SCIENCE OF BREATH/PART 8
CHAPTER
VIII.
HOW
TO ACQUIRE THE YOGI COMPLETE BREATH.
The
Yogi Complete Breath is the fundamental breath of the entire Yogi Science of
Breath, and the student must fully acquaint himself with it, and master it
perfectly before he can hope to obtain results from the other forms of breath-mentioned
and given in this book. He should not be content with half-learning it, but
should go to work in earnest until it becomes his natural method of breathing.
This will require work, time and patience, but without these things nothing is
ever accomplished. There is no royal road to the Science of Breath, and the
student must be prepared to practice and study in earnest if he expect to
receive results. The results obtained by a complete mastery of the Science of
Breath are great, and no one who has attained them would willingly go back to
the old methods, and he will tell his friends that he considers himself amply
repaid for all his work. We say these things now, that you may fully understand
the necessity and importance of mastering this fundamental method of Yogi
Breathing, instead of passing it by and trying some of the attractive looking
variations given later on in this book. Again, we say to you: Start right, and
right results will follow; but neglect your foundations and your entire
building will topple over sooner or later.
Perhaps
the better way to teach you how to develop the Yogi Complete Breath, would be
to give you simple directions regarding the breath itself, and then follow up
the same with general remarks concerning it, and then later on giving exercises
for developing the chest, muscles and lungs which have been allowed to remain
in an undeveloped condition by imperfect methods of breathing. Right here we
wish to say that this Complete Breath is not a forced or abnormal thing, but on
the contrary is a going back to first principles—a return to Nature. The
healthy adult savage and the healthy infant of civilization both breathe in
this manner, but civilized man has adopted unnatural methods of living,
clothing, etc., and has lost his birthright. And we wish to remind the reader
that the Complete Breath does not necessarily call for the complete filling of
the lungs at every inhalation. One may inhale the average amount of air, using
the Complete Breathing Method and distributing the air inhaled, be the quantity
large or small, to all parts of the lungs. But one should inhale a series of
full Complete Breaths several times a day, whenever opportunity offers, in
order to keep the system in good order and condition.
The
following simple exercise will give you a clear idea of what the Complete
Breath is:
(1)
Stand or sit erect. Breathing through the nostrils, inhale steadily, first
filling the lower part of the lungs, which is accomplished by bringing into
play the diaphragm, which descending exerts a gentle pressure on the abdominal
organs, pushing forward the front walls of the abdomen. Then fill the middle
part of the lungs, pushing out the lower ribs, breast-bone and chest. Then fill
the higher portion of the lungs, protruding the upper chest, thus lifting the
chest, including the upper six or seven pairs of ribs. In the final movement,
the lower part of the abdomen will be slightly drawn in, which movement gives
the lungs a support and also helps to fill the highest part of the lungs.
At
first reading it may appear that this breath consists of three distinct
movements. This, however, is not the correct idea. The inhalation is
continuous, the entire chest cavity from the lowered diaphragm to the highest
point of the chest in the region of the collar-bone, being expanded with a
uniform movement. Avoid a jerky series of inhalations, and strive to attain a
steady continuous action. Practice will soon overcome the tendency to divide
the inhalation into three movements, and will result in a uniform continuous
breath. You will be able to complete the inhalation in a couple of seconds
after a little practice.
(2)
Retain the breath a few seconds.
(3)
Exhale quite slowly, holding the chest in a firm position, and having the
abdomen in a little and lifting it upward slowly as the air leaves the lungs.
When the air is entirely exhaled, relax the chest and abdomen. A little
practice will render this part of the exercise easy, and the movement once
acquired will be afterwards performed almost automatically.
It
will be seen that by this method of breathing all parts of the respiratory
apparatus is brought into action, and all parts of the lungs, including the
most remote air cells, are exercised. The chest cavity is expanded in all
directions. You will also notice that the Complete Breath is really a
combination of Low, Mid and High Breaths, succeeding each other rapidly in the
order given, in such a manner as to form one uniform, continuous, complete
breath.
You
will find it quite a help to you if you will practice this breath before a
large mirror, placing the hands lightly over the abdomen so that you may feel
the movements. At the end of the inhalation, it is well to occasionally
slightly elevate the shoulders, thus raising the collarbone and allowing the
air to pass freely into the small upper lobe of the right lung, which place is
sometimes the breeding place of tuberculosis.
At
the beginning of practice, you may have more or less trouble in acquiring the
Complete Breath, but a little practice will make perfect, and when you have
once acquired it you will never willingly return to the old methods.
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