The Universe is one indivisible, dynamic whole in which energy and matter are so deeply entangled it is impossible to consider them as independent elements. Bruce Lipton. Biology of Belief
We live in a sea of energy, radios, televisions, cellular phones and wireless computer networks operate on unseen energy waves. Our bodies also operate within a human energy field. Today science is beginning to understand what ancients and realized masters have been saying for eons. Unfortunately science has created a systematic problem believing that unless it could prove something, it does not exist. This would almost imply that observation creates reality, perhaps it does? But the larger unknown wonders and mysteries of the universe and life still reveal our basic distorted understanding of reality to be but a small spark amidst an endless flame. The error with science is that some of those who wield its power are incapable of learning from what it cannot understand. Yet the very basis of their existence is on those same principles in the broad scope of every day we know practically nothing about ourselves, inside and out- yet that does not mean enjoyment of life has been relinquished from us. We do not need to know everything about the sea to enjoy its cool water, to welcome its life and mystery. We miss the point of human experience when we begin to observe and not experience. And though it can be hard to prove all theories of energy from a scientific model, it is very easy to experience energy within our own body, and the energy of others.
There are many forms of energy. Energy comes to the earth for example through the radiant light of our sun, stored most directly in green plants. In addition to taking energy from food, we take energy from others around us, as well as the air and the earth. In a larger sense, we don't just take in energy, we are energy. The organs in our body are made of tissues made of cells made of molecules made of atoms made of whirling, pulsating, vibrating fields of energy. Energy not only surrounds us, it permeates us. The carbon, metals, and fibers within our body are from the fertile, exploding death of a star. We are actually made from the stars. We know that energy takes many forms, some of which are visible like a lightning bolt. Life energy is more subtle; we usually cannot see it with our physical eyes, but we can certainly feel it.
Through the centuries, energy has had many different names. Christ called it light, Russian studies have called it bioplasmic energy, Wilhelm Reich referred to it as orgone energy; East Indian yogis call it pran, or prana; Reichenbach spoke of it as odic energy; the Kahunas know it as mana; Paracelsus called it munia, in China the usual term is chi or qi, alchemists manuscripts speak of it as vital fluid; Eeman described it as x-force; Bruner named it bio-cosmic energy; Hippocrates called it via medicatrix naturae(natures life force). Energy can have so many names as it is experienced by each of us in different ways.
Energy therapy consists of the integration of energy modalities such as acupressure,reiki,polarity
Energy systems were explored over 4,000 years ago in oriental medicine. Disease was seen as body energy fields malfunctioning. Energy therapies were designed to stimulate the meridians or organs to help the body’s energy flow correctly. There is extensive evidence that healing occurs through changes in the electromagnetic field. At every level through the body, from cell to molecule to atom, there are structural evidences of the intrinsic electromagnetism of life.
The physical body has two primary electrical systems. One is the alternating electric current of the nervous system, the brain, neurons and nerves, which cause muscle contraction, nerve transmission, glandular secretion and sensation. The other is the electromagnetic system emanating from atoms and cells. The energy field has been referred to as the auras, but is more specifically an energy field. The creative force of the universe gives rise in the dynamic polarity between Yin and Yan to the flow of life force called chi. Chi, the vital life force or energy is omnipresent in nature and is apparent in all life in the form of change and movement. In the body chi accumulates in the organs and flows in channels or meridians that are called Jing and Lou in Chinese. Without having direct influence, each culture has derived a form of energy work.
Every cell in our body has a characteristic vibration. When these cells vibrate at a certain rate and in a certain pattern, the body functions well and the person feels good. When they vibrate at a different rate and pattern, the body functions less well and the person feels not so good … every thought is a pattern of energy characterized by a certain vibratory rate and pattern … the vibratory pattern of the thought and its consequent emotion are experienced throughout the entire body, by each cell, and this vibratory influence triggers the release of certain kinds of neuropeptides which flood through the body … thus thoughts are patterns of energy which influence the functions of the whole body. Dr. Candace Pert in Molecules of Emotion.
Today people remain skeptical of energy modalities, receiving misinformation from officials, and those they hold in high regard. Religious intolerance and distortions pervert the truth and keep people locked into a system of mind and health where along with 80% of the U.S. population remain ill as a result of premature deterioration. Old cold truths are harbored that reflect the quality of faith one has, as many people a re locked within the confines of their beliefs never growing, expanding or becoming able to free themselves from destructive thinking, eating and living habits. They postulate what they do not wish to understand, and then look down on that which they remain ignorant to, condemning themselves to a slow drawn out death. If a belief system does not awaken the very best within the stagnant spirit of an individual, that belief system is outmoded and needs to be updated. But where is belief without the believer? Where is the experience to be gained, the faith to be had, the wisdom to be shared if not in the individual? All the power, the feelings, the strength and energy to blossom forward in this life is coiled within us, awaiting the proper life lessons to water the soil of our mind to help us awaken out of our slumber.
The current practice of medicine is based upon the Newtonian model of reality. This model is basically a viewpoint which sees the world as an intricate mechanism. Doctors conceptualize the body as a type of grand machine which is controlled by the brain and peripheral nervous system: the ultimate biological computer.
There is field of healing, where compared the hundreds of thousands of people hurt or killed by modern medical protocol, has ushered in a new yet old practice, that many people are benefiting from; vibrational medicine. Vibrational medicine views human beings as networks of complex energy fields that interface with physical/cellular systems. Vibrational medicine uses specialized forms of energy to positively affect those energetic systems that may be out of balance due to disease states. By rebalancing the energy fields that help to regulate cellular physiology, vibrational healers attempt to restore order from a higher level of human functioning.
