Due to today’s lifestyles many think that going down to
the gym or jogging around their neighbourhood every evening is the only
solution to getting fit. Gyms and jogging are not required to improving
your health unless you plan on becoming an athlete. So how do you think
the people of hundreds or thousands of years ago kept fit? They certainly
didn't have any gyms, running machines and such like in their days. Granted
that the lifestyle in pass times was more physical than it is today, but
that doesn’t mean the only solution to your wellbeing is by spending hours
at the gym.
In today's hectic world where many spend most of the day sitting as part
of their work - they then go home and continue sitting, this time glued
to the TV - it’s not surprising that many needlessly suffer by ailments
which are clearly self inflicted. Combined with poor diet and bad drinking
habits the problem is exacerbated.
Therefore it's not surprising that many are suffering from obesity and other
modern day ailments which never used to exist. If only people would eat
and drink correctly, stop smoking and combined with long brisk walks, their lives
would improve. Combined with correct breathing their whole wellbeing will
improve enormously and in a very short space of time. It can and will cut
down the amount of visits you currently take to your doctor, for those of
you who visit the doctor on a regular basis. It's not designed to replace
a doctor.
I didn't want to write this at first as I had concerns that many people
will start experimenting when it comes to breathing and that can be extremely
dangerous; especially when they have no idea as to what the dangers can
be. If you are going to digest what's written on this page; then do not experiment
beyond what breathing exercises are written; as you can seriously damage
your health, you have been warned!
So you think breathing is simple? Stop for a moment and think about it?
What do you really do when breathing? As quick as your lungs are full of
air you expel in haste for the next gulp of air without a second thought.
There is more to breathing than first appears; a lot more. It is possible
to achieve so much just by breathing and as an example; correct breathing
enables adepts to sit naked on ice, seventeen thousand feet or higher above
sea-level, and keep hot, so hot that the ice is melted and the adept freely
perspires. Another example; It's possible to glide over the ground faster
than a galloping horse and arrive at your destination untroubled, serene
and controlled. This may sound a little far-fetched, but it's not. These
examples are very real and factual, but we will not be revealing how here.
For now it's the basics, the safe stuff.
Breathing is indeed the source of life, and it may be of interest to
give a few notes here which may enable those who have some ailment,
perhaps of long standing, to banish or to alleviate their suffering. It
can be done through correct breathing you know, but do remember - breathe
only as advised on this page, for to experiment is dangerous unless there
is a competent teacher at hand. To experiment blindly is folly indeed.
Before we can do anything about breathing we must have
a rhythm, a unit of time which represents a normal inhalation. The heart beat of any
individual is the proper rhythmic standard for that particular individual's
breathing. Hardly anyone has the same standard of course, but that
does not matter. You can find your normal breathing rhythm by placing
your finger on your pulse and counting the tempo one, two, three, four,
five, and six. Get that rhythm firmly fixed in your sub-conscious so that
you know it unconsciously - subconsciously - so that you do not have to
think about it.
It does not matter what your rhythm is, so long as “you”
know what it is, so long as your subconscious knows what it is. We are imagining
that your rhythm is the average one in which the air intake lasts for six
beats of your heart. This is just the ordinary work-a-day routine beat. We
are going to alter that breathing rate quite a lot for various purposes. There
is nothing difficult in it and it is a very easy thing indeed which can
lead to spectacular results in improved health.
Breathing is the most essential of our functions. Without breath we
cannot exist, because it takes breath - containing oxygen and other gases
- to activate the brain and keep it working. But our manner of breathing
is the coarsest way we can possibly use “air”. Read “Wisdom
of the Ancients” page 133 or “Doctor from Lhasa” page 170
for more information.
Breathing Exercise 1 - Disorders of the stomach, the liver,
and the blood, can be overcome by what we term the “Retained Breath.”
There is nothing magical in this mind, except in the result, and the result
can appear to be quite magical, quite without parallel. However at first
you must stand erect, or if you are in bed, lie straight. Let us assume
though, that you are out of bed and can stand erect. Stand with your heels together,
with your shoulders back and your chest out. Your lower abdomen will be
tightly controlled. Inhale completely, take in as much air as you can,
and keep it in until you feel a slight, very slight throbbing in your temples
to the left and to the right. As soon as you feel that exhale vigorously through
the open mouth, REALLY vigorously, you know, not just letting it drift out,
but blowing it out through the mouth with all the force at your command. Repeat
this three times
Breathing Exercise 2 - First of all stand
with feet together, toes and heels touching. Inhale slowly the “complete breathing”
system. That is, chest and abdomen while counting six pulse units. You
only have to keep a finger on the pulse in your wrist and let your heart pump
out once, twice three, four, five, six times. When you have got the breath
in after your six pulse units, retain it while your heart beats three times.
