One of the most important measurements in the Buteyko Method is the Control Pause.
The Control Pause is the length of a pleasant, comfortable pause after a normal inhale followed by a normal exhale, measured in seconds.
If you truly measured your Control Pause, you did not take a deeper-than-usual breath before pinching your nose, and you did not take a deeper-than-usual breath after releasing your nose.
Contrary to popular belief, at rest we are not driven to breathe because we are running out of oxygen, but because our carbon dioxide level is rising.
People who overbreathe — that is, who exchange more than the normal 4–6 liters of air per minute in their lungs — do so because they cannot tolerate, or can only poorly tolerate, the rising carbon dioxide level.
Your Control Pause gives a good approximation of how well your body tolerates carbon dioxide.
This is important in the Buteyko Method because CO₂ is not simply “waste gas.” It plays an essential role in oxygen utilization.
Carbon dioxide helps dilate blood vessels and supports the release of oxygen from hemoglobin to the cells. This means that the key question is not how much oxygen we breathe in, but how effectively the body can deliver and release that oxygen into the tissues.
The goal of Buteyko practice is therefore to gradually increase the Control Pause — in other words, to increase CO₂ tolerance.
As CO₂ tolerance improves, breathing naturally becomes quieter, smaller and more economical. This also improves the efficiency of the body’s oxygen supply, which is one of the foundations of optimal function.
How is the 9-day practice structured?
During the first 3 days:
3 × 5 minutes of breathing observation each day.
During the next 3 days:
3 × 10 minutes of breathing observation and gentle reduced breathing each day.
During the final 3 days:
3 × 15 minutes of breathing observation and reduced breathing each day.
After the 9 days, you can continue practicing with the same system free of charge.
You will receive 4 emails during the exercise series:
Email 1: getting started, login, calendar links and the first 3 days of practice
Email 2: how to move on to the 10-minute practices
Email 3: how to move on to the 15-minute practices
Email 4: how to continue after the 9 days so your Control Pause keeps improving
After registration, you can choose when you would like to practice. By default, we suggest three practice times:
7:00 — morning
12:00 — midday
21:00 — evening
If one of these times does not suit you, you can change it or turn it off.
The system sends calendar links for your selected practice times, so your phone or computer can remind you automatically.
You can save your Control Pause values to track your progress. You can delete individual measurements at any time, and if you delete your registration, all your saved measurements are deleted as well.
We do not ask for a symptom list. We do not ask for a diagnosis. You do not need to install an app.
Just a few short guided Buteyko exercises each day — step by step, for 9 days.