daoist breahting techniques

[flanneau]

Hello

 

Is there a good book about daoist breathing techniques ?

 

 

Kind Regards

 

Frederick

 

 

 

 

 

 

[joeblast]

YMAA embryonic breathing

 

or, go dig up my breathwork posts here

[sillybearhappyhoneyeater]

The term breathing techniques is a bit misleading in regard to Daoism, since breath control techniques don't specifically have anything to do with meditation.   In terms of Daoist meditation practices, breathing typically falls into these categories:

 

- natural breathing:  simply breathing through the nose with the tongue pressed to the roof of the mouth.  this breathing is often accompanied by attention on the lower dantian.  Depending on the school, the in breath may be shorter or longer than the out breath.

 

- sealed breathing:  this style of breathing is very faint, almost so faint that it can't be perceived.  Usually people who can breathe like this already have years of experience in meditation and have naturally learned how to get the oxygen they need without very much physical effort at all.

 

- abdominal breathing:  some people breathe with slightly more emphasis on the lower abdomen, especially if they are focusing on the qi xue point in the lower abdomen.  Usually this method of breathing expands down and out and relaxes down into the lower abdominal muscles, always keeping the mind and breath together in the qi xue point.

 

- lung breathing:  some schools suggested to naturally breathe into the lung and feel the feeling of expansion and contraction.  Listening to the breath is very comfortable and a very good practice in "zuo wang" sitting and forgetting meditation.

 

 

Outside of these, such as "reverse breathing" and other complicated breathing techniques are typically the domain of qi gong and martial arts, so much of the information presented by YMAA and similar organizations is actually presented from the perspective of martial arts and qi gong, not from Daoist meditation.    In meditation practice, it doesn't matter what breathing you do, but it is better to do the one that makes you go to non action and quiet as fast as possible, so breathing practices which require you to do complicated tasks or use more muscles than regular breathing are all the wrong way (Zhang Boduan said this in Understanding reality).

[joeblast]

But good breath control techniques are what gets one to "real meditation"     And good attention paid to the mechanics and efficiencies thereof conveys a more thorough neuromuscular ingraining of the efforts put forth, leading more quickly to regular, ongoing deeply absorptive states and the ability to enter them more quickly, stay in them longer, and not notice the extra time there to an appreciable extent.

 

Oh, verbiage.  One doesnt want to press the tongue on the roof of the mouth, just a light connection is what is proper - pressing engages cranial nerves that run through the tongue.

 

Sealed sounds like what things would appear to an outside observer who sees one having eliminated the external breath and no outward movement is seen.

 

Expanding down and out takes emphasis off the diaphragm, which is more energetically important to nail down, but I only figured out why by having employed that method and figuring out what correct diaphragm motion should be.  *hiccups*  heh.  Expand your abdomen too much and maybe you'll get deeply enough to experience the differing musculotendonal tension between the front and rear of the diaphragm.

 

Lung breathing often involves moving the ribs, and if one is shooting for maximal efficiency, this is one of those things to be dropped along the way.

 

Reverse breathing for meditation is best done in full lotus, because the rotation of the femur already puts a slight natural tension upon which the breath rebounds - its sorta like the better bounce one gets by having a tighter drumhead....you can roll like buddy rich when they're nice and tight, but if you like that deep relaxed sound of a drumhead that has more give to it, you cant quite accomplish the same technical feats.  The psoas is very involved in the breath and attaches to the spine very closely to where the diaphragm's lower attachment is, so the concurrent yang phases interact in a more energetically positive fashion. 

 

I think people teach reverse breathing wrong, all the time you hear people first thing they mention about reverse breathing is you suck in the abdomen on inhale.  While that's a good external observation, it can screw with the internal fundamentals.  (Hell we even had someone assert round here in the past couple years that the diaphragm actually rose on a reverse inhale.  I facepalmed.)  Reverse breathing should begin with diaphragm and huiyin coordination, and then as the internal mechanisms are streamlined, then add in the qihai.  Internals are fundamentals, if one doesnt have those fundamentals down then it becomes tough to utilize this in meditation.

