Meditation and the six breaths

How to breathe correctly in meditation is one of the most common questions I am asked to explain. The people which ask me this are looking for detailed instruction, something to follow and to form a logical structure in their minds. There is no structure to breathing other than just breathing. How you breathe is nothing to do with secrets and hidden techniques. It is about you being able to meditate and allow the intelligence of your heart to regulate your breathing. Therefore, we could say that we need to focus on our heart and not our breath, for when one is at the centre of their being, everything within your body does what it is meant to do, it becomes childlike, a relaxed breath following the rhythm of the heart. Breathing should never become stressful. Should we experience breathing trauma, then we can say that there is still much to practise.

Here are the six levels of breath for those of you who would like to understand natural progression.

Natural breathing. This is something we do 24 hours a day. As our bodies age, and if we have not taken care of ourselves, then length of inhalation and exhalation deteriorate. Sometimes we can develop mouth breathing, which does not allow the air we breathe in to be cleaned and warmed up by the nasal passage. When we inhale directly through the mouth, we take in particles of dust and cold air, which enter our lungs directly. We should always inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth. 

Vitalising breath. Many use this method of breathing to energise the physical body and to recover after prolonged exercises. In meditation, we use it for energising the energy centres and to relax the body. We inhale through the nose and exhale via the mouth. Unlike natural breathing, where our breath remains calm. In vitalising breathing we emphasise the breathing, by taking purposeful deep inhalations allowing the stomach to expand, followed by the chest. And we exhale by vigorously blowing out the breath. Inhalation is normally longer than exhalation, so we should pay attention to this.

Deep breathing. We normally carry out this type of breathing when practicing Qigong. We engage the arms to the rhythm of our breath. Place the hands in front of the lower Tan Tien with palms facing up and the draw a very large circle by raising the arms upwards either side of the body. When the palms reach above the head, turn the palms to face down and exhale, slowly lowering the palms in front of the body and return to the starting position. Repeat as many times as necessary. Breathe in through the nose and exhale through the mouth. Make sure you are synchronising the breathing with the arms. The breathing should be more focused on deep and slow breathing, allowing the stomach to gently swell on inhalation and relax on exhalation. The deeper and relaxed the breath becomes, the more we will achieve a state of calmness.

Slow breathing. The same as Deep breathing, but without using the arms. However, we should practise calming the breath as much as possible and try to increase the length of each breath without causing stress to our body or minds. 

Ancestral breathing. This is also known as reverse breathing. When we take a normal breath, our stomach slightly expands, as do the lungs. In reverse breathing, we gently pull in the stomach when inhaling and expand the stomach when exhaling. Nothing should become tense, especially when expanding and contracting the stomach. The art of mastering this type of breathing is to pay attention to the movement of the lower Tan Tien, as it will move by being directed by your mind rather than forcing it to happen. The reason it is called ancestral breathing is that it opens up the diaphragm and allows us to return to the womb method of breathing, which was through the lower Tan Tien. Thus, we connect to our ancestral line of Qi, an unlimited supply of energy in which we can breathe through, by combining it with natural breath.

Breathing through the heart. Prior to carrying out this method of breathing, we should engage with our heart through the gateway, which is the Thymus gland. By placing the index and middle fingers together and resting the fingertips onto the thymus gland, sound out your mantra of choice. I prefer to repeat my Mantra 108 times as per the emotions of the medicine wheel. Once you have completed the mantra, sit quietly and rest your hands on your Lower Tan Tien. Move your mind to your heart and imaging breathing through the heart. The breath should become that of a baby, gentle, quiet, relaxed and without beginning and an end. Exhalation and inhalation harmonise completely as we should not be able to tell the difference between the two as all we can hear and feel is the quiet beating of the drum of our heart.

As I progress through these writings for you all, I will discuss breathing for each of the Tai Chi, Qigong and meditation. So there is more to come.

Love and blessings to you all. 

© 2023 Vasilios Firippis