Training breathing techniques one step at a time

[tianshiz]

I am a beginner to qigong and have so far only gone through the understanding qigong DVDs.

From the videos I have for the first time realized the importance of breathing. And because I'm seeking to increase the quality and quantity of my qi and at the same time improve my physical abilities, I want to start off my training with breathing. I need some guidance on this plan if anyone could help?

Here is my path:

Qi accumulation and improvement:
1. Abdominal breathing
2. Reverse abdominal breathing
3. Embryonic breathing
3.5 small small circulation
4. Small Circulation
5. Grand Circulation

I realize that it would take an immense amount of training to get to 4 or 5. But it's always good to shoot high. Once I build a sizable amount of soft qi, I would concurrently pursue some hard-soft styles. But at the moment, I have really no foundation in qi.

So far, I noticed that I seem to breath naturally with my abdominals. I usually only breathe with my chest when I'm exercising and short on breath. I'm not quite sure if I should just move on to reverse abdominal breathing from here or not.

I have tried reverse abdominal breathing a few times and I noticeably feel something different. Though it isn't comfortable for me to breathe with this for too long. I've heard that I should not make reverse abdominal breathing my normal breathing but at the same time I need to develop it to the level that I can breathe without thinking. This point makes me confused, since I don't understand how I can unconsciously breathe like this without making it my normal breathing. There must be a "switch" of some sort. When my mind has the intention to do something physical I automatically switch to reverse breathing. So, I'm not quite sure what exactly I'm striving for here....

any comments, suggestions, help is appreciated!

[wpgtaiji]

I think you should read Dr Yang's books or watch the DVD's CLOSELY before you start messing around with breathing. Dr Yang is exceptionally thorough with his teachings, and honestly, these methods are not as dangerous as one can find.

First thing, DONT think about your thinking! I know it is counter intuitive, but DONT! People will tell you that your "mind leads the qi", but they never tell you which mind! While our conscious, thinking mind appears great, it really isnt. For the vast majority of people on the earth, it can't even control our heart beat, so how is it supposed to control something more vital like qi, especially in another person? By not thinking about your breathing, you have the opportunity to, with training, to get to "no mind" where you arent thinking about anything (see, thinking about breathing IS thinking... brilliant!).

Reverse breathing, if you look at Yang's books, occurs NATURALLY when one is required to do lots of work (his example was pushing a car). Can you see the problem energetically using a breathing pattern that is for work ALL THE TIME?

Small circulation/grand as I have read them and watched them explained appear, to a novice, as fantastical. They are mind games to get one to think certain ways! See the problem? Taking advice from my senior, learn the breathing methods and work with them, BUT, forget them as soon as you DO them (dont dwell). Remember, they are a means to an end, not an end in itself.

As to your "path", I am not sure... I was told that 3 years is time per method, but we used different names and methods (where small and grand were subdivsions of level 1 type breathing). Since you are ONLY working with Natural and Reverse, later with images to move qi, who knows. (yes, there are more dangerous and advanced methods) From what I have seen, embroyonic is probably your best bang for the buck.

Again, I am probably not the best person to answer.

[wpgtaiji]

double post

[joeblast]

Spend plenty of time with natural breathing, you can make a ton of progress utilizing that method. It goes *very* deeply before it will sorta naturally roll over into reverse breathing - so really by the process of mastering natural breathing you come to understand reverse breathing more deeply. The point at which reverse breathing becomes the natural constant method of breath is really a fantastically accomplished level, so dont discount the profundity of a well accomplished natural breath strategy even though it may be technically lesser. The list is "good for academic understandings" but of course it is most effective to concentrate on one thing or one logical grouping of things at once before moving on or adding procedures.

As such, first tackle natural - we all know the general description, ribs relaxed; on inhale diaphragm descends, abdomen out, perineum relaxed, kidneys (quadratus lumborum) relaxed, sides relaxed; on exhale diaphragm relaxes, abdomen contracts, perineum lifts, quadratus lumborum gentle but firm not open, etc...