[Aetherous]

I think people teach reverse breathing wrong, all the time you hear people first thing they mention about reverse breathing is you suck in the abdomen on inhale.

 

At least coming from Max's teaching of it...it seems the reason why that's done is to open mingmen, especially with a slight forward lean to expand the lower back open during the inhale.

[joeblast]

To the best of my knowledge, nobody teaches reverse breathing as I do.   Havent ever had anyone tell me that about reverse breathing, it was just from my own experience.  One of the times I destroyed my gung was trying too hard to switch to reverse breathing for my longevity breathing sessions and I couldnt do it efficiently enough at the time and *poof* byebye.  Then again, nobody teaches breathing like I do, period, so *shrugs*   But I've seen a crap ton of people teach reverse breathing by putting way too much emphasis on the sucking in of the abdomen...

[Wu Ming Jen]

We are all born Taoist breathing then chest breathing then throat breathing and the last breath is mouth breathing. Turn around and go the other way through the gate of life. Taoist breathing is mixing pre natal energy with post natal energy if you include lifting the perineum floor on inhale you are also massaging the organs and toning core muscles.

 

It is simple, inhale stomach moves inward filling the lungs, energy and body is rising,lifting. On exhale abdomen expands not forcefully as energy descends, body sinks, very natural.

 

Blow up a balloon the abdomen will expand as you exhale. au natural 

 

My suggestion is the Tao of Tai Chi Chuan by master Jou Tsung Hwa explaining the 9 ways of breath and usefulness.

[sillybearhappyhoneyeater]

Hi Joe Blast,

it is good that you have had this personal experience, but please don't confuse this method with classical neidan.

 

edit: I should expand on this a bit:

 

breathing in neidan is meant to be natural, so the best way to breathe is without very much effort.  In neidan we are trying to "go back to the root and return to the origin," which is the only way to get into the real "pre heaven," state.   Any breathing which requires more effort than just being calm and natural is already taking us into the "post heaven" state, which is considered as a low level practice, or for beginners only in order to help them activate their Qi.   Later in practice, people will typically forget they are even breathing.  the point is to enter complete emptiness and then forget emptiness, it has nothing to do with complicated breathing techniques at all. 

Wu Ming Jen was correct, and as usual his posts are very good 

Edited October 21, 2016 by sillybearhappyhoneyeater

[joeblast]

Hi Joe Blast,

it is good that you have had this personal experience, but please don't confuse this method with classical neidan.

 

edit: I should expand on this a bit:

 

breathing in neidan is meant to be natural, so the best way to breathe is without very much effort.  In neidan we are trying to "go back to the root and return to the origin," which is the only way to get into the real "pre heaven," state.   Any breathing which requires more effort than just being calm and natural is already taking us into the "post heaven" state, which is considered as a low level practice, or for beginners only in order to help them activate their Qi.   Later in practice, people will typically forget they are even breathing.  the point is to enter complete emptiness and then forget emptiness, it has nothing to do with complicated breathing techniques at all. 

Wu Ming Jen was correct, and as usual his posts are very good 

No offense, but I guess you dont appear to understand what I'm writing, or at least have some misinterpretations.  Its heavy on technical matters for a reason, and that reason absolutely without a doubt is focused on building a solid foundation for neidan.  If you dont understand the technical matters or their purpose, you can always ask before assuming "this shouldnt be confused with classical neidan" or some such silliness.  I hate to reply tersely on this, but ffs.  One doesnt just up and get on immediately to neidan.

[sillybearhappyhoneyeater]

No offense, but I guess you dont appear to understand what I'm writing, or at least have some misinterpretations.  Its heavy on technical matters for a reason, and that reason absolutely without a doubt is focused on building a solid foundation for neidan.  If you dont understand the technical matters or their purpose, you can always ask before assuming "this shouldnt be confused with classical neidan" or some such silliness.  I hate to reply tersely on this, but ffs.  One doesnt just up and get on immediately to neidan.

 

Could you provide me with some documentation from classical documents which discusses the methods you are talking about.

