Types of breathing

[maki]

Hi,

does anybody know how to do the breathing from heels and turtle breathing? Any information is welcome.

[dawei]

I can share my practice and teaching. You'll have to decide if it is the expected method(s)... meaning, I don't discount that there is more than one way to implement a breathing practice.

Heel Breathing: The idea originally comes from Zhuangzi who said that the true person breaths from the heels while the masses breath from their throats. I tend to think that what he is referring to is different than the later development of the 'heel breathing practice' which focuses on the KD1 point as the entry/exit gate.

 

Due to the reference to a 'true person', I would say the original usage is more about someone who has opened all the channels so that their normal breath flows everywhere, even in and out the heels. So I think this is describing a result or outcome of opening channels. But the practice of heel breathing developed nonetheless.

 

To do it as a practice in many forms; you just need to put your awareness at your heels on inhale... now, you need some purpose for doing this... so where do you want to go with it? What do you want to accomplish? You want to take it into the lower dan tian (LDT), up to the heart, etc, and where do you want to finish the breath? In the LDT, out the hands, out the feet? Or use it as part of a series of breathing steps?

 

So there is a lot you can do since you are just bring it IN from the heels in the most basic practice form. A good supplement is exercises to open the KD1 point/channel.

 

I will attach a 10 step breathing set from Taoist Yoga.

 

Turtle Breathing:

 

The version I learned is the culmination of a set of exercises, so I am not sure if this is what your talking about... but it is much easier to attach a write-up on it so you can first read it.

 

 

ToaistYoga_Breathing_Set.pdf

Turtle_Breathing.pdf

[maki]

Thank You a lot. I'm not sure is that the heel breathing that I'm searching for. How i heard, when you do the heel breathing, the breathe goes through the whole body. You don't take it first to the brain, then to the base of the penis, then exale and continue. But maybe I have misunderstood something. From where did You find that type of breathing?

[dawei]

Thank You a lot. I'm not sure is that the heel breathing that I'm searching for. How i heard, when you do the heel breathing, the breathe goes through the whole body.

 

I am not sure I follow your comment of whole body; Do you mean spontaneously everywhere at once or more linear like you state in the next sentence?

 

You don't take it first to the brain, then to the base of the penis, then exale and continue. But maybe I have misunderstood something. From where did You find that type of breathing?

 

Not sure of your first sentence. Are you saying "don't" as in wrong or as you isn't this the way to do it?

 

IMO, heel breathing as a practice means the heels are a gate; as are the hands, crown, root, etc. You can inhale and/or exhale through any gate. Breathing through these gates is explained in many works; the Taoist Yoga book sequence shows how the feet and hands are used as part of the sequence. Yang's books talks about these gates as well.

 

If you mean whole body as in everywhere at once, I think that is ZZ's meaning and is the result/outcome of fully achieving whole body breathing (more like breathing everywhere at once--skin breathing).

[maki]

I meant more linear. Like, You inhale, the breath goes first to the heels, and then you move it through to the brain etc. But you don't exhale until the breath didn't pass all the places in the body.

 

I didn't mean that that is wrong, I meant that I think that there's another way to do it. But maybe I'm wrong.

 

Where did You learn that type of breathing? You learned it from te Taoist Yoga book?

 

I heard that all high level practitioners use breathing from the heels.

Edited November 17, 2013 by maki

[dawei]

I meant more linear. Like, You inhale, the breath goes first to the heels, and then you move it through to the brain etc. But you don't exhale until the breath didn't pass all the places in the body.

 

In general, for myself, any breathing going heel-to-head or head-to-heel will usually pause at the heart to merge with heart Qi (which is the governor of the body), and then begin the exhale and exit (whichever gate I want). I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Taoist Yoga sequence essentially does this too.

 

I didn't mean that that is wrong, I meant that I think that there's another way to do it. But maybe I'm wrong.

 

If you can share another method, that would be good to hear.

 

Where did You learn that type of breathing? You learned it from te Taoist Yoga book?