So for some finer points, consider

-the juxtaposition of the diaphragm to the psoas muscles - the bottom of the diaphragm overlaps with the top of the psoas;
therefore...
-at the very beginning of inhale, descend the psoas and use that little motion to begin the descent of the diaphragm

what this will do is "root" the motion of the diaphragm.

normally when people breathe they use the nostrils and sinuses to buffer the air pressures while the center of the diaphragm descends - but if the focus is to calm, this will not do since the center of the diaphragm are where the foramina are, so if the focus is about the center then there will need to be a tension there that assists the pressure-buffer of the sinuses to ensure a relatively smooth breath. through the various foramina pass through significant structures that we're also trying to calm, i.e. vena caval, aortic, esophageal (and the vagus nerve also passes through the esophageal.) now the problem arises that as one slows the breath and various bodily functions like the heartbeat, breathing in this unrooted fashion produces a hiccup in the diaphragm (not the standing wave "hiccups" but just a single one) due to the competing tensions between structures - and when you're balancing/buffering that actively with sinus pressure it works ok, but relax and relax and relax...and oops, there's this dissimilarity that emerges *because* the propagation of motion in the diaphragm isnt rooted somewhere...

so by beginning the breath at the bottom of the diaphragm, it allows you to create a wave-motion that propagates upward and forward as the diaphragm descends. that also blends motion in very nicely with the perineum, making it overall more harmonious.

as periodicities are slowed the notion of breath becomes much more focused upon "the central channel" simply by introducing this psoas-focus to the breath. once you integrate the psoas well, that is when you can truly "let go of the air passages" because doing it with a center-diaphragm focus they must be somewhat active to balance/buffer pressure otherwise the hiccup results (its back there...somewhere )....

so, to let go of the air passageways I devised an active exercise to identify them so that they may be more effectively let go of - simply analyze every point air actually touches, from the tip of your nose to your sinuses to your throat, bronchi, lungs, and even diaphragm - "pull breath sharply" from every point you can find, one at a time. after a while from a position of movement you can better derive non-movement.

now with the air passages let go of, you can perform a very deep natural ab breath beginning with the psoas pulling down the bottom rear of the diaphragm and extending naturally to the perineum (and eventually, follow the kidney-sinew-channel right to the heels, K1 point.)

as you get things slower you notice that there are negative feedback mechanisms built in that...basically keep you alive, so you need to mitigate these as you get deeper.
-breathing too sharply you will find the olfactory nerves protrude forth into the sinuses and act as a sort of "mass air meter" just like in a car that will trigger the need to breathe, increased heart rate, as the rate of air flow over them increases
-an oxygen sensor that will trigger the need to breathe and it will also trigger a faster heart rate (blood concentration as opposed to air metering.)
-a tense diaphragm especially at the front will somewhat restrict the epigastrum and the heart will wind up tensed as a result, and when tense it will keep beating harder than you want - when proper the heart will feel light, buoyant, radiant

and any triggering of these mechanisms isnt a single transient spike but an induced oscillation, meaning when one of those triggers goes off it will take a corresponding amount of time to subdue the results. having mentioned the vagus nerve, it is a cranial nerve that runs to all of the zangfu and part of it going through the esophageal foramen it is part of what makes the epigastrum sensitive and it will relay the conditions below to above. as such, when everything is very harmonious, a corresponding harmonious-wave propagates back up the vagus nerve to the brain and it helps calm the rest of the cranial nerves - the CNs are where the senses derive from, so calming them is quite important.

once you get the hang of it, it wont take you too long to substantially and eventually, completely eliminate turbulence from your breath. it is truly a wondrous thing - turbulence is but many little vortices that form around corners and such, and all they do is extract energy from your breath. eliminating them you are able to extract as much as possible from the breath.

lots of this is for post-analysis and of course you'll make note of many things as you're meditating even though you're supposed to be keeping your mind quiet. but really, keeping your mind quiet is a matter of "training a path of least resistance" for the energy that you have nothing better to do with - haha - the concept of "thought-stream-energy" can be harnessed into doing - so when one is doing, how can one be thinking, or whatever else, if one is truly immersed in the act? as such I've spent a lot of time merely trying to "execute the perfect breath" for my given cardiovascular rates and effecting the harmony in proper proportions, since trying to make too much progress too quickly one will run right into those negative feedback mechanisms I mentioned.

