Buteyko Breathing Exercises: The Ones That Actually Raise Your Control Pause

So you read why deep breathing makes anxiety worse, you measured your Control Pause first thing one morning, and it came back at something mildly insulting like 12 seconds. Fine. That's information, not a character flaw. But here's the question those articles leave hanging: now what? Breathing through your nose all day is step one, and it's a good one, but it isn't a training programme. Knowing your CP is low and actually raising it are two different jobs.

This is the practical bit. The exercises themselves. No history lesson, because I already wrote the history and the evidence base and I'm not going to make you sit through it twice.

A quick word on where these come from, because it matters. The exercises below are the standard functional breathing drills popularised by Patrick McKeown, who, conveniently for an Irish audience, trained at Trinity College Dublin and was accredited directly by Konstantin Buteyko himself back in 2002. I teach a Buteyko-informed version of these in sessions. I'm laying them out here so you can start on your own, but read the cautions near the bottom before you go holding your breath like it's a competition. It isn't, and treating it like one is how people make themselves feel worse.

The two rules that matter more than any single exercise

Before any of the drills, internalise these, because if you get them wrong the exercises don't work and can backfire.

Rule one: the air hunger should be tolerable, never stressful. McKeown's own phrasing in Close Your Mouth is that the need for air should be "distinct but not stressful." You want a gentle, slightly-uncomfortable wanting-more-air feeling. You do not want to be straining, gasping, or white-knuckling it. If it tips into stress, you've gone too far. Back off and breathe normally.

Rule two: the first breath back is the tell. After any breath hold or any reduced-breathing session, your first breath in should be calm and controlled. If you find yourself gulping a huge recovery breath, you held too long or reduced too hard. A calm recovery breath means you got the dose right. This one rule will keep you safe better than any timer.

That's it. Nasal breathing, tolerable air hunger, calm recovery. Everything below is just variations on those three ideas.

Exercise 1: Unblock your nose

Most people can't breathe through their nose all day because their nose is partly blocked, and then they give up and go back to mouth breathing, which blocks the nose further. Lovely little doom loop. This exercise breaks it. It works by briefly raising CO2, which opens the nasal passages, and it tends to work within minutes (Buteyko Clinic International).

1. Sit upright. Breathe gently in and out through your nose.
2. After a normal exhale (not a big one), pinch your nose closed with your fingers and keep your mouth shut.
3. Gently nod your head up and down, or sway your body, until you feel a moderate to strong need for air.
4. Let go of your nose and breathe in gently through your nose only. Calm breath, no gulping.
5. Recover with normal, quiet nasal breathing for 30 to 60 seconds.
6. Repeat 5 to 6 times, or until your nose clears.

Do this whenever your nose feels stuffy. Over weeks, as your overall breathing improves, your nose stays clearer on its own and you'll need it less. Note: this is the one exercise here that involves a stronger air hunger, so it's also the one with the firmest cautions. Skip it in pregnancy or with serious medical conditions (more on that below).

Exercise 2: Breathe Light (this is the one that actually moves the needle)

If you only do one thing, do this. The nose unblocking is housekeeping. "Breathe Light to Breathe Right," to use McKeown's name for it, is the actual training. This is the exercise that gradually raises your CO2 tolerance, which is the thing your Control Pause is measuring in the first place.

1. Sit upright. Put one hand on your chest and one on your belly. The belly hand should do most of the moving; the chest hand stays fairly still.
2. Breathe gently through your nose. Pay attention to the cool air coming in and the warm air going out.
3. Now, breath by breath, make each breath a little softer and a little smaller. You're deliberately taking in slightly less air than your body is asking for.
4. Keep softening until you feel a light, tolerable air hunger. The benchmark McKeown gives: your breathing should be so gentle that the fine hairs in your nostrils barely move.
5. Hold that mild air hunger. Distinct, never stressful. If it gets uncomfortable, stop, breathe normally for a bit, then ease back in.
6. Aim for about 4 minutes to begin with. As it gets easier, build toward 10 minutes, a few times a day.

This feels like nothing is happening, which is exactly the point and exactly why it suits people who've found dramatic breathwork makes them worse. There's no eyes-closed inner journey, no forcing, no theatrics. You're just quietly teaching your respiratory system to stop panicking at a normal level of CO2. For neurodivergent nervous systems in particular, that lack of drama is a feature, not a bug.

