Vocal Loading and Buteyko Breathing...

The Week of April 18th and 25th BLOGs: 

4/18/22 -- Hump Day Health:  (Vocal Loading)

"Hoarseness, vocal fatigue, scratchy throat, & the eternal urge to clear the throat are often results of increased vocal loading" (Wlodarz, 2010).

Are you AWARE of your VOCAL LOAD? Your vocal schedule, your vocal dose, and your vocal demands? Are you aware of how loud you talk, how much you talk, and/or the many ways you use your voice throughout the day?

Are you aware that by reducing your daily vocal loading, you can reduce hoarseness, vocal fatigue, “scratchy throat”, and the urge to clear your throat? How awesome is it that you can have control over these for big vocal annoyances by simply tuning into the demands and loading you place on your vocal instrument?

And not only tuning in, but then also understanding and making adjustments. … And not drastic adjustments… but doable ones that will make a difference without changing your day to day life too much. Just think about it.. what changes could you make now that will reduce your vocal demands? That will create a more sustainable vocal schedule? Can you commit to these changes for a whole day? Maybe a whole week? Maybe longer than that? Try it.. you may see reductions in or eliminations of those all too common vocal annoyances you deal with on the daily. And who’s got time for that? Not you and not your voice. As an occupational voice user, you need to choose your best voice throughout the day…& some of that involves choosing good vocal habits. What changes can you make that’ll get you there?
.
.
.
 #voxfit #voice #vocalfitness #bevocallyfit #vocalhealth #vocalwellness #humpdayhealth #prioritizeyourvoice #protectyourvoice #healthyvoice #singer #fitnessinstructor #publicspeaker #occupationalvoiceuser #speechpathologist #voicespecialist #research #dysphonia #awareness #beproactive #vocalhabits #letsgo 

4/26/22 -- TUESDAY TOSS UP: Buteyko Breathing

I did the training course almost a year ago but finally had time to take the test to become a Buteyko Breathing Educator/provider! I absolutely loved doing this training and consistently implement a lot of what I learned in my daily work with patients; I also apply it to my own life and encourage others I know to do the same… The benefits from recognizing and  retraining dysfunctional breathing are immeasurable. BREATH is the foundation of VOICE and LIFE, and when we start prioritizing the efficiency of our breath, SO many things can improve. 

.

The overall Buteyko program goal is to stop hyperventilation and eliminate dysfunctional breathing, with an emphasis on nasal breathing, relaxation, and allowing the diaphragm to naturally function in order to breathe LESS. People using the Buteyko method are taught to monitor their progress daily using certain measurement tools (pulse, controlled pause, etc.). Buteyko aims to educate patients on how to reverse chronic (often hidden) hyperventilation. The therapy compliments and improves conventional respiratory management and often can result in reduction in or elimination of medications.  The benefits include a reduction in symptoms which can lead to this reduced need for medical management (medications often have their own plethora of side effects). With consistency, more improvements can continue over time. General benefits also include that the patient has improved awareness and control over their breathing, and the neurological control of breathing shows high levels of neuroplasticity.

.

Overbreathing means you are (overtly or subtly) breathing MORE than you NEED to. Despite what we may think, we actually need to breathe LESS, versus MORE in order to achieve efficiency and proper function. Overbreathing can have negative consequences on many aspects of our physical/physiological health, as well as our psychological and emotional health as well. Overbreathing can cause sickness and also the need for more medications and (breathing) machines. It can increase stress and contribute to the hyperventilation cycle, which can result in sensitizing the brain and creating learned patterns of muscle use which tend to become habitual.  Overbreathing can dehydrate the airways, lead to overproduction of mucus, reduce the amount of oxygen available for tissues/organs, lead to angina (chest pain), lead to asthma symptoms, lead to a general shortness of breath, induce performance anxiety, and also create accumulation of lactic acid in the muscles. Breathing too much air maintains the same blood gas oxygen saturation levels, but it lowers carbon dioxide in both the lungs and the bloodstream. Carbon dioxide is necessary for many bodily functions and a deficiency in C02 causes a deficiency in oxygen. The Bohr effect tells us that a C02 deficit (caused by deep breathing) leads to oxygen starvation in the body cells. There are many people that say “I need more oxygen” or “I can’t get enough oxygen”…but when you breathe more than you need, more carbon dioxide leaves your body and lungs than it should. This matters because every biosynthetic process in the body is dependent on certain levels of carbon dioxide either directly or as a catalyst and therefore low carbon dioxide affects all processes in the body (when you overbreathe all the time, every cell in your body is negatively affected).

.

BREATHE SMARTER NOT HARDER.

.

#voxfit #voice #buteykobreathing #buteyko #breathesmarternotharder #breatheless #efficientbreathing #tuesdaytossup #vocalfitness #bevocallyfit #occupationalvoiceuser #vocalhealth #vocalwellness #prioritizeyourvoice #healthyvoice #breathflow #educationispower #singer #fitnessinstructor #speechpathologist #voicespecialist #awareness #beproactive #bbea