...& Preparing to Practise

By Paul Cavel, Posted May 2009

Taoist breathing is extremely versatile. It can be used in many ways: to open up the insides of your body, increase blood flow and cultivate chi, and as an internal organ massage, doorway into meditation and vehicle for making the body conscious—along with many more health benefits. One of the most practical functions is releasing the nerves to prepare your body for your regular practice, which will optimise your training time. If you do not have a regular qigong, bagua or tai chi practice, you can gain a great deal from learning and practicing whole-body breathing.

I covered points on how to finish your practice for smoothly and naturally extending the benefits into your daily life a couple months ago. But you must also prepare for your practice to enhance those results in the first place. I’ve asked some of my students what they do to get their bodies warmed up for practising their qigong, bagua or tai chi and find that many of them who practise regularly do not have an answer.

Going directly into your practice, without a proper transition, will only yield partial benefits. Shifting your mind and body into a good space before practising will not only maximize the health benefits, but also trains you how to counter the stress response with a relaxation response.

How many times have you started your practice and find yourself initially fighting your body? What you could do easily yesterday seems difficult once again. Or maybe you’re agitated mentally or emotionally and you have to work through it for a few minutes to quiet your mind. You can use your breath as a portal for calming down your nervous system and gaining access to your inner world with just a few gentle, deep and slow breaths.

Three Keys
The three keys to Taoist whole-body breathing are smoothness, continuous circularity and letting go of the need to achieve results. When you train sufficiently to simultaneously apply all three keys, your mind lets go, your nerves release and your body relaxes deeply.

I recommend that you practise breathing whilst in a sitting position at first. You can practise whilst standing, but you’ll have gravity to contend with and your mind will more easily wander to other things, such as your alignments, rather than focusing on your breath. I also suggest that you sit in a comfortable chair or sofa so that your spine is supported. Later you can practise without spinal support or whilst standing, but only after you have learnt how to completely release your nerves.

Don’t Confuse Relaxed with Collapsed
Sit comfortably with support to your back. Do your best to keep your body open. To achieve this you want your spine to lengthen up, your feet flat on the floor, tailbone dropped and the shoulders, arms, chest, ribs and organs relaxed to gravity—just as in the standing position.

Now focus on your breathing. At first just observe: Is it sudden, jerky, hard or broken? Assess the situation without trying to change anything. After a few minutes, start to encourage your breathing pattern to become smoother and more continuous. DO NOT FORCE YOUR BREATH or you will cause all sorts of problems starting with a stress response in the body. Actively wait for your breath to relax. Keep noticing until you feel you have gone as far as you can for today. Some days are better than others, so even if your breathing practice went well yesterday do not demand that it is again today.

Next, start to notice the changeover from in-breath to out-breath and from out to in. Is there a gap or do you hold your breath involuntarily at one or both of these change points? At first just observe. Then, when you have assessed the situation, start to work towards circularity. In the beginning it is about linking the in-breath to the out-breath and the out to the in without holding or stopping the breath and without gaps. You can envision a gentle wave from the ocean riding up the beach, which can be seen as the in-breath. When the wave reaches its furthest point on the shore it starts to slide back into the sea from gravity pulling it downhill, which can be seen as the out-breath. So the breath comes into the body and, as the lungs fill with air, the in-breath becomes thin like the wave from the ocean reaching the end of its climb. The out-breath starts naturally without a gap, break or holding of the breath. Practise and apply the same principal to the changeover from the out to in-breath.

As breathing in and out becomes more comfortable and easy, go to the next step. On every out-breath, consciously relax your nerves. On the in-breath, maintain the level of relaxation and, on the out-breath, increase the level and depth of relaxation in your nerves. When the nerves let go your flesh, muscles and other tissues, and innermost folds and cavities release and soften.

Practise for as long as you feel comfortable without pushing yourself. Maybe you only practise for a few minutes at a time at first. Your body will contract if you begin pushing, which will break the flow you have created, so stop at the first sign of fatigue in the body or mind. It takes less effort to relax than to contract, so let go of the need to achieve results and you will find it much easier to release the body, nerves and mind.

Now, in this prepared space, do your regular forms trying to remain relaxed and see what happens.

Happy practising!
Paul

Any physical and/or energetic exercise can carry risks. Do not attempt these exercises if you have any physical, emotional or mental conditions that may make you susceptible to injury.

© 2009 Paul Cavel—All rights reserved.
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