Lisa: Asthma and training with Airofit
Diagnosed with asthma
As many others around the world, Lisa was diagnosed with asthma at a very young age. She recalls that, as a child, one day, she suddenly felt like she could not breathe at all and panicked. She needed to be taken to the hospital in an emergency and even needed to be hospitalized for a few days. Doctors diagnosed her with asthma and, at the time, all they prescribed was a good set of inhalers and some more medicine that she would need to take for the rest of her life.
Luckily, at some point, during her teenage years, the asthma attacks stopped – she cannot quite recall why or how but they did. All of a sudden, she no longer needed the medicines nor the inhalers anymore. She was a happy child, always active, always interested in sports, playing football, going to the gym…always exercising and, most importantly, never needing the set of inhalers she once did.
The consequences of a bad flue
Although born and raised in Germany, she then decided to pursue her psychology studies in the Netherlands. She was always interested in Health and helping people create healthy habits, especially, healthy habits at work and therefore, specialized in organizational health. Unfortunately, while she was studying how to help others improve their health, her own plumbed drastically one day, back in the Netherlands.
She had an awful flu and, apparently out of nowhere, after being asymptomatic for years, her asthma symptoms reappeared. All she had at home to treat her symptoms was an allergy ointment, which “did not help much” (she recalls, quite amused). From no medication at all, her general practitioner went back to prescribing two different types of medicine a day. Also, she needed to keep that emergency inhaler close by, “just in case”.
The whole situation was truly a bummer and she wanted to look for different treatment options. After all, living medicine-dependent for the rest of your life can be quite shocking, especially when you’re just in your twenties.
Lisa’s “aha” moment and finding Airofit
After looking online for different options, she found that breathing exercises and respiratory training could actually help…and that there was a lot of science and evidence to support the use of breathing techniques as an aid for asthma and other diseases.
But her true “aha” moment was a motorcycle trip up to Norway; from a 40 degrees C temperature on the road in the Netherlands, she went to experience a much colder 5 degree Celsius in Norway. However, when she got closer to a “clearer air”, her breathing suddenly improved!
“We got close to the polar circle and the air was so clear that I did not need my inhaler at all, nothing, never. And then I started thinking “ok, how do I get this to my normal level of air”.”
Airofit appeared as a solution and a very promising one. And what she thought would be an easy training device, proved to help much more…
At the beginning, her recommended program included a 1-minute exercise and then she thought “too easy, too easy”. But when she actually tried it, 5 minutes in and she was gasping for air!
What was truly important is that she remained consistent through it all and after a couple of months of training with Airofit, she could reduce the number of inhalers she needed and barely used the emergency one.
She was, of course, more than excited to find an alternative relief to her condition. But, like many of us, she was also hit by the consequences of a global pandemic.
Covid: A small bump in the road
In March 2022, Lisa got Covid and her lungs took a big hit. She went back to using all her inhalers and her breathing got worse and worse. However, once she started feeling a bit better, she could train with Airofit once more; she did not give up her respiratory muscle training and stayed consistent.
Three months later, the need for medications was again reduced! Now, she hardly ever needs her emergency inhaler and in her own words she is “still reducing the need for it”.
“I feel like I don’t need it, it’s just ahabit”. “And then you’re not dependant on it anymore, you don’t want to be dependent on those things” – she mentions.
And her results show! For the past year, she has been maintaining an average Lung Capacity of 6 L (with her test results sometimes reaching an outstanding capacity of 7.4). As she was already an active woman, she had a good starting capacity of 4.4 L. However, the progress she has made, in spite of her condition and a very bad Covid experience, are simply proof of her commitment to her overall lung health!
Lisa’s favorite sessions
As still a very active person, who exercises regularly and has tried all types of sports, she stays disciplined in her different types of training. Airofit is now the complement to her Kung Fu training, one that she accompanies with some of her favorite sessions from the relaxation module: “Circle” and “Mindfulness”.
And she does not miss one day. Whether it is 5 minutes or 15, Lisa always finds time to work on her lung strength; she is the living proof that consistency is key to achieving the results you are looking for.
Lisa is therefore an Airofit example, an inspiration for us to consistently work on bringing better breathing for all. On behalf of the Airofit family: “Thank you Lisa, for being such an amazing Airofitter; we will always support your journey”.