so really, plenty to work on before the list has even been considered

[yeniseri]

Admittedly, I am known to be a dunce sometimes but simple breathing is all that is ncessary for longevity! All the fancy things I have heard makes no sense to me (admittedly) and it is personally a waste of time to 'breathe" any other way. I mean, how many way, can you really breathe! When I teach, this is the reality of what I attempt to pass on to students and clients alike, in the most easily understood way
1. Chest breathing is shallow breathing so it is best to be aware of it and acknowledge the cause. Stress, obesity and some psychological condition cause/initiate breathing to the extent that it causes hypoxia (oxygen deficient to tissues). When we are born, we use abdominal breathing but through a socialization index, somehow we switch to chest breathing, which is not good in the long run.
2. Still a dunce, reverse abdominal breathing is complicated. I am not privy to anyone who lived to be 100 using this method. I am sure they do exist per the many repetitions that it is good but to each his own......
3. Small circulation/great circulation (dunce I still am). I have read about it but I am so stupid that for all who have trained in it, let them continue as they wish.

I have found it better to be as simple as possible without remembering the many breathing techniques to prolong life since I feel (personally) they shorten ones' lifespan due to the unnecessary adherence to fairy tales and rumination. This must not deter and is not meant to deter anyone who believes the opposite so keep up the chase to the best of ones ability and be able to separate the wheat from the chaff in this endeavour!

[tianshiz]

wow joe what a post.

It's gonna take me a while to digest and process everything there, but thanks! I do realize that natural breathing is great, but maybe I'm trying to move too fast.... There is so much to learn and I guess I do get a bit impatient.

and yeniseri, you are right, I feel like my expectations of qigong is most likely exaggerated and maybe not worth the time. I mean I hear all about qigong improving health and physical strength for martial arts. But how much? Can I realistically double my strength with qigong? Proper breathing before physical activities gives me a lot of strength(i.e deep breath before lifting weight), but can qigong techniques and training take me far beyond this?

I hope the answer is yes, which is why I am pursuing this path. For the more experienced on the forum, have you found the answer? Does qigong live up to your expectations?

[joeblast]

/\ glad it is able to benefit - dont worry about wanting to learn quickly - it is good to be curious, to ask questions, to analyze sincerely so that you can make the best choices to bring about the best results.

to understand what the benefit will be, logically analyze the practice moving qigong especially done slowly reinforces tendon and ligament (more fundamental tissue than muscle) and will reinforce finer motor control, focus; meditation will increase your storage capacity well as focus, so for things like martial arts or sports it translates to "still having abundant energy even late in the 4th quarter" so if you're likening the body to a sponge, the workouts are like squeezing a sponge and plunging it into water then pulling it back out but with an accomplished meditation & qigong routine you can somewhat liken it to releasing your grip on the sponge when it is submerged and letting it fill more completely with water. the sponge still gets wet, but how much water was absorbed? (which is a reason for using the sponge in the first place instead of say a paper towel...) its not going to make you superman or anything, but the benefits, extra energy, peace and clarity of mind, are well worth it.

qigong has lived up to my expectations, meditation has shown me that there's more in heaven and earth than what's considered in my expectations

[yeniseri]

I mean I hear all about qigong improving health and physical strength for martial arts. But how much? Can I realistically double my strength with qigong? Proper breathing before physical activities gives me a lot of strength(i.e deep breath before lifting weight), but can qigong techniques and training take me far beyond this?

If one wanted to better or increase strength, then strength training is the way to go!
Before the re-engineering of CMA, many of the practitioners did agricultural work, work with hands as carpenter, bricklayers, etc and through their occupations, they developed some level of physical strength through 'doing' so they were halfway there! In this modern society, one rarely sees people who do physical labour do CMA as they tend to do what is popular at the moment!

[joeblast]

excellent point yeniseri...need to cultivate both yin and yang - until one can work subtly, one needs to work grossly.

[tianshiz]

yes. I've been only focusing on the yang, and I want to increase the efficiency of my training by incorporating yin.