I am happy to provide some for you, please give me a couple hours.

[sillybearhappyhoneyeater]

From Xing Ming Gui Zhi, Chi Du Zi Tai Xi Jue section:

 

"In the space of the Qi Xue (accupoint under the dantian) the ancients called it the window and door of life,  also called the root of heaven and earth.  gather the mind here,  gradually the yuan qi will increase.   The yuan shen will gradually flourish.  yuanshen being full means the breath will become smooth.  the breath being smooth means the blood will circulate.  the blood circulating means the bones will be strong.  strong bones means the marrow will be full.  the marrow being full means the stomach will become full.  the stomach being full means it will move down naturally.  moving down naturally means it will move lightly and powerfully.  the four limbs will become healthy and the colour (of the skin) will be the colour of a peach.  achieving immortality isn't far off"

 

we can see by here that the method is based on "ning shen," or accumulating the shen mind in the Qi Xue point.  The correct way to breathe is to allow the mind to gather in this area and breathe there, after a certain period of time, more yuan qi will build up and the blood in the belly will circulate more freely.  This is how the movement of the belly begins to naturally move down, not by forcing it with post heaven breathing exercises.

 

Dao De Jing Chan Wei, huang yuanji:

chapter one:

 

"Dao Jia believes that the mystery gate subtle portal (xuan guan yi qiao) is in the space of one out breath and one in breath.  the in breath comes in and is represented by yin (IE: female), it is quiet, intention on nothing (wei wu).  The out breath leaves and is yang, it is based in movement, substantial (wei you).  This is the subtlety of one breath."

 

Huang yuanji believed that the in breath should be very soft and not have intention, while the out breath should have some intention.  Chen Yingning later explained this as at the time of the out breath, putting more attention on the lower dantian area.

 

Wu Zhen Pian:

"exhausting the body pulling and stretching are all not the real Dao.  Swallowing breath (as medicine) and eating clouds are all mad."

 

Zhang Boduan understood that Dan can't collect if you are always moving around.  In the first section, he is criticising nei gong methods at that time in history and in the second part he is criticising breathing techniques.  Good neidan only uses very subtle breathing.

 

 

Gao Shang Yu Huang Tai Xi Jing:

"The foetus congeals in the centre of hidden qi (breath),

The breathing moves together from the centre of the embryo...

hold on to empty quiet and nurture the shen qi (spiritual breath).

the shen moves and the breath moves, the shen rests and the breath rests...

the heart does not move in thought, nothing comes, nothing goes, nothing leaves, nothing enters, forever natural.

working hard to achieve this is the real road of the Dao"

 

 

Hu Haiya said in his book "immortality study health preservation omnibus" that the ancients used to sit in the lotus posture in their day to day life, so that was natural to them, but that it or any other postural requirements are not required to enter into correct practice.  I think upon review of the most popular ancient neidan documents, you will find that there is very little written about breathing except that the breath and the spirit should coordinate together.   Breathing is very important, but you have to know what you are trying to achieve. If you want to learn to clear the du mai meridian, then I agree, putting more emphasis on deeper breathing is good, but if you want to enter the mystery gate, you need to turn down the breath.   Your posture will not fall over because when the Qi moves in the Du mai, it will naturally set your body up straight.    

 

 

The fact of the matter is that Neidan practices are based on using Li and Kan, Hun, Po, and Yi together to first hide the intention and then gradually to build up yuan jing, qi, and shen.   If you have to focus on complex breathing techniques, you will never enter into complete quiet and go to the pre heaven state.  This isn't speculation, there are many documents which explicitly say this and I'd be happy to share them if you want more evidence.

[idquest]

...

The fact of the matter is that Neidan practices are based on using Li and Kan, Hun, Po, and Yi together to first hide the intention and then gradually to build up yuan jing, qi, and shen.   If you have to focus on complex breathing techniques, you will never enter into complete quiet and go to the pre heaven state.  This isn't speculation, there are many documents which explicitly say this and I'd be happy to share them if you want more evidence.

