breathing
Breathing Without Breathing
by
Master Jou, Tsung-Hwa
[from The T’ai-Chi Farm Almanac, Vol. X No. 1, 1995]
...To learn “breathing without breathing,” concern yourself only with the continuous contraction and expansion of the abdomen (dantian). If you truly have all your mind on the movement of the abdomen, you will forget your breathing and it will happen naturally. You may ask, “But when should I inhale and when should I exhale during the abdominal movement?” The answer is actually simple. Think about what happens to the mouth when one sings from the throat: nature starts to take its course with what happens to the mouth. When the focus is on singing from the throat, the mouth functions more effortlessly. The same idea applies to your breath. If you want to inhale when you pull the abdomen in, then inhale—if you want to exhale, then exhale! Don’t focus on it. This is the path to “breathing without breathing.” There has always been a lot of argument concerning the concept of prebirth and post-birth breathing. If people are troubled by this question, it is because they are still focusing on the nose, mouth, and lungs instead of on the abdomen. This is like discussing the requirements of the mouth for singing a song. The pre-birth/post-birth problem also plagued me at one time. When I paid attention to the inhalation and exhalation of breath, there were still times I found myself short of breath. Once I started focusing only on the movement of the abdomen and letting the inhaling and exhaling occur naturally, I was not short of breath anymore, even during physical chores or fajing exercises. Assiduous study and practice of “breathing without breathing” has also led me into a more complete realization of the significance of pre-birth breathing. Pre-birth breathing is at first an imitation of the exchange of nutrients and waste between a fetus and its mother. This process, facilitated by the umbilical cord connected to the abdomen of the fetus, is conceptualized as a kind of “breathing.” If the fetus were in control of this process, it would draw in its abdomen to “inhale” oxygen and nourishment, and force out or “exhale” metabolic wastes by expanding its abdomen. Consequently, the practice of prebirth breathing involves alternately drawing in and expanding the lower abdomen. The second characteristic of pre-birth breathing is that as the fetus draws energy into its abdominal area, energy is also distributed to all parts of its body; when waste is eliminated from its abdominal area, waste is drawn toward the abdomen from all parts of its body. So when we pull in the abdomen in “breathing without breathing,” we must open all parts of the body in succession to send the qi throughout the body; when we expand the abdomen, we must close all parts of our body in reverse succession, completing the cycle. In this way, the effect of pre-birth breathing spreads throughout the entire body. This may seem difficult or esoteric, but it is not. This is how all of us breathed before we were born, and in infancy our practice of this natural instinct faded away and was forgotten. Yet although it is true we are no longer in our mother’s womb, we are still growing and developing within the womb of the Great Mother. We receive food, oxygen, and sunlight from the environment, transform it within our bodies, and send the metabolic wastes back to the environment to be transformed again. When contracting and expanding the abdomen is integrally connected to the sensation of opening and closing all parts of the body, we may begin to exchange energy with nature consciously, and gain control over our physical and mental functions. The ability to use this advanced breathing lies within each and everyone of us. No complicated books or great teachers are needed. But merely discussing it will accomplish nothing. Instead, reflect back to what you must have been like when you were a fetus, as your meridians and organs were being formed and before they became blocked and weakened through anxiety, habit, deficiency and excess. Taoist philosophy is easy to understand, but very difficult to apply. To solve this mystery of nature you must reflect deeply, open your sensibilities, and practice diligently. Be patient and persistent. If you are sincere, one day you will re-discover in every breath the immense power now dormant within you. [For further information, see: Jou, The Dao of Taijiquan: Way to Rejuvenation, 7th printing, May 1998, pp. 137-142.]
...To learn “breathing without breathing,” concern yourself only with the continuous contraction and expansion of the abdomen (dantian). If you truly have all your mind on the movement of the abdomen, you will forget your breathing and it will happen naturally. You may ask, “But when should I inhale and when should I exhale during the abdominal movement?” The answer is actually simple. Think about what happens to the mouth when one sings from the throat: nature starts to take its course with what happens to the mouth. When the focus is on singing from the throat, the mouth functions more effortlessly. The same idea applies to your breath. If you want to inhale when you pull the abdomen in, then inhale—if you want to exhale, then exhale! Don’t focus on it. This is the path to “breathing without breathing.” There has always been a lot of argument concerning the concept of prebirth and post-birth breathing. If people are troubled by this question, it is because they are still focusing on the nose, mouth, and lungs instead of on the abdomen. This is like discussing the requirements of the mouth for singing a song. The pre-birth/post-birth problem also plagued me at one time. When I paid attention to the inhalation and exhalation of breath, there were still times I found myself short of breath. Once I started focusing only on the movement of the abdomen and letting the inhaling and exhaling occur naturally, I was not short of breath anymore, even during physical chores or fajing exercises. Assiduous study and practice of “breathing without breathing” has also led me into a more complete realization of the significance of pre-birth breathing. Pre-birth breathing is at first an imitation of the exchange of nutrients and waste between a fetus and its mother. This process, facilitated by the umbilical cord connected to the abdomen of the fetus, is conceptualized as a kind of “breathing.” If the fetus were in control of this process, it would draw in its abdomen to “inhale” oxygen and nourishment, and force out or “exhale” metabolic wastes by expanding its abdomen. Consequently, the practice of prebirth breathing involves alternately drawing in and expanding the lower abdomen. The second characteristic of pre-birth breathing is that as the fetus draws energy into its abdominal area, energy is also distributed to all parts of its body; when waste is eliminated from its abdominal area, waste is drawn toward the abdomen from all parts of its body. So when we pull in the abdomen in “breathing without breathing,” we must open all parts of the body in succession to send the qi throughout the body; when we expand the abdomen, we must close all parts of our body in reverse succession, completing the cycle. In this way, the effect of pre-birth breathing spreads throughout the entire body. This may seem difficult or esoteric, but it is not. This is how all of us breathed before we were born, and in infancy our practice of this natural instinct faded away and was forgotten. Yet although it is true we are no longer in our mother’s womb, we are still growing and developing within the womb of the Great Mother. We receive food, oxygen, and sunlight from the environment, transform it within our bodies, and send the metabolic wastes back to the environment to be transformed again. When contracting and expanding the abdomen is integrally connected to the sensation of opening and closing all parts of the body, we may begin to exchange energy with nature consciously, and gain control over our physical and mental functions. The ability to use this advanced breathing lies within each and everyone of us. No complicated books or great teachers are needed. But merely discussing it will accomplish nothing. Instead, reflect back to what you must have been like when you were a fetus, as your meridians and organs were being formed and before they became blocked and weakened through anxiety, habit, deficiency and excess. Taoist philosophy is easy to understand, but very difficult to apply. To solve this mystery of nature you must reflect deeply, open your sensibilities, and practice diligently. Be patient and persistent. If you are sincere, one day you will re-discover in every breath the immense power now dormant within you. [For further information, see: Jou, The Dao of Taijiquan: Way to Rejuvenation, 7th printing, May 1998, pp. 137-142.]
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