Few people are aware of even the basic mechanics of breathing and its effects on your mind and body. Fewer know of breathing as a major skill for peak performance, flow, and transformation.
Snoqualmie Falls
Image by Hitomi Dames
Ki Breathing
What I took into life from years of Aikido practice in Japan is Ki Breathing. Breathing can be a life-changing skill on the path to Total Self Renewal. Few people are aware of even the basic mechanics of breathing and its effects on our mind and body. Fewer know of breathing as a major skill for peak performance, flow, and transformation.
The Aikido we practiced is Shin-Shin-Toitsu-Aikido, Aikido with Mind & Body Coordinated. Ki Breathing is an essential part of mind and body coordination. Ki Breathing was the start of my Total Self-Renewal.
Lung Capacity
The average person’s lung capacity is between three thousand and four thousand cubic centimeters (around 6 liters), but in ordinary breathing, we inhale about five hundred to seven hundred cubic centimeters of air. This fraction of our capacity is insufficient to burn food completely into energy. Therefore, it is essential that by breathing deeply and using our full lung capacity, we stimulate the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide and make ourselves powerful and fully alive.
How do we go from using a tenth of our lung capacity to full volume? We might try forcing ourselves to draw in a great deal of air, but this is not possible if the pathways throughout the body are not relaxed and open.
Capillary Vessels
The capillary vessels are the pathways of breathing fully. When we are angry, sad, nervous, or worried, the capillary vessels contract and become narrower. On the other hand, by relaxing and expanding the capillary vessels, breathing becomes total. Oxygen is fully inhaled and carbon dioxide completely exhaled. Capillary vessels open and we breathe smoothly and easily. Organs and glands benefit and are stimulated to function well. We develop a calm mind and healthy and vigorous body.
Breathing Therapy Consists of Breath Awareness and Active Breathing.
Breathing is the core of Attention Therapies. Breath Awareness is mindfulness. Return to focus on the breath whatever transpires. It is breath watching. Observe the breath and all that happens to interrupt it, without clinging to the thoughts of the Interrupter –the voice that drones on and on in your head.
Active Breathing means being an active participant in the process of breathing. You regulate the way you breathe. I actively breathe first thing in the morning and right before sleeping. The morning sets you up for a calm, energized day. Breathing before sleep brings a healthy night’s sleep. I do these two sessions while lying on my back. In the morning, you will want to get up as soon as you finish breathing, so you don’t fall back asleep.
Take a Breathing Break
It is good to stop during the day and give your total attention to breathing deeply and relaxed. Even if you have less than a minute, it will help. But you need to stop completely and focus on just breathing. If you try this without your total attention you may find you can only focus on breathing for a few seconds. Thoughts will compete for your attention and off you’ll go following them wherever they may take you.
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
