A Breathing Practice To Relax & Release Tension
By Paul Cavel
In previous posts, I covered exercises for creating space in body, mind and qi to increase relaxation and release deeply bound tension. Now we’ll explore foundational breathing techniques to lull the nerves into a state of letting go and gently massage the internal organs to increase practice and health benefits. Breathing exercises cover a multitude of techniques, but what we aim to achieve here are the absolute minimum requirements to allow your breathing to become full and continuous.
While breathing is a powerful tool for fostering health and well-being, you must take care not to induce strain. Try to maintain a sense of softness. Breathing is directly connected to the nerves, the conduit through which the brain and body communicate. For this reason, breathing should be smooth, soft and regular to allow the nerves to let go and release restricted “pockets” of soft tissues.
Exercise 1: Breathe into Your Belly
In the Water Method, the physical motion of the inhale-exhale cycle bypasses the chest to activate the belly, creating a gentle yet firm massage for the internal organs. Organ mobility is vital to health and well-being, allowing them to function properly and, equally important from the perspective of Chinese medicine, to release tension and stagnant energy.
To begin, sit comfortably with a sense of your spine rising. You can rest your back against a chair, but do your best not to slouch or collapse. (Taoist sitting practices use the Emperor’s Position.)
Place one hand on your chest (above the diaphragm) and the other hand on your belly (below the diaphragm, above the naval). Take a few breaths and just observe your breathing pattern.
After a minute or so, as you inhale, slowly encourage the internal pressure from the lungs filling with air to bypass your chest by descending into your belly. When done correctly, the upper hand remains still in space while the lower hand moves as your belly swells.
Often times students apply too much force when trying to follow this instruction, but that only strains their systems and diminishes their ability to relax and open. So resist any urge to practice perfectly and spend some time gently making the shift.
Important: As the lungs expand downwards, DO NOT push down below the naval. Instead, allow the belly to expand horizontally. This prevents the pressure from reaching the floor of your pelvis and sexual organs, which can be detrimental to your health.
Most Westerners breathe high into their chest due to conditioning, and as a result of building tension in their diaphragm and organs over their lifetime. If you carry a lot of tension, you must practise especially carefully. Development of true belly breathing cannot be rushed. Maintain a gentle focus on relaxing and allowing yourself to let go as you breathe.
Exercise 2: Breathe to Let Go
To learn more about your breathing pattern, rest your hands in your lap, and:
With each in-breath, fill up your lungs and belly with air to your maximum, comfortable range while maintaining a smooth, even inhale.
On each out-breath which follows, release the air in your lungs and let your body return to a neutral position. Consciously and fully let go of all the muscles in and around your belly. The exhale should also be slow, smooth and even.
When your belly completely relaxes, take the next inhale.
Once you are tuned into this phase, you can move on to Exercise 3.
Exercise 3: Circular Breathing
This exercise is all about continuous changeovers from inhale-to-exhale and exhale-to-inhale to induce circular breathing — that is, without any stops or starts.
As you come to the end of your next in-breath, do not allow your out-breath to begin too rapidly or hold your breath. In this way, the changeover becomes like a wave receding back into the water. The wave doesn’t bounce back like a ball thrown against a wall nor hang out at the highest point before fading into the sea. Instead, like a pendulum descends after its upwards climb, the inhale naturally and smoothly flows into the exhale.
Once you feel you can manage a smooth, circular changeover from the in-breath to out-breath, apply the same principle to the changeover from out-breath to in-breath.
Take a break if you feel flustered in any way or if you notice tension building in any part of your body.
When you have a handle on all three aspects, you can move on to Exercise 4.
Exercise 4: Unify THE BREATH
The aim of this exercise is to combine the three previous exercises into a single breathing practice, to seamlessly unify all parts into one whole. In the beginning, you will probably find that you have to muster a lot of concentration, but don’t let that concentration turn into stress … just take your time and relax!
If you struggle with any aspect of the practice, go back and focus on the relevant earlier stage(s) independently for awhile (Separate and Combine). Once you feel more at ease, you can reintegrate the stages into one whole. If you find you cannot combine the components without inducing tension, then train them independently for a few weeks before attempting to combine them into one practice again. It’s much better to be honest with yourself and go slowly in the beginning than to rush ahead and leave holes in your skill set.
When these three aspects unify into one, smooth, continuous inhale-exhale rhythm, deep relaxation, an alert mind and more energy will be just a few breaths away.
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