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To stop the attack before it struck, subjects breathed slower and less, increasing their carbon dioxide.
Take a deep breath’ is not a helpful instruction,” Meuret wrote. Hold your breath is much better.
prana, which translates to “life force” or “vital energy.” Prana is, basically, an ancient theory of atoms.
The Chinese called it ch’i and believed the body contained channels that functioned like prana power lines connecting organs and tissues.7 The Japanese had their own name for prana, ki, as did the Greeks (pneuma), Hebrews (ruah), Iroquois (orenda), and so on.
most powerful technique was to inhale prana: to breathe.
The Chinese called their system of conscious breathing qigong: qi, meaning “breath,” and gong, meaning “work,” or, put together, breathwork.
“yogic sleep,” a state in which the mind was active while the “brain slept.”
Humans “rust” as well. As the cells in our bodies lose the ability to attract oxygen, Szent-Györgyi wrote, electrons within them will slow and stop freely interchanging with other cells, resulting in unregulated and abnormal growth. Tissues will begin “rusting” in much the same way as other materials. But we don’t call this “tissue rust.” We call it cancer. And this helps explain why cancers develop and thrive in environments of low oxygen.
Breathing slow, less, and through the nose balances the levels of respiratory gases in the body and sends the maximum amount of oxygen to the maximum amount of tissues so that our cells have the maximum amount of electron reactivity.
Yôga practices were never designed to cure problems, he tells me. They were created for healthy people to climb the next rung of potential: to give them the conscious power to heat themselves on command, expand their consciousness, control their nervous systems and hearts, and live longer and more vibrant lives.
Sudarshan is derived from two words: su, meaning “good,” and darshan, meaning “vision.”
Improving diet and exercise and removing toxins and stressors from the home and workplace have a profound and lasting effect on the prevention and treatment of the majority of modern, chronic diseases.
One of the first steps in healthy breathing is to extend these breaths, to move the diaphragm up and down a bit more, and
The millions of ancient skeletons in the Paris quarries and hundreds of pre–Industrial Age skulls at the Morton Collection had three things in common: huge sinus cavities, strong jaws, and straight teeth.
Almost all humans born before 300 years ago shared these traits because they chewed a lot.
Conscious heavy breathing teaches us to be the pilots of our autonomic nervous systems and our bodies, not the passengers.
The perfect breath is this: Breathe in for about 5.5 seconds, then exhale for 5.5 seconds. That’s 5.5 breaths a minute for a total of about 5.5 liters of air.
ALTERNATE NOSTRIL BREATHING (NADI SHODHANA)
pranayama technique improves lung function and lowers heart rate, blood pressure, and sympathetic stress.
BREATHING COORDINATION
RESONANT (COHERENT) BREATHING
The point of Buteyko techniques is to train the body to breathe in line with its metabolic needs.
There are two forms of Tummo—one that stimulates the sympathetic nervous system, and another which triggers a parasympathetic response.
Sudarshan Kriya consists of four phases: Om chants, breath restriction, paced breathing (inhaling for 4 seconds, holding for 4 seconds, exhaling for 6, then holding for 2), and, finally, 40 minutes of very heavy breathing.
Mark Burhenne, The 8-Hour Sleep Paradox: How We Are Sleeping Our Way to Fatigue, Disease and Unhappiness (Sunnyvale, CA: Ask the Dentist, 2015).
Peter Kelder, Ancient Secret of the Fountain of Youth, Book 2 (New York: Doubleday, 1998), xvi.
exercise-induced laryngeal obstruction (EILO),
“The Fortuitous Discovery of the Olin EILOBI Breathing Techniques: A Case Study,”
The Healing Power of the Breath: Simple Techniques to Reduce Stress and Anxiety, Enhance Concentration, and Balance Your Emotions
Breathing Slower and Less: The Greatest Health Discovery Ever (self-published, 2014).
