Wonderful insights on breathing from my teacher, Master Chunyi Lin:
Not only does breathing give us life, but also the quality of our
breathing affects the quality of our lives. It is the major source of
the energy that allows our body to function.
The better we breathe the better the energy is that we
take in and process to help our body function. And obviously, breathing
is what keeps us alive. After three days of going without food we may
feel hungry, but we are not dying; however, if we go without breathing
for twenty minutes, we will die.
This is how Chinese medicine understands breathing: When
you inhale, the lungs get energy that is divided into three parts. The
first part goes directly to the kidneys to help strengthen the life
force. The second part goes to help digest the food we take in. The
third part goes to help purify the blood. If the lungs get good energy,
it means every part of the body gets good energy too.
Western medicine understands that the oxygen that is
taken in through the lungs goes into the blood stream and then is
dispersed throughout the body to help the entire body function. The
organs need a certain amount of oxygen to function well; the brain needs
its own oxygen to think best. The more oxygen in the body the better it
functions.
Both East and West know that healthy breathing helps
prevent stress or helps you to stop feeling stressed. All ancient
traditions of the East have known that healthy breathing is the
foundation of a healthy person, and the West now understands that also.
Any way you look at it, healthy breathing leads to a healthy body and
that affects your whole life and that is why it’s so important.
Love Qi to all,
Tom
