978 3 95780 102 9 leseprobe issuu by Allitera Verlag

HILTRUD LODES

Recovering your natural energy, health and balance through

RIGHT BREATHING An extensive training guide with many exercises, instructions and explanations

Contents Medical forward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Breathing is life – non-breathing is death . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Breathing cultures and breathing training – in antiquity and today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Breathing correctly – but how? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 The journey towards correct breathing – moving together and in harmony. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Practice – but how? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Where and how does breathing happen? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 The breathing organs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 The breathing process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Breathing and relaxing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Perceiving, observing and allowing to happen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Perceiving, observing and allowing the breathing (practice). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Becoming peaceful and relaxing oneself . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Becoming peaceful and relaxing oneself (practice) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Why relaxing the head area is so important . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Relaxing the head and neck (practice) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Relaxing the face, cheeks and lips (practice) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Relaxing the tongue (practice) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Relaxing the eyes (practice) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Relaxing the ears (practice). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Stimulating nasal breathing and natural breathing impulses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Why breathing through the nose is so important. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Stimulating nasal breathing (practice) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Cleaning the nose with water or snuff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Cleaning the nose according to the method »without using tissue paper«. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 »Nasal Reflex Therapy«, fragrance and aroma substances and essential oils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Natural breathing impulses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Yawning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Yawning (exercise) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Sighing and groaning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Sighing and groaning (practice) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Laughing and crying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Sneezing and coughing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Singing, speaking, shouting, blowing and whistling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Moving and straightening up. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Breathing and moving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 Becoming breathless due to strenuous movement (practice) . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Stimulating breathing through stretching and extending (practice) . . . . . . 85 Movement of the joints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Freeing joints - releasing of cramps and blocks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Movement of joints (practice) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Clipp-clapp movements of the feet and hands in different body positions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Variations in cycling movements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Playful exercises with the joints of the extremities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Following with hands and feet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Breathing up into the fingertips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Breathing up into the tips of the toes – Making the hip joint and groin area permeable (exercise) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Breathing and straightening up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 The game with gravity: Finding one’s own centre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Balancing, falling and swinging (practice). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Becoming aware of the »field of force« (practice) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Becoming upright (practice). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 One’s own breathing rhythm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 The natural breathing rhythm: Exhale – Pause – Inhale. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Breathing rhythm (practice). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Opening and inhaling, closing and exhaling (exercise sequence). . . . . . . . 118 Exhale thoroughly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 Exhaling (practice). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Vowel and consonant breathing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Vowel breathing:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Consonant breathing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 Visualisations that you can combine with the exhalation (practice) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 Treat yourself to a breathing pause . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 The natural breathing pause after the exhalation: Breathing pause (practice) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 The intentional retention of breath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 The unintentional retention of breath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 Only inhaling »a thimble full« . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 The fingertip work (practice) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 Pressure point breathing of the feet (practice) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 Visualisations that you can associate with inhaling and exhaling (practice): . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 Breathing and communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 Breathing connects physical and emotional/mental activity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 Contact breathing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 Comments regarding maintenance of healthy breathing patterns . . . . . . 144 Bibliography: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

»During breathing one should proceed as follows: One retains the breath and it collects itself. When it has collected itself it expands. When it expands, it moves downwards. When it moves downwards, it becomes quiet. When it has become quiet, it becomes firm. When it has become firm, it begins to sprout. When it has sprouted, it grows. When it has grown, one needs to push it back again. When it has been pushed back, it reaches the crest of the head. Above it then presses against the crest of the head, below it pushes downwards. He that follows this lives; he that does the opposite dies.«

(From an inscription on 12 jade stones dated from the 6th. century BC cited according to Wilhelm Helmut: Eine Chou-Inschrift über Atemtechnik (A Chou incription about breathing technique). Cited by Needyham, op. cit. Vol. II, p. 143).