Today, with many people experiencing the health benefits and possibilities of energy based healing, research teams at Harvard, Cern and worldwide are making breakthroughs in the connection between energy and the body and brain. Back in 192 4 Willem Einthoven received a nobel prize for his discovery that heart electricity could be recorded with a galvanometer; the electrocardiogram and electroencephalogram are not standard tools for medical diagnosis. In 1963 Baule and Mcfee were able to measure the magnetic field produced by the electrical activity of the heart muscle. This strong pulsating magnetic field spreads out in front of and behind the body. The heart and brain maintain a continuous two way dialogue, each influencing the others functioning. The heart sends far more information to the brain than the brain sends to the heart and the signals the heart sends to the brain can influence perception, emotional processing and higher cognitive functions. The heart also generates the strongest rhythmic electromagnetic field in the body and this actually can be measured in the brain waves of people around us. We are quite literally, an electro magnetic expression of our highest cognitive function.
In order for the human body to develop, maintain, carry out functions, have communications between systems, energy is needed. Electrical signals, the nervous system, enzymes, cytokines all these are energetic forms of homeostasis which show our bioelectrical nature. Various electrical frequencies are being tested to determine the types of tissues they affect during healing and growth. Sisken and Walker found that 2hz is associated with nerve regeneration, 7hz with bone growth, 10hz with ligament healing, 15, 20, and 72 hz with stimulation of capillary formation and 25 and 50 hz with synergistic effects with nerve growth factor. With many case studies and much research the question came to be an obvious one, can an energy practitioner produce fields which can be measured? And can those fields impact others frequencies within their body’s?
The Harvard research on Qigong and energy validates much that has been documented and realized by practitioners for ages. A study on Guo Lin’s Qigong application for cancer patients show success rating of 63%-83%.
Here is a chart of the bio energetic effects of Qigong on the body.
Function/organ How measured? Effect
Brain Local oxygen consumption via functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
Stimulation of specific acupoints resulted in changes in activity at specific locations in the brain. For instance, stimulation of foot acupoints commonly used to treat eye disorders increased activity at the visual cortex while treatment of a foot acupoint used for pain relief deactivated the activity at pain centers at the cingulate cortex of the brain.
Independent Component Analysis of electroencephalograms (EEG)
Increase in alpha and theta waves resulting from meditation was also accompanied by an increase in beta waves. Since alpha and theta waves signify a state of relaxation and rest while beta waves reflect a state of alert consciousness, this analysis indicate that meditation is a dual state of “relaxed concentration”. This conclusion is consistent with the common notion that mediation is not only an excellent way to achieve deep rest, but also an effective way to train the mind to be sharply focused during mental activities in every day life.
The brain is both relaxing and concentrating during Qigong meditation!
Read a short description of the five Brainwave States.
Cell culture Growth rate and biochemical analysis (1) Cancer cells grown on culture plates had a slower growth rate following exposure to external Qi emitted by a top Zen meditation master. (2) The treated cancer cells exhibited more of the characteristics of normal cells.
Intracellular calcium concentration Calcium ions measured with a fluorescence indicator dye assay Exposure to external Qi caused a substantial increase in intracellular calcium concentration in cancer cells grown in culture.
Immune system Hormone concentration in blood 14 weeks after starting practice of Guolin Qigong (a style popular among Chinese cancer patients), a group of normal subjects had a substantial decrease in stress hormone (i.e., cortisol) and interleukin 10 (suppresses anti-cancer immunity) and an increase in interferon (protects against cancer) in the blood stream
Acupoints and meridians Conductance and capacitance at meridian terminus acupoints Following a Qigong practice session, the Qigong masters' electrical conductance and capacitance measured at acupoints at the terminals of meridians went up very substantially. These results could be interpreted as a reflection of the enhancement of the flow of Qi through the corresponding meridians and the strengthening of associated organs in the body.
Research in China on meridians has not been published in Pubmed: e.g. from the injection of radioactive tracers, measurements of pressure resistance to injected fluids, higher rate of transmission of sound and electricity, spreading of feeling of de qi from needling an acupoint, etc.
24 articles from 29 studies in publications from 1970 to 2007 were searched to support or refute the claim that acupuncture points or meridians possess distinct electrical properties. The reported electrical associations at acupuncture points include increased conductance, decreased resistance/impedance, elevated capacitance, and higher potential compared to controls. (Ref: Ahn, J.Alt.Compl.Med. Oct 2007. p.899).
Cardiac system Heart rate variability (HRV) analysis of data from electrocardiograhy (EKG) is becoming an increasingly common method to non-invasively evaluate autonomic nervous function. In many studies, low frequency variability (LF, <> 0.15 Hz) as an indicator of parasympathetic function In a published study by Dr. Zhong-Yuan Shen and collaborators at the Qigong Research Institute (QRI) of the Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, regulation of respiration by a group of Qigong masters produced cycles of increase and decrease in heart rate (defined medically as Heart Rate Variability) corresponding to slow and deep breathing cycles as indicated by computer analysis of electrocardiograms (EKG). This effect is apparently caused by conscious control of the autonomic nervous system, which in turn regulates the heart rate. In a related study at the QRI, Qigong meditation was accompanied by fast cycles of heart rate variability. Because such a variability pattern is normally seen during deep sleep, this result supports the notion that meditation is a very effective way to deeply refresh the mind and the body.
Circulatory System Laser Doppler Flowmetry and an infrared imaging system. Qigong masters were asked to focus their intention on sending their internal Qi to their hands. This resulted in significant increases in blood flow in their hands and a corresponding increase in the temperature of that part of the body. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, qi follows intent (i.e. mind intent) and the blood follows the qi.
Single photon counting device Detected changes in emission of visible light (i.e. biophotons) from the hands. The dark adapted eye can detect single photons
Chemical absorption of laser light shone through the skull (i.e., transcranial photon migration spectroscopy) Qigong deep breathing and breath-holding exercises produced a strong increase in oxygen content in capillaries of the forebrain.
Reference: Recent Developments in Qigong and Acupuncture Research. Dr. Shin Lin, University of California, Irvine.