 

IME, all this is good and right if/when a practitioner has already achieved a sufficient level of sung. As I understand joeblast, he is making a point on methods that allow to achieve such a level of sung. Because all that connective tissue should be soft and supple, not rigid and rusty.

[joeblast]

Could you provide me with some documentation from classical documents which discusses the methods you are talking about.

I am happy to provide some for you, please give me a couple hours.

I'll have to apologize for having lent my ymaa embryonic breathing book out one too many times, and it never came back, the one chocked with my notes and highlights.  I was a bit annoyed when that dude told me his girlfriend accidentally scooped it up into a bunch of books and donated.  Oh well, someone else's gain if they realize what they found.

 

Honestly the bulk of the most valuable remarks were all from dr yang's translations of old texts, but I dont really recall which ones offhand - maybe I might have a pdf of the book I can search through, but it wasnt as nice as my worn, dog eared, colored sticky noted, highlighted and penciled up treasure that I used to own.  That's a big part of what makes that EB book such a gem is that half, 2/3rds of it focuses on his translations of old texts.  Simple, beautiful points like calm, soft, slender, long, deep.  Well, I seem to recall there were 7 in that list.

 

In a nutshell, regarding my interpretations

 

In a very yin spark arising from waxing yang way, all of these "complications" are actually simplifications aimed at achieving the most highly efficient state possible and being able to solidly, reliably enter into it every day, where one is able to achieve an hour or two of "real meditation" every day.  

 

That's what building a foundation is geared towards, no?

 

Whether or not the practitioner can take it to 4+ hours or completely supplant sleep with the things I've put together are merely a matter of if one can have a calm stable proper conducive to cultivation lifestyle and not be surrounded by negative, argumentative people for example, because eventually even something like that will perturb cultivation; I can see why serious cultivators would leave society.

 

Again I apologize for having to use relatively complex terms but they are so for a reason, in the interests of utmost accuracy so that there's no mistake about what's being referred to.  I took all those old collections of writings and applied them to(woards, lol) their logical conclusion, I filtered terminology, troubleshot physiology, broke through many a wall on the way.   I learned which things to move and why and what not to move and why, how it all contributes towards the efficiency equation.  I achieved this many times over, because my life's circumstances contributed to the energy's eventual destruction a good minimum 8 practice-chunks of time - I changed and enhanced things just a bit with each immersion of practice chunks, some as short as 5 months some as long as a little over a year.  But the signposts were largely the same each time, except usually arriving at shorter breath durations as other efficiencies were added. 

 

So I am 100% confident in what I've come to understand on breathwork as it relates to neurology and internal alchemy.  The trick is just putting it properly so that other people understand it - which is probably why I havent written a book yet, and I just keep typing posts on the internet generally tailored towards people's individual understandings of it.  Sometimes I wind up just discussing physical movements, sometimes I include neurological aspects, sometimes it gets wrapped up with the internal alchemy bow when the context is there. 

 

There is muscle memory in gung; the most constructively amplifying waves are in phase.  The old knowledge, the new science whether its quantum mechanics or the extensive anatomical explorations that have been done - all are in accord.  QM probability equations to calculate phase and such correlate very well to the process of the awareness interacting with physical (in a sense of the less one is able to differentiate individual events in a long sequence of similar events...those equations spell the spark of yang arising from yin right there, heh) with the probability of an event rising the more the wave functions constructively amplify - no different than walking the rote path of anapanasati, transforming the nerves resonant mode from yang to yin, and entering effortlessly into a state deep enough that you cant really tell the difference between 20 minutes and 2 hours.  Oh, the spark of yang that arises from that!!!  That requires the muscle memory, that requires being in training and training a few times a day every day, that + high efficiency states for all of it = gung. 

 

No wonder I cant get a book done   I cant even get an outline done, too many irons in the fire.

 

/\

[joeblast]

The fact of the matter is that Neidan practices are based on using Li and Kan, Hun, Po, and Yi together to first hide the intention and then gradually to build up yuan jing, qi, and shen.   If you have to focus on complex breathing techniques, you will never enter into complete quiet and go to the pre heaven state.  This isn't speculation, there are many documents which explicitly say this and I'd be happy to share them if you want more evidence.

