Breathing Foundations in Tai Chi

Breathing Foundations

(From The Dao of Taijiquan: Way to Rejuvenation (Tai Chi) by Jou, Tsung Hwa, Chpt 3)
There are eight different types of breathing methods used in elementary Qigong practice.
1. Natural breath. Regular breath you take without thinking.

2. Cleansing breath. Inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth. It emphasizes exhalation. The purpose is to relax inner tension, an example is sighing.

3. Tonic breath. Inhaling through the mouth and exhaling through the nose. This emphasizes inhalation. You gain energy and improve blood circulation. Uses are lifting heavy weights or diving into a pool.

4. Alternate breath. Inhaling through one nostril and exhaling through the other. Practice with the aid of a finger, later without. Breath becomes controlled, long, slow and deep. It is easier said than done. Can be used to relieve a headache, dizziness or emotional worry. Used in yoga.

5. Natural deep breath. This is like when you stretch your arms wide open and take a deep breath, on top of a mountain or at the seashore.

6. Long breath or abdominal post-birth breath. It is a form of abdominal breathing. When inhaling the lower abdomen expands because of the air coming in, during exhalation the lower abdomen contracts. This breath is breathing from the dantien and used in Tai Chi. This is the breathing technique first learned for Tai chi and Qigong.

7. Pre-birth or prenatal breath. According to traditional Taoist theory, pre-birth breathing imitates the pattern of the fetus in its mother’s womb. When the umbilical cord is cut, pre-birth breathing ceases and post birth breathing from the mouth and nose begins. In the womb, the baby contracts the abdomen upon inhalation, and expands it during expiration. This pattern is also called “reverse breathing.” This type of breathing is an advanced form of breathing used in Tai Chi when doing the form. Two sounds are used in the practice of pre-birth breathing: Heng on the inhale and Ha on the exhale. There is a Qigong devoted entirely to using this breath. Using pre-birth breathing is said to reverse aging. Breathing this way continuously, is an advanced goal in Tai Chi.

8. Tortoise breath. This is a manner of breathing you develop after many years of practicing pre-birth breathing. It is basically very slow reverse breathing, as if you were a great tortoise. This is rarely achieved on a regular basis.

It is understood that there are four parts of the breath: the inhalation, a pause-readiness, the exhalation, and another pause-readiness.

Other forms of breathing, such as for Pilates: in through the nose and out through pursed lips; Yoga breathing, where you concentrate on filling the upper chest on the inhalation, and other special forms of breathing are not discussed in the context of Tai Chi and Qigong.