The attack on alternative forms of medicine including Energy Medicine started with the Flexnor report in 1910. For some accounts of the suppression of energy-based therapies by the American Medical Assocation, mainstream Western medicine, and the pharmaceutical industry. I encourage the research into Electrotherapy, Alternative Medicine Therapies, Cures and Treatments: Vibratory Energy Medicine, the 1953 Fitzgerald Report - Suppressed Cancer Treatments, and Persecution of Innovative Therapies. - Politics in Healing: The Suppression and Manipulation of American Medicine.
Robert C. Beck has used EEG recordings to study brain wave activity in energy practitioners from all over the world. All practitioners registered brain wave activity averaging about 7.8-8.0 cycles/second. Beck performed additional studies on some of the subjects and found that during the energy practice the practitioners brain waves became phase and frequency synchronized with the earth’s geoelectric micropulsations- the Schumann resonance. The Schumann resonance is a unique electromagnetic phenomenon created by the sum of lightning activity around the world. The electromagnetic pulses from lighting travel around the earth, bouncing back and forth between the ionosphere and the earth surface. At any given point on the earth, the Schumann resonance shows up as electrical and magnetic micropulsations in the range of 1-40Hz. There is evidence that geomagnetic rhythms serve as a cue for physiological rhythms. There is evidence that geomagnetic pulsations strongly entrain the brain waves during meditation and other practice in which one quiets the mind to allow their natural rhythms to arise.
With energy practitioners, Oschman states that research shows master Qigong techniques can project measurable amounts of heat from their palms, that increases cell growth, DNA and protein synthesis, and cell respiration. Molecule themselves interact with each other via electromagnetic fields. The body is an interconnected matrix, not separate from the external macrocosmic matrix of the planet and universe. As one thing can impact another from atoms to trees, it is all deeply connected.
The recognition that all matter is energy forms the foundation for understanding how human beings can be considered dynamic energetic systems. This idea is nothing new. Science and religion have been speaking the same story for generations, yet fighting over the language it should be told in. Religions tell us that God is omnipresent, all powerful, always was and will always be all there is, science tells us that everything is made of high levels of pure energy, omnipresent, life giving, always was and will always be all there is. Scientifically it can be demonstrated how we are all physically connected, that our molecules and sub particles are intertwined.
In mans quest to conquer the hearts and minds of people, man arrogantly puts a face on that which could not seen and declares truth. Millions of people have lost their lives throughout history for not laying down personal realization to the tyrannical rule of, righteous, religious intolerance. At one time people were slaughtered for believing the earth revolved around the sun, or that the earth was round, or that little tiny life forms existed in our bodies; the bad talk and myopic position of the righteous continue the crusade of ignorance as many wish to subdue energy studies and healing modalities. But those who find the divine inspiration within the spaces of their own spirit, come to understand the deeper affirmation of our entanglement. Many religious leaders and advocates realize no words, symbols, factions or practices are large enough to contain the expansive energetic truth that is our divine connection to all of life. Georges Lemaître was a Catholic priest for example, who was the first to propose the big bang theory which states, all things were one before the big bang and since all was one, it remains one. Space gives the illusion of separate objects. Our connections, energetically and physically only demonstrates the omnipresent, giving witness to what some call God, Brahma, Singularity, or the “ I am .” Unlike religious texts of old, that have lost meaning in translation, have been altered by ruling emperors and sect leaders, the living experience of men and woman will come from within and blossom unto the world, always taking humanity to a higher spiritual evolution.
True science discovers God, waiting behind every door- Pope Pius XII
By realizing that humans are beings of energy, one can begin to comprehend new ways of viewing health and illness. This viewpoint will not only give future doctors a unique perspective on the causes of disease, but also more effective ways by which human beings can be healed of their suffering.
The fact that every cell within the human body contains the information to create an entire duplicate body mirrors the holographic principle whereby every piece contains the information of the whole. When we look at the words use to define creation, to vaguely grasp the infinite, Jesus’ words that a mustard seed is like the kingdom of heaven, we see that all life is encoded with nothing but infinite potential, all possibility.
“ With God all things are possible”
Creation itself is term that implies a finished product. From the time you are non existent, to becoming an aquatic like fetus, into a child who becomes and adult and returns to emptiness, life is a series of transient experiences. All thinking, acting, technologies, philosophies will change shape. The very moments you hold onto and the ones yet to come will continue to move in a flux which reveals the energy of life. The heavens and earth change, the things that remain physical are furthest from the source of manifestation, furthest from spiritual substance. The spiritual is in the transient, for we are not our own, this time is temporary and we are here for such a short time. All the universe is like water; it is fluid, it is transient, it is changing. From the cells on your face to the seasons of the earth, all things are constantly changing, giving understanding into the nature of the divine.
Only man creates, and does so selfishly. But the pure level of beingness, the fundamental truth of our existence lies in the eternal sea of vibration where all things have existed and will always exist. E=mc2 means energy cannot be created or destroyed. The ancient books tell us God(s) have always existed and will always exist. Science uses a language to say the same thing about the life force of universal energy. Jesus said men will come and do greater things than he. And our development, or progress and evolution is a lineage t o our spiritual heritage, always connecting us to that which is the force of change, of movement and transition, of birth and regeneration. For as our bodies die, our atoms, molecules and sub particles go into the winds, the earth and help maintain life. Nothing is wasted, and life comes again, bringing forth a mind and spirit from the same creative process, connected to all life, capable of replicating all information and seeking out new wisdom. But death is just the other face of energy, and it's the rest, the not being anything around, that produces something around, just in the same way that you can't have 'solid' without 'space,' or 'space' without 'solid.'
What science has come to realize is that matter itself, the most physical of physical things, is mostly empty, and changes between a wave and particle state. So reality itself as we perceive it is more of a possibility of consciousness, an arrangement of particles, light and is found in the interaction between human observation and the particle wave function. All matter is made of frozen light, information which is utilized by our brain to create a picture within our brain. And the brain does not actually know the difference between what it is seeing in its environment and what it remembers, giving light to the fact that seeing, understanding and the concept of a solid, tangible reality is actually held within human consciousness.
