When you record your breathing with See Your Breathing the graphs provide you a solid and lasting way to see and remember your previous breathing issues – an asthma diary.
This diary of your asthma triggers, your asthma flare ups, and what has worked to prevent or alleviate asthma attacks in the past helps you find out what you can do now to make your breathing more healthy.
Most of us have the tendency to settle down on our old answer to a recurring problem. See Your Breathing enables and encourages you to be on the look-out for more effective answers to asthma problems.
Explore the possibilities. Options as old school as taking a walk, or as New Age as co-regulation have helped others with asthma and may work for you.
This diary of your asthma triggers, your asthma flare ups, and what has worked to prevent or alleviate asthma attacks in the past helps you find out what you can do now to make your breathing more healthy.
Most of us have the tendency to settle down on our old answer to a recurring problem. See Your Breathing enables and encourages you to be on the look-out for more effective answers to asthma problems.
Explore the possibilities. Options as old school as taking a walk, or as New Age as co-regulation have helped others with asthma and may work for you.
R.A. – “No inhaler or medication needed this morning.”
R.A. is a man in his 50’s living in New York City. He has had breathing issues all his life and was diagnosed with asthma at the age of eighteen years. R.A. is very interested in doing what he can to minimize the great disruption asthma causes in his life.
R.A. used See Your Breathing to help him make and document the discovery that taking a walk for half an hour or so has stopped a looming asthma attack.
R.A. used See Your Breathing to help him make and document the discovery that taking a walk for half an hour or so has stopped a looming asthma attack.
Screenshot 1, Graph #1 of 6. “The start of my walk outside. A little wheeze and heavy breath.”
Screenshot 2, Graph #2 of 6. “Increasing my pace outside. Still a wheeze and heavy breathing.”
Screenshot 3, Graph #3 of 6. “My walk is coming to an end with heavy breathing.”
Screenshot 4, Graph #4 of 6. “Done walking. At rest now for 10 minutes. Breathing heavy, but clearer. No inhaler use.”
Screenshot 5, Graph #5 of 6. “At rest another 5 minutes. Breathing steady and easy.
Screenshot 6, Graph #6 of 6. “Totally rested. Breathing well. No medication and no inhaler. Just walking helped my asthma this morning.
Screenshot 7, Enlargement of composite graph of Screenshot 6. “Compilation of my recordings from my natural breathing remedy of walking. No inhaler or medication needed this morning.”
It is very heartening to R.A. that he has a viable remedy for a threatening asthma attack besides his inhaler and other prescription medicines. R.A. might regularly take these morning walks as a “fire drill” for any days on which he awakens with signs of an asthma attack coming on.
K.P. and T.P. Explore Coregulated Breathing for Asthma Control
K.P., in her mid-twenties, and T.P., in her early-thirties, are a married couple in the state of Washington.
T.P. has had asthma since childhood. K.P. does not have asthma, but she does deal with panic attacks that affect her breathing.
T.P. and K.P. learned of the concepts of coherent breathing and coregulation in couples counseling. One of the ideas from that context that applies to asthma is that one person in the couple can transmit emotional calmness to the other, through coherent breathing and coregulation.
Beth Dennison, author of Body Up! A Co-Regulation Handbook writes:
T.P. has had asthma since childhood. K.P. does not have asthma, but she does deal with panic attacks that affect her breathing.
T.P. and K.P. learned of the concepts of coherent breathing and coregulation in couples counseling. One of the ideas from that context that applies to asthma is that one person in the couple can transmit emotional calmness to the other, through coherent breathing and coregulation.
Beth Dennison, author of Body Up! A Co-Regulation Handbook writes:
Coherent Breathing is a great way to stabilize and down regulate the nervous system. You can do it alone, or with a partner. You can do it with eyes open or closed, You can sit opposite or touching a partner, back to back or leaning in any way that is comfortable. Try it before you go to sleep, or if you need to settle down after something upsetting. It is a good way to lower chronic anxiety and hypervigilance.
Kate Double, MSW, LFT. writes:
Co-regulation is the way that the nervous system of one individual influences the nervous system of another. It really is that simple; although it is not only an interpersonal process but also a neurological and biological process.
When you yawn, I yawn too. If you laugh, I feel happy. When you cry, I am moved. If I am calm, you are soothed. You aren’t generating my feelings, nor are you responsible for them. I am responsible for understanding, sharing, and tending to my emotions; but we are affecting one another in important, real, and unconscious ways. The co-regulating effect can happen in any type of relationship, but can be particularly strong in familial and romantic relationships.
T.P. and K.P. were inspired by the concept of co-regulation and decided to see whether one partner could affect the other’s breathing, as recorded by See Your Breathing, with the practical purpose of affecting asthmatic breathing.
