wow never thought this would make the front page of HN. My great grandfather learned this method from Konstantin himself to help manage his debilitating asthma (back in the Soviet Union) and he kept it up daily into his 80s once we moved to the US. He did it daily for so long that he was able to hold his breath for almost 10 minutes if I remember correctly. He taught it to my grandma who then taught it to me when I was a kid but neither she nor I do it anymore unfortunately. Imagine an 11 year old sitting in a bedroom with his grandma doing breathing exercises. I honestly can't believe she got me to sit still longer than 5minutes to do it.

I highly recommend the book Breath by James Nestor. The only health/pop sci book I'd recommend. Doing breathwork has increased my HRV by ~10ms and lowered my respiratory rate when I sleep. I no longer snore as a result.

I was taught this method as a child to help with constantly blocked nasal passages. I think it helped! I'm still doing it, although not religiously.

I think the major part of what makes it useful is just adding resistance for breathing. It helps to train the breathing muscles, just like any other resistance training.

I cannot tell, from the article, how to perform the Buteyko method.

From the "Medical Evidence" section, it seems I'm not missing much.

I have a close friend who got her pretty hardcore asthma and nasal issues under control over last year. Her quality of life improved dramatically after doing this thing – I tried some basic first exercises and I felt there is some practical resemblance to breathing meditation. Anyway, I am planning to get more into it and would definitely recommend it if you upper respiratory issues have strong negative effects on your life.