"There literally are different worlds in which we live; there's the macroscopic world that we see, there's the world of our cells, there's the world of our atoms, there's the world of our nucleii. These are each totally different worlds. They have their own language. They have their own mathematics. They're not just smaller, each is totally different.
"But they're complimentary. Because I am my atoms. But I am also my cells. I'm also my macroscopic physiology. It's all true, there are just different levels of truth. The deepest level of truth uncovered by science, and by philosophy, is the fundamental truth of unity. At that deepest, sub-nuclear level of our reality you and I are literally one."
Billions of years ago you were a big bang, but now you are a complicated human being. And we cut ourselves off and don’t feel that we are still the big bang, but we are. If depends how we define ourselves, we are actually not something that is a result of the big bang, we are not something that is a sort of pocket on the end of the process, we are the process. We are unfolding constantly in the great unfolding of the divine process. We are the primordial energy of the universe. We’ve learned to define ourselves as separate from it. So if all energy is one, from one universe, one source then there is no such things as things. The physical world is always moving. People try to build things that last in an existence of constant change. When you want to get control of change, it is difficult. The more you squeeze to contain water the less of it you actually grasp. The ocean waves and the universe peoples. We are consciousness, the way we feel and sense our existence, has been influenced to not feel our deeper heritage. We are more than something that happens between the maternity ward and the crematorium.
The growing process even from the womb is much different than the making or creation process. Even tables, houses and art are constructions, which show the fundamental difference between the made and maker, getting rid of the ceramic model of existence.
Each one of us, fundamentally deep within is an act of ,a function of , a performance of ,a manifestation of the works, the whole blinking cosmos with all its galaxies and for ever and ever and whatever is beyond that, what you might call God in western tradition or Brahman in Hindu or Tao in Chinese. We are pretending we are not this dimensional, we pretend with great skill, but simply observing life and listening to the words it’s teachers shows otherwise.
All that we experience is a spectrum of vibrations; there are different spectrums, such as light, sound, scent, of tactile feels and emotions. We are living in the midst of a golden tapestry of many dimensions, of different spectra of various kinds of vibrations. We wouldn’t be here if not for the interlocking of these many dimensions.
“The only limits in this life are the ones man places on himself”
The earliest evidence of the energy of the human body is the work of neuroanatomist Harold S. Burr at Yale University during the 1940’s. Burr was studying the shape of energy fields around living plants and animals. Some of Burr’s work involved the shape of electrical fields surrounding salamanders. Kirlian photography is a technique whereby living objects are photographed in the presence of a high frequency, low voltage, low amperage electrical field. Kirlian photography revealed the phantom leaf phenomenon where the upper third of a leaf is cut off and destroyed. The remaining leaf fragment is then photographed by the electrographic process. Examination of the amputated leaf reveals a picture of an intact, whole leaf. Similar to this effect is what most come to experience as the phantom limb phenomenon. Amputees have been quoted saying they can still feel limbs that have been lost, even the interaction between the empty space once occupied and physical things such as chairs or people.
All matter is frozen light. Matter is composed of highly complex, infinitely orchestrated energy fields.
God breathed into mans nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. Genesis 2:7
It has been found that Qigong and energy practices raise oxygen levels in cells. As Discovered by Dr. Warburg, oxygen is the enemy of disease and cancer, and lack of is the reason it flourishes. Spiritual cultures from Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism relate breath to life and spirit. Could there be a connection in the spiritual state of an individual and the manifestation of disease in the body? Lack of breath, lack of life, life is one energy, emanating from the creative unfolding of the divine consciousness.
Traditional cultures identified the breath with the life force that animates all things. for example the Latin word for spiritus from which we got spirit, the greek word anima which means animated, the Hebrew word ruach and the Sanskrit word Brahman may sound different but they have one thing in common; they all mean both breath and spirit. When you follow your breath with awareness, you're not only harmonizing your body and mind, which gives you a sense of inner balance and wholeness, you're also exploring the living frontier where body, mind and spirit meet- and attuning yourself to a spiritual dimension of being.
Cultures which had no contact with each other such as Toltec wisdom to the Indian yogis all placed emphasis on breath, realizing it is not dimensionally restricted and is a living force, a program for this system to bring life into this vessel.
Gen.2:7 - And the Lord God formed man from the dust of the earth and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul".
The breath of the east
There are many aspects of life which keep us balanced, but none as apparent or voluntary as breathing. Endless research has shown conscious breathing can improve the quality of the breath by "charging it". This can also enable the body to be more accepting to the oxygen allowing it to flow much easier in the body. Conscious breathing is living in the state of being, of mindfulness. It takes practice and focus to become mindful of breathing. Just as our perspectives and feelings of the world are not as they were when we were 5, so to will our relationship with our own functions, the world and our obstructions/blockages change allowing us to produce deeper more penetrating and truth revealing states of consciousness through conscious breathing.
Swami Bua is a hundred and seventeen years old. He has many enthusiasms—swimming, boxing, breathing through the eyes—but the one that recommends him to the U.N. each fall is the conch. He can blow on a conch shell for eight straight days: one note, one breath, a hundred and ninety-four hours. It is a feat of circular breathing that would make Rahsaan Roland Kirk blush. Swamiji (“-ji” is the honorific) lives on the eleventh floor of a postwar tower on West Fifty-eighth Street. His apartment is the one with the sign on the door that reads, “To Ring Well Please Press Well the Bottom Bell.” It contains a studio, where he teaches two yoga classes each weekday. Many yoga enthusiasts from the mid-1970s will remember Swami Bua,
who appeared at one of the international yoga congresses organized by Swami Rama of the Himalayan Institute and held in downtown Chicago. Swami Bua was in his 80s then, although his body was that of a 20-year-old gymnast, and we were thrilled to read in Hinduism Today that he is alive and doing well, teaching two classes a day in Manhattan, when he's not traveling. This example is one of many who have opened to new areas of being and control of the body through mindful breathing. These abilities are not seen as supernatural, spiritual or fantastic. For where we arrive is never the point we begin to walk our journey. It is the journey itself which by conscious choices will wield unseen results.