After that exhale through the nostrils for six heart beats. That is, for
the same time as that in which you inhaled. Now that you have exhaled keep
your lungs empty for three pulse units, and then start all over again. Repeat
this as many times as you like without overtiring yourself. As soon
as you feel any tiredness, stop. You should never tire yourself with exercises
because if you do you defeat the whole object of those exercises. They
are to tone one up and make one feel fit, not to run one down or to make
one tired.
Breathing Exercise 3 - Now you must do the “Cleansing Breath”
the cleansing breath is absolutely invaluable to enable you to improve your
health. Inhale completely, three complete breaths. Not shallow but deep
breaths, really deep ones, the deepest that you can manage, fill your lungs,
draw yourself up and let yourself become full of air. Now with the third
breath retain that air for some four seconds, screw up your lips as if you were
going to whistle, but do not puff out the cheeks. Blow a little air through
the opening in your lips with all the vigour that you can. Blow it out
hard, let it go free. Then stop for a second, retaining the air which is
left. Blow out a little more, still with all the vigour you can muster.
Stop for another second, and then blow out the remainder so that there
is not a puff of air left inside your lungs. Blow it out as hard as
you can. Remember you MUST exhale in this case with very considerable vigour
through the opening in your lips.
Breathing Exercise 4 - One extremely good method of acquiring
“mental control” is by sitting erect and inhaling one complete
breath. Then inhale
one cleansing breath. After that, inhale in the rate of one - four - two. That
is - let us have seconds for a change rather than heart beats. Inhale for
five seconds and then hold your breath for four times five seconds - that
is - twenty seconds. When you have done that breathe out for ten seconds.
You can cure yourself of a lot of pain by breathing properly and this is a very
good method. If you have some pain either lie down, or sit erect, it does not
matter which. Then breathe rhythmically, keeping the thought in your mind
that with each breath the pain is disappearing, with each exhalation the pain
is being pushed out. Imagine that every time you breathe in you are breathing
in the life force which is displacing the pain. Imagine that every time you
breathe out you are pushing out the pain. Put your hand over the affected
part and imagine that with your hand, with every breath, you are wiping the
cause of pain away. The hand is just for visual aid. Do this for seven
complete breaths. Then try the cleansing breath, and after that rest for
a few seconds, breathing slowly and normally. You will probably find that the
pain has either completely gone or has so much lessened that it does not bother
you. But if for any reason you still have the pain, repeat the same thing, try
the same thing once, or twice or more until eventually relief comes. You
will of course quite understand that if it is an unexpected pain, and if
it recurs, you will have to ask your doctor about it because pain is nature's
warning that something is wrong, and while it is perfectly correct and permissible
to lessen pain when one is aware of it, it is still essential that one does
something to find out what caused the pain and to cure the cause.
Breathing Exercise 5 - One method of increase your “nervous
force”. Stand erect and Inhale as much as you can, then when you think
that your lungs are full force in yet a little more breath. Slowly exhale
and then slowly refill your lungs completely and retain that breath. Extend
your arms straight in front of you, not using any effort you know, just to keep
your arms in front of you with just enough strength to keep them horizontal,
but use as little effort as you can. Draw your hands back toward the shoulder,
gradually contracting the muscles and making them tight so that by the time
your hands can touch your shoulders the muscles will be quite taut, and the
fists clenched. Clench your hands so tightly that they tremble slightly
with the effort. Still keeping the muscles taut push the fists slowly out
and then draw them back rapidly several times, perhaps half a dozen times. Exhale
vigorously, really vigorously as told before, with the mouth, with the lips
pursed up, and with just a hole through which you blow the breath as strongly
as you can. After you have done that a few times finish by practicing
the “cleansing breath” once again. I want to emphasize, and emphasize
again, that the speed of the drawing back of the fists and then tension of the
muscles determines how much benefit you can get from this. Naturally
you will have made quite sure that your lungs are absolutely full before
doing this exercise.
Breathing Exercise 6 - Pain should never be left untended.
If you are feeling tired, or if there has been a sudden demand on your energies,
here is the quickest way to “recuperate”. Once again it doesn't
matter if you are standing or sitting, but keep your feet close together with
toes and heels touching. Then clasp your hands together so that your fingers
of each hand interlock, and so that your hands and feet each form a sort of
closed circle, as you would do when correctly praying. Breathe rhythmically
for a few times, rather deep breaths, and slow in the exhaling. Then
pause for three pulse units, and next do the cleansing breath. You will
find that your tiredness has gone.
