Deep abdominal breathing is a simple yet profound practice, deeply rooted in various ancient spiritual traditions, that serves not just as a technique for relaxation, but as a cornerstone for holistic well-being.
From the Taoist masters of China to the yogis of India, from Buddhist monks to Sufi mystics, different deep abdominal breathing techniques have flourished as vital tools for spiritual growth and physical health.
It’s more than just a method to calm the mind; it’s a way to align oneself with the rhythms of the universe, to cultivate life force, and to unlock the doors of higher consciousness.
It’s also important to learn proper deep abdominal breathing techniques before progressing to Reverse Breathing, or you may actually cause more issues.
With close inspection, one will find that deep abdominal breathing exists on a nearly universal level within different religions and spiritualities. Let’s take a look at a few of them and how they use the technique.
In Taoism, deep abdominal breathing is central to cultivating Qi, the life force. It’s seen as a way to prolong life and enhance vitality.
By breathing deeply into the abdomen, practitioners of Neidan (Inner Alchemy) believe they can tap into the body’s natural energy reserves. Deep abdominal breathing techniques create energy in the lower dantian.
In Japan, this lower energy center is known as Hara.
Yogic traditions emphasize Pranayama, a form of deep abdominal breathing. This practice is not just about inhaling oxygen; it’s about absorbing Prana, the universal life energy, bringing balance to the body’s energy centers.
While there are many breathing techniques in Pranayama, deep abdominal breathing remains a necessary staple and is often one of the first techniques taught to a disciple.
For Buddhist practitioners, this technique aids in achieving deep meditative states.
Developing deep abdominal breathing techniques helps in the creation of the “Buddha Within“. This is a physiological manifestation of the Buddha within oneself.
The Buddha Within correlates almost entirely both with the Inner Alchemy of Neidan, as well as certain physiological alchemical insights into esoteric Christianity.
Sufism holds that as the power of the sun holds all of the planets, so the power of the breath holds every organ. It is believed that the breath takes in fresh, new life and exhales necessary gasses – not far off from the modern “breathe in the good, breathe out the bad“.
Almost all diseases are considered related to the breath.
Anxiety, paralysis, heart palpitations? Lack of power of the breath.
Lung diseases? Unclearness of the breath.
Brain or intestinal issues? Lack of regularity of the breath.
The bible contains some of the most esoteric and secretive mentions of inner alchemical breathwork. While most of this was ripped out by Constantine and the Council of Nicaea, remnants remain even there.
“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?” – 1 Corinthians 3:16
“Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” – Genesis 2:7
“And with that, he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.'” – John 20:22
Taking a quick look into the remnants of pre-Constantine texts, you may find the allegories to be a bit more blatant. The Dead Sea Scrolls and Nag Hammadi texts have revealed the secrets of esoteric Christianity and the Christ within.
“If those who lead you say to you, ‘See, the kingdom is in the sky,’ then the
birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, ‘It is in the sea,’ then the fish will
precede you. Rather, the kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you
come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you
who are the sons of the living father. But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in
poverty and it is you who are that poverty.”
The Gospel of Thomas (3)
Our full courses on Inner Alchemical work go far beyond simple breathwork, but are still under construction. If you’d like to learn more about its usage in Esoteric Christianity, we highly recommend the book, God-Man: The Word Made Flesh.
In the modern world, this is known as diaphragmatic breathing. Arguably made popular by figures such as Wim Hof, there have been numerous studies on diaphragmatic breathing within the last few years showing its effectiveness for anxiety, immune response, temperature control, etc.
While diaphragmatic breathing techniques vary quite a bit, the base technique of creating energy in your lower energy center remains intact.
So let’s get to the guide…
We will cover two main types of abdominal breathing in this article.
Both techniques are largely the same, the differences being timing and forcefulness.
Breathing begins with posture, but that requires its own article. In the meantime, you can find a couple articles about meditation posture here and here. Suffice to say that you should sit with your spine straight, but in a relaxed position.
This is assuming that you’re already seated or lying in a position that straightens your spine.
The first thing you will want to do is to place one hand on the lower dantian, or navel area. Place the other hand around your middle dantian, or heart area.
Take a few seconds to feel your current breathing. Likely you will feel yourself breathing into your chest, try to connect and flow with this breath and bring it into your heart a few times.
This is an absolutely vital step that is overlooked far too often.
