Breathing Free: The Revolutionary 5-Day Program to Heal Asthma, Emphysema, Bronchitis, and Other Respiratory Ailments [Paperback]

Teresa Hale (Author), Leo Galland (Foreword)

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Asthma kills 6,000 people a year. Respiratory illnesses affect millions more. According to Teresa Hale, asthmatics and others with respiratory illnesses are breathing wrong. "We have been led to believe that deep breathing is good for us because it increases our oxygen intake. In fact, the reverse is true. The more we breathe, the less oxygen actually reaches the cells of our bodies," says Hale in Breathing Free: The Revolutionary 5-Day Program to Heal Asthma, Emphysema, Bronchitis, and Other Respiratory Ailments. Her breathing program, Breath Connection, teaches you to change your breathing patterns so that you won't need to wheeze, breathe heavily, or take gulps of air after exertion. Hale promises that five days on this program will reduce your need for medications, and regular practice often increases metabolism and leads to weight loss.

Breathing Free gives a self-test to assess your breathing and teaches several techniques to improve it. Hale explains how to adapt the program for mild, moderate, or severe asthma; emphysema; bronchitis; panic attacks; general health; and children with asthma. She also suggests dietary guidelines.

Hale's program is based on the work of Konstantin Buteyko of the former Soviet Union. It is easy to understand, but will take time and effort to master. But Hale says you have a choice: "Stay where you are, with your daydreams and your deteriorating health, or take control and make some effort to effect permanent change." Hale founded Britain's renowned Hale Clinic, whose clients have included Princess Diana, the Duchess of York, Tina Turner, Richard Gere, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. --Joan Price --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

A five-day program on easy breathing from London's famed Hale Clinic.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press (August 22, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0609806343
• ISBN-13: 978-0609806340
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #557,596 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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  Books > Health, Mind & Body > Disorders & Diseases > Respiratory

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book can change your life, February 19, 2000

By	Louise DeSalvo (New Jersey) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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This review is from: Breathing Free: The Revolutionary 5-Day Program to Heal Asthma, Emphysema, Bronchitis, and Other Respiratory Ailments (Hardcover)

I've written a book about asthma; thought I knew everything. And then I bought this book. Started the five day program with great cynicism. Let me say I've not had a day free from symptoms from a case diagnosed as "moderately severe" asthma for five years. After doing the program, stringently, and following the guidelines (except for the diet -- I only cut out milk products) -- I have no post-nasal drip; don't feel as if I'm drowning; sleep magnificently; have no shortness of breath, or tightness in my chest, and have more energy. I started to experience positive results the first day. Frankly, I don't feel I "have" asthma anymore, though I do take inhaled corticosteroids, at a very reduced rate. If you are disciplined, and if you're willing to invest time, read this book. It's the better of the two books available on this method. I listened to music or read in the intervals between doing the controlled pause -- a technique that's taught. The best investment in a self-help book I've ever made.

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars *The* premier introduction to the Buteyko method!, August 2, 1999

By	Taiji 218 (The Frozen North) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Breathing Free: The Revolutionary 5-Day Program to Heal Asthma, Emphysema, Bronchitis, and Other Respiratory Ailments (Hardcover)

If you have or ever have had any kind of respiratory problem in your life, or you know of someone who's had any kind of respiratory problem in their lives, BUY THIS BOOK! The Buteyko method of breath retraining promises to be the medical breakthrough of the next century, and this book is as good an introduction to the method as it gets. I began the book with a Control Pause of 8 and finished the book a week later with a CP of 30 and am looking forward to getting to 50 or 60. You'll have to read the book to understand about the Control Pause, but I'm willing to make the prediction that, in the years to come, the CP will be regarded as almost more valuable than the pulse in determining a person's overall state of health. The book's thesis--that carbon dioxide is not the waste gas we've all been taught it is, and that low-grade hyperventilation is at the root of an amazing number of health disorders--is one of those counterintuitive ideas that suddenly makes a lot of sense once its implications are thoroughly spelled out. That the book does. My only constructive criticism of the book is that it tends to be a little wordy in some parts, and occasionally repititious, but not so much that it becomes disagreeable. For us Yanks on the western side of the puddle, a bit more brevity would have been welcome. Nonetheless, this book is too important to let a few literary bumps stand in the way. Buy the book, read it, and begin practicing the exercises. Give yourself a week to try it on for size. You won't be disappointed. I most certainly was not. I'm feeling much better already.

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent approach but you have to work at it., November 10, 1999

By A Customer

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This review is from: Breathing Free: The Revolutionary 5-Day Program to Heal Asthma, Emphysema, Bronchitis, and Other Respiratory Ailments (Hardcover)

In spite of what some of the previous negative reviewers have said about the book, the Buteyko Method is neither a "crock" nor is it "pseudoscience". The approach works, but you have to work at it. This book by Teresa Hale is an excellent introduction to the method-only recently brought into the US via Australia and England-that's been practiced over the past 40 years in the former Soviet Union. Some of the negative comments by previous reviewers are accurate. The book is a bit self-promotional and the claim that you can "cure" asthma in only five days is not quite correct. You can learn the method in three to five days, and in some cases even then experience significant relief from your respiratory symptoms. However, to raise your control pause to 50 or 60 as they recommend for optimal health will probably take you anywhere from a couple of months to a year to accomplish. The method can be difficult and uncomfortable to do, and continual practice is necessary. Nonetheless, the method works if you work at it. You may need to take a full Buteyko seminar rather than rely on the book alone. I suspect the negative reviewers either were expecting too much from a book alone, were looking for a quick fix, or had medical complications that would necessitate their taking the full seminar. The book even advises most people to take the seminar and not rely on the book for all of the answers. Some people's conditions require subtle modifications of the Method that only an experienced trainer can coach them in. Maybe they should take the course. In any event, I would most strongly encourage any of you out there who suffers from any kind of respiratory illness, from sinusitus to asthma, to buy this book, as I would recommend any of you who suffer from symptoms of stress or anxiety disorder--including panic attack-- to buy this book. Don't expect the exercises to be too easy, and don't expect a quick cure. Think about taking the Buteyko course if you need to. It'll set you back around $500. But as one who started off with a control pause of less than 10 and who now has an average control pause of 40 - 45, I will say the benefits in my case are obvious and worth it. My chronic sinusitus which I've had from childhood is cleared up entirely, as are my migraine headaches and most of my tendencies to overeat. I've lost weight and am continuing to lose. My ten year old son is even starting to practice the Method a little bit at a time. His sleeping is very much improved, and he no longer wakes up with a dry or a sort throat as he used to before. I cannot recommend this book to you enough. :-)