By first spending some time actually focusing well on anapanasati, troubleshooting one's body, imbuing the awareness intent into each breath, eventually this literally reprograms the medulla oblongata with the breath protocol one has been focusing on.  This is muscle memory, but it is more than that, it is a deep memory of breath and of breathing efficiently.

 

No mind needs be placed on this, once the medulla has been well programmed.

 

Like a bike, it is pedaled a bit here and there to keep the "motion" going, but once there's a potential to ride, one doesnt need to pedal!

 

A true spark of yang arises from deep yin, the deeper and more solid the yin, the more vigorous the resultant spark of arising yang.

 

If one doesnt have a sufficiently deep level of stillness, one will necessarily have a less potent spark of arising yang.

 

If things are not calmed and smoothed, good luck building yuan jingqishen

 

This becomes a tool in the box, one of the main tools used.

 

When the medulla is programmed well, it doesnt matter if you're unconscious and sleeping, that breathwork you did....it is there...

 

So I understand where you're talking about things somewhat past what I'm referring to, but I'm talking about methods to build a foundation for the internal alchemy, my breath awareness neurology stuffz are all geared towards providing a deeply ingrained way to solidly "get there"...so yeah....single line of yang comes before the single line of yin

Edited October 22, 2016 by joeblast

[Walker]

Sillybearhappyhoneyeater,

 

Since you're quoting from the Xingmingguizhi to make your point, I'm curious how you would translate and explain the concept of 火候 in the following sentences that I've copied from that text:

 

学者徒知以铅汞交结为丹，而不知采取、抽添、烹炼、火候各有次序法度。盖采取以作其始，抽添以成其终，于中调停，全仗火候。

 

And

 

薛道光云：圣人传药不传火，从来火候少人知。

 

In your opinion, in the context of internal alchemy, what do 文火 and 武火 in the following passage, also from Xingmingguizhi, refer to?

 

 

火候最秘，圣人不传，令则露之。药非火不产，药熟则火化矣。火非药不生，火到则丹成矣。且火候之奥，非可一概而论。

 

故未得丹时，须借武火以凝之，既得丹时，须藉文火以养之。文火者。结实之火也。其养之法，节其寒温消息是也。

 

Also,

 

Wu Zhen Pian:

"exhausting the body pulling and stretching are all not the real Dao.  Swallowing breath (as medicine) and eating clouds are all mad."

 

In my opinion to interpret this line as being about "breathing techniques" may be quite false. I have met cultivators who quite literally swallow gulps of air into the stomach, attempt to draw sunlight into their mouths and/or somehow swallow the sunlight along with a gulp of air, and so forth. I'm pretty confident that if I keep up my wanderings long enough I'll run into somebody who makes a practice of swallowing cloudy mist in the mountains or something to that effect. These things really aren't the same as breathing, so any statements about them in fact may tell us nothing about the speaker's opinions on breathing.

[Taoist Texts]

  from Xingmingguizhi,  

It is a sidegate text. Just saying.

[Walker]

Just saying.

 

Indeed you are. But off-the-cuff unqualified statements don't really do much more than muddy the waters, so if you feel something is so important as to require clicking "Add Reply," you might as well back it up. Perhaps in another thread, though.

 

Anyway, regardless of whether any of these texts are "side gates" or not, 火候 shows up in book after book, including many of the ones Sillybearhappyhoneyeater likes to quote from--not just Xingmingguizhi, but also the writings of Huang Yuanji. The way 火候 is spoken about is quite consistent from text to text--clearly the Daoists were quite concerned with this word. However, among its consistencies is a tendency to say very little. So, while Sillybear is not incorrect when he states, 

 

I think upon review of the most popular ancient neidan documents, you will find that there is very little written about breathing except that the breath and the spirit should coordinate together.     

