Read The Tao of Natural Breathing Online
Authors: Dennis Lewis
The Tao of Natural Breathing (11 page)
Opening your rib cage
3
Continuing to lie on your back, put your hands on the sides of your rib cage over your lower ribs and feel the expansion of the balloon into both sides of the rib cage as you inhale. As you exhale, the ribs return to their normal position. By breathing in this way, you are helping the diaphragm to move even deeper into your abdomen, since the bottom of the diaphragm is attached to the lower ribs. To get an even better sense of the movement of your rib cage, lie on your right side with your head resting on your right arm and your left palm resting gently on the lower left side of your rib cage (
Figure 16
). As you breathe, feel that you are breathing directly into and out of the left side of your rib cage. Work in this way for 15 or 20 breaths, and then lie again on your back with your feet flat on the floor. Sense your breathing for several breaths—notice if there is a difference between the left and right sides of your rib cage. Now lie on your left side with your head resting on your left arm and your right palm resting on the lower right side of your rib cage. Breathe into the right side of your rib cage for 15 or 20 breaths. Again lie flat on your back with your knees bent, breathe gently into both sides of your rib cage, and sense any changes in your breathing.
Opening the “door of life”
4
Sit or stand comfortably again, putting your hands on each side of your spine on your lower back (tips of the fingers actually touching the spine), directly across from your navel. The Taoists call this area, between the second and third lumbar vertebrae, the “mingmen,” or the “door of life,” since it is the point between the two kidneys where our sexual essence is stored. It is very important from the standpoint of our well-being to keep this area warm, relaxed, and comfortable. As you inhale, sense the balloon filling and pushing your lower back outward (
Figure 17
). As you exhale, your lower back returns to its original position. Breathe in this way for two or three minutes. To get the feeling of the movement of your lower back in the process of breathing, try squatting. Squatting is useful not only for opening up the lower back, but also for your overall health. As you squat, let your arms relax forward, and sense your lower back as you breathe (
Figure 18
). This posture automatically releases the lower back muscles, as well as the lower part of the diaphragm, which is attached to the lumbar spine. It also helps cleanse and energize the kidneys. If you have trouble squatting, you can stand and bend over with your upper body supported by your hands on your knees. Once you feel the sensation of your lower back expanding and contracting in this way, return to a normal sitting or standing position, and let the “organic memory” of what you just experienced help you sense the same process in this position.
Opening the belly, rib cage and lower back simultaneously
5
Next, either sitting or standing, try to experience all three areas at the same time. Sense the entire space bounded by your navel, your pubic bone, and your lower back. As you inhale, sense the balloon expanding forward, backward, and to the sides more or less simultaneously. As you exhale, sense the balloon contracting. There should be no feeling of effort or tension. Simply sense the balloon filling and emptying. Be sure to sense your diaphragm moving downward as you inhale, and upward as you exhale. After a few minutes, forget the balloon and simply feel the warmth in your abdomen, a kind of ball of energy, expanding and contracting. As you breathe naturally in this way, begin to sense that even though air is not going into the abdominal cavity, “something” is going there. From the Taoist perspective, this something is both blood and chi. By breathing in this way you begin to energize your lower tan tien. You can try this practice several times a day.
“ACQUIRED CHI”
The energy that we acquire through food, water, and air is called “acquired chi.” This is the energy that we receive from the outside world that we need to function on a daily basis. The main center for the storage and transformation of this energy is the middle tan tien, located in the area of the solar plexus, the center of our emotional life. For the Taoist, the quality of this energy depends in part on the quality of the food we eat and the air we breathe. The Taoist is therefore not only concerned about right diet, but also about right breathing.
As we have seen, proper breathing has many benefits besides the more efficient consumption of oxygen. The practice of abdominal breathing, for instance, has a powerful influence on the digestion of food by increasing gastrointestinal peristalsis, blood flow, and food absorption. It can also help open the tissues around the solar plexus and promote the flow of energy through the channels in this area. According to Mantak Chia, when this area is blocked or energetically weak, we may feel panic or worry, a lack of freedom in our behavior, or an inability to take risks of any kind. We may also feel that we are unloved or incapable of love, or that people are constantly judging us.
Abdominal breathing—especially when it is slow, deep, and long—combined with certain mindfulness practices directed to specific energy centers, can also help us receive the energies of the earth, nature, and the heavens. This form of breathing turns on the parasympathetic nervous system, which calms our brain and body. This allows our inner attention to clearly sense vibrations, impressions, and movements of energies in and around us that are ordinarily invisible to us. It is the sensing of these vibrations, as well as of the centers that can receive them, that allows these energies to be absorbed into our organism.
PRACTICE
Opening your solar plexus
1
Sit or stand quietly and watch your breath for several minutes. Now put your hands over your abdomen and feel the energy ball behind your navel expanding as you inhale and contracting as you exhale. Allow your awareness to go deep inside the tissues in your abdomen. After several breaths, let the energy ball spread, during the inhalation, from your navel area up into your solar plexus (located slightly higher than midway between your navel and the bottom of your sternum). As you exhale, sense the solar plexus and navel areas contracting. As you begin to relax into your inner sensation, your breath will gradually slow down by itself. Put your hands over your solar plexus, and bend over slightly from your waist. See how your breath responds. Repeat this several times. Then stop the bending and bring all your attention to the solar plexus area. Watch how it expands and contracts with each inhalation and exhalation. Work in this way for several minutes.
Releasing deep tensions
2
When you begin to feel your solar plexus becoming more sensitive and open, sense the air going from your nose through your solar plexus and into your lower tan tien (
Figure 19
). Envision the air as a long thread of silk connecting the whole front of your body from your nose down to your abdomen. As you exhale, breathe out through your mouth. Make sure your mouth is mostly closed, and that your exhalation is slow, quiet, and steady. Allow all the air in your lungs to be exhaled fully before inhaling again. As you exhale, sense that all the tension in your abdomen, solar plexus, and chest is going out through your breath. Breathe quietly in this way for five or 10 minutes. Pay special attention to the area around your solar plexus. Feel it become continually softer, as though something were melting. Then let go of any intention with your breath and simply take note of the various vibrations in and around your body. There’s nothing to do but watch and sense. Work for at least 15 or 20 minutes in this way.
SHEN
Shen is generally translated as spirit or higher mind. It is also a substance or energy in the human body. Though shen can be either original or acquired, we will not differentiate it in this book. Sometimes called “celestial chi” because of its origin in the stars, this energy resides in the upper tan tien, the energy center located between the eyebrows in the area of the pituitary gland in the brain (
Figure 20
). This center controls the basic energy of the mind, the energy required both for clear thinking and for awareness. Shen is the light of lucidity, of consciousness, that shines through our eyes when we are awake. When this area is opened and energized we experience strong intuition and a sense of real purpose. When it is closed or weak, our attention is scattered and we feel distracted or indecisive. There are many stories of Taoist or Chinese doctors who will not treat someone in whom the light of shen is too weak. For without suffi-cient shen, without a certain level of “spirit,” healing becomes impossible.