Exercise 3: Breathe Slow

A close cousin of Breathe Light, useful when you want to wind down rather than train hard, for example before sleep. Instead of reducing volume, you slow the rate. Breathe gently through the nose and gradually lengthen each breath, easing toward roughly six breaths a minute over time. Quiet, soft, effortless. No straining to hit a number. Slow breathing like this is one of the better-documented ways to nudge the parasympathetic nervous system into gear, which is the whole point of doing it at night.

Exercise 4 (progression): breath holds on the move

This is the more advanced one, and McKeown frames it specifically for healthy adults and children, not for everyone. If you've got a heart condition, high blood pressure, or any of the flags below, leave this one alone or only do it with proper supervision.

Walk at a normal pace. Breathe out gently, pinch your nose, and keep walking while you hold your breath until you feel a moderate to strong need for air. Release, take a calm nasal breath, and walk normally until your breathing fully recovers. Repeat a handful of times. The movement raises CO2 faster, so this builds tolerance more aggressively than sitting still. Which is exactly why you treat it with more respect.

How to actually run this as a routine

Here's the honest version, not the fantasy one. You're not going to do 45 minutes a day. Nobody does. What works:

Nasal breathing becomes your default, all day, and ideally at night too. That's the foundation and it costs you nothing but attention. On top of that, a few short sessions of Breathe Light beat one heroic session you'll do once and never again. Little and often. Use the nose unblocking whenever you're congested, and Breathe Slow when you're trying to settle. Then re-measure your Control Pause every week or so, first thing in the morning before you've done anything, so you've got a clean, comparable number. The CP is your honest feedback. It moves slowly, in increments of a few seconds, and each few seconds tends to come with a noticeable shift in how you feel. (If "measure your CP" means nothing to you, the deep breathing piece walks through it.)

If you'd rather have it guided so you're not clock-watching, the free Low Tide Calm app has breathwork built on these functional breathing principles.

Who should go gentle, or check with a doctor first

This is breathing retraining, not treatment, and the breath holds in particular aren't for everyone. Go gently, or get medical sign-off first, if any of these apply to you:

• You're pregnant
• You have uncontrolled high blood pressure or any heart condition
• You have type 1 diabetes, epilepsy, kidney disease, or a serious diagnosed illness
• You're in an acute mental health crisis
• You've recently had surgery

The strong-air-hunger exercises (nose unblocking and the walking breath holds) are the ones to be most careful with. Breathe Light and Breathe Slow are far gentler, and for most people they're the bulk of the benefit anyway, so if in doubt, stick to those.

And the obvious but important one: if you have asthma, keep your reliever inhaler within reach while you practise, and do not stop or reduce any prescribed medication on the strength of a breathing exercise. Buteyko has a genuine evidence base in asthma, but it works alongside your treatment, not instead of it. I covered the honest limits of the evidence, including the fair criticisms, in the history and evidence post, and I'd rather you read that than take any of this as a cure-all. It isn't one.

Where this fits

None of these exercises is dramatic. That's deliberate. They're the breathing equivalent of going for a daily walk rather than running a marathon once and pulling something. The Control Pause gives you a number to chase, the Breathe Light exercise is what actually moves it, and the rest is consistency.

If you've tried the apps and the courses and the "just breathe deeply" advice and found none of it landed, this is the version built for you. I work with neurodivergent adults and burned-out people through Low Tide Calm, online now and in person in Wicklow Town. If you want it taught properly and tailored to where your breathing actually is rather than where a YouTube video assumes it is, that's what the sessions are for.

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Disclaimer: The Buteyko Method is a complementary approach and is not a substitute for medical advice or prescribed treatment. Always consult your healthcare provider before changing any treatment plan. If you are in crisis, call 112 or the Samaritans on 116 123 (free, 24/7).

References and further reading

• McKeown, P. Close Your Mouth: Buteyko Breathing Clinic Self-Help Manual. Buteyko Books.
• McKeown, P. The Oxygen Advantage. Piatkus.
• Buteyko Clinic International. How to Practice the Buteyko Breathing Technique: A Beginner's Guide. buteykoclinic.com
• Buteyko Clinic International. Buteyko Breathing Method Nose Unblocking Exercise. buteykoclinic.com

Cian is the founder of Low Tide Calm, a certified breathwork and mindfulness facilitator, complementary therapist, and Buteyko-informed breathing coach based in Co. Wicklow. He works with neurodivergent adults and burned-out, stressed humans. More about Cian.