Frequently Asked Questions
About The Breathable Body
What is The Breathable Body?
The Breathable Body, founded by Robert Litman in 2003 in Tucson, Arizona and now on Vashon Island, Washington, teaches conscious breathing and Buteyko Breathing Education as a path back to harmony and balance. Our work explores the complexity of breath with the goal of simplifying it, integrating breath, movement, and sound. By making conscious choices about how you breathe, you can improve your health, energy, sleep, and overall wellbeing in every area of life.
What exactly is a “breathable body”?
A breathable body is one that stays responsive to the natural movement of breath. Over the years, most of us pick up unnatural breathing habits caused by stress, injury, posture, illness, and emotion. Becoming aware of how you actually breathe and removing the physical and behavioral patterns that impede it is central to restoring complete, sustainable health.
Who is Robert Litman?
Robert Litman is the author of *The Breathable Body* and founder of The Breathable Body, with more than 38 years of experience in breath and movement education. He co-developed the Wellsprings Practitioner Program with Emilie Conrad, founder of Continuum, and served on Continuum’s faculty for 18 years. He has taught at the University of Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine for Dr. Andrew Weil, holds advanced certifications in somatic pattern recognition and as a Breathing Behavior Analyst, and is a registered educator and trainer with the Buteyko Breathing Educators Association (BBEA).
What programs and services does The Breathable Body offer?
We offer courses, seminars, private sessions, and guided audio practices at every level of learning, from beginner to professional training. Programs address breathing difficulties encountered at work, in sports, and in daily life, and include specialized instruction for managing specific health conditions such as asthma, sleep apnea, and anxiety. Private sessions are tailored to your individual breathing pattern and goals. He posts a daily reflection on breathing on Substack @thebreathablebody1
Core Methods and Practices
What foundational methods does The Breathable Body teach?
Our teaching follows the tenets of **Continuum** movement and the **Buteyko Breathing Method**, supported by breathing behavior analysis. Clients learn skills to regulate their own carbon dioxide levels, which play a critical role in delivering oxygen to the tissues and restoring healthy breathing rhythms. Breath, movement, sound, and structural alignment are trained together rather than in isolation.
What is the Buteyko Breathing Method?
Developed by Dr. Konstantin Buteyko in Russia, the Buteyko Method retrains chronic over-breathing (hidden hyperventilation) so that carbon dioxide levels normalize and oxygen is delivered more efficiently at the cellular level. Rather than adding more air, it teaches lighter, slower, quieter nasal breathing. It is most widely known for asthma management, and is also applied to allergies, anxiety, sleep-disordered breathing, and snoring.
What is Continuum movement?
Created by Emilie Conrad in the 1970s, Continuum is a somatic practice that combines slow, fluid, exploratory movement with breath and sound. It works with the body’s fluid-tissue matrix to release held tension, improve flexibility and circulation, and deepen mind–body awareness. In our work, Continuum creates the internal space and responsiveness that make easeful breathing possible.
What is the Sa~Ha meditation?
Sa~Ha is a simple breathing meditation that helps you experience a quiet, easeful movement of air in and out of the body. You silently think the syllable *Sa* throughout the inhale and *Ha* throughout the exhale. This opens internal space, evens out breath volume, and gradually establishes relaxed breathing as your default. It can be practiced anytime, anywhere, in any posture that allows natural breathing.
Do you offer breathing practices for waking up and going to sleep?
Yes. We offer two guided audio meditations, also available through the Hay House Unlimited Audio App. The **Morning Meditation** helps you wake gradually and open your mind to new beginnings. The **Bedtime Meditation** is done right before sleep and acts as a powerful tool for releasing the physical and mental stresses of the day, settling the nervous system for deeper rest.
The Science of Breathing
Isn’t oxygen good and carbon dioxide bad?
This is one of the most common misconceptions about breathing. Oxygen is a nutrient, but carbon dioxide is not merely a waste gas — it regulates how oxygen is distributed throughout the body. Through the Bohr Effect, CO₂ enables hemoglobin to release oxygen into your cells. When someone hyperventilates, they blow off too much CO₂; oxygen delivery to the brain slows, which is why people faint.
