Ki as defined by Koichi Tohei, founder of the Ki Society and aikido with mind and body, is “the infinite gatherings of infinitely small particles.” Everything in the universe is born of Ki.
Combining Attention Training Therapy with Ki Breathing calms the mind, strengthens the effectiveness of Attention training therapy, and leaves no space for ruminating about negative issues. The focus of Attention Training Therapy is mental fitness. The focus of Ki Breathing is mind and body coordination. They work together seamlessly.
The basic principles of Ki Breathing apply equally to attention training therapy.
Four Basic Principals of Ki Breathing and Attention Training Therapy
- Relax completely – The way to approach this is to relax your shoulders.
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Keep One Point – Let your weight fall naturally to a point low in your abdomen.
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Let weight fall underside – Weight falls, for example, to the underside of your arms. If you are sitting, weight falls under your thighs and feet. It is another way of relaxing completely.
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Extend Ki – Rather than narrowly focusing inside your mind, breathe out, extending ki infinitely.
Ki Breathing Instruction
In the Japanese dojo – seems like a lifetime ago when my wife and I were practicing aikido — we sat seiza, the kneeling position in the images below. But you can ki breathe while you are sitting in a chair, standing, walking, or lying in bed.
Sit up straight, stretching your back muscles upward. The weight of your body falls low in your abdomen. Relax your shoulders and be at ease. In the dojo we kept our eyes closed from the start to the finish of the exercise. I don’t usually close my eyes while practicing now, because I am usually doing some other activity.
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- Sit up straight.
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- Form mouth in position of ha. Begin exhaling long breath.
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- Force out a little more air.
Breathe Out
Breath out through the mouth making the whispering sound of haaaaa throughout the entire exhale. This will help keep your focus on your breath and let you know whether your breath is strong and even. Tohei recommends thirty seconds on the outbreath once you become conditioned to ki breathing. But he says twenty seconds is adaquate for beginners. I don’t recall moving beyond twenty seconds, but I may very well have when ki breathing in a group at the dojo in Japan.
At the end of your exhalation, lean forward from the waist. Though you feel you have breathed all the way out, force out a little more air. Wait a second, then close your mouth.
Breath In
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- Drawing by Hitomi Dames
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- Return to original position
Staying in this same leaning forward position, begin to inhale through the nose. Not through the chest, though. Through the entire exercise, stay relaxed, so you can breathe in through the low one point in your abdomen. Inhale in the direction of the arrow in the left figure and you will naturally draw yourself up slightly. Now take in a forced last breath and return to your original upright starting position. Keep your breath in for about ten seconds; less of course if you can’t. When the seconds have passed, draw yourself up slightly and begin the next exhalation.
During the entire ki breathing exercise, stay relaxed, keep weight low in the abdomen, and weight underside. Either one of these should effect all three. It is important to keep your weight down in your abdomen ( one point ). If you fail to do so, ki breathing will not be possible.
Concentrate on One Point Low in Abdomen
Exhale and extend ki so that your breath travels infinitely out to the universe and you become at one with the universe. Inhale down to the one point low in your abdomen. It can be almost spiritual. Feel as though you are drawing the universal down into your abdomen. When you inhale, you are taking in the universal energy of ki. When you exhale you are dispersing your ki infinitely outwards.
Practice wherever you are and whatever you are doing. When practicing while you are walking, calm your mind by concentrating on the one point in your lower abdomen. You can decrease the time of exhalation and inhalation, but it is important to focus on the one point low in your abdomen. This is an extremely effective method of calming your mind even as you walk along.
Of course you might not want to include the breathy haaaaaa when you are in earshot of others.
Images by Hitomi Dames
Self-help books that help:
Total Self-Renewal through Attention Therapies and Open Focus
The Open-Focus Brain: Harnessing the Power of Attention to Heal Mind and Body
