THE TEMPO OF BREATHING

[Ani]

THE TEMPO OF BREATHING

 

With deep, rhythmical breathing, we have to consider the following:

 

Inhaling must be slow and deep, retaining. When man begins to learn deep breathing, he must not retain the air a long time. He can gradually increase the retention time.

 

Exhaling must also be done slowly. The Master gives this instruction:

 

Breathe deeply, calmly and slowly if you want your affairs to go well. If you breathe fast as if an enemy is chasing you, this speed will not help you to arrange your affairs.

 

Retaining the air is of importance. It must be done slowly so the lungs can utilize the necessary elements of the air. While you retain air, the organism must have enough time to receive not only the oxygen, but the prana, and time to absorb the even more refined energies which penetrate the air. Those who do not appreciate the importance of retaining the air should make his own experiment and he will see the rejuvenating and rehabilitating effects. Experimenting is the best method for verification. Here is some light the Master gives regarding this:

 

In general, man must have some sensible conduct in everything he does. /4s he breathes correctly, he has a conscious relationship with air. If he doesn't breathe correctly, he doesn't have it.

 

How often does man inhale in a minute? The ordinary man who does not breathe properly inhales twenty times a minute. Whoever is interested can calculate how many times a man inhales in an hour, in twenty-four hours, and he will see how much is expended by Nature for you.

 

When you study the breathing of man and the breathing of animals, you will see they have a different tempo. Man breathes with one tempo and animals with another. If man loses the tempo and his breathing falls into the tempo of the animals, he will have bestial qualities. If he breathes as the animals, man can never have superior thoughts. He can never think as a man if he breathes as an animal. When you study the tempo of man's breathing, you have to observe the breathing of the ordinary man, of the talented man, of the genius and of the saint. A good man breathes in a different way from a bad one. You have to know the different ways in which man breathes. If you want to be a good person, you have to breathe as a good person. Breathing is a measure to define the level of development.

 

Proper breathing depends on the quantity of air and its retention. As much as man retains the air in his lungs, that much he is strong. If man wants to know how strong he is, he must look to the length of time of his retention of air. On this depends his health and longevity. Do you know what kinds of achievements a man could enjoy if his lungs contained pure air? He will achieve more if he learns to retain air in his lungs longer. Some Hindus can retain air in their lungs for half an hour. But for a man to achieve certain success through exercises, he must start gradually by retaining the air for twenty seconds and each day increase by one or two seconds. If he can achieve prolonging the time of retaining the air, man could easily resolve all his difficulties and contradictions. They will melt as ice. He who can retain air a long time is a rich man. Wealth comes to him and he is able to open and close the doors of his life. He who does not exercise in deep breathing can begin to retain the air for only two or three seconds and increase one or two seconds every day. In one month he will be able to retain the air for thirty seconds. If he could retain the air for thirty seconds, this man will be able to improve his well-being. Headaches, sicknesses of the chest and stomach problems, all these will disappear. The Master gives the following exercises:

 

If man makes three inhalations in one minute, it is healthy. As he increases the depth of his breathing, he increases his chances to be healthy. To be healthy he must make one inhalation in twenty seconds, retain the breath for twenty seconds and one exhalation in twenty seconds  -  a total of sixty seconds.

 

The breathing of all impatient people is irregular. The breathing of patient people is deep. When man begins to breathe fast it is not a good sign. It is good for him to learn how to retain the air for more time. As man becomes more calm, his breathing becomes more deep and with more ease.

 

For the ordinary man one inhalation takes three seconds  - one to inhale, one to retain and one to exhale. This makes twenty breaths in one minute. If he takes three inhalations per minute or even two inhalations per minute, this is only for those who are very advanced in their breathing. In general, it is desirable for man to do breathing exercises and try to retain the air longer.

 

If a man wants to progress in his deep breathing, he has to work toward five or even three or two inhalations per minute. The man advanced in deep breathing could even make one inhalation per minute. The breathing must be done in a flowing line, which means with ease and not abruptly. When he lessens the count of inhalations per minute, his life is prolonged, and vice versa. He who breathes fast lives a short life. Animals live a short life because their breathing is fast. Those who inhale twentytwo to twenty-five times a minute will live to twenty-five to thirty years, and those who breathe slowly and with ease could reach seventy-five to one hundred and twenty years. Through constant exercise, man has to strive to reach the following during the day, if he doesn't practice special breathing exercises, he must strive to breathe deeply, slowly and rhythmically.