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     54. The Tao of Breath                                                           6/22/04

Even the gods breathe along with the breath
As does man and beast.
For truly, breath is the life of all beings, the Life of all life.
To a full life go they
Who worship God as breath.
For truly, breath is the life of all beings, the Life of all life.

TATITTIRIYA UPANISHAD 2:3

From the book The TAO of Abundance by Laurence G. Boldt, I came across two pages entitled Breath: Respiration Is Inspiration pages 118-119, and would like to make some comments that I feel can clear up some misconceptions about breathing and how we can work with our breathing. Having worked with the subject for forty years and experienced the preventative and curative aspects of breathing, as well as how working with breathing improves performance, I feel some of the language that is used in presenting breathing practices in books can be misleading. I do not mean to belittle this book at all, for the themes and content elsewhere in the book are well done.

Within the first paragraph it is stated; “Proper breathing awakens the subtle Ch’i and increases the levels of oxygen in the brain and blood.”
This statement is fine to me except for the word proper, which I honestly can say; I don’t follow, since breathing can be used in so many ways and there doesn’t seem to be a notion of proper breathing vs. improper breathing in my mind. The notion of ‘proper’ probably comes from the different recommended techniques people give as instructions for singing or playing a wind instruments or even meditation. When working with people who do all of the above activities teaching breathing for opening up the body or releasing tensions or correcting a physical conditions will require using breath in several different ways to treat specific conditions. I’m comfortable saying; that breathing of any kind beats no breathing.

Then the next statement from this excerpt reads; “There are literally dozens of breathing techniques prescribed by various Taoist schools and sects. Many of these should only be attempted while under the guidance of a real master.” I haven’t made a count of the number of different breathing techniques that have come to us from the eastern religions as well as some contemporary western modalities that have breathing as there basis, but yes, we could say there are a large number of breathing techniques which may indicate a need to eventually integrate techniques through some collaboration of the many practitioners. Many breathing techniques are practiced for a specific purpose and don’t necessarily mean that the participants have a handle on what they can do in the way of breathing for their daily living to maintain health and well being. You may find a master to work with on breath, and then you may find the real master is your own body

After a brief expression about breath and awareness the following paragraph states;

“Through the nose; Unless illness prevents, it’s best to keep your mouth closed and breathe through the nose.” In certain practices this is true, yet for the general population this seems to indicate a warning since the advice is to keep the mouth closed. Aside from many people conditioned early in life to ‘keep theirs mouths shut’, breathing through the mouth is an important part of making sounds of all kinds. In working with people to release the body, the first processing often is to open up the bodies ability to make natural sound, so the build up of pressure in the body from ‘holding ones tongue, or being still’ etc can be released. I have found holding sound is a pervasive problem for most people. There are subtle tensions that, over time, become real problems just from holding ones sounds. In sessions, often the initial focus is to open the natural sounds to release tensions that become contained in silence. As our ability to make sounds open, we will feel much better and have a fuller understanding of what it means to grunt, grown, yell, growl, make animal sounds or find an admixture of child like noises. From the releases to the laughter and smiles during a session with sound we can experience its relevance.

The paragraph goes on to say; “since you don’t have to open and close your nose, it’s easier to relax and concentrate on the flow of breath itself then to concern yourself with the manipulation of the breathing mechanism.” I imagine this advice comes primarily from the different practices of concentrated meditation that we engage in, and therefore, has some validity within the confines of those practices. However ‘manipulating the breathing mechanism’ can become a cognitive process as we explore and experiment with different ways to use and play with breathing. We inform ourselves by taking up a practice and experience how this works for us or helps us in some specific way.

Breathing fuller or working with the breath for all the manifold benefits that breathing can bring is not a ‘pregiven impulse’ that comes with the body other then the automatic action that occurs at birth and thereafter. The vast majority learn about breathing in different ways, later in life, which implies that this is also tied to self development. Since the vast majority of people eventually get into reduced patterns of breathing, finding a breathing practice that works to open our awareness of the body, becomes practical and natural to do.

The next paragraph; “Long and slow: Many of us associate breathing techniques with rapid, deep breathing or even hyperventilation.” When taking up a breathing practice it may be rapid at first and also deeper then we might expect. Usually in the very same session our breathing will start to slow down and we can experience periods where the breathing has many different patterns which is all part of becoming familiar with our breathing and the body. As for the ‘demon’ Hyperventilation, that many people in the medical profession refer to when breathing practices are mentioned, I have to remind people that when taking up a wind instrument some dizziness can be felt, yet leaves shortly, as you continue to play the instrument. In giving breathing sessions I do come across this rarely in people, but when I do, just having them continue to breath, with some gentle assurances, has the dizziness (hyperventilation) leave within a minute. I have found, the fear that this word generates can stop exploration and is but a brief encounter with flows filling more spaces in the head and neck.

