Costal breathing as a way to control a stammer

Costal breathing as a way to control a stammer I wondered what everyone thinks of costal breathing as a way to control their stammer. I have stammered for decades. Twenty years ago, I stumbled across costal breathing, a way to control a stammer that involves a sharp intake of breath, talking at the top of the breath, and various desensitisation techniques. When I first started learning this technique, it was tough, and my stammering habit fought hard to stop me from using this new approach. Over time, my stammer started to lose more battles, and my costal breathing technique started to morph into my new pattern of speech. I replaced a miserable pattern of speech, stammering, with one where I could say what I wanted, when, and how I wanted. Costal breathing isn’t for everyone. One of my friends who had a very pronounced stammer once said, “If I was told to stand on my head every time I wanted to speak, and I didn’t stammer, then I would do it!” To some extent, you need this sort of mindset when using costal breathing to continue the battle to prevent your stammering habit from creeping back into your life. There are many places where a stammerer can learn a costal breathing technique; the best known and probably the most widespread is the McGuire Programme, although there are others worldwide. I chose a charity in the UK called Empowering Voices for my costal breathing support. Twenty years after my first costal breathing course, I often pass as someone without a stammer, and I am happy talking to large groups of people while talking calmly and clearly. Without costal breathing, I wouldn’t have achieved much of what I have over the last couple of decades. What do you think about costal breathing?