breath. Sort of like having 10 people hold your hand while you try to sign your name. There are two people that work on these muscles and integrate techniques to improve breathing coordination that I know only of myself in North Carolina.   Recommended product

Weight Loss #3

I found your web site today when I did a search on "breathing;" I watched an infomercial last week about losing weight and firming up via deep breathing! This is a new concept to me and am interested in reading more. You stated you'd like to hear from readers as to what interests they'd like to read about. Please add some articles about weight loss via breathing!

From Mike:
I bought that tape to check it out. The exercises I observed will cause accessory breathing muscles to hyper constrict and probably though they will provide extra energy now they will eventually cause restricted breathing. Yes breathing more, if it is a relaxed sort of belly breath can help weight loss. Even the videoed exercises can do some of that. But the cost in terms of breathing muscle tensions are great..

Make your breathing bigger and easier and become more aware of it and you will naturally, and in a more healthy way, change your metabolism and be inspired to increased activity which along with fewer fats and refined sugars, is the best weight loss program there is. When you metabolism changes you burn your fuel more efficiently, eat less and move more. Change over to more raw foods too. They help the oxygen function better.
Mike

Recommended product

Emphysema

Mike, the bad emphysema has me in its grip. I can barely walk 200 feet. Can you help me?

I read all of your information and pretended I was on the beach watching the ocean just like you said.

When I received your study I tried each exercise. I visualized my lungs as hard and crusty and the only way to improve was breaths from my knees to the top of my head with long exhales
With a little improvement each day I am attempting to stomach breathe while walking. The more I convince myself that the cause of my improvement is deep breathing -----the more I extend the time I deep breathe each day. I am walking up to one mile daily now. Many thanks Mike.

From Mike:
This man found what satisfied his particular needs. They vary among individuals. Go to  http://www.breathing.com/video-ds-bhln.htm

Bag Pipes

Tuberculosis and Plural Effusion

CPAP, Cancer, Weight Loss

Dear Mike,

Allergies - Airborne

My wife has developed severe reactions to many perfumes and cleaning chemicals. Trying to find some sort of a device so she can get a "shot" of clean air so she can get out of the area of the offending smell. We can't leave home for more than several hours as most public restrooms use "bad" chemicals. Many times when we try to eat out someone will walk in with an offending perfume and she needs a "shot" of clean air to get out of the area.

Surgery - General - Before and After

About six years ago, I had heart surgery. After the operation my breathing was good. I was only taking one aspirin a day.

Somehow, other medications were added. Now when I bend over, move or walk fast I get out of breath.  I have started taking herbs, adding one at a time, and my condition is getting better. I can't understand why my breathing got so bad, when my heart was what they operated on?

From Mike:

Stress - Depression

Go to http://www.breathing.com/deepest-calm.htm

Depression

Nutrition Basics

I see in your most recent edition of the newsletter, you mention that you will include the topic of nutrition from time to time. I think that is a good idea, but I would like to give you some feedback on that...from a consumer's perspective. 

Firstly, just exactly what are the nutrition basics? Let me give you a quick example of how confusing this is to many of us. Today on tv, I happened to be watching a program about dieting...I think I would categorize it as an infomercial program. The program was discussing why the official FDA recommended diet....20% protein, 25% fat, and 65% carbohydrates ...was all wrong. There are so many claims of what is right and what is wrong that the average person is nearly defenseless. 

Even when one understands the basics, the next problem is how does one apply the basics. Trying to read food labels is next to impossible, not because the food labeling isn't clear, but because different words can be used to confuse truth. Fruit juices, for example, that say they are 100% fruit conjure up a certain image, but when you read the label carefully, you often see that the product contains 27% fruit juice. 

We are bombarded by commercials extolling the virtues of orange juice, yet you, yourself, point out the amount of sugar in orange juice. 

I know we have truth in advertising laws, but for practical purposes, they mean nothing. IF you want to help, give us some concise about the basics. Should we drink 8 glasses of water a day? For practical purposes, should water be our beverage? Is grape juice really good for the bladder and kidneys? Is grape juice too full of sugar?  

Claim after claim after claim, many in conflict with one another bombard us every day. The often used basis for extolling the virtues of something..."studies show"... I am amazed that the number of well-educated people who have apparently forgotten their Introduction to Research Methods class in college and are ready to believe any claim based on studies they know nothing about other than what someone says about them. 

The traditional medical industry, the health food industry, the alternative treatments and therapies industry, YOUR industry, are all making claim after claim, but most of us are totally in the dark  about these things. Yes, I think we should all know and practice the basics, but I ask again, what are the basics?    

Thanks,

Larry H

Airplanes and Bronchitis