“The Taoists tell us that rather than to force deep breathing, we do better to gently lengthen and slow the breath. When we are breathing naturally, the diaphragm contracts on the inhale and expands on the exhale. This allows the lungs to fill to capacity and, at the same time, gently massages the internal organs. Watch an infant breath and you will get the idea—long and slow.

Again, people bring to the breathing experience many variations of bodily tensions and closures of their structure. Having a basic notion of what is full breathing and how we can open the spaces of the body that are congested, requires the use of intention and some gentle effort. The statement ‘this allows the lungs to fill to capacity’ misses the point, the Capacity generally is found by using some effort and experimentation to find our capacity, as well as energetically expanding our structure so that we have more capacity. Once we understand our own capabilities by working with the breath, allowing the breath to be long and slow is a piece of cake.

Effortlessness: As with all things, the Taoist masters emphasize naturalness and effortlessness in our breathing. Don’t worry about doing it right. Ultimately, the goal, if we can call it that, is not to breath at all but to let the breath breathe you, which is to say, to become one with it. In a sense, you are returning to the simplicity you knew before you left the womb. If breathing like an infant will fill us with ch’i, then breathing like an embryo in the womb will take us beyond the body itself. In easy breathing, as in all things, a quiet mind is most important.

This paragraph, I believe illustrates the Pre/trans fallacy that I also mistakenly assumed for most of my practicing career, that natural full breathing is a pregiven ingredient in the infant and gets lost or hidden. In fact this early period can be quite traumatic on a normal breathing pattern based on what nonsense is presented while we are in the womb as well as in delivery and beyond. That breathing has become a developmental or transformative process that we can learn about to clear up the many structural problems we acquire is a present day boon to our growing knowledge for how to inhabit, animate and enjoy our precious body.

Becoming one with breathing is usually an accomplishment of many years of exploration, and the result of intention and effort to work with the breath and discover the many benefits we can have by doing forms of full breathing and opening of the body. For some this state of feeling the breath doing itself, can happen in a meditation practice and is always welcome, however, since this can be but a temporary ‘state’ experience, learning more about the different breathing methods provides a base for estimating how we can benefit from the different forms of breathing.

People who have done a lot of processing of body and mind may well find that when lying down and doing breathing, their approach tends to be a slow and expansive breath, that is gentle and peaceful, leads to a contemplative attentiveness. For newcomers to breathing sessions one can start slow and as the breathing process continues, the body may take it into some interesting patterns that are energetic and rewarding. Trusting what goes on, when we introduce breath to the body, lets us navigate through some natural body experiences with breath. By natural I mean, the body starts following its own rhythm as if the body and breath are old friends.

Finally, this link is a positive how to session for all ages to learn more about breathing and alignment. FULL BREATHING

"And then the wind will be your breath, the stars the neurons in your brain, the sun the taste of the morning, the earth the way your body feels."
One Taste Ken Wilber

Namaste

Posted by harmonhathaway at June 22, 2004

        Comments

Hi Harmon,
I enjoyed this discourse. Thank you for continuing to think and teach breathing. I am grateful to be reminded of this fabulous gift which so often goes unnoticed for its ever-presence and inevitability and commonness.

I re-understood the role of breath in the triad
Mind-body-spirit...breath being the spirit. I generally think of my connection to the spiritual as being through the top of my head to the great beyond. However that may be, I am rarely sensitive enough to readily experience such a subtle exchange. The breath is another matter...for in breathing I am literally taking in the vital energy (oxygen) of our universe and exchanging it with plant vital energy (Carbon dioxide). Consciousness of breath (spirit --respire -- there is a linguistic connection in English to ..spire respire -- in Hebrew the word nefesh means breath, but also "soul" and also "desire" there are around twenty definitions for this word in Hebrew. Consciousness of breath brings awareness to the interface of the voluntary and autonomic nervous systems..when you let go of that awareness...breathing continues...yet you can take over control in very specific ways (yogi--breath of fire) or merely watch the natural flow as in zazen. I believe that it is beneficial to play at the interface of the conscious and the unconscious realms within. Ken Wilber identifies Meditation as one clearly powerful, demonstrably efficient tool for evolving levels of consciousness...and I believe watching the breath plays no small role in that practice..in fact I think that sitting still and watching the breath IS the practice.