Medical forward We live in hectic times, in a state of breathless tension – arrhythmic and without pause. The respiration of the human individual is a mirror of the quality of the situation at this point in time. Even only as far back as the first world war it would probably have been pointless to write such a book and to have it published. At that time humanity lived in a relative state of internal and external security, stability and consistency – more or less carried by a rhythm of life, which was not yet alienated from the rhythms of nature. There was no requirement for breathing education or therapeutic breathing exercises for human beings. Breathing education and breathing therapy have their roots in ancient Far Eastern cultures – with the Indian, the Chinese and the Japanese. In 1957 the first international congress on respiration was held in Freudenstadt (Black Forest, Germany). One can regard it as having been the renaissance of an ancient inheritance, which now due to a changed time quality has in turn become modern again. Since that time the impulse of breathing has embraced wide circles, and the interest for breathing practices with their educational and therapeutic possibilities has grown continuously. A flood of publications during the following years has been the consequence of this growing »publicity«. One could therefore be of the opinion that it is superfluous to add a new manuscript to the already existing literature. This book by Mrs Hiltrud Lodes should beyond doubt however be regarded as an enrichment to the literature that is already available. The author provides a brief anatomical/physiological overview of the human respiratory function. Following this there is a good and well arranged section containing numerous extensively tested and well-proven breathing exercises. Stylised drawings help in providing better understanding. It is no doubt an advantage of the author that she restricts herself completely to what is most important and does not waste any superfluous words. So likewise the exercises described by her are plastic, short and concise, but yet still written so simply that they are inviting to engage in. One can sense in the author that she does not just have theoretical understanding of the topic of respiration, but that she as a sports educator is familiar with movement functions, and that she writes on the topic of breathing from an inner necessity and experience. So this publication surely is an enrichment not only for the

Medical forward

interested non-person, but also for sports educators, physiotherapists, physicians and educators in general. This book has the advantage that many individuals – each for their own requirements – will find exercises that they will appreciate as being personally beneficial and which can provide mental and physical gains. Especially positively noteworthy is also the fact that – in contrast to many practices simply taken over from Yoga in an undigested way – the author only offers suggestions that can be tried out without any risk of injury. With so many positive qualities one can only wish this book a good start and a wide distribution and readership.

Bad Wörishofen, July 4th. 1977 Dr. med. K. 0. Kuppe

Explanation of the symbols used in the text:

¦ = Individual exercise ¨ = Partner exercise ā = Group exercise

Introduction I wrote this book for everyone interested in the subject matter, especially however for my students and participants in my workshops and seminars. Its aim is to provide information about the basic fundamentals for sensible breathing practices, and to provide instructions for correct breathing. It also warns against hasty and excessive breathing training without adequate foundations and qualified personal instruction and supervision.

ÂťThe air weaves the universe, the breath weaves the human individualÂŤ Upanishad, Atharva-Veda

When used correctly and at the right dosage, breathing training provides physical and psychological balance, and is at the same time a therapy for many disorders, for states of physical and emotional tension and disharmony, for acute and chronic disorders of the respiratory organs, the cardiovascular system, the gastrointestinal tract, as well as for speech disorders. I became familiar with the exercise examples in this book during numerous workshops and advanced training courses for respiration, relaxation and movement therapy that I had participated in, and some of them I developed myself. In workshops and courses at adult education centres in and around Munich, in private workshops and seminars, as well as in elective physical education at grammar schools I was able to test many exercises and have selected those that proved to be especially appealing and effective. I would like to thank all those people that shared their knowledge, expertise and abilities with me during my training and advanced education, and not lastly my students, workshop and course participants who all provided me with many valuable suggestions.

Hiltrud Lodes

Breathing is life – non-breathing is death »The affinity between all forms of life is found in the breath«

Did you know that breathing is our most important form of nutrition and also communication? We inhale what is around us, and exhale what is in us. The breathing thereby creates the connection between us and our environment.

Chinese proverb

Breathing is giving and taking and is the exchange between the inside and outside that is indispensable to life. When this interdependence is disturbed, then the human individual also falls out of balance. Our life on earth begins with the first breath of the newborn child and ends with the last breath of the dying. During the period in-between the breathing is a mirror of all physical as well as psychological impressions with regard to depth, regularity and peacefulness or agitation, outside just as inside. For our body it is therefore all about the oxygen. Our life is absolutely dependent on the exchange of oxygen: without oxygen there are no metabolic processes, there is no life: we would already die after 5 - 15 minutes. Thereby our brain cells react even more sensitively than the rest of the body: they die already after roughly three minutes. By contrast one can survive without water and liquids for at least five days, without food for fourteen days and longer, and 65 days and longer without sleep, as e.g. proven with the help of autogenic training of Dr. H. Lindemann during his ocean crossing in 1956 in a dugout canoe. We repeatedly hear about the astonishing feats of the hunger artists, and this not only in the novel of the same name by Franz Kafka. In the area of breathing we hear much less of such feats of endurance: a Yogi was buried alive for 40 days and survived. A record diver swam a stretch of 90 metres without having to take a breath of air. In contrast to the fishes that extract their oxygen from the water through their gills, we are subject to