Breathing is basic to life. Without it , life will cease after a very short time. The mind and body must be nourished by oxygen continually. Science has determined that all creatures have approximately the same number of breaths and heart beats during the course of their lifetime. Creatures such as mice have a very rapid breath and heart rate. They also have a short lifespan. Tortoises on the other hand breathe slowly and have less rapid breath and heart rates. They can live for hundreds of years. Its no wonder yogis, swami's and longevity practitioners such as Li Chen Yuen. The academies of science in Britain and China dubbed Li “long life man". Lee Ching-yuen was born in 1678 and died in 1930, during the seventeenth year of the Manchu emperor Kang Shi's reign. He left home at an early age and traveled around southern China with a group of itinerant herb traders, from whom he learned the basics of herbalism. Subsequently, Lee had the good fortune to meet several highly accomplished Taoist masters, who taught him internal alchemy and Tee-Jung, and showed him how to utilize diet and herbal supplements as well as energy and breath work for health and longevity.
In Japan, a culture was forming which melted the practices of many traditions in breathwork. The ninja as they are known developed breathwork from many areas of the east including; pranayama from India, breathing arts of internal Chinese medicine, Tibetan meditation breathing and other areas such as Zen breathing. The ninjas have a guide for improving the quality of ones life.
1- To live better breathe better
2- to control oneself control the breathing
3- to be wise breathe wisely
4- to live long and well, breathe longer and more slowly.
5- to be strong breathe stronger
6- to be healthy breathe healthily
7- to be happy breathe happily
8- to have purpose breathe with purpose
9- cease breathing and cease living
Most of these principles come from the way of zen and several schools of Taoism.
In mindfulness moving, speaking, eating and being without the mindful awareness of intentionally powered breath is to be half way to being in our grave. For how could we wish more out of life than we invest, or for better than what we can not accept or love now, or more of what we cannot be aware of?
In ninja training and internal arts breathing is important because along with other chemical nourishment the electromagnetic and electrochemical processes of the mind and body run on the air a person breathes. The ninja learns that the way he breathes can affect the psychochemical levels of the body. By keying in on and controlling these metabolic changes through breathing, awareness and concentration, a ninja or anyone for that matter can tap the inner resources of the mind and body.
There are three types of breathing in the system of ninja arts. These are’ IN, YO and ZEN. Also known as Yin,Yan and Tao. These are also known as positive, negative and neutral breathing. All three exist on a continuum, a linear scale of reference with no end points. These breathing styles came from many sources including the kuji in and kuji kiri as well as qigong.
In qigong, exercises are done very slowly. The slow movements allow the mind to register the movements throughout the body and to allow the body to be in a more relaxed state, than with fast paced exercise.
This way the breathing can be slower and deeper, and the efficiency of the lungs to take in oxygen can be greatly increased. Many exercises in qigong include body movements to assist with breathing. By paying attention to your breathing you will be able to reduce your scattered thoughts and benefit from experience. An average person only uses a fraction of their lung cells in regular breathing.
With practice of lung qigong one can increase the usage of the lungs, increase oxygen intake, thus increasing energy intake from breathing. Our lungs inhale over two million liters of air every day, without even thinking. The surface area of the lungs is approximately the same size as a tennis court. On average, you breathe 23,000 times a day. You take about 600 million breaths during your lifetime. Breath is what keeps us alive, without breath our lives are over. Learning to breathe properly then is of utmost importance.
In traditions all over Asia breath control has been practiced as a way to change consciousness in the practitioner. In Tai Chi we use the breath as a method to heal the body. This healing takes place as the breath enters in places it has never gone before. In the beginning it is good to imagine that the breath can move freely throughout the body easily directed by the mind. The way to begin practicing this is by putting your breath in your navel (Tan Tien) with your mind. Once this is mastered you can direct the breath into places in your body that have illness or pain. During Tai Chi form practice the breath
should fill up the whole body like filling a glass with water. There should be no place that the breath does not go in your body. If there as a place that the breath can’t go then you need to put awareness in that place. At first you work on purifying the meridians in the body, and then you work on purifying the organs and skeletal structure. The breath should go through your nose whenever possible with the mouth closed. In the Taoist
tradition, this creates a seal for the energy you have cultivated. If you have saliva in your mouth always swallow it, this saliva has special healing qualities for your stomach. This also circulates the chi in your stomach and increases your digestive juices. There are a couple rules for the breath practice or words that can help you in your practice. The words, “slow”,” deep”, “fine” and “long” are synonyms for the breath in Tai Chi. The word slow means that the breath is like pulling a thin thread through the eye of a needle. This implies that the breath is very gradual and at the same time mindful. The word deep
means that the breath should drop like a pebble into a deep lake. This implies that this dropping goes throughout the body and penetrates deeply into even the cells. The word fine means that the breath is imperceptible to the ear or to touch. If you are standing next to a Tai Chi player you shouldn’t be able to hear them breathe, and if you put their hand under their nose you shouldn’t feel the air go through the nose. The word long means that the breath is extended and longer than we breathe normally. This extension of breath creates a relaxation response in the body, similar to going to sleep. These four words are guidelines for doing the breath during the form.
The next part of practicing the breath is how and where to insert it in the postures. In general there are two rules for moving with the breath. The first is that you inhale as you lift your hands and exhale as you drop them. The second is that you inhale as you shift forward and exhale as you shift back. This also applies to stepping, as you step forward or backward you exhale and then the shifting forward on to the leg you inhale. Each posture can also have specific breath control practices, for this you need individual instruction. As mentioned above, the weight shift directly cooperates with the breath and visa versa. This type of emphasis on breath makes Tai Chi a Chi Gung practice par excellence. When the breath moves the body completely the form is no longer necessary and every movement is Tai Chi, all your movements become expanding and contracting like the tides of the ocean.