Take the time to go from the tip of your head all the way through your body to your toes. Let your awareness rest in your skull, your neck, your shoulders, and navigate through the organs of your body.
Feel every part of your body relax as you do this. If you’re unable to get your body into a relaxed state, you should continue to do multiple rounds of dragging your awareness through your body.
Remember: Where you put your focus is where you put your energy.
If you’re able to maintain your focus on a point in your body, you will direct energy to that point without effort. The problem is that most people haven’t cultivated and stored enough energy to make this viable.
And that’s our main focus: to gather and store energy in the lower energy center, located behind the navel and two finger lengths downward.
When you’ve gotten your body as relaxed as you can, it’s time to move on to step 3…
You can switch up your hand positioning now if you wish. Some may find it helpful to keep one hand on the chest to ensure that only the belly expands.
The standard Taoist positioning is to place both hands over the lower energy center (again, two finger lengths below and behind the navel) with the right hand covering the left for men, and the left hand covering the right for women.
Now you want to begin inhaling through your nose. As the air flows in, imagine and feel it going down through your body and expanding the energy center located behind your hands.
The inhale should be nice and smooth, the belly gently expanding. With each breath you should feel the energy building in the lower dantian.
To build and conserve energy you will want to keep your awareness on your lower dantian even during the exhale.
It’s very important that you exhale COMPLETELY.
This is where posture can be extremely important. It can be quite difficult to fully exhale – or inhale, for that matter – if your posture isn’t correct.
Exhale through your mouth with the purpose of emptying your lungs. It shouldn’t be overly forceful, but it shouldn’t be quite as soft as the inhale either.
A full, proper exhale will lead into the next inhale automatically.
Repeat this deep diaphragmatic breathing for at least 10 minutes every day. The longer you are able to train your awareness to your lower energy center, the more energy you’re able to build.
Remember: Breath is life.
Feel the life energy entering you with each inhale, and store it in your lower dantian with every exhale.
Diaphragmatic breathing will likely be your first step on your Inner Alchemical journey.
You should repeat the above techniques for deep breathing until you have an innate awareness of your lower energy center. Once you’ve built up some energy in this center, you may want to try more forceful diaphragmatic breathing. This is the technique that Wim Hof is known for.
This deep breathing technique is largely the same as the above steps, except that you perform them faster and with more effort.
Inhale quickly while still making sure to fully fill your belly with air, and then completely exhale. Perform this 20-30 times in a short period. This will put stress on your system but can also create a large amount of energy.
After pumping your inner furnace and creating this energy, you can choose where to send it. This is where you want to place your awareness on your different dantians, chakras, extraordinary vessels, etc.
Note: Maintain your focus on your lower dantian to continue building energy that you can redirect later. Simply imagine storing the energy in your lower dantian, feel it swirling into your navel area.
Wim Hof’s method is a great way to quickly cultivate energy in the lower dantian.
Listed here are a few of the most common mistakes made while doing deep breathing techniques.
- Mistake: Breathing into the chest instead of the abdomen.
- How to Avoid: Place one hand on your chest and the other on your abdomen. Focus on making the hand on your abdomen rise and fall with each breath, not the chest.
- Mistake: Trying too hard, which can lead to tension rather than relaxation.
- How to Avoid: Remember, deep breathing should feel effortless. If you find yourself straining, pause, take a few natural breaths, and then try again more gently.
- Note: Some discomfort is expected with more forceful breathing such as in the optional step.
- Mistake: Slouching or compressing the abdomen, which restricts breathing.
- How to Avoid: Practice in a comfortable position with a straight spine, whether sitting, standing, or lying down. Ensure your abdomen isn’t constricted by tight clothing.
- Mistake: Continuing to practice even when feeling light-headed or uncomfortable.
- How to Avoid: Listen to your body. If you begin to feel dizzy or uncomfortable, stop and breathe normally. Gradually increase your practice time as you become more comfortable with the technique.
- Note: These feelings may be a warning that you are breathing incorrectly, be sure to re-evaluate each step of the process to ensure you aren’t doing more harm than good.
- Mistake: Letting the mind wander, reducing the effectiveness of the practice.
- How to Avoid: Gently bring your attention back to your breath whenever you notice your mind wandering. Over time, this will become easier. Control of your awareness is one of the defining characteristics of meditation, don’t be discouraged if it takes time to gain control of it.
Listed here are further resources for breathing techniques, energy centers, and more:
