The Buteyko method explained: the idea, the exercises, and the studies

Where the method comes from

The method goes back to Dr. Konstantin P. Buteyko. He developed it in Russia in the 1950s and used it with patients.^{1, 2} Since the 1990s, it has also become known internationally.² Today, it’s spread mainly by commercial providers.³ The best known is Patrick McKeown. He combines Buteyko with other elements, such as tongue posture, the diaphragm, and slow breathing at six breaths per minute, and he invented his own mouth tape. He discloses these interests in his review article.¹

What the method includes

There’s no single standard program.⁴ These components are usually part of it:

• Breathing through your nose, during the day and ideally at night, too.¹ More on this in the article on nasal breathing in everyday life.
• Deliberately breathing a little less: smaller, calm breaths, so that a slight urge to breathe sets in.^{1, 5}
• Pauses after you exhale: the control pause, or BOLT score, as a measurement, and longer pauses as practice, for example in the Nasal Clear exercise.¹
• Relaxation, usually with training in a course.⁴

1. Usual: how you breathe at rest without paying attention.
2. A little smaller: calm, smaller breaths at the same pace, until you feel a slight urge to breathe.
3. With a short pause: after you exhale, wait briefly, then take another small breath in.

Watch again

The idea behind the method

Buteyko believed that many people breathe too much without noticing, for example through the mouth and mainly with the chest. He thought this would deplete carbon dioxide and contribute to illness. The control pause was supposed to show how much carbon dioxide is in your body.^{6, 7} His advice followed from that: breathe less.

Part of this fits physiology. At rest, your body controls breathing mainly through carbon dioxide and keeps it within narrow limits.⁸ If you breathe more than you need, you breathe off more carbon dioxide, and dizziness or tingling can follow.⁹ If you breathe smaller and slower, it rises a little, and then the urge to breathe kicks in.²

The rest isn’t supported:

• The control pause doesn’t show your carbon dioxide level. In 83 adults, breath-hold time was only weakly linked to carbon dioxide, and in the opposite direction from what Buteyko assumed.⁷ More on this in the article on the BOLT score and control pause.
• That most people breathe too much: I couldn’t find evidence for this in healthy people at rest.
• Promises about many illnesses aren’t supported. One review notes that proponents of the method often extend their claims beyond the research.³
• Whether the method works through carbon dioxide at all is unclear. In one study, simply telling people to breathe more shallowly didn’t raise it, because breathing rate and breath size balanced each other out.¹⁰

What studies in healthy people show

Almost all studies on Buteyko were done with patients; what that means for you is in the note further down. In healthy people, the method has barely been studied:

• Well-being: 57 young adults practiced a simplified Buteyko technique for four days. How good they felt afterward was mainly linked to how much effort they put in, how regularly they practiced, and what they expected. There was no group that didn’t practice.¹¹
• Sports: For four weeks, 16 recreational runners also did exercises with smaller breaths and ran easy runs breathing only through the nose. Afterward, they could hold their breath longer, but their endurance was no better than in the comparison group. The popular belief that such exercises make you more tolerant of carbon dioxide during exercise currently lacks scientific evidence, the authors write.¹²
• Breathing smaller on instruction: During slow, paced breathing, 46 college students overbreathed only about half as much when they were asked not to breathe excessively deep but naturally, and they had fewer symptoms.¹³ In another study, simply telling people to breathe more shallowly made them more anxious than other instructions did.¹⁰ So the aim is small, natural breaths, not forced ones.

No study has tested the exact patterns nowa uses. These studies tested the technique, not the nowa app.

Gentle practice instead of going to your limit

The original instructions go much further than gentle practice. In one of McKeown’s exercises, you hold your breath for as long as you can, until you feel a strong air hunger.¹ In the runner study, the exercises were meant to lower blood oxygen saturation to 85 to 94 percent, checked with a fingertip monitor, up to six times a day and without supervision.¹² But air hunger is a warning signal from your body, and it can trigger fear.¹⁴

This minute takes only the gentle parts: small, natural breaths through your nose and a short, fixed pause after you exhale. A slight urge to breathe is fine, nothing more.

One minute of light breathing

2 seconds in, 3 out, 2 pause

Breathe along

That’s also how the Breathe Light exercise in nowa works. At about eight to nine breaths per minute, it sits at the lower end of what’s typical at rest: people usually breathe 10 to 20 times a minute.²

Frequently asked questions

What is the Buteyko method?

A breathing method developed by Dr. Konstantin P. Buteyko in the 1950s. It includes breathing through your nose, deliberately breathing a little less, pausing after you exhale, and relaxation.^{1, 4}

How is Patrick McKeown connected to Buteyko?

McKeown is a Buteyko teacher. In his own programs, he combines the method with other elements such as the diaphragm, tongue posture, slow breathing, and mouth tape, and he invented his own mouth tape.¹ What I think of mouth tape is in the article on mouth taping for sleep.

Do most people overbreathe?

Buteyko thought so. But at rest, your body keeps carbon dioxide within narrow limits.⁸ I couldn’t find evidence that most healthy people breathe too much. You can still briefly breathe too much, for example during deliberate paced breathing.¹³

Is the Buteyko method scientifically proven?

Its core assumption about carbon dioxide isn’t supported, and the control pause doesn’t show it.^{7, 3} In healthy people, there are only a few small studies without a clear benefit.^{11, 12}

Does Buteyko breathing increase CO2?

Briefly, yes, if your breaths really get smaller; you feel it as an urge to breathe.² Whether it rises for good is unclear. In one study, simply telling people to breathe more shallowly didn’t raise it.¹⁰

Does Buteyko improve fitness?

In 16 recreational runners, only how long they could hold their breath went up, not their endurance.¹²

Does Buteyko help with stress or nerves?

I couldn’t find a study on everyday stress. Air hunger can even trigger fear.¹⁴ For nervous moments, calm exercises without air hunger are a better place to start. More on this in the article on when breathing exercises make you anxious.

Does Buteyko help with sleep or snoring?

I couldn’t find a study in healthy people. If you snore loudly or stop breathing at night, have it checked by a doctor.

Buteyko or Wim Hof?

They’re opposites. With Buteyko, you breathe less and keep carbon dioxide in; with Wim Hof, you deliberately breathe fast and a lot, and carbon dioxide drops sharply.⁵ More on the risks in the article on Wim Hof and breathwork.

Is Buteyko breathing safe?

The data are thin: studies rarely reported problems, but that doesn’t rule out rare harms.¹⁵ The risky parts are holds to your limit, deliberately lowering your oxygen saturation, and stopping medication on your own.

How many breaths per minute are right?

There’s no set pace, because the method isn’t standardized; the focus is on smaller breaths.⁴ At rest, people usually breathe 10 to 20 times a minute.² How often and how long to practice is covered in the article on how often to do breathing exercises.