Breathing Exercises for Spasmodic Dysphonia

According to the doctors I’ve consulted, breathing is a major part in managing spasmodic dysphonia (SD). I have also noticed that I easily get out of breath when talking. This is quite surprising for me since I’ve been with the varsity swim team during college, and I still do laps every now and then.

It was pointed out to me that I tend to stop breathing while talking. And when I’m stressed, I don’t notice it, but my breathing becomes shallow. It’s like I have this different pattern of breathing in the pool from my pattern of breathing while speaking and under stress.

It wouldn’t hurt to improve my breathing anyway. And I truly believe it is foundational to good speaking. Breath is the gas that fuels speech.

So after doing a free online breathing test to see how my breathing is (it was targeted and scientific), I ordered Mike White’s breathing kit. I got the one specifically for stress management. I received 1 CD called 176 Video which shows basic breathing exercises. Plus another CD for combating stress with breathing. The stress release CD is very relaxing. It’s guided breathing with Tibetan (?) music in the background. I follow Mike’s breathing for 20mins. It regulates my breath intake and I oftentimes fall asleep being too relaxed!

Breathing Exercises CDs

Booklet

Brown Strap and Blue Strap

Then there’s a brown strap for the strapping exercises, to give more room in your body for the air. Also I got the Blue Velcro Strap for use on the chest area. Same benefit as the brown strap but this one you can wear at night. Lately, I haven’t been using the blue strap since it’s so (and I mean so) hot here in Tuguegarao City. We even reached 39.5 Celsius.

I also have the Diaphragm Strengthener which is a big purple tube with a ping pong ball inside. You blow into it and try to keep the ball afloat. The exercise helps to strengthen the diaphragm muscles. When I first used it, my tummy area felt a bit sore.

Diaphragm Strengthener 

Me using the DS (sorry, hard to keep a still hand)

I’ve noticed that with the improvement in my breathing, there is a proportionate improvement on my voice as well. Not phenomenal, but it’s a start.