Blue is K.P., Green is T.P.
Blue is K.P., Green is T.P.
You can see K.P.’s four light turquoise blue graphs, recorded before she and T.P. did co-regulated breathing, are pretty much clumped together. These light turquoise graphs arch up smoothly, following the same pattern.
T.P. recorded 5 light green graphs before she and K.P. practiced co-regulated breathing together. Three of these light green graphs are lower on the chart and, for almost the first half of the horizontal tone line, pretty mucht lie on top of each other. The second half of the paths of these light green graphs of T.P. follow the same pattern, sloping steeply up in unison. (The other two of these light green graphs of T.P. are closer to the pattern of K.P.’s graphs, arching up earlier.)
You can see that after coregulated breathing together, T.P.’s dark green graphs are closer to the pattern of K.P.’s blue graphs (the light blue graphs recorded before coregulated breathing and the dark blue graphs after coregulated breathing). All of K.P.’s graphs show a similar pattern of arching up more immediately and more smoothly.
T.P. recorded 5 light green graphs before she and K.P. practiced co-regulated breathing together. Three of these light green graphs are lower on the chart and, for almost the first half of the horizontal tone line, pretty mucht lie on top of each other. The second half of the paths of these light green graphs of T.P. follow the same pattern, sloping steeply up in unison. (The other two of these light green graphs of T.P. are closer to the pattern of K.P.’s graphs, arching up earlier.)
You can see that after coregulated breathing together, T.P.’s dark green graphs are closer to the pattern of K.P.’s blue graphs (the light blue graphs recorded before coregulated breathing and the dark blue graphs after coregulated breathing). All of K.P.’s graphs show a similar pattern of arching up more immediately and more smoothly.
M.L. – “Just lying down and resting alleviates troubled breathing.”
M.L. is a college student in Tennessee. She has had asthma since her childhood. Now that she is a young adult her problems with asthma have lessened considerably. Nonetheless, she is surprised by the fact she can be winded by walking and shopping in a way that her friends are not.
M.L.’s discovery of the fact that proximity to her cat has a markedly negative effect on her breathing is discussed on the page of this website, New Power to Cope with Asthma.
M.L.’s discovery of the fact that proximity to her cat has a markedly negative effect on her breathing is discussed on the page of this website, New Power to Cope with Asthma.
This See Your Breathing graph clearly shows that the pattern of M.L.’s recordings after her nap (black) is decidedly different than the pattern before her nap (green).
For M.L. an hour of napping clearly changes the pattern of her breathing.
For M.L. an hour of napping clearly changes the pattern of her breathing.
G.Z. –Tea, Chocolate, and Meditation Make a Clear Change in Breathing
G.Z. is a student in Northern California. She also spends long hours working, so her life is very busy. Her asthma is triggered by the weather, smoke, and the like – and also by anxiety, because she has a lot she has to do each day, like attending school, doing school work, commuting to her job, etc.
The “1” in the documentation refers to the See Your Breathing column on the left, with the recordings in pink.
The “2” refers to the middle column, with the recordings in black.
At first glance all six recordings are gently arching and smooth, making them look similar. But on the composite graph we see that the recordings clearly separate into two groups, black and pink. Moving along from left to right, the black recordings climb faster and cross the horizontal grid lines about one square earlier.
You can see that each column is internally consistent and differs from the other. That may be attributed to muscle relaxation exercises, tea, and chocolate.
The “2” refers to the middle column, with the recordings in black.
At first glance all six recordings are gently arching and smooth, making them look similar. But on the composite graph we see that the recordings clearly separate into two groups, black and pink. Moving along from left to right, the black recordings climb faster and cross the horizontal grid lines about one square earlier.
You can see that each column is internally consistent and differs from the other. That may be attributed to muscle relaxation exercises, tea, and chocolate.
Citations:
Cite 1. Coherent Breathing, Body Up! A Co-Regulation Handbook, Beth Dennison, MEd, LMT, SEP, MA in MFT, Dec 31, 2020.
Cite 2. The Co-Regulation Effect, Relationship Restoration, Kate Double, MSW, LCSW, April 12, 2021.
Cite 1. Coherent Breathing, Body Up! A Co-Regulation Handbook, Beth Dennison, MEd, LMT, SEP, MA in MFT, Dec 31, 2020.
Cite 2. The Co-Regulation Effect, Relationship Restoration, Kate Double, MSW, LCSW, April 12, 2021.
Disclaimer: The app is for informational purposes only. The app is no substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, treatment or emergency intervention or transmission of time-critical data. Users should always seek the advice of their healthcare providers for any questions regarding their medical condition. You agree that the app should not be used to make medical decisions. Users should never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of information provided via the app.