Thich naht han, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk who lives today in France. We was a friend of Dr. King and Gandhi and has made his place in time as a peaceful and conscious sentient being. He focuses at the core of mindful consumption in every aspect. One of these consumptions is breathing. In daily life we may be very busy taking care of many things that we forget how important the body is. It easily shows where the imbalance in our minds exist if we can cling to and find solace in the impermanent, temporary meaningless external factors of life and not cherish, respect and honor the vehicle in which we experience those factors.
It is no simple thing to honor the body, realizing that it is connected to and born from the unknown, the void and the fundamental levels beyond our sub atomic entangled worlds from which all matter and light blossoms forth.
Pranayama-The lungs are spongy, porous and their tissues are very elastic. The substance of the lungs contains innumerable air-sacs, which contain air. After post-mortem, when it is placed in a basin of water, it floats. They are covered by a delicate serous membrane called the pleura which contains serous fluid to prevent friction of the lungs, during the act of breathing. One wall of the pleura closely adheres to the lungs. The other wall is attached to the inner wall of the chest. Through this membrane the lungs are fixed to the wall of the chest. The right lung consists of three lobes. The left lung contains two lobes. Each lung consists of an apex and a base. The base is directed towards the diaphragm, the muscular septum, the dividing wall between throat and abdomen. The apex situated above, near the root of the neck. It is the base that gets inflamed in Pneumonia. The apex of the lung which does not get proper supply of oxygen gets affected by consumption. It affords favorable nidus or breeding ground for Tubercle Bacilli (T.B.). By the practice of Kapalabhati and Bhastrika Pranayamas and deep breathing exercises, these apices get good supply of oxygen and thus phthisis is obviated. Pranayama develops the lungs.
He who practises Pranayama will have a powerful, sweet, melodious voice. The air-passage consists of the interior of the nose, pharynx or throat, larynx or the wind box, or sounding box, which contains two vocal cords, trachea or windpipe: right and left bronchi and the smaller bronchial tubes. When we breathe, we draw in the air through the nose and after it has passed through the pharynx and larynx, it passes into the trachea or windpipe, thence into the right and left bronchial tubes, which in turn, subdivide into innumerable smaller tubes called bronchioles, and which terminate in minute subdivisions in the small air-sacs of the lungs, of which the lungs contain millions. The air-sacs of the lungs when spread out over an unbroken surface, would cover, an area of 1,40,000 square feet. The air is drawn into the lungs by the action of the diaphragm. When it expands, the size of the chest and lungs is increased and the outside air rushes into the vacuum thus created.
The chest and lungs contract, when diaphragm relaxes and the air is expelled from the lungs. It is through vocal cords that are located in the larynx that sound is produced. Larynx is the sounding box. When the vocal cords are affected by too much straining, as in singing and continuous lecturing, the voice becomes hoarse. In females these cords are shorter. Hence they have a sweet melodious voice. The number of respiration per minute is 16. In pneumonia it is increased to 60, 70, 80 per minute. In Asthma, the bronchial tubes become spasmodic. They contract. Hence there is difficulty in breathing. Pranayama removes the spasm or constriction of these tubes. A small membranous flat cap covers the upper surface of larynx. It is called Epiglottis. It prevents the food particles or water from entering into the respiratory passage. It acts the part of a safety valve. When a small particle of food tries to enter the respiratory passage, cough comes in and the particle is thrown out. Lungs purify the blood. The blood starts in its arterial journey, bright-red and rich-laden with life-giving qualities and properties. It returns by the venous route, poor, blue-laden with the waste matter of the system. Arteries are tubes or vessels that carry pure oxygenated blood from the heart towards the different parts of the body. Veins are vessels or tubes that carry back impure blood from the different parts of the body. The right side of the heart contains impure venous blood.
From the right side of the heart the impure blood goes to the lungs, for purification. It is distributed among the millions of tiny air-cells of the lungs. A breath of air is inhaled and the oxygen of the air comes in contact with the impure blood through the thin walls of the hair-like blood-vessels of the lungs called pulmonary capillaries. The walls of the capillaries are very thin. They are like muslin cloth or sieve. Blood oozes out or exudes readily. Oxygen penetrates through the walls of these thin capillaries. When the oxygen comes in contact with the tissues a form of combustion takes place. The blood takes up oxygen and releases carbonic acid gas generated from the waste products and poisonous matter, which has been gathered up by the blood from all parts of the system. The purified blood is carried by the four pulmonary veins to the left auricle and thence to the left ventricle. From the ventricle it is pumped into the biggest artery, aorta. From aorta, it passes into the different arteries of the body. It is estimated that in a day 35,000 pints of blood traverses the capillaries of the lungs for purification. From the arteries the pure blood goes into the thin capillaries. From the capillaries the lymph of the blood exudes, bathes and nourishes the tissues of the body. Tissue respiration takes place in the tissues. Tissues take up the oxygen and leave the carbon dioxide. The impurities are taken by the veins to the right side of the heart.
Science blurbs-
In a 2005 review and analysis of several studies, Richard Brown, MD and Patricia Gerbarg, MD reported that yogic deep-breathing techniques were extremely effective in handling depression, anxiety, and stress-related disorders. These techniques can serve as an excellent adjunct to conventional medical treatment — or in some cases as a suitable substitute — in treating myriad psychological disorders, as well as eating disorders and obesity. Shallow breathing (or chest breathing) causes a constriction of the chest and lung tissue over time, decreasing oxygen flow and delivery to your tissues. Deep, rhythmic breathing expands the diaphragm muscle, the cone-shaped muscle under your lungs, expanding the lung’s air pockets, invoking the relaxation response, and massaging the lymphatic system.
