Five Breathing Methods in TCM Qigong
Five Types of Qi Gong Breathing:
Breathing is the foundation of Qigong practice and in China there have historically been many types.
In this article we will look at five of the most popular methods of breathing in modern Qigon, discuss how they are done and a little about what they are good for.
The five types are:
Natural breathing,
Nose and mouth breathing,
Large capacity breathing,
Focus on in or out breath,
Abdominal breathing.
Each of these breathing styles have different uses which can benefit you depending on your situation. In the near future I will go into much more detail about breathing practices including tutorials of useful practices such as the Six Sounds Breathing for Chinese Medicine energetic self treatment.
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1、自然呼吸法
1: Natural Breathing Method:
People's normal breathing habits tend to differ between men and women. Natural breathing is separated into three categories of:
chest breathing
abdominal breathing
chest and abdominal breathing.
Men tend to perform abdominal breathing while women are more likely to breathe with their chests.
Athletes or professional singers are more likely to perform chest and abdominal breathing simultaneously.
Beginners in Qigong usually practice natural breathing since they are already in the habit of breathing in this way.
After the body is made soft and enters stillness then the beath can be adjusted to become:
soft
slender
and naturally spread out comfortably in the body.
At the beginning of adjusting the breath it is possible to perform a mantra of silently repeats the word “Jing” in your mind during the in breath. Jing means “still” in Chinese and is a way to calm your mind during breathing to enter a meditative state.
On the out breath you can repeat “Song” which means to relax.
These mantras can help you become more calm and relaxed during your breathing which will help the breath go deeper into your body and make more Qi enter your blood.
2、鼻吸口呼法
2: Nose In, Mouth Out Method:
The way we breathe can normally be separated into the following categories:
inhalation through the mouth and exhalation through the nose,
Inhalation through the nose and exhalation through the mouth,
dual mouth inhalation and exhalation.
Dual nose inhalation and exhalation.
When practicing this it is better to either breathe entirely through the nose or or breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth.
The method of breathing exclusively through the nose is usually used during meditation while breathing inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth is typically done while practicing moving Qigong, Taijiquan, and walking exercises.
Sometimes if you have a cold and it is difficult to breathe through your nose it is acceptable to practice exclusively using your mouth, but these times should be limited and temporary as in the long term mouth breathing is a bad habit.
There may be some rare occasions in which you breathe in through the mouth and out through the nose in Qigong, but they are quite uncommon.
3、大呼大吸法
3: Big Inhalation and Big Exhalation Method:
Using the nose you use power to perform big inhalations in exhalations, or you can inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth.
Every one cycle of the breath requires you to extend it for a long period of time and at the start your breath will not make much sound when it comes and goes.
This method strengthens your body and adjusts the internal energy movement in your body.
It can help to reduce certain chronic health problems and acts as a medicinal treatment.
When studying this method the sound may gradually become larger, but you should focus on obtaining as much fresh air as you can to break up stagnation.
4 、 练 呼 练 吸法
4: Refining the inhalation and exhalation:
The ancients said that the in breath is yin and the out breath is yang.
Because of this people who lack yang energy often have trouble exhaling while people who lack yin energy have trouble inhaling.
Thus the reason for refining the in and out breaths is to balance Yin and Yang.
Normally speaking refining the out breath is used for people who have upper body stagnation and vacuity in their lower bodies with high blood pressure. They have difficulty breathing smoothly, green light impressions in their vision, headaches which are distending, and abdominal distension.
Normally refining the in breath is for people with stomach and intestine function issues, yang vacuity and so on.
Refining the out breath uses the harvesting of long exhalation with a pause before the inhalation. On the exhalation it is possible to practice the original mantra mentioned in the first section. This can add to the strength of the out breath and make it longer.
When practicing long in breath usually you can also perform a mantra as mentioned before but breathe out a little faster to activate your lower abdomen.
5、腹式呼吸
5: Abdominal breathing:
This method is most commonly used in Qigong and helps the Qi build up.
Normally it is either done naturally with the belly expanding on the in breath and relaxing on the out breath, or as reverse breathing in which the bully draws in and up slightly on the in breath and relaxes on the out breath.
When breathing in using the first method (called smooth breathing) the abdominal muscles should be relaxed and although the power of the breath descends it should move down gradually. On the out breath the abdomen naturally shrinks inward or slightly withdraws inward.
In reverse breathing it is opposite with the in breath drawing in the abdomen and the out breath allowing it to relax.
This method is usually used to strengthen the core or the body while smooth breathing allows Qi to easily come to the lower abdomen and collect there.
Usually it is better to start with natural breathing and work your way to smooth abdominal breathing before trying reverse breathing.
I hope this article was useful to you.
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