To
„Meghan & the Zoo Crew  
Equine and Pet Photography
http://www.zoocrewphoto.com"

Well, since you are paying such attention to body sensation, you might
be interested in my asthma philosophy.  It is on the basis that asthma
is a definite phenomenon, which may be secondary to some basic disease
that weakens the chest. O r it may occur without any apparent
predisposing cause. Asthma may be considered as similar to lower back
pain, in the case of which somebody someday may find a disease
condition at a molecular or biochemical level, but for which muscle
training in a fitness studio is, at least in Germany,  accepted as a
sound remedy. In other words, the standard approach checking through
all details of the nerves etc. and concentrations of substances and
concentration ratios, though appearing logical, may be like looking
for the proverbial needle in a haystack.  This may also apply for
asthma.  As Carl Sagan told us, it is as well to spin an alternative
hypothesis.

Many sources point to the diaphragm playing an important role in
asthma and in breathing. Oriental techniques attach great importance
to its descending to an imaginary  point (tanden or hara in Japan,
tantien in China) an inch or so below the navel. With martial arts
this notion has been accepted in the West. Western medicine is however
based on what a doctor can measure scientifically with instruments.

My philosophy is minimum reliance on examination with  instruments and
maximum reliance on direct body sensations and the development of
breathing techniques to get a kick out of them.

The work of Dr. Erik Peper in California (see
http://www.i-breathe.com/thb12/Incentiv.htm) proclaims asthma to be

1)    firstly a spasm of the bronchi which can be overcome not only by
drugs as almost everybody learns at school these days, but   also by
breathing and relaxation techniques, and

2) a lack of normal diaphragm activity, which would overcome the
spasm.

By concentrating on relaxing the bronchi, maybe by combining a yawning
effort with an inhale and simultaneously causing the abdomen to
balloon out a person can with patience get to the stage that he is
actually breathing by such a ballooning effect.  A true breathing
sensation takes time to develop. See Peper's figure 1: the less the
strain in the upper chest, corresponding to spasm, the greater the
volume breathed in.  See  also figure 5 on "Learning inhalation volume
awareness". One trick to get a diaphragm sensation is to inhale though
the mouth with a finger placed between the lips to provide a graded
resistance.  Another is to wrap a length of Theraband around the
abdomen to get an abdomen rather than a chest awareness for breathing.

With time I found that the downward movement of the diaphragm in the
course of time gives rise to a sort of kick like in pelvic floor  or
kegel training. The airways are relaxed and there is a kick like with
a shot of reliever spray, but hopefully without any addictive effect.

As an advanced exercise there is bhastrika (a part of yoga) as one
form of the breath of fire. One breathes as quickly and as
energetically as possible through the nose concentrating on diaphragm
action for around half a minute, while being careful not to start a
phase of hyperventilation. This is similar to huffing as recommended
in orthodox asthma and bronchitis treatment but is much more
intensive, and is considered one of  main yoga tactics for asthma.
Another approach to strengthen the diaphragm is "laughing yoga" of Dr.
Madan Kataria.

I've tried to stick to safe techniques which have some backing and
they seem to work with me excellently. I'm  pleading for is more
caution about accepting treatments based on biochemical intricacies.
It seems likely that the body of a healthy person adjusts itself to
deal with abnormal airway constriction.  This mechanism should be
identified. Regards, Richard Friedel