Breathing is life – non-breathing is death

death through asphyxiation when we are not able to take a breath of air under water at the right time. We respond sensitively to lack of oxygen: we become tired, disinclined and ill. Gliders, mountain climbers and divers that want to reach higher or lower regions depend on the supply of oxygen through oxygen bottles or similar devices. Those living in a poisoned atmosphere will suffer from shortness of breath and are under threat of asphyxiation. During the second world war gas masks were used to defend against harmful toxic substances in the air, today in the large cities there are »smog-alarms« to warn the population in good time against poisoning. In contrast to this there is a »refreshing atmosphere« in the forest or mountains and we can breathe freely there. Plants, which in contrast to humans absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen, thereby supplement us in an ideal way. For this reason it is so important to live in a kind of symbiosis with plants and to cultivate or maintain green belts or parks in large cities to improve the air quality through »green lungs«. Not only the oxygen impoverished air, but also »the atmosphere« in the figurative sense can have the effect that »we gasp for breath« and we »run out of air«, as the physical process of breathing is connected with our emotional and subjective spiritual-mental life. Those who breathe quietly and »persevere«, or can »let off steam« at the right moment are undoubtedly in a better position and condition than those who hastily and irregularly »struggle« for »breath« and composure and thereby experience blocking of the breath. Already 80 years ago the German psychologist Ernst Kretschmer (1888-1964) wrote that »respiration is more than just an exchange of gases«. Correct breathing also helps create and develop emotional balance, improves the blood circulation to our brain cells and helps to expand our consciousness, is the wisdom of ancient breathing cultures.

Breathing is life â&#x20AC;&#x201C; non-breathing is death

Breathing cultures and breathing training â&#x20AC;&#x201C; in antiquity and today In ancient times breathing exercises and breathing therapy were already known in Egypt, China, Tibet, Japan, India and other countries. The doctrine of breathing was regarded as a secret doctrine and could only be imparted personally by the initiated. The breathing exercises of ascetics, magicians and healers were not only passed on for religious practices like for the deepening of contemplation and meditation, but also for philosophical reflection and for healing purposes. Different methods of breathing gymnastics, breathing therapy, conscious and unconscious breathing training, mostly in conjunction with meditation practices such as Tai Chi Chuan in China, Yoga in India and Zen Meditation in Japan were widespread throughout these cultures. Currently in China (e.g. in Tangshan and Shanghai), Russia (the Crimea), Switzerland, Germany and numerous other countries there are breathing sanatoriums, where individuals with disturbed breathing, lung, heart and stomach disorders, patients with vegetative dystonia and neurasthenia, as well as damage to the spine can partake in intensive therapeutic breathing treatments, and are able to be discharged on completion with correspondingly good results. As a deeply acting and supportive measure, breathing therapy can provide help for sickly or diseased people. However as a preventive therapy, breathing training can help many to maintain their health and balance. This alone already justifies their necessity, even though we need to take into account that not everyone responds to the same method. Here we only want to become involved in breathing training. Breathing and voice training are, like elocution training, closely connected. Those who train their breathing also improve their vocal qualities, and those who train their voice regulate and regenerate their breathing. In occupations

Breathing cultures and breathing training – in antiquity and today

involving a lot of speaking, too little work is done with the power of healthy respiration. Especially for educators, specifically music and physical educators who are continuously engaged with using their voice and breathing and an exceptional load is placed on them, breathing and voice training are essential for vocational training and classroom tuition. Misguided uneconomical respiration and speaking not only strain the educators themselves in the form of vocal overexertion – a sense of not being able to get through or not being able to assert oneself – but also the students, who develop issues with »absorbing the material«. Conversely students as well as teachers are often unable to communicate their knowledge due to mumbling, and subdued and unclear articulation. Breathing and voice training should therefore be the foundation of all educator and therapeutic training. Breathing correctly – but how? There are numerous and also opposing opinions in specialist circles about the specific way of conducting breathing training.