 

that doesn't mean he can declare "case closed." As my pop always says, "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence." That's an important thing to keep in mind when dealing with the writings of a group of people who are known for their secrecy, eh? It's not like the Daoists don't give hints, either. Keen-eyed readers frequently see warnings like, "古经云：'圣人传药不传火，火候从来少人知.'" That' a common trope you'll find hiding out in the pages of plenty of dusty old neidan books.

 

Then there's the problem with paraphrasing something Hu Haiya said about sitting postures to make a point about breathing practices. I can see Sillybear's logic, but it's fuzzy, and it overlooks an important point: Hu Haiya himself seems, in fact, to have been quite devoted to mentioning the importance of breathing techniques. One can easily find essays online where he discusses their value and variety, for example here and here. There's even a book put together by one of his long-term students in the later years of Hu's life which is all about a method of breathing that Hu developed on the basis of his master Chen Yingning's interpretation of Zhuangzi's "sitting and forgetting" method (坐忘). The book, which came out shortly after Hu passed away but is based on a dissertation presented in 2008, is called 《如鸡抱卵常須听》.

 

So, Sillybear, when you say,

 

Any breathing which requires more effort than just being calm and natural is already taking us into the "post heaven" state, which is considered as a low level practice, or for beginners only in order to help them activate their Qi.   Later in practice, people will typically forget they are even breathing.  the point is to enter complete emptiness and then forget emptiness, it has nothing to do with complicated breathing techniques at all. 

 

 

I don't think this is wrong in the context of certain schools of Daoist practices, albeit in some of them perhaps only up until the point when certain things that occur "when yin reaches its extreme and gives birth to yang" necessitate a 有为 response, whereupon certain teachers may instruct their students to use breathing techniques in order to "gather medicine" and so forth.

 

Might one argue that there are schools where things are wuwei all the way? Sure, but by that same token one probably has to accept that at a different end of Daoism's broad spectrum there are all sorts of practices involving complex breathing instructions. That's a point that Hu touches on in one of his essays I link to above.

 

As for doing things the wuwei way and ultimately "forgetting [one is] even breathing," well, if I have understood Joe Blast correctly, then he agrees with what Hu taught the author of the book I just mentioned: getting there (entering stillness) is a big problem for most people, but cultivating via breathing practices can be a great way to get there.

 

Returning to the O.P.'s question: I personally can't think of any book in Chinese or English that offers a survey of breathing practices.

[joeblast]

from ymaa eb

 

The majority of the documents translated and commented in this book are 仕om
the following sources: 口

1. Dao De Jing and Qigong ( 道德短舆氯功1 by Ding, Xi n-Bai (丁辛百) and
Pan, Ming-Huan (潘明瑕〉安徽科牵技街出版社， Anhui, China 1996.
2. Chinese Qigong Dictionary ( 中国氛功醉典1 by Lu, Guang- Rong (吕光荣〉
人民街生出版社， Beijing, China, 1988.
3. The Great Completion 0/ Chinese Qjgong ( 中国氛功大成1 by Fang, ChunYang
(方春畴〉吉林料牵技街出版社， Jilin , China, 1989.
4. The Stu吵0/ Practical Chinese Medical Q告ong ( 责用中罄氯功叭by Ma,
Ji-Ren (局清人〉上海科牵技街出版社， Shanghai, China, 1992.
5. The α mplete Book 0/ 1、Tourishing the L~作in Chinese Daoist Qjgong
(中圈道教氛功善生大会1 by Li, Yuan-Guo (李逮圃〉四川西辛害出版社，
Chengdu, Sichuan, China, 1991.
6. The Great Completíon 0/ Chinese L泸Nourishíng ( 中圈善生大成1 by Fang,
Chun-Yang (方春晴L 吉林料等是技街出版社， Jilin , China, 1992.
7. Important Collection 0/ Concealed Daoist Qigong, ( 道藏氯功要集1 by
Hong, Pi- Mo (洪圣摸〉上海害店， Shanghai, China, 1991.

