Every sound is based on a certain breathing process. Breathing is shaped by the resistance to the flow of breath at the point of articulation (lips, tongue, palate, larynx) pertaining to the sound. The sound «H», spoken as the exclamation «Ha», requires only the glottis as resistance.
The sound «M», on the other hand, requires closed lips, which direct the breath through the nose, as well as the glottis, the closure of which makes the sound voiced. Thus, the sounds we utter when we speak continuously hold back the flow of breath and direct it to specific places in our body.
SIB can increase well-being in general, but it can also be used by certified practitioners for treating breathing disorders and respiratory diseases*, no matter whether they are caused by psychological stress (e.g. anxiety and excitement) or by physical influences (diseases of the lungs and respiratory tract).
*Full training or further education is required for treating disorders and diseases with SIB. The authors accept no responsibility for any harm or problems that may arise from improperly executed exercises.
Sound Informed Breathing (SIB) was developed by Swiss drama and speech therapist Dietrich von Bonin together with colleagues in Switzerland and abroad.
The interventions described have proven themselves over many years of application by numerous specialists, and their effects have been outlined in scientific studies.
Dietrich von Bonin is a certified arts therapist (ED) specialising in drama and speech therapy and an SVAKT arts therapist for Anthroposophic Therapeutic Speech. He runs a practice in Bern, is president of the Quality Assurance Commission for the Higher Professional Examination in Arts Therapies, and regularly holds courses and lectures at international seminars. He is also the author of various publications on arts and speech therapy.
Dietrich von Bonin is father to three adult daughters and lives in the Bern region of Switzerland.
Would you like to learn more about SIB? Interested therapists are welcome to contact us directly. If you have any questions as a client, our certified SIB practitioners will be happy to help.
Clients and practitioners can use the exercise portal to learn or brush up on SIB exercises through practical video tutorials for an annual fee.
A basic version of each exercise is demonstrated in a video. Further ways of carrying out the exercise and its objectives, as well as indications and contraindications, are described.
Many thanks to Brenda Ratcliffe, Sibylle Eichstaedt, Beatrice Voigt and Helen Lubin for the English translations and improvements.
Get in touch. We will gladly provide you with information on our training opportunities.