»The breath is man’s best friend«

Some are of the opinion that it is appropriate to deal directly with the breathing and to train it, but however not to name it specifically or bring it too much into awareness, because thereby it would then immediately be influenced and changed. Others in turn hold a certain degree of awareness during the work on the breathing as being indispensable.

Ludwig Schmitt

I subscribe to the breathing educators, who during the regulation and re-establishment of the natural breathing pattern initially try to work as naturally as possible, i.e. who work through relaxation and release, through breathing stimulating and loosening movements, through nasal breathing and natural breathing impulses, and through contact with the partner, group and therapist.

Breathing correctly – but how?

To awaken awareness for the necessity of correct breathing I subsequently however consider it quite expedient to create the necessary requirements for this through objective information. An expert can quickly differentiate between normal or defective breathing. Defective breathing can most often be corrected through physical and emotional relaxation and clarification. Conscious breathing training, like for example with Yoga-Pranayama (= breath regulation, mastering of the breath), is only appropriate when the natural full breathing flows automatically, and always balances itself easily after it has been changed through physical and emotional exertion. Those who do not wish to cause injury to themselves should place themselves under the guidance of breathing therapists or other experts, before already tense areas become even more tense through misguided conscious breathing exercises that promote the development of defective breathing patterns or even increase any defective breathing pattern that may already exist. Breathing training and psychotherapy often go hand in hand or supplement each other. Individuals with breathing problems also often have psychological problems. It would therefore be gratifying, if more physicians and therapists would address the specific opportunities contained in breathing training and therapy and would use these extensive methods more frequently. The journey towards correct breathing – moving together and in harmony »The first and foremost is the breath« Buddha

»It may well be easy, but what is easy is difficult«, remarked Goethe, the famous German poet and philosopher. Many people are not easily able to comprehend that we first need to relearn how to breathe naturally again. The recovery of our natural breathing, where we fully inflate all respiratory cavities in the chest, sides and stomach area should be

The journey towards correct breathing â&#x20AC;&#x201C; moving together and in harmony

performed slowly, with patience and step by step. That which has been neglected or even spoiled during the previous years of life can not be restored in a few hours or days of exaggerated training and excessive therapy. Our program would therefore be as follows: first we want to feel and experience how breathing takes place in our body, so as to then be better able to surrender ourselves to automatic breathing. Then through becoming quieter and relaxing we want to create the requirements for releasing the breathing muscles, joints, ligaments and tendons, and for the perception of the breathing cavities. Thereby nasal breathing is the indispensable requirement for training our diaphragm as the main breathing muscle for deeper breathing. By supporting and reactivating the natural breathing impulses our natural breathing patterns can be restored. Active and passive forms of movement are designed for us to initially become aware of our breathing once again, and furthermore to loosen our body through movement and to make it permeable for the breathing. Through the rhythm in our movements, in the long run the whole rhythm in our body is to regain harmony so that we can engage in a more balanced breathing rhythm. By means of contact with partners, through the group, yes even through the room itself, the objects and the floor we can substantially extend our breathing capacity and the ability to communicate, simply by clearly experiencing the principle of giving and taking. The treatment of breathing abnormalities is then the mutual task of the breathing trainer and therapist, together with the psychotherapist and medical practitioner. During the breathing process physical, mental and emotional processes are in constant interaction with each other: this is

Breathing is life – non-breathing is death

also emphasized by Prof. Ilse Middendorff, former head of the Institute for Breathing Therapy and Breathing Training/Berlin, a leading figure in the area of breathing care and therapy. »The care of the breathing embraces the whole of the individual, and is therefore practised within breathing therapy and breathing education. The branches of breathing care are equally as healing as development promoting, equally as personality forming as consciousness expanding. They represent an extensive psychosomatic practice, which aims at bringing the individual towards a good state of health and towards self-development.« (11) Practicing – but how?

v The whole individual should be involved in the practice, with body, mind and soul.

v Before you start practising, carefully read

through the text for the exercise and then perform the exercises as carefully as possible.

v Make a note of the exercises that you found to be especially beneficial and then incorporate them into your own individual exercise programme.

v Your exercise programme should not contain too many exercises.

v Preferably practice 10 exercises regularly every day than 30 occasionally.

v Never practise on a full stomach; in the

morning on an empty stomach or a few hours after the last meal is best.

v Practice as often as possible outside in the

fresh air or at least in well ventilated rooms.

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