Jac Vidgen, Senior Practitioner, Buteyko Breathing Asia

Born in 1949 in Brisbane, after leaving his studies, Jac did some work in theatre and travelled extensively. Based in Sydney, he worked for ten years in the catering industry and then became an event producer and promoter, notably organizing some of Sydney's biggest parties in the late 1980s. During the period of 1986-1991, he did a number of courses with Landmark Education in Sydney, where he developed skills as a trainer.

Jac first became involved with the Buteyko Method in mid-1993 when he started work for Buteyko Australia in Sydney. His role at that stage was administrational and promotional but he started training and assisting on workshops with Alexander Stalmatski and Christopher Drake in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

By the end of 1994, he was teaching the method - mostly on a one-to-one basis and in very small groups for the first year while still assisting and training with Alexander.

For the next few years, he conducted regular workshops in Sydney where he mainly worked at the Vita Centre - the surgery of Dr Paul Ameisen. As well he, regularly serviced regional centres around NSW - having done work in Gunnedah, Tamworth, Armidale, Glen Innes, Ballina, Byron Bay, Lismore, Coffs Harbour, Bellingen, Port Macquarie, Newcastle, Gosford, Wollongong, Picton, Blue Mountains, Parramatta, Canberra, Kiama and Taree.

Jac is the first Buteyko Practitioner to introduce the method to the Asian region He has been based in Bangkok since mid-1999, so that he can more effectively service the region with the method, and will eventually be responsible for training local practitioners in the region, so the method can be taught in the local languages. Most of his work in Asia has been in Philippines, Thailand and Hong Kong, although he has done some workshops in Taiwan and Bali.

In September 1999, he was interviewed on CNN Asia's Morning Show in a 5 minute feature on the Buteyko Method in Asia.

Star Asia TV presented a 10 minute feature on Jac and Buteyko's method in its "Focus Asia" program (March 21, 2004), reaching millions of viewers throughout the Asian region.

He was a founding member of the Buteyko Institute of Breathing & Health which is the largest association representing the method in the world, although he is now associated with the Respiratory Health Institute (New York).

"My Training"

I was fortunate to have had a very interesting form of practitioner training.
While working for Buteyko Australia in the early 90s, initially in an administrative and promotional role,
I was widely exposed to the method and many of the people who were enjoying its extraordinary benefits.

During this time, I started to learn the method for myself - with immediate benefits in relation to my lifetime symptoms of allergic rhinitis. I worked under Chief Practitioner Alexander (Sasha) Stalmatski and his senior partner Christopher Drake - assisting them in many workshops in Sydney, Melbourne and various other cities in Australia.

Then for several years I personally assisted Sasha and also taught the method individually while under his mentorship, constantly discussing with him about my clients. This provided me a level of proficiency which allowed me to start to teach groups, and so my own work as a practitioner really developed. I had a successful full-time business teaching the method in Sydney and around country NSW.

I have now been based in South East Asia since 1998.
After leaving Australia, most of my mentorship has come from Christopher Drake, who to this day remains a close friend and a powerful influence behind my ever-improving results as a practitioner. He is always available to guide me and advise me with complex and difficult cases and is a constant source of my deepening my understanding of the method and how to effectively impart it to clients.

For me, this kind of ongoing mentorship is an essential part of my growth and development as a Buteyko practitioner -
and provides a structure of support which seems to be missing for many practitioners of this method.

This is obvious from the number of practitioners asking internet support groups for advice. The problem with reliance on such groups is that some of the few who are offering advice are relatively inexperienced themselves.

I feel privileged to have this association with Christopher and deeply appreciate his devotion to the method and continuing enquiry into how to present it with integrity, and most importantly, with the best results for clients.

Having been the first to introduce Buteyko's method to Asia, I am proud to have established myself with a strong reputation doing regular work in Hong Kong and Manila as well as often in Bangkok and Bali.

In the near future, I am looking to be involved in training practitioners to teach the method in China.