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Breathing

Proper breathing is good for you physically however for spiritual development reasons you should learn more about it.

Introduction
Most people don't know that during breathing a special energy is absorbed  which is crucial for spiritual development. The energy is known by spiritual teachers as nerve-force, life-force or prana. You must understand it, what it is, how your body gets it, where your body stores it and the purpose it is put to. Once you understand and put into practice the proper breathing exercise it will give you reserves of psychic / spiritual energy that will help you unfold spiritually.

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Benefits of Proper Breathing?

Health: Most people use only a proportion of their lung capacity. Learning correct full-breathing improves your health and vitality as you get more oxygen into your blood and get rid of more carbon dioxide and other poisons from your body.

Breathing is a crucial function of the body and other bodily functions depend on it. All the tissues of the body require an oxygen rich supply of blood. The Stomach requires oxygen from the blood in order to digest food properly to gain all the nutrients.

During breathing, the movement of the diaphragm, chest and abdominal muscles has the effect of massaging the major organs of the body helping them perform their functions better.
 

Beauty: Breathing fully will give your skin a fresher, pinker more healthy appearance. Your body will take on an improved shape because the diaphragm, stomach and chest muscles will be used fully. Your chest will develop and your posture and general appearance will improve.

Well-being: When your mind is concentrating or worried and anxious your breathing changes. In fact every emotion tends to have an impact on the way you breathe. The reverse is also true, breathing fully has the effect of calming the body and the mind.

The Spiritual Purpose of Breathing.

Complete and rhythmic breathing improves the health and vitality of your mind and body as the lungs absorb more oxygen and remove more poisons from your blood.

However the spiritual purpose of proper breathing exercise is that it absorbs, from the atmosphere, an energy, known by spiritual and occult teacher as nerve-force, life-force or prana. Life-force prana is absorbed by your lungs and used by your brain and nervous system in bringing life into your body. This life-force prana is an amazing substance and has many uses in spiritual work.

Rarely do people ask, "where does the energy come from for psychic or spiritual powers ?" well it comes by the absorption of this special energy known as nerve-force, life force or prana.

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Three methods of improper breathing

There are three bad or imperfect methods of breathing which absorb life-force prana but in limited quantities, enough for daily life but sometimes barely enough to maintain a healthy vigorous body.

High Breathing: This type of breathing fills only the upper part of the lungs, which are the smallest, so a minimum amount of air enters the lungs. Inhaling in this way raises the collar bone and shoulders, brings in the abdomen and pushed it up against the diaphragm, which in turn raises. Because the diaphragm is raised there can be no expansion of the lower parts of the lungs. High breathing is the worst form of breathing as it requires the greatest amount of energy with the smallest amount of benefit.

Mid Breathing: This type of breathing fills only the middle and a portion of the upper parts of the lungs. Inhaling this way pushes in the abdomen and raises the diaphragm. The ribs are raised some and chest partly expanded. Because the diaphragm is raised the lower lungs cannot expand so only a portion of the possible lung capacity is used.

Complete breathing

Complete breathing has all the good points of High, Mid and Low breathing and eliminates the bad points. Every part of the lungs, every air cell and every respiratory muscle is used. The diaphragm and rib muscles are actively used increasing the space in which the lungs may expand. The maximum amount of air is inhaled which allows far more of the life-force prana to be absorbed. With more life-force prana stored in your nervous system you will have more reserves to undertake the spiritual occult exercises given in this site.

Complete breathing increases the space in your chest allowing the lungs to expand fully.

The diaphragm is under complete control and able to function properly. During inhaling the diaphragm falls and pushes against the abdominal organs increasing the chest cavity.

The lower rib action is controlled by the diaphragm which pulls them slightly downwards, while other muscles hold them in place and the intercostal muscles force them out wards.

The upper ribs are lifted and forced outward by the intercostal muscles which increases the capacity of the upper lungs. This combined action increases the mid chest cavity to its maximum.

The Rhythmic method of breathing

Rhythmic breathing is where you breath completely in a fixed rhythm.

The time you spend exhaling (breathing out) should be the same as inhaling (breathing in).

After inhaling (breathing in) you should hold the breath in the lungs for half the time it takes to inhale.

After exhaling you should wait with empty lungs for half the time it takes to exhale before inhaling again.

You follow the approximate speed or count the beats of your heart beat. For example:

1.exhale and take the time it takes for 6 heat beats

2.then wait with empty lungs for the time it takes for 3 heart beats

3.then inhale taking the time it takes for another 6 heart beats

4.wait with full lungs for 3 heart beats before you start again.

Also Read this page which tells you of the anatomy of breathing

The first exercise

Stand or sit with you back straight. Breath through the nose, inhale and exhale steadily taking the same time to exhale as you do to inhale.

First fill the lower part of the lungs.
(the diaphragm lowers, exerts gentle pressure on the abdominal organs, pushing forward the front walls of the abdomen)
Then fill the middle part of the lungs.
(push out the lower ribs, breast bone and chest)
Then fill the upper part of the lungs
(push out the upper chest lifting it and the upper six or seven pairs of ribs, this last lifting has the effect of drawing in the abdomen a little which gives the lungs support and helps to fill the highest parts of the lungs)