Out through the nose, or out through the mouth?

[LeiYunFat]

I just read this article on KFM:

http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=573

I was told to breathe out through my mouth! All my chi cultivation, for nothing?! Can any of you guys give me some tips? In yoga, in and out through the nose is called...oojai breath, right? Is this the breath you should use during chi gong excersizes? This is slightly distressing...

[onesp1ng]

Unless there is a specific reason when performing one qigong over another, most everything I've come across suggests the practitioner breathe in and out of the nose.

Many meditation exercises utilize the same method, like putting your tongue just behind your top front teeth, with mouth slightly opened, but still breathing in and out through the nose.

My feeling, whether true or not, is that you can breathe deeper and smoother that way. The article also says it's safer for health reasons. Whatever. Just feels better to me, being that I'm not in a position where I'm working so hard my mouth opens to pull in necessary amounts of extra air. I suppose you can breathe faster through the channel of the mouth, and thus, that may be why is feels longer, smoother, and deeper to me when strickly using the nose.

g

[shaolinstylee]

depends on the school of thought...
I have learned several methods. One being out through the mouth, one being just out, don't concentrate on the out, you just exhale. In this method, you'd put your tounge behind your teeth, towards the roof of the mouth, where you gums and teeth come together, and don't press your lips together. I have also learned one where you are in and out through the nose..

[daodejing]

All your cultivation is not in vain, unless for other reasons you didn't specify.

Both techniques are used for different reasons. IMHO its a standard in qigong to breath in and out through the nose (if possible) with the tongue touching the roof of the mouth to connect the ren mai and du mai.

The other breathing technique, in through the nose and out through the mouth, is used in some specific excercises in qigong, or used while doing heavy excercise. We used this technique in judo to lower your heart rate after a match in tournaments so your body would have more rest before your next fight.

[shaolinstylee]

Is there a translation for ren mai and du mai?

[Fa Hui]

I would pretty much agree with everything said already. For the most part use the nose for breathing, it's easier for the mind and body to remain calm and the mouth won't dry out. However, it is helpful, particularly when you are agitated, to begin all practices with 3 cleansing breaths. You breath big and deep into the abdomen, and then exhale with a loud sigh through the mouth and this will help you mind and body relax and focus for your practice. It may (although not scientically proven as far as I am concerned) help to cleanse the lungs, and improve your breathing.

Don't worry too much about your breathing, just watch it and try not to force it too much because that will ruin your practice.

[shaolinstylee]

Another great point, that I was just thinking of, is just try to get into a ruitine... as too much concentration may hinder your practice.

[LeiYunFat]

Thanks guys. I had gotten used to breathing in through my nose and out my mouth over these years and was stressing if I wasn't even getting any chi progress by doing so. But no more! I am going cold turkey all the way and breathing out my nose as much as I can. Thanks for all the input.

[Mike Evans]

REN MAI = Conception Vessel
DU MAI = Governing Vessel

[shaolinstylee]

Thanks Mike.

[daodejing]

Just make sure you lightly press the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth. Even if you don't like the word qi in your explanations, it completes an electrical circuit.

[LeiYunFat]

Eh? I don't like the word qi because "q" and "i" are so far away from eachother. "Chi" is like a diagonal line to form the word, hahaha.

Thanks for all the pointer, dao.

[shaolinstylee]

Wouldn't the rest of the head do that....

[eling99]

i asked shi de cheng, and he told me it always through the nose!!

[Paul702]

Different schools of thought do the breath in different ways. The Taoist method (School of Complete Reality) teaches exercises like Ba Duan Jin breathing in through the nose and out the mouth. The exhale is also a tension expelling expansion..for instance, if you are doing the first move, supporting the heavens, when you have reached the peak, you release your breath through the mouth and bring your arms outward to the side and down. This opens the heart meridian and helps expel tension.

Shaolin monks seem to keep everything very compact. In the same supporting the heavens move, you reach upward, support heaven, then, as you exhale through the nose, your hands follow the same path downward as they did upwards.

There's alot of different ways to do the same exercises though. It's all good stuff.