Breathing serves as the pump for the lymphatic system, just as the heart serves the circulatory system. Your cells must have oxygen to survive moment to moment. To thrive, they rely on a complex exchange between the circulatory system and the lymphatic system. Blood flow carries nutrients and ample amounts of oxygen into the capillaries, while a healthy lymphatic system carries away destructive toxins. Proper breathing is the moderator of this exchange.
Breathing And Medicine
Oxygen-rich blood is the key element needed by the body to create healthy cells. Healthy cellular degeneration is essential for good health: it has proven to be the antidote for many sicknesses. On the other hand, if most people are using only one-third of their respiratory system when they breathe, they would be getting only around 25% of the air and oxygen they need for good health. Is it any wonder that one out of every two people is experiencing serious disease? Transformational Breath teaches how to breathe more effectively. After the evaluation and training, Transformational Breath techniques open up the entire respiratory system to allow for more frequent and freer in and out flow.
Transformational Breath increases oxygen levels and breathing capacity by restructuring individual breathing patterns so that a client's air volume increases, by two or three times or more. There are many documented accounts showing that physical symptoms disappear in clients with chronic illnesses after practicing Transformational Breath. For example, in a study in a hospital in Regio Emilia in Italy, twelve respiratory patients were each given ten Transformational Breath sessions by a facilitator: the subjects improved their oxygen capacity on the average of 65% to 85%. Physical, mental, and emotional symptoms decreased dramatically as well. It is conclusive medical evidence that air and oxygen play an important role not only in staying healthy but also in treating and eliminating diseases. Better breathing could very well be the medical panacea many have been searching for. However effective this approach is, perhaps the drug and medical community has not promoted better breathing because the enterprise lacks financial returns. Nevertheless, there are doctors and medical professionals who support the healing of disease through the miraculous process of Breath, as we see in the following
Asthma
"One study on the treatment of asthma patients conducted by researchers John Goyeche, Dr. Ago, and Dr. Ikemi, suggests that any effective treatment should address suppressed emotions – such as anxiety and self-image - as well as the physical dimension. To achieve this, they encourage correction of poor posture, and helping the person relax the irrelevant respiratory muscles while restoring full diaphragmatic breathing. They also recommended finding ways for getting rid of excess mucus. The good news is that a well rounded breath practice will do all these things." Donna Farhi The Breathing Book, p. 207 Blood Pressure "The relationship between breathing and blood pressure has been known and understood for along time. It boils down to this: Elevated blood pressure accompanies those bodily states where rapid shallow breathing prevails. By altering breathing to a slow diaphragmatic mode, blood pressure decreases." Robert Fried, Ph.D. The Breath Connection, p.152
Cancer "The first discovery was made by Nobel Prize winner Dr. Otto Warburg, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Cell Physiology in Berlin. He confirmed that the key precondition for the development of cancer is a lack of oxygen at the cellular level."
Nathaniel Altman Oxygen Healing Therapies, p.66 "Lack of oxygen clearly plays a major role in causing cells to become cancerous."
Dr. Harry Goldblatt, Journal Of Experimental Medicine "Cancer has only one prime cause. It is the replacement of normal oxygen respiration of the body's cells by an anaerobic (i.e. oxygen-deficient) cell respiration."
Dr. Otto Warburg Nobel Laureate, Winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine (for Cancer Research) "Cancer is a condition within the body where the oxidation has become
so depleted that the body cells have degenerated beyond physiological control. Similarly, the true cause of allergy is lowered the oxidation process within the body, causing the affected individual to be sensitive to foreign substances entering the body. Only when the oxidation mechanism is restored to its original high state of efficiency can the sensitivity be eliminated."
Dr. Wendell Hendricks Hendricks Research Foundation Detoxification
"Many healings of other physical troubles have occurred in my clients after they started to integrate breathing practices into their lives. There is a simple but encompassing reason that may explain this. The human body is designed to discharge 70% of its toxins through breathing. Only a small percentage of toxins are discharged through sweat, defecation and urination. If your breathing is not operating at peak efficiency, you are not ridding yourself of toxins properly."
Gay Hendricks, Ph.D. Conscious Breathing, p.17 "One of the most overlooked benefits of extra oxygen in the tissues is their ability to detoxify more efficiently".
Dr. Kurt W. Donsbach, D.C., N.D., Super Health Oxygen-Oxygen-Oxygen "Illness is the result of improper removal of toxins from the body. Oxygen is the vital factor which
assists the body in removing toxins."
Ed McCabe
Oxygen Therapies, A New Way Of Approaching Disease (1988) Heart Disease
"Coronary heart disease is due to a lack of oxygen received by the heart."
Dr. Dean Ornish
"...healthy breathing should be the first thing taught to a heart patient. A Dutch Study conducted by a doctor named Dixhoorn, compared two groups of heart attack patients. The first group was taught simple diaphragmatic breathing, while the second group was given no training in breathing. The breathing group had no further heart attacks, while 7 of the 12 members of the second group had second heart attacks over the next 2 years.”
Gay Hendricks, Ph.D. Conscious Breathing, p.16 "A lack of oxygen (hypoxia) is the prime cause of 1.5 million heart attacks each year."
Dr. Richard Lippman, Renowned Researcher Lymphatic System "Jack Shield, MD, a lymphologist from Santa Barbara, CA, conducted a study on the effects of breathing on the lymphatic system. Using cameras inside the body, he found that deep diaphragmatic breathing stimulated the cleansing of the lymph system by creating a vacuum effect
which sucked the lymph through the bloodstream. This increased the rate of toxic elimination by as much as 15 times the normal pace."
J. Shields, MD
Lymph, Lymph Glands And Homeostasis, Vol. 25 No. 4, Dec 92, pp.147-153
Overcoming Disease "Improper breathing is a common cause of ill health."
Dr. Andrew Weil " All chronic pain, suffering, and diseases are caused by a lack of oxygen at the cell level."
