In my last article, I spoke of the origins and history of breathing techniques, the effectiveness of it in alleviating common ailments and why it’s so important.

In this article I’m going to focus some more on how breathing does more than just keep us alive on a minute by minute basis. I’m going to talk about more of the benefits of breathing and how and why it can help us to heal and teach some basic breathing techniques as well.

In China, breathing is said to be one hundred times better than any medicine. As mentioned previously, the more air we take in, the more energy or chi or life force we take in. When we have more energy our cells regenerate at a faster rate and in a more thorough manner then when we have less. Cells have an electromagnetic field around them, so does the rest of the human body. This has been seen and proven with Kirlian photography as well as in China and other countries using the SQUID (super conducting quantum interference device) machine and other technology that doesn’t get much press here in the west.

Using Kirlian photography, researchers have been able to see the energy fields of the body and take pictures of them and found that all objects have an energy field around them. Even when a leaf is cut in half, a ghost field of energy showing the exact silhouette of the leaf that was cut remains, just as if the leaf is still there… amazing!

Using the SQUID machine (A type of supersensitive magnetometer) in China, they’ve been able to prove what has long been claimed in China, that Chi-gung and martial arts masters are able to send out beams of energy out of their palms that ordinary people can not. Those beams are about one hundred times stronger than the average person is able to generate. The knowledge that the human body generates and emits is bio and electromagnetic energy (Chi), which has been known for thousands of years in China as well as other cultures and has been proven in modern times to be correct. Despite this, western medicine still laughs at the idea, though that is slowly changing in some circles. When we practice breath control and breathing exercises we are taking in more life force, which leads to more energy for the body to perform all it’s functions.

In 1931 Dr. Otto Warburg won a Nobel Prize in medicine for his discovery that cancer cells can not exist in an oxygenated environment. He also discovered much about enzyme deficiency in the body as it relates to cancer. This is why deep breathing both prevents and removes cancer from the body when done sufficiently each day. In China, cancer patients will practice deep breathing for twelve hours a day until their cancer is gone…and it does go away in a vast majority of the cases.

When combined with dietary changes, medicine, proper levels of exercise, nutritional supplementation, herbs and other aspects of natural and Chinese medicine, the success rates grows even higher into the ninety percentile range.

You may have heard of amphibian experiments where a low level current is sent through the amputated limb of a frog or gecko for example and their limb that would not grow back before, grew back in a matter of days or sometimes hours. I’ve heard that this also has had limited success with humans regrowing fingertips that have been lost also. This is due to the increased electrical energy stimulating cell regeneration.

With time and energy (gung-fu), we can do the same thing to ourselves with breathing, meditations and other qigong exercises such as Tai Chi for example. We can increase the bio-electrical energies of our bodies on our own to stimulate accelerated cell growth and prevent such cellular breakdown from occurring in the first place.

The focus on Chinese and other natural systems of healthcare is on prevention, since it’s many times harder to regain health once you’ve lost it, then to maintain it in the first place. Just like when driving a car, it’s better to be more cautious and not lose control in the first place, for once you do lose control, getting back can be very hard or impossible before we crash. Best not to take the chance.

Breathing is the main way in which we begin to gain control over our chi and our bodies energies. After many years of practice, as the mind gets stronger and stronger and we gain more and more control over our chi, breathing becomes less and less necessary, though no less important overall. Once we're at a high level where our minds alone can control and guide our energies, it’s at this point that we can begin to use visualization and the pure will to heal ourselves, increase our energy store in the body which you can actually feel with practice and use this chi-gung for everything from longevity to mood control, enlightenment to increasing our physical strength, enhancing our senses, healing and much more.

To help you get started with breathing and breath control, I’d like to show you a basic breathing exercise that can be done anytime, anywhere. It’s called the 4-4-4-4 method. This is a simple calming and restorative breathing that is used by beginners and masters alike. Simply take a deep breath, inhaling to about 70% of maximum, hold your breath for a 4 count, then exhale for a 4 count, hold the exhalation for a 4 count, after that inhale for a 4 count, then hold the inhalation for a 4 count. That’s one rep, repeat five to ten times. When inhaling and exhaling, only do this to about 70%-80% of maximum lung capacity. Don’t gulp, breathing should be soft, slow, silent and deep as a rule. If you feel dizzy or light headed at any time during the breathing, stop the exercise and breathe normally. Best to do this while sitting down in case you do get dizzy and preferably in the fresh air outside to maximize energy purity and absorption also, but it will have benefits anywhere it’s done.

This breathing calms the whole system including the mind and heart, enhances the extraction of Chi and oxygen from the system which increases the amount of air and energy in the bloodstream, helps to purify the blood and increases the elimination of toxins from the system. Breathing not only helps to eliminate carbon dioxide from the body but with enhanced breathing capacity comes enhanced purification of all the organs as well, right down to the cellular level.

Deep breathing also acts as a second heart through the increased movement of the diaphragm and lungs pushing more blood through the system with each deep breath. This takes a deep load off the heart which has to move a tremendous amount of blood through the body every day. The easier we make things on our heart, the stronger it will be and the longer it will last.

Remember to also take several deep breaths on a daily basis. This not only helps to increase our energy and get more energy into the system, but it keeps the whole lung functioning by using the lower one-third of the lungs that often stagnates due to shallow breathing and it helps to flush out stale air and energy. Breathing starts a fire that can lead us anywhere on our spiritual, physical and mental path to self-improvement, health and enlightenment as long as you’re willing to take the time to pursue and stick with it. Breathing is truly a wonderfully powerful method to enhance all aspects of our lives. The more you put breathing techniques to use in your life, the truth and clarity of this statement will become self evident and manifest. I encourage all of you to begin today and see for yourselves. Don’t just believe me, believe the results you will see and feel from practicing one of the most important things you can do for your life and health, just relax and breathe.

Rich Stacel is a natural health practitioner, Chinese martial artist and Qigong practitioner for over twenty three years. He has read dozens of books on nutrition, martial arts, fitness supplements, meditation, healing and what he learned from his instructors and Masters.

Interests also include science, astronomy, physics, Einstein, general health, health freedom, spreading truth on health, fitness, spiritual matters and much more. He has been teaching Chinese Gung-fu, health and fitness for over seventeen years helping people achieve their health, fitness and martial arts goals.

To learn more about breathing and Chinese health and fitness,
visit Rich's website for his video that's currently in production at: www.geocities.com/Chinesehealthandfitness

If you're interested in learning more about martial arts and Chinese Gung-fu, then please visit: www.geocities.com/shaolinrich