Integrating mind/body/spirit is precisely the process of bringing attention (mind) to the body (sensation-proprioception) and to the spirit (the interface of the oxygen laden air with the blood engorged alveoli of the lungs) Breathing is the energetic molecular interface with the physical universe.

So...I would conclude that any conscious play with breathing is going to move us along..perhaps "masters" can give instructions which prove consistently useful.. but "proper?"
"improper?" any breathing beats no breathing &
conscious breathing beats unconscious breathing (regarding our evolution)
Thanks again, Harmon
Kelley

Posted by: Kelley Snodgrass on June 22, 2004 10:39 PM

Harmon
As you know, there are over 3000 schools of Qi Gong, and many of them have their roots in Taoism. Mr. Boldt is referencing material that is in various Qi gong texts. For the uninitiated we should point out that Qi Gong works to clear the various meridians in the body that carry chi.

And chi can be moved and controlled with visualization, breathing techniques or posture. Having said that, it’s also true that learning to control the flow of chi in the body is a bit like learning to play a musical instrument. Although there is a close relationship, breath control doesn’t necessarily equate to chi control.

You quote Mr. Boldt:

“Through the nose; Unless illness prevents, it’s best to keep your mouth closed and breathe through the nose.”

It isn’t carved in stone that one has to breath through the nose. In fact, because of injury certain people simply can’t their noses, and some of them control chi very nicely.

Experience has taught me that a lot of people who write or translate books speak with little personal experience. And this holds true even for some with a basket full of formal credentials. It’s a situation much like that which exists in academia. But it’s not my intention to cast aspersions upon Mr. Boldt. I feel sure he is talking about techniques that have worked for him.

Posted by: Solstice on June 22, 2004

Thank you Kelly, for the addition of insights and aspects of breathing. The references to the many words that are given to breath in the Hebrew language and their definitions peaks my interest. Id love to hear more about this. Ken Wilber in One Taste, in the November entries talks of his experiences with meditation. To quote one section that highlights your thoughts; “Meditation speeds up evolution. It accelerates the remembering and the rediscovery of the Spirit that you eternally are. Meditation quickens the rate that acorns grow into oaks, that humans grow into God.”

Yes, breathing is an essential part of this experience, it also plays a big role in our daily lives as we interact with others, do the chores or compose a symphony.

Posted by: Harmon on June 23, 2004 

Solstice

Michaelle Small Wright in her book Co-Creative Science, talks about Nature Intelligence and our partnership with this intelligence. We are learning about our body, which being of nature speaks also to us. We are in a relationship with our body nature and it also has an intelligence. The many forms that you are knowledgeable of are fine, indeed, for speaking with and training the form in the highest sense. Reaching states of rapture in the body is totally appropriate for living fully. When I speak of breathing and alignment I am talking of the outer form that can still pull its back or sprain a leg. As we learn more about the natural structure, our body, specializing in the higher forms are all the more delicious. Our attention is not being pulled by bothersome aches or pains.

When alignment of the body is appreciated along with the breathing practices that are done to maintain or bring about the ideal of a full body, more aligned, then our receptivity to other practices can be very direct. The corollary naturally suggest, that knowledge of the many other forms of breathing can make one receptive to full breathing as I am presenting.

The idea of playing a musical instrument is a special way of looking at a breathing practice and how beautiful that relationship can be. I often feel, when I am working with some one to free up the natural sounds of the body to release tensions with real body sounds rather then polite ‘ouches’, we are, in a way, dealing with a musical instrument. As one becomes one with the musical instrument and tells his story, we can become one with our instrument and sing our song.

Peace.

Posted by: Harmon on June 23, 2004

Harmon,

Did you take that picture? It's beautiful.

From the quote you gave: "breath is the life of all beings." Yes I believe this is true, and is true for plants and minerals as well as animals. This being so, I wonder if it is not only referring to the breathing we do several times a minute, but also another sort of breathing, to which our physical breath is analogous on a different plane?

Because a rock or a plant don't breath like we do, but they have that other breath, which keeps them in existence. What do you think of this other breath? Ruth

Posted by: Ruth on June 28, 2004

Hi Ruth
Yes, I took this picture. Reminds me of the song sung in the early 50’s by Nat King Cole, called 'The Great Magic Painter'.

Ruth, this reverence to breath and how we feel connected to everything via the breath is a subject that has been playing in me for awhile. How does one express in words the inexpressible? For me it just throws me into poetry of the wonder that can be felt for all life.

As you know, I present breathing as a practice to clear away conditioned energy so there is more resonance with what is real, as well as some balance or rhythm with the ebb and flow of nature.

Posted by: Harmon on June 29, 2004

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