Lesson 1 Breathing

1ST DEGREE - LESSON NO. 1

BREATHING

Without breath we could not live, yet very few people know how to breathe.

From today we will start to develop breath control.

Before we go onto the various disciplines and movements, we must learn HOW to breathe. We have a body, we have as part of this body an apparatus that is called the lungs. It is a vital part of the machinery, and as with all machinery, it must be cleansed, must be looked after, must be given power so that it can function at top speed. A body that has a vital part of it clogged functions at a second rate level, never doing the job that it was meant to do. It loses its efficiency, no longer becoming an important channel for the work, eventually having to be scrapped altogether in favour of a new machine (body).

Apart from bringing in more oxygen, it helps cleanse the blood stream, clears the eyes, hearing becomes more acute, the brain works better because it feels clearer, the flow of prana or life force, the subtle element in the ethers, can be greatly activated moving into the body with greater power, a tremendous amount of energy can be stored within the solar plexus and you start the day with eyes wide open instead of peering out through bleary eyes, half open, lungs that are only a quarter expanded, dulled hearing, brain not functioning properly, going into your daily activities with a machine that is running at only a quarter its power.

Of course, WILL-POWER comes into it. We must have the WILL to get out of bed a little earlier, to brave the cold, the heat and the wind.

Push the chest out and say, MY BODY MACHINE WILL FUNCTION AT TOP LEVEL", then do something about it.

FIRSTLY, we must master the art of filling the body fully as we inhale. To do this we will lay on the bed or on the floor. Seeing we are essentially a lazy race when it comes to doing physical activity, we will do it in bed for the first morning. Presuming the window is wide open and sufficient air is coming into the room, on waking, cross the legs as if sitting cross-legged, but we are still laying down, head flat (not on a pillow) and clasp the hands together over the abdomen.

At all times we inhale through the nose and exhale through the nose unless we state otherwise.

Now inhale filling the lower part of the abdomen just below the naval with air, taking it up until the lungs are fully expanded, hold a few seconds, then slowly exhale, tummy sinking right in as the body deflates.

When you inhale you make a sound in the throat. Do not draw the air in through the nose. It comes in automatically when you inhale deeply using the throat and filling the lower part of the abdomen, gradually swelling out the naval, going higher and higher, but at the same time do not lift the shoulders.

By locking the legs and the hands, the life force is kept within the body and you are storing up in the solar plexus an energy and a power that will give you added strength throughout the day. Feel the rise and fall of the hands over the area that you start to fill. Become immersed in the exercise and continue to do it for as long as you feel you can.

You may also do this at night before going to sleep, afterward laying in relaxation, gradually drifting off to sleep.

If we made a study of the ancient wisdom in regard to breathing and healing, you would find the ancient Egyptians, Chinese, Indians and Tibetans past masters of breath control.

We are told that the left nostril is lunar breathing, meaning moon and cool. It will push down body heat while the right nostril is called solar or sun breathing, pushing body heat up.

To bring fever down it is recommended to lie on the right side, this will change the breath over so that you then breathe from the left nostril, so cooling the system.

If you have a cold it is suggested that you lie on your left side for 15 minutes, so that the system becomes warmer and you start to breathe through the right nostril.

To calm the nerves and create a feeling of peace and well-being, sit in a place either outside under a tree or inside with the window wide open. Sit in whatever position is comfortable FOR YOU, so that you can then forget the body.

In this type of breathing we do not make a noise in our throat as we do with the fuller breathing. We very gently draw the air in through the nostrils, feeling it go past the fine hairs just within the opening, filtering through to the nervous system.

Close the right nostril by putting the thumb over the opening, pressing it closed, gently inhale through the left nostril, not forcing, just gently feeling the air go in. Inhale to the count of seven, then with the little finger and the ring finger close the left nostril, releasing the right nostril and exhale counting seven. Inhale through the right nostril, keeping the left closed, counting seven, then exhale through the left nostril keeping the right closed.

Continue to do this evenly and slowly. This is called alternate nostril breathing. When you have mastered it, you may increase to the following ratio: Inhale 7 - Exhale 14 Inhale 7 - Hold both nostrils closed for the count of 14 Exhale 7 Inhale 7 - Hold 21 - Exhale 14

Finish the exercise with full nostril breathing, inhaling through both nostrils, count this time will be Inhale 10, hold both nostrils closed 10, Exhale 10. After a few rounds of the final nostril breathing, sit quietly in one place, eyes closed, and this time mentally watch the breath coming and going. Do not consciously do any breathing, just watch the breath as if you were an onlooker.

Slowly you will unwind, the mind will start to relax. This time be the onlooker, not the doer. Immerse yourself within.