Dr. Arthur C. Guyton, MD The Textbook On Medical Physiology "Breathing is the key that unlocks the whole catalog of advanced biological function and development. Is it any wonder that it is so central to every aspect of health? Breathing is the first place, not the last, one should look when fatigue, disease, or other evidence of disordered energy presents itself. Breathing is truly the body's most basic communication system."
Sheldon Saul Hendler, MD, Ph.D. Oxygen Breakthrough, p. 96 "Oxidation is the source of life. Its lack causes impaired health or disease, its cessation, death."
Dr. F.M. Eugene Blasse, Ph.D. Oxygen Therapy: Its Foundation, Aim & Results "Simply put, disease is due to a deficiency in the oxidization process of the body, leading to an
accumulation of the toxins. These toxins would ordinarily be burned in normal metabolic functioning."
Albert Wahl "Oxygen plays a pivotal role in the functioning of the immune system."
Parris M. Kidd, Ph.D. Antioxidant Adaptation "In all serious disease states we find a concomitant low oxygen state...Low oxygen in the body tissues is a sure indicator for disease...Hypoxia, or lack of oxygen in the tissues, is the fundamental cause for all degenerative disease. Oxygen is the source of life to all cells."
Dr. Stephen Levine, Renowned Molecular Biologist and Geneticist Oxygen Deficiency: A Concomitant To All Degenerative Illness "Starved of oxygen the body will become ill, and if this persists it will die, I doubt if there is an argument about that."
Dr. John Muntz, Nutritional Scientist "Insufficient oxygen means insufficient biological energy that can result in anything from mild fatigue to life-threatening disease. The link between insufficient oxygen and disease has now been firmly established."
W. Spencer Way Journal Of The American Association Of Physicians "Cells undergoing partial oxygen starvation send out tiny panic signals which are collectively felt in the body as a continuous vague sensation of uneasiness, dread or disaster. This low level
generalized warning tends to get tuned out as mere ‘background noise’ by the individual
experiencing it. Or, it is attributed to other sources of uneasiness ...People rarely suspect that the constant vague feelings of helplessness, fatigue … uneasiness are symptoms of cellular oxygen deprivation." The Townsend Letter For Doctors
More on Brething
Did you know that breathing is the only essential bodily function performed unconsciously, that you can control consciously? Your body can go without food for months, water for weeks and yet your body can't go without oxygen for more than a few minutes. Think about it. The power of breath has been known in India for thousands of years. Any type of quality yoga combines two powerful elements, those of breathing and stretching. The word "spirit" in the Hebrew language or "life-force" can be translated into the word "breath". You may recall in the bible it describes that god literally breathed the breath of life into Adam. Our breath is quite literally our life force. Oxygen feeds every part of the body. Breathing deeply and slowly will relax you, while instantly sending powerful doses of oxygen to the brain and every single cell of the body. One of the main reasons people find smoking relaxing is that they are taking slow deep breaths. It's powerful enough to calm the system even while inhaling poisons. What would happen if it was done without the cigarette? It's an interesting fact that the word "conspiracy" comes from a Latin word meaning two or more breathing in unison. Carbon dioxide robs the body of oxygen. Carbon dioxide is poisonous to our body in high amounts and that’s exactly why we breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide. Breathing influences every organ in the body and balances the brain hemisphere. This is a profoundly important lesson: learn to breathe effectively. Many people report that they'd like to be able to have the ability to relax. How much value would it be if you could relax at will?
Being in a relaxed state has it's side effects, you tend to be able to concentrate more, and retain information more easily. Could this be of use to you? My guess is probably yes. Breathing deeply and evenly through both nostrils helps to synchronize both sides of the brain. The right nostril tends to stimulate the left side of the brain and the left stimulates the right side of the brain. Research has proven that the brain swaps the dominate nostril we breathe through every 90 minutes.
In addition, breathing has all sorts of physiological effects on the body, some very noticeable and others not so noticeable. Some physicians believe that breath is the doorway between the conscious and the unconscious mind. It can help relax and feed specific parts of the body, give greater control over the nervous system and often plays a large role in miraculous cures. Breathing deeply puts us in what science calls a "kinesthetic" state; that is, a more feeling state. Some people believe god has created us with a fixed number of breaths. A definite advantage to breathe deeper.
Anytime you're tired, stop and take ten deep breaths. I’m going to show you the best way to breathe. The best way to breathe is in the pit (or bottom) of your stomach. Why, you may ask? Few people know that the lungs extend beyond the rib cage, in fact 2/3 of the lungs sit below the lowest rib. Filling the larger portion of the lungs will literally explode your energy. Do the exercise right now. You might as well apply what you're learning? You do want to feel better, right? It's so incredibly easy, yet so profoundly powerful. Breathe into the pit of your stomach. As deep as you can. Put your hand on the bottom of your stomach and push your stomach out as you breathe. While you read this, relax and start breathing deeply. Make sure you breathe in through your nose. Now breathe as deeply as you can, hold it, as long as comfortable then breathe out through your mouth. Would you expect to go to the gym one time and say Great, now I'm fit for life and I'll never need to work out again!? The answer is no. The same thing applies with breathing. You’ll notice an explosion in how you feel if you take this and use this.
The best thing about deep breathing is it can be done anywhere while you're doing others things. You can do it while driving, sitting or working at a computer. I advise many of my clients who sit in front of a computer all day to learn to deep breath and keep their circulation moving by doing basic ankle exercises. Do this and the difference in your energy at the end of your day will be noticeable. This tool is simple and can be used anytime, anywhere. It helps lower stress, increase energy, aid mental clarity and infuse every cell in your body with the most precious element for the body, oxygen.
Often awareness is the key to change. Once we are aware of what we have been doing and decide we want to do something different (setting our intent) we can transform our experience of life. Once I became aware of the fact that I create all of my emotions by what I tell myself about the events in my life I had the ability to change my thoughts rather than trying to get them out there to change. Not only does that work a whole lot better, it is much easier with just a bit of practice.