Many people are very, very nervous indeed when going for
an interview. They
get clammy palms and perhaps shaky knees. There is no need for anyone
to be like that because it is so easy to overcome and this is a method
of doing it while you are perhaps in the waiting room, possibly at
the dentist! Take a really deep breath, breathing through your
nostrils of course, and hold that breath for ten seconds. Then exhale slowly
with the breath under full control all the time. Allow yourself to take
two or three ordinary breaths and then again inhale deeply taking ten seconds
to fill your lungs. Hold the breath again, and exhale slowly, again
taking ten seconds. Do this three times - or as you can without anyone
noticing - and you will find that you are absolutely reassured. The
pounding of your heart will have stopped and you will feel much strengthened
in confidence. When you leave that waiting room and go to your place of
interview you will find that you are in control of yourself. If you
feel a flutter or two of nervousness, then take a deep breath and hold it
for a second or so, as you can easily do while the other man is talking.
This will reinforce your flagging confidence or lifting
a heavy bundle, the easiest way is to take a really deep breath and hold
it while you lift. When the actual act of lifting is over, then you can let out your breath
slowly and continue to breathe in the normal way. Lifting while you
hold a deep breath is easy and It is worth trying for your self. It
is worth trying to lift something fairly heavy with your lungs full of air
and see the difference.
Anger too can be controlled by that deep breathing; by
holding the breath and exhaling slowly. If for any reason you feel really angry - justly
or otherwise – just take a deep breath and hold it for a few seconds, and
then expel that breath quite slowly. You will find that your emotion are
then under control, and you are master (or mistress) of the situation. It
is very harmful to give way to anger and irritation, because that can lead
to gastric ulcers and other ailments. So, remember this breathing exercise
of taking a deep breath, retaining it, and then expelling slowly.
You can do all these exercises with absolute confidence, knowing that they CANNOT harm
you in any way, but a final word of warning - keep to these exercises and
do not try anything more advanced except under the guidance of a competent
teacher; which are very few and far between - because ill advised breathing
exercises can do quite a lot of harm.
Physical Exercise 1 - This is an exercise
which is wonderfully invigorating for those who sit a lot - which is the majority of the Western
world. This exercise is very good for reducing abdominal fat. It has the
interesting name of the “Wood-Chopping Exercise” because its
action simulates the benefit to be obtained when chopping wood. Now, stand
up and make sure the body is standing erect. You have to imagine you are chopping wood.
Imagine you have a very heavy axe in your hands. Now, stand very firmly and
have your feet wide apart. Then you must clasp your hands together just
as if you were holding the shaft of this heavy axe. Imagine that the head
of the axe is on the ground, so take a deep breath and raise your hands and
the imaginary axe high above your head until your body has gone to the other
extreme and no longer is bending forward but is bending backwards.
You have to bear in mind that you are lifting a very heavy axe, so
let your muscles simulate that you are lifting a very heavy axe. Then
with this heavy axe high above your head hold your breath a moment,
then vigorously breathe through the mouth and swing down with the imaginary
axe in a very strong motion as if you were cutting a large tree trunk. You
will not, of course, come to a stop with the impact of the wood and the
axe, so instead let your arms swing right down between your legs, let
your arms swing down so that your hands are in a line with your feet.
You must keep your arms straight, and you must keep your spine straight.
You should repeat this exercise several times. An exercise like this can
do only good except in the case of a person who has a weak heart or except
for women who have some feminine ailment, if in any doubt consult a good
doctor beforehand.
Physical Exercise 2 - Walking; this is an exercise which is
also wonderfully invigorating for anyone of any age. A simple brisk walk - ideally
either in the remote countryside or by some costal area, for the benefits of
fresh air which is not available in most city centres - can and will do wonders
for your wellbeing. Walking at least 5 miles a day helps your circulation, digestion
and physical body without overstressing oneself.
Physical Exercise 3 - Swimming is the last exercise we should engage upon. Swimming uses nearly every muscle in the body and combined with the above exercises, it will improve your health without any artificial stimulants. Always swim at a pace and style that suits you, don't go into overtaxing yourself as that just defeats of objective of any exercise.
Some will say - even stress - that you must feel the “burn” to gain any benefits from exercising; this is utter rubbish. Because when you do feel this “burn”, its nature’s way of telling you that you are overdoing things and to stop. Also read “Diets & Fasting” for more information regarding health.