Animals know how to breathe, how to relax, how to contract, how to stretch and at times they appear as if they have no breath, almost lifeless. They have mastered the art of breath.

A dog, a fox, a wolf or similar animal knows how to gain more energy when being chased.

There is a breath called Nayee - dog breathing. When an animal is being chased it stops for a short while when it has gained enough to spare a second or two, and its tongue hangs out and it takes short sharp breaths. Then suddenly it tears off, it has gained a surplus of energy, enough to carry it on further.

So why not try it and see. Pant like a dog. Feel the movement of the ABDOMEN and SOLAR PLEXUS the part that is the storage of energy, the mouth is open enough to gain a quicker influx of oxygen and life force.

It is interesting to study the various methods of breathing and we can learn much from the animals.

At no time should the breath be forced, it must be a natural flow and a controlled flow. Soon you will learn to breathe fully, and it will become natural so that you can no longer breathe in the shallow fashion that you did before.

CLEANSING BREATH: The cleansing breath is done with open mouth when exhaling. Normal breathing techniques are done with mouth closed. But now we must throw out the toxins we have, not so much the concentration on storage of energy.

DOUBLE BREATHING: We now have the double breathing which will let you take a little more oxygen than you thought possible, exhaling more impurities than you thought possible.

You will inhale a short sharp breath and a long drawn out one reaching the fullest extent of inhalation, then exhale a short sharp breath and a long slow breath until the air is fully forced out.

THE EXHALATION OF BREATH IS AS MUCH IF NOT EVEN MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE INHALATION.

Stand up, place hands on shoulders, elbows pressed right to the back. Inhale a short and a long breath, as you exhale take hands, arms and stretch right out in front of you. As you inhale bring arms in, pushing chest out, fingers on shoulders, exhaling throwing arms out in front again.

By inhaling with fingers on shoulders, elbows pushed back, the chest is fully expanded, by throwing arms out in front as you exhale the lungs then squeeze the last little drop of air out AND THIS IS IMPORTANT.

After this is mastered, then try two short sharp breaths and one long one.

YOGA BREATH - one long inhale - one long exhale through the nose.

CLEANSING BREATH - short - long inhale short - long exhale through mouth short - short - long inhale short - short - long exhale through mouth

It is interesting to note that when we think of colour, or are surrounded by certain colours it has an effect on the rhythm of breathing.

If we think of red or are associated with red in some form or another, our breath quickens, as it is an automatic reflex associated with the excitement, the stimulation that this colour brings with it.

On the other hand, green has a calming effect and the breathing becomes regular, steady.

The blues, purples slow our breathing down tremendously and it is a fact that apart from the effect on our breathing, the reds can increase blood pressure and the blues, purples decrease the pressure.

Everything is centred around BREATH.

We are told that we are allotted 21,600 breaths per day, the faster they are used up, so the shorter our life span is, so we must learn to conserve and to do this we take longer and deeper breaths, so that instead of taking two or three, we only need to take one.

When we exhale it carries out the impurities and cleanses the lungs. When we inhale it brings in oxygen, prana, the creative life force which is the subtle energy in the cosmos, ozone that is in the mountains and seasides, but not very prevalent in the cities.

Through breathing techniques we become aware of every part of the body and know that each part is a separate and individual life.

Through breathing we can enter the superconscious state of being, the art of breathlessness where there is no flow of breath, where all is still, suspended animation.

Spend half an hour every morning on arising, doing the breathing techniques given here.

There are literally hundreds of exercises, but it is important to have a few simple ones THAT WILL BE DONE than told of many that you will never get around to doing.

Spend half an hour in the evening before bed, firstly doing the breathing, then sitting quietly for 15 minutes mentally watching the breath.

YAWNING is a breathing exercise, LAUGHING is a breathing exercise, so is gasping, sighing and panting.

NATURE has given us methods of breathing that automatically come into action when we have so abused the body that it needs them to relax. So, LAUGH, CRY, YAWN, SIGH, whenever you feel you must. It is natures release.

The reason why we must keep the mouth closed on inhalation, when doing certain breathing exercises, is because the nasal passage is lined with fine hairs that act as a filter, screening out dust and bacteria. The mucous membrane warms and moistens the air, preparing it for entry to the lungs. Take a deep gulp of air through the mouth on a cold day and see why we breathe through the nose.

We have 72,000 nerves in our body, by the power of BREATH, we can calm or stimulate these nerves.

The brain can be cleared for more rational thinking, the body helped toward purity, and finally we can come to SELF KNOWLEDGE by the power of BREATH.

The word SPIRIT means BREATH, it comes from the Latin word Spiro, meaning I BREATHE.