Why is conscious nose breathing so important?
Nasal breathing warms, humidifies, and filters incoming air, and produces nitric oxide, which dilates blood vessels and improves circulation. It naturally regulates breath volume so CO₂ stays balanced, and it triggers the parasympathetic “rest and settle” response, countering the “fight or flight” response activated by mouth breathing. Nose breathing also heightens smell, which links directly to the emotional centers of the limbic system, and helps protect hearing by keeping the auditory tube at the back of the throat clear of stagnating debris.
I sigh and yawn a lot. Is that a bad habit?
Frequent sighing and yawning aren’t simply bad habits — they’re messages from your body. They are short-term compensations for a dysregulated breathing pattern, momentarily extending the exhale to slow the heart rate and relax muscles. Over time, though, they signal lowered CO₂ levels, reduced oxygen delivery, and a body under sustained stress. Many people who sigh and yawn often describe feeling overwhelmed, tired, and breathless.
How does better breathing support overall health and immunity?
Relaxation research indicates that breathing well can make you less vulnerable to viral infection, lower blood pressure, and improve cardiovascular health. Functional breathing also regulates the limbic system the ancestral, deeply buried part of the brain which helps you manage anxiety and metabolize everyday stress rather than accumulate it. Better sleep, digestion, and mental clarity commonly follow.
Health Conditions and Outcomes
What conditions can breathing retraining help manage?
By restoring healthy breathing rhythms, our programs help clients learn to manage and alleviate asthma, COPD, allergies, chronic cough, snoring, sleep apnea, anxiety, panic attacks, insomnia, migraines, hypertension, digestive issues, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue. Breathing retraining is educational and complements rather than replaces care from your physician.
Is there scientific evidence for the Buteyko Breathing Method?
Yes. Interest in the Buteyko Method grew substantially after a three-month Australian trial, supported by the asthma foundation there, that compared Buteyko breathing with the physiotherapy-based care standard at the time and found notable benefit for asthma symptom control. Published trials have since reported reduced reliever-inhaler use and improved symptom scores, with some studies also noting reductions in inhaled steroid requirements.
What results do clients report?
Clients report reduced reliance on medication, fewer asthma and anxiety symptoms, fewer and less severe migraines, quieter nights with less snoring, deeper and more restorative sleep, better athletic performance and recovery, sharper memory and focus, and a general increase in energy and wellbeing. Individual results vary depending on history, consistency of practice, and existing medical conditions.
How does forest fire smoke affect lung health?
Forest fire smoke carries many gases plus enormous numbers of tiny airborne particles from burned trees and plants. The particulates pose the greatest threat: these microscopic particles travel deep into the lungs, irritating airways and profoundly affecting your respiratory system and your ability to breathe safely. During smoke events, nasal breathing, reduced breath volume, and limiting exertion outdoors all help lower your exposure.
Where can I find contraindications?
Breathwork can be a powerful emotional experience. If you suffer from any serious condition or specifically if you are pregnant, have epilepsy, a detached retina, glaucoma, uncontrolled high blood pressure or cardiovascular disease, you are advised to seek medical counsel prior to joining us. Also it is imperative that you do not drive, operate heavy machinery, work with sharp objects or partake in any other potentially hazardous activities after our session until you feel fully grounded. This may take some time so please plan accordingly. Breathing Retraining is available during pregnancy and for those with heart conditions with modifications.
Sessions, Classes, and Private Instruction
Are sessions available online or only in person?
Private sessions are available online. Cost is $200 for an hour and a half. In person sessions are available on Vashon Island in the privacy of your own home. One or two sessions are needed for a overview and practices. For the full Buteyko Method teaching 5 one and half hour sessions are required and the cost is $900. Group sessions are also available. Classes for the Buteyko Method are offered online for $395.
Do you offer professional/practitioner certification?
We do not offer certifications.
How do I book?
Please reach us via our contact page