[joeblast]

Ytm Luo Zi said' swallow and then hold (the breath), then it becomes chaos by
itself" M r. Yi n said' "If you use S.协hen i拙t俗S bl忻γ'eaiω!thν." Huang Ting Classic said' "Play music three times to dance the
Embryonic Immortal. Since ancient time, those holy meη have praci民ced how to
þrm the Em问。饥ic Breathing ai叫therej扣re achieve the Dao. Shen (spirit) and
Qj have therifore conceived the emb巾， ωhich results in the steadiizess 0/ the
bγ'eathing.

 

It is rarely heard that through holding the breath one has become
the real (i. e. has rea 出edtheDω~. "Hotymen 叩d: "Embraci吨Singulariiη (Bao
Yi) and keep i.吨。he spirit) 讪its ce时'er， the embηow 让'1 natura与originate.
Protect the three and return three into singleness, three are spi:巾; Qj, and
essence. " These s.哗哗b刷刷们'evealed the deep importa:时points 0/ the
Embryonic Breathing. Therefore, (I) write a song 0/ Embracing Singulariiη (Bao
Yi) which contains twenty phrases to summarize these secrets.

煌、摹子云: ‘咽徨朗'徒自乱。'尹先生云: ‘但使神
常御氛'鼻不失息。'黄庭经云: ‘琴心三叠舞胎仙'
自古重人则罔固胎息而成道。神氛胎站，其息乃定。罕
闺阁息而成真也。'重人云: ‘抱一守中子自沛'守三
蜻一神氛精是也。'斯言责露胎息之深旨'故作抱一歌
二十首以挟其要。

 

 

continuous, no holding breath

[Jox]

What about Tien Tao chi kung correspodence program?

Edited November 7, 2016 by Jox

[joeblast]

"without knowing the key to the correct formula for breath control - inhale fast, hold, exhale slow, what percentage, how long for each, what energy point and channel - you cannot unlock the door to internal work"

 

I'll take hubris for 3 hundred dolla, alex

 

decent emphasis on front channel work, but it annoys me when I see folks make the poor mistranslated focus on the anus.  a good understanding of anatomy helps.

[Uroboros]

Funny thing, the book Anatomy of Hatha Yoga by David Coulter has a great chapter on breathing that also states we should work to cultivate a continuous breath, not utilizing holds for a long while. Very useful book, btw.

[roger]

Hello

 

Is there a good book about daoist breathing techniques ?

 

 

Kind Regards

 

Frederick

 

Frederick,

 

A very simple technique is simply to breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth. A variation is to breathe in through the nose and out through both the nose and mouth, which is somewhat easier.

 

You can be mindful of the breath, or just let your mind be natural, without paying attention to the breath.

 

I usually enter into a somewhat altered state of consciousness when I do this breathing technique, like I've smoked pot. It can enhance perception. That's probably because the act of breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth has spiritual meaning and is an activity of one's divine Self, much like Qigong techniques.

[sagebrush]

what is the spiritual meaning behind breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth?

 

I do not have a practice of breathing-although yes breath all day/night.

 

I do find that when I do pay attention to breath it is somewhat relaxing/calming/focusing.

 

I do not know Qigong technique other than a video on standing like a tree. I am sure there are very vast methods of Qigong.

 

I am imaging Qigong to be as in depth and ancient as yoga.

 

These are just thoughts and curious.

 

I do not think I am necessarily wanting states of altered consciousness or what that entails. Willing to go through necessary tribulations...

 

 

My question is also regarding whether or not you have had the experience of smoking pot?

 

I do not care if you have or have not. What I care about is drawing a comparison.

 

If you have never smoked pot then for a field analysis it cannot be used for measurement.

 

I do not mean to be a stickler.

 

I hope that it is not similar.

Edited November 8, 2016 by sagebrush

[joeblast]

the neural input of the sinuses is stereo

the neural input of the mouth is mono

 

be prepared to drool if the practice is a vigorous one involving only the mouth   if you need to isolate that mono signal from the stereo and know why to do it, of course

 

(but I have no idea what smoking pot has to do with these things, other than that it will needlessly flare up the mingmen fire and burn resources, lessen sensitivity...which, if one is doing sensitivity exercises and harvesting all extra energy resource, that's counterproductive...)

Edited November 8, 2016 by joeblast