Breathing in smoke season

Some summers the mountains disappear behind a brown-yellow haze, the sun turns orange, and breathe freely stops being a metaphor. This page is general information. It is not medical advice, and it does not replace the guidance of public health agencies or your own doctor.

Check the number first

Canada reports air quality on a scale called the Air Quality Health Index, or AQHI. It runs from 1 to 10 and above. Low risk is 1 to 3, moderate is 4 to 6, high is 7 to 10, and very high is above 10. You can look up your area, and the forecast, on the Environment and Climate Change Canada AQHI page. Check it the way you check the weather, in the morning and again before you go out. During a smoke event the numbers can change quickly. Do not judge by the sky alone. Read the number.

The AQHI comes with health messages for the general population and for people at higher risk, such as people with heart or lung conditions, pregnant people, older adults and children. Follow the message for your group.

What the official guidance says

Health Canada’s page on wildfire smoke suggests, in short: check the AQHI; limit time outdoors, and cut back on strenuous activity if you notice symptoms; keep windows and doors closed as much as you can; use the best air filter your ventilation system can handle, or a certified portable air cleaner; and if the smoke lasts for days, exercise indoors where the air is cleaner. Read the page itself for the details. We are not the authority here, and we do not want to be.

Keeping the practice gentle and indoors

On smoke days, we choose practices that are slow, easy and indoors. Three breaths back. A lying-down body scan. A long, unforced out-breath at the end of the day. Keep the breath soft and comfortable. This is not the day for breath-holds, fast breathing, or anything that asks the lungs to work harder than they need to.

Trade the walk outside for stillness inside. The ridge will be there next week. If you are not sure whether it is a good day to be out, check the number, then check it again.

Some people find it helps to write a short note and stick it by the door: check the number, close the windows, choose an indoor practice. Then, on a smoke day, there is nothing to decide. Many people also feel restless or short-tempered when the air is bad. That is common. On those days the practice is not about calm. It is about gentleness.

Calgary sits an hour from the Rockies, and the name of this studio is usually a figure of speech. In smoke season it is not. Clean air is a real need, not an idea, and on those days the kindest thing we can do is stay indoors and keep the breath easy.

Take care

If you have trouble breathing, wheezing, chest pain, dizziness or a severe cough, stop what you are doing and get medical help. Call 9-1-1 if you think it is an emergency. In Alberta you can also call Health Link at 811 for advice. People with heart or lung conditions should follow their own care plans.

Tonight, put the AQHI link on your phone’s home screen, so that the number is one tap away. Then ask yourself: what would my day look like if the air made the plan?