Timothée Chalamet might not think much about opera, but those dealing with long Covid sure do.
If you’re living with long Covid, opera probably isn’t the first thing you’d consider as part of recovery. But research-backed breathing work rooted in opera training is now being used to support people struggling with lingering symptoms.
Millions of people in the US are believed to be experiencing long Covid, even though it has been almost three years since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Covid-19 pandemic had ended.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists common long Covid issues such as fatigue that disrupts everyday activities, symptoms that worsen after physical or mental exertion, and fever.
When it comes to respiratory and cardiovascular-related symptoms, the CDC also notes problems like shortness of breath, persistent coughing, chest pain, and rapid breathing — and these are the kinds of challenges that targeted breathing training through opera can help address.
Dr Harry Brünjes, president of the English National Opera (ENO) and a former doctor, launched ENO Breathe after taking up the role in 2015. The initiative is designed to help people rebuild healthier breathing habits using techniques associated with opera performance. It’s currently offered free to patients in England who have been medically assessed through a participating post-COVID clinic or referral centre.
Brünjes describes ENO Breathe as ‘a form of physiotherapy with our core opera singers’.
“We taught people just how to breathe more effectively. By doing that, it actually meant you get your oxygen saturation up,” he explained further to The Times.
The Times reports that more than 5,000 people have been helped through the project so far. While it began as support for long Covid patients, it’s also set to expand to people with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), with a pilot study expected to start in January.
One of the techniques taught in the programme is ‘box breathing’ — inhaling for four counts, holding for four, exhaling for four, then holding again for four.
Explaining why this kind of training can be useful for long Covid patients, Beth Warnock, head of department at ENO Engage, said: “The feeling of being breathless makes people breathe very shallow and take quick breaths. A lot of what we’re trying to get them to do is to reset their breathing patterns.”
She continued: “We do that by using movement and physicality and also exercises where you’re conjuring imagery [i.e visualising the square] so that you’re not thinking about your breathing, and your breathing changes as a by-product.”
Not exactly the most obvious route to recovery — but it’s making a real difference.