There are few things in life that are simultaneously important and almost never thought about. Breathing is an act that keeps all of us alive, but an act that we rarely consider. As it turns out, honing in on how we breathe can drastically improve our lives. In the late 1950’s, Ukrainian-born doctor Konstantin Buteyko was working with terminally-ill patients. In his practice, he noticed that acute hyperventilation was worsening the outcomes of the patients in his care.