 

I learned it from my practices which have been Medical Qigong oriented, but also from Taiji where grounding the heels is important and opening the KD1.

 

I heard that all high level practitioners use breathing from the heels.

 

I consider the heels simply one of many gates which can be breathed through. (besides the feet,hands, crown and root, one can also consider the mingmen, solar plexus, heart, shendao as gates)... I think the heels are considered higher because of its proximity to the earth (yin Qi) when drawing from below, and it represents the full-body pass if the inhale is from the crown (yang Qi).

 

In purging Qi, like say with sounds, the Qi needs a 'path out' and the heels are the path to use. So I can see the importance of the heel as a gate but for myself, the development of the sensitivity of the hands for Medical Qigong makes that an important gate too. When filling the LDT, I tend to use the crown gate on inhale. If doing the MCO, then one usually 'locks' the perineum area to prevent anything going to the heels.

 

My personal experience is that my legs and heels are often the most active part of my body in terms of Qi twitching/jumping/prickly feeling when I do most any kind of energy work (singles or pairs) or when someone works on me. I have practiced opening my KD1 and have even had 'heel pricks' done to move any stagnate Qi out.

 

As I type this, I just stopped, inhaled through the crown, stopped at the heart, and exhaled it through my legs... my legs from the knees downward has a prickly feeling in about 50 places and I feel the heels warm-up... Now I breath in my heels, stop at my heart and breath out my palms... my palms warm up. So one can feel the effect in the first breath.

 

I will add this: The Qi feelings in my legs which I mentioned have given me some issues in the past. I would wake up with way too much Qi in my lower legs with almost a numb feeling. It was very active yet felt like it was not able to move where it wanted. I had to develop a circulation method using my heels, up to the belt vessel, around back, and then down to the heels extending several feet away... doing this about 5 times always cleared my legs before I got up out of bed.

[maki]

If you can share another method, that would be good to hear.

I'm trying to find another method of breathing, but it's hard. I want to find the original type of breathing from the heels.

 

I guess that You really have a lot of experience.

[dawei]

I tried to google something but most talk in very general ways.

 

Bruce Frantzis's website blog has this:

http://www.taichimaster.com/longevity-breathing/longevity-breathing-a-wise-man-breathes-from-the-heels/

[Trunk]

How i heard, when you do the heel breathing, the breathe goes through the whole body. You don't take it first to ...

 

Often "whole body integral all-at-once" kind of experiences are the result of connecting things piece by piece and then "it all works at once" then you work (and work and work) to get to that place more frequently, more fluently, with more stability.

[Bearded Dragon]

Don't read too much into it. Heel breathing is just whole body breathing. Turtle breathing is just when your breath becomes really long like that of a turtle. Spare yourself the details and just keep practicing. You can't expect to jump straight to these things.

[maki]

Ok, thanks for the advices. Is it true that you don't need reverse and normal breathing after you start to train the turtle (embryonic) breathing?

 

dawei, I have read that link before. It is really interesting. But thanks for the link. I'll look that site once again.

 

Bearded Dragon, I was asking how to practice the heel breathing because I have read few times how to practice that and every time it was a different explanation.

Edited November 18, 2013 by maki

[steve]

Hi,

does anybody know how to do the breathing from heels and turtle breathing? Any information is welcome.

 

Yes, I practice turtle and crane breathing.

 

In our system, turtle breathing is not equivalent to embryonic breathing nor is it simply "really long like that of a turtle." It is a part of a comprehensive qigong/neigong method called Jian Mei Qi Gong and involves a specific way of moving the head and neck along with internal work during breathing. While the breathing is done very slowly, there is more to it than that, at least this is the case in our system.

[maki]

steve what is the difference between the embryonic breathing and turtle breathing? and what is crane breathing?

[soaring crane]

steve what is the difference between the embryonic breathing and turtle breathing? and what is crane breathing?

 

Is it ok if I ask - How much experience have you actually got with any of this? And, where do you plan or hope to go with it?

