Meditation

Breathing

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Meditation Overview
Breathing
Practice
Lectures Life is breath. Breath is life. When someone dies we say, "He stopped breathing." The central role of the breath is strange and mystical to the twentieth-century Western mind. Indian yogis believe that we partake of the energy-or essence-of life through breathing. In fact, they feel that our lives are pre-measured by a certain number of breaths, and each one taken brings us closer to the end of our bodily function. In the Old Testament of the Bible, when God created Earth, he "breathed" upon the waters. In the New Testament, when Jesus sent his apostles out to do their missionary work, he "breathed on them" to instill his spirit in them.

In the modern world, Japanese business schools teach their students to control their breathing and, during complicated or contentious negotiations, to understand the breathing patterns of the person on the other side of the table. Interestingly, today's natural childbirth techniques also strongly emphasize a focus on breathing.

The proper way of breathing is diaphragmatic breathing, which is very different from the shallow, thoracic breathing into which we most frequently lapse. Watch an infant and you will see the proper way to breathe. A healthy baby breathes naturally, smoothly and fully, its belly rising and falling in easy rhythms. Upon inhalation, the diaphragm pushes down and the lower stomach expands outward. Upon exhalation, the diaphragm pushes upward to force air out of the lungs, and the belly moves inward.

In Seido meditation, posture is the key to proper breathing. If the posture is good, good breathing will follow and we shall experience once again what we knew as babies. It is useful, however, to discuss certain methods and mechanics of breathing.

Most of us breathe too often and too shallowly and the foul air in the lower part of our lungs is not fully expelled. When we inhale, our lungs are not filled up much beyond the upper third of their actual volume. We are only using a fraction of our vital capacity and the process of oxygen exchange in our bloodstream is inefficient. The blood is improperly cleaned of carbon dioxide and our brains and nervous systems are not fully oxygenated. We can experience many negative effects-physically, mentally, and emotionally-as a result.

An average person at rest completes fifteen to eighteen breathing cycles per minute, a cycle being one inhalation and one exhalation. Although this feels natural and comfortable, it is actually too fast for the purpose of meditation. When you sit in zazen, you must let your breath "sit" too. An experienced practitioner can breathe quite effectively at five cycles per minute, some even fewer. Quite a difference!

Breathing should be slow, regular, and controlled. The exhalation should be twice as long as the inhalation. This is to make sure that the lungs are emptied of all foul air. When they are emptied, the body automatically begins the next inhalation. Breathing should be silent, using the nose only. The jaw is relaxed. The mouth is closed. The tongue is held lightly between the teeth, touching the upper palate, which helps slow the accumulation of saliva in the mouth.

Most Western people center their breath in the upper parts of their bodies and tend to breathe with their shoulders and necks. This shallow breathing is called "intercostal breathing." When we meditate, we are taught to center the breath in the hara, a spot about four fingers directly below the navel. In karate, the hara is the center around which our arms, legs, and bodies move.

In order to bring the breath down to the hara, we must first have good posture. The spine should be erect and long and the abdominal area should not be constricted. The diaphragm, a thick membrane-like muscle that stretches across the body, is pulled down when we inhale. If we are relaxed, when the diaphragm pulls down, the belly naturally pushes outward. When we exhale, we are forcing the diaphragm upward-compressing the volume of the chest cavity like a piston and forcing the lungs to evacuate the air. The belly naturally falls in. Thus, when we watch our own breath, we can see our belly moving in and out gently, like waves lapping the seashore.

The chest should be relatively stationary when we breathe. Everything is directed to moving the breath down to the hara. In karate, the hara is the source of power. When an experienced karateka is about to break a brick or a stone, you may see them reach inside their gi to clutch at the hara, to see that it is firm, full of breath and spirit. This is the source of real power, both mental and physical.

When you are breathing out, you are strong: you can break a board, you can throw an opponent in judo, you can absorb a blow and not be hurt. When you are inhaling, you are weak. In karate, you often hear students give a loud shout (kiai) when executing a kick or a punch. The student is trying to time the execution of the technique with the exhalation. This maximizes their power. The shout facilitates the forceful and complete exhalation of air. This is simply the application of the principles of proper breathing in action.

As with all phases of karate, experience is the key to understanding breathing and meditation. This experience is gained through individual practice. In karate, an experienced teacher and the environment of a dojo are important in creating the atmosphere for serious study and for giving students the proper grounding so they will not develop bad habits. But if you want to learn how to breathe, just sit.