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Taoist wisdom says: “When the breath is under control, the heart is at peace.” Today, the truth of this saying is confirmed by scientists, doctors, psychotherapists.
Yogis have known this for thousands of years, and Taoist monks have passed this knowledge down by word of mouth – mastering the breath is the key to physical health and longevity. And moreover – to the harmony of body and soul. Modern medicine confirms this: Buteyko’s and Strelnikova’s breathing exercises help to get rid of diseases that have always been considered practically incurable, and psychotechniques like holotropic breathing promise to solve not only the problems of the body, but also the soul. However, the effect of such breathing exercises can be so powerful that it is recommended to perform them only under the supervision of specialists and only for medicinal purposes. Our bodies are biologically programmed for the optimal breathing regime, we only need to learn how to maintain it – both doctors and adherents of various spiritual practices are unanimous in this opinion.
Breath and emotions
Breathing is directly related to our emotions: as soon as emotions take over, it quickens, goes astray. Elena Ulmasbayeva, director of the Iyengar Yoga Center, argues that this is a mutual process: “Emotions affect breathing, and breathing, in turn, affects the emotional state.” This theory has been scientifically confirmed by experiments organized by leading experts in the field of brain research and representatives of Buddhism under the leadership of the Dalai Lama*. The conclusions were as follows: meditation, breathing and mental exercises act on the brain like anti-stress drugs. Images taken using electromagnetic resonance show that the brain area responsible for emotions in meditators does not react to external aggression, and their heart activity remains stable. These experiments convince us that meditation and breathing exercises can be a cure for the stresses that fill our lives. “Indeed, stress can be transformed with breath control, but not everyone can do breathing exercises,” says Elena Ulmasbayeva, who has been practicing pranayama, a yogic breathing exercise system, for many years. – At the moment of stress, it is better to turn to the sensations of the body: tension in the diaphragm, tense shoulders and back increase the penetration of stress. It is enough to fix, realize this and try to change the position: turn your shoulders, straighten your back, sit or lie down in such a way as to “open” the chest – for example, by placing a roller under your back in the area of the shoulder blades. The psycho-emotional state changes at the moment when you take such an “open” posture. Then it is enough just to observe your breathing: at first it will be restless, but gradually it will begin to become more and more even.
About it
- Guy Hendrix “Conscious Breathing”, Sofia, 2003.
- Yang Junming Qigong Meditation. Embryonic respiration”, Sofia, 2005.
- Yogi Kudua Breath of Life. Pranayama technique”, Phoenix, 2006.
Read more:
- More energetic! Exercises to get energized
mental clarity
The exercise is aimed at slowing down the rhythm, making a pause.
Result: this exercise is ideal for people who can hardly find time to rest. Holding their breath will allow them to make a conscious pause. The effect of the exercise occurs after three such cycles of breathing. This exercise should be done as often as possible during the day.
Harmony of the body
Exercise is designed to fill the body with energy after waking up or relieve tension at the end of the day.
Result: this exercise awakens the nervous system, improves the condition of the spine and blood circulation, makes the muscles more elastic, prepares us for the working day, enriching the brain with oxygen. It can also be performed by children from three years of age. It will help you at the end of the day when you need to relax. In this case, it is performed very slowly, inhaling and exhaling as long as possible, relaxing the body and mind.
Lightness of the heart
The exercise is designed to achieve cardiocoherence (see below) and help the heart and brain beat stress.
Result: your breathing and heart rate become one – this is cardiocoherence. The emotional part of the brain and the heart simultaneously give signals that everything is fine. This exercise can be done at any time of the day. It is especially effective in relieving stress in stressful situations.
feed on air
Each breath fills us with life-giving substance. Yogis call it “prana”, the followers of Taoism – “chi energy”. For physiologists, this is just a volatile mixture of oxygen (20%), nitrogen (79%), water vapor, carbon dioxide and various chemical elements. Oxygen is captured by red blood cells – they transport it to various organs and tissues. Thus, each breath charges the body with energy, and the cells with fuel. “Breathing well” for most means taking deep breaths with no concern for exhalation, which is equally important for health and well-being. “Inhalation is an analogue of consumption, which is a feature of Western culture,” comments Elena Ulmasbayeva. – Taking a deep breath meets the goal of consuming as much as possible. This is a kind of nutrition that is very important to us. But that’s only half the process. Exhalation provides an opportunity to get rid of tension and toxins – both body toxins, gas exchange products in the lungs, and “emotional toxins” that are formed in the processes of interaction with the environment and the external environment, the exchange and assimilation of information, which is often negative. By practicing the yoga of breathing, we learn to make the exhalation soft and long for a more complete release of toxins.
In the rhythm of the heart
Breathing, from the point of view of physiology, is a very special process. It involves two types of muscles, as a result of which, on the one hand, it is involuntary, and on the other, it can be partly regulated by our consciousness. We can hold our breath or speed it up, while the heart continues to work in its uncontrollable rhythm – this leads to insufficient efficiency in supplying oxygen and removing toxins from the blood. If you establish a balance between breathing and the work of the heart, then the healing effect is stunning: lowering blood pressure, strengthening immunity, normalizing the acid-base balance of the blood … In his book “Heal”, the French psychiatrist David Servan-Schreiber devotes an entire chapter to training to achieve “cardiocoherence” – a technique that allows you to coordinate breathing and heart rate. He cites the results of scientific research, including with the participation of employees of large American corporations. “A month after learning this cardio workout, their blood pressure dropped as if they had lost 10 kg of weight. Another study showed an improvement in hormonal levels – after three months of practice, 30 minutes a day, five times a week. Is there a reason to breathe with a light soul?
*Daniel Goleman Destructive Emotions. How to deal with them? Scientific dialogue with the Dalai Lama», Popurri, 2005.