[maki]

I don't have any experience with the embryonic and whole body breathing, but I heard that those 2 types are really special. So, I wanted to learn something about that.

[dawei]

If you want to read something on Embryonic Breathing, refer to Yang's Book: It includes maybe 100 translations of ancient texts as well.

http://www.amazon.com/Qigong-Meditation-Embryonic-Yang-Jwing-Ming/dp/1886969736/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1384872073&sr=8-1&keywords=embryonic+breathing

 

 

In the Primordial Breathing, Vol. 1 is an interesting interpretation I had not seen before:

 

Chen Ch'I Huan Yuan MIng

The Carved (Text) on the Recovery of the Genuine Breath with a Commentary by Ch'ing Ming Tzu (P. 109-111)

 

There is a sequence described as:

1. Close your eyes, sit level

2. Tighten your fists and close your eyes

3. Inhale through the thatched hut (nose)

4. And exhale through the heaven's Gate (mouth)

5. The breath should enter very subtly

6. Breathe out Continuously. Use the thought to lead the breath

7. It revolves in the viscera and the receptacles

8. Exhale it then with Ho (Heart sound)

9. Let the blood and the breath circulate thoroughly

10. If it is not harmonious, send it away to the heel

11. Do the Ho exhalation five or six times.

12. No Diseases will not be alleviated.

 

The interpretation of 'send it away to the heel' is to send it to the Lower Dan Tian (LDT).

 

Here is how the interpretation equates Heel to LDT by the 'heel' meaning as a metaphor and not literal:

 

The heel is the base/root of the foot.

 

Man's life root is the LDT ("sea of breath").

 

As the context talks of, in the case of disharmony (evil breath exists and needs to be settled), that embryonic breathing is needed. Thus, to 'send it away to the heel' means to send it to the 'root of breathing', the 'sea of breathing'; The LDT.

 

Using an analogy, it continues by saying "primitive animals like snakes, crawl on their underbellies which is therefore their primitive "heel". In man, the underbelly is the lower TAN T'IEN where "THE SEA OF BREATH" is located, therefore the 'primitive heel'".

 

Source: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0944558003/ref=pd_rvi_gw_2/104-6162634-2030307?ie=UTF8

[maki]

I have the first book, I got it yesterday, and for the 2nd I will look today. Thank You. That means that the breathing with heels is actualy sending the breath tho the lower dan tien?

[dawei]

That means that the breathing with heels is actualy sending the breath tho the lower dan tien?

 

I would only suggest that this is one interpretation based on the type of breathing going on in that example.

 

Meaning: There are so many different breathing techniques and methods; how they employ various metaphors may differ.

 

For example:

1. Sitting and forgetting

2. Embryonic breathing

3. Producing the sacred Embryo

4. MCO (circulation)

5. Xing vs Ming Gong

 

How each one might use what appears to be the same item, whether the Heel or the location of the Dan Tians and what resides there, may differ...

[dawei]

 

turtle breathing? Any information is welcome.

 

 

 

According to Chinese Medical QIgong, English language edition published in 2010, the above was discovered in 1975 excavations in Qinghai province and dates to the Majiayao period (5000 years ago).

 

This Shaman is said to be performing the "gulping Qi" or "turtle breathing" to exercise inhalation and expiration. Others think it is the "standing meditation" posture.

 

In either case, what is interesting to me is the ancient stillness practice it reveals as there is more evidence of primitive dances and exercises, including Daoyin.

[turtlehermit]

On November 18, 2013 at 10:26 AM, maki said:

steve what is the difference between the embryonic breathing and turtle breathing? and what is crane breathing?

 

Would anyone say that the turtle is a symbol for the lower dantian? And that turtle breathing is generally embryonic breathing from the lower abdomen? Not referring to full body techniques here. Just the true breath that occurs in deep meditation. https://www.qigonginstitute.org/abstract/315/the-explanation-of-embryo-breathing