Yoga abdominal breathing

Carrying out anti-abdominal breathing every day can greatly beautify the lower abdomen. At the same time, anti-abdominal breathing mobilizes the operation of the internal organs, plays a good massage effect on the abdominal organs, and plays a role in preventing, treating and alleviating diseases of the lower abdomen organs! At the same time, if you carry out anti-abdominal breathing exercise, because you need to pay too much attention to breathing, you can effectively train your concentration ability! If you have the heart, you may as well try it!

The fulcrum of anti-abdominal breathing is the same as the abdomen. It emphasizes the exhalation operation as the main focus, and combines the exhalation operation with the mobilization of the inner breath, making the exhalation process a driving force and skill to promote and grasp the operation of the inner breath, giving It has a new content and function, and its significance is unmatched by the pro-abdominal breathing.

Inner breath refers to inner life energy. The so-called life energy means that this energy has life vitality and is biological energy, not ordinary physical energy. Energy is invisible and colorless, and cannot be seen or heard, but when energy does work, it can be measured with instruments, which has been proved by science. The inner breath during breathing exercise is similar to this. It cannot be seen or heard, but the internal senses of the body can feel its operation. It feels like an airflow. The operation of this airflow is related to the breathing process of life activities. In traditional Chinese medicine, this intrinsic life energy is called "Inner Qi".

Here we introduce the basic operation methods of anti-abdominal breathing and the preliminary cultivation of inner breath.

1. Operation points: Establish a breathing fulcrum in the abdomen driven by exhalation.

1) The breathing fulcrum of the inner breath is in the abdomen. The breathing fulcrum of anti-abdominal breathing is also in the abdomen. However, the formation of the breathing fulcrum of forward abdominal breathing is guided by inhalation, and is first the foothold for inhaling the breath; on the contrary, the breathing fulcrum of reverse abdominal breathing is first the foothold of the inner breath guided by exhaling.

While exhaling, anti-abdominal breathing feels and guides an inner breath flow downward from the throat. Since this inner breath flow is guided by exhaling, its speed and strength are synchronized with exhaling and are regulated by exhaling through the nasal cavity or mouth, but this inner breath flow is not the exhaling itself. The breath itself is still breathed out through the nose or mouth, while the inner breath flows down the throat. The relationship between the two is like two identical cars driving in different directions from the same starting point at the same speed, and the two cars maintain close wireless communication, with one car (the inner breath stream) completely obeying the command of the other car (the breath stream exhaled through the nose or mouth) to ensure that the two cars are exactly the same in driving speed and power.

Since anti-abdominal breathing guides the inner breath through exhalation, there are two breathing fulcrums for exhalation, one for exhalation and the other for inner breath. The fulcrum of the exhalation is also the starting point, roughly in the throat; the fulcrum of the inner breath is also the foothold, in the abdomen. In addition, the starting point of the inner breath is in the throat. Since the throat is the junction between exhalation and the inner breath it guides, the throat is both the starting point for the inner breath and the actual exhalation. In actual operation, we imagine the throat as a lock. When we inhale into the abdomen, we lock the breath, and when we exhale, we open the lock. The outer air flows outward and the inner air flows inward. Both sides are parallel and balanced and coordinated.

2). The inner breath is stored in the abdomen. There are two special features of anti-abdominal breathing: one is that while expelling the exhalation, it also guides the inner breath and sends this inner breath to the abdomen; the other is that the inner breath that reaches the abdomen is stored there and accumulates more and more. In the sense of breathing exercise, storing inner breath means storing energy. If the inner breath in the abdomen is stored too much, you will feel full and powerful and can be maintained. People who are trained in anti-abdominal breathing can feel the fullness and strength of their abdomen in daily life and work even when they are not exercising, and will have the physical and mental feelings that are beneficial to health for a long time.

3) The focus is on exhalation. Since anti-abdominal breathing focuses on guiding the inner breath, and the inner breath is guided by exhalation, the focus of anti-abdominal breathing is exhalation. From the perspective of operating practice, only exhalation can activate and guide the inner breath and achieve its operating purpose.

4). Nasal breathing and oral breathing, a clear division of labor is required to be calm when doing anti-abdominal breathing exercise. The breathing frequency is slow and the amount of inspiration is not large. Nasal breathing is very suitable. A summary of practical operating experience shows that only the mouth is conducive to activating and guiding the inner breath. Moreover, the breath that came out of his mouth was very light, a bit like breathing.

2. Operation process

1) It is better to sit in a sitting position and sit cross-legged. Keep your waist straight, but don't hold your chest out. When sitting, the center of gravity is low, which is conducive to the subsidence of the qi in the body. When sitting cross-legged, your legs are stacked alternately (or you can also spread them apart), the center of gravity is lower than when sitting flat, and the tendency of your qi to sink is more obvious.

2) Natural breathing with the nose. Since the focus of anti-abdominal breathing is on exhalation, you don't have to pay attention to any aspect of inhalation. You can inhale naturally with the nose, without worrying about the depth and fulcrum of your breath. etc.

3) Slowly exhale through your mouth, while activating and guiding your inner breath. First, slowly exhale through your mouth, and at the same time pay attention to adjusting the mouth shape. Use a mouth shape similar to breathing, with your lips slightly curled up, usually a wider mouth shape is better than a rounded mouth shape. Then there is the adjustment of the breathing fulcrum of the exhaled breath. This is the key to the reverse abdominal breathing operation. This is the key to the success of activating and guiding the inner breath. The breathing fulcrum for exhaling breath is roughly at the throat, but there is a range of existence up and down. It feels like it should be between the back of the palate and the upper part of the esophagus. The specific location varies from person to person, so you need to try repeatedly, find and determine it, which most practitioners can find after repeated practice. Note: Exhale your breath slowly, otherwise you will not be able to guide your inner breath.

4) Transfer the inner breath to the abdomen and establish a breathing fulcrum. In the exercise of anti-abdominal breathing, the inner breath cannot function on its own and can only be promoted by exhalation. Stop exhaling and the inner breath stops. The speed of the inner breath and the exhalation are also the same, so you need to adopt a slow exhalation method so that you can clearly understand the movement of the inner breath and control it most accurately.

5) Storage of inner breath in the abdomen storing breath in the abdomen is a unique feeling in anti-abdominal breathing exercise. As the inner breath reaches the natural foothold of the abdomen for the first time, the main breathing fulcrum for anti-abdominal breathing is established. After that, each exhalation pushes an inner breath to this breathing fulcrum and gradually accumulates there. The accumulation of inner breath feels like the gradual increase of the fulcrum of breathing, usually about the size of an egg, with a little hard feeling. In addition, the feeling of breathing fulcrum is an air mass.

6). Focus on only exhaling and carrying out reverse abdominal breathing training. The focus is to send the inner breath to the abdomen. Therefore, the key part of the operation is to pay attention to exhaling. As long as there is a feeling of the inner breath reaching the abdomen, there is no need to deliberately control the abdomen. bulge and retract, otherwise deviations will easily occur.

3. Exercise venue and time

1) Keep the air fresh.

2) Exercise for 20 to 30 minutes a day.

3). Don't practice hard when practicing. You should calm down, not be anxious or irritable, and focus your attention on the throat and experience it carefully. You can also put it aside for a while and practice again in a few weeks. It will take shape naturally.

4) After the reverse abdominal breathing exercise is formed, you should continue to exercise for 2 to 3 months to master and form habits.

4. Suitable for healthy people and people who are suitable for practicing reverse abdominal style. (Internship Editor: Wu Jinyu)