The Tao of Natural Breathing_ For Health, Well-Being, and Inner Growth - Dennis Lewis [58]
Closed: One feels any one of a variety of negative emotions, including arrogance, self-pity, impatience, and hatred.
Opened: One feels joy, love, patience, honesty, and respect for oneself and others.
Solar Plexus Center
This center is about three-quarters of the way up between the navel and the bottom of the sternum. This center is related to several organs, including the stomach, spleen, pancreas, and liver. It is in the cauldron of the solar plexus that Taoists believe that the sexual energy (ching) and life-force energy (chi) are transformed into spiritual energy (shen). Mantak Chia believes that although it is important for the solar plexus center to be opened, “if it is too open, one may be overly sensitive to the thoughts, feelings, and opinions of others, to the point of being unable to shut off mental and emotional static when in the company of others.”62
Closed: One feels panic and worry. One is overly cautious.
Opened: One feels a sense of inner freedom, and the ability to take risks on behalf of oneself or others.
NOTES
1 P. D. Ouspensky, In Search of the Miraculous (New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1949), p. 387.
2 Karlfried Durckheim, Hara: The Vital Center of Man (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1970), pp. 154-55.
3 Of course, hyperventilation can be a powerful tool in the work of transformation. On pages 170-184 of Stanislov Grof’s book The Adventure of Self-Discovery (New York: State University of New York Press, 1988), the author, a well-known psychiatrist and founder of “holotropic therapy,” points out that sustained hyperventilation helps to loosen psychological defenses and bring about a “profound emotional release and physical relaxation.” Grof believes that this occurs not just through the traditional psychiatric mechanism of catharsis, but also because hyperventilation brings to the surface “deep tensions” in the form of “lasting contractions and prolonged spasms ... that consume enormous amounts of pent-up energy.” In Grof’s framework, it is the eventual burning up of this energy through these sustained contractions and spasms that brings about psychophysical transformation. This is usually intensely emotional work, and the person undertaking it may require a great deal of individual therapeutic attention. What’s more, according to Grof, since hyperventilation initially amplifies and makes manifest the various psychophysical tensions in the organism, it is important to continue this form of breathing until resolution and release take place. As fascinating and important as Grof’s work is, it is my intent in this book to show how it is possible to rediscover our natural, authentic breath in the ordinary conditions of life, without the need for psychiatric help. I will not, therefore, explore the therapeutic techniques of hyperventilation any further.
4 See, for example, The Jade Emperor’s Mind Seal Classic: A Taoist Guide to Health, Longevity and Immortality, trans. Stuart Alve Olson (St. Paul: Dragon Door Publications, 1992), pp. 69-71.
5 Lao Tzu, The Complete Works of Lao Tzu, trans. Ni, Hua-Ching (Santa Monica, Calif.: Seven Star Communications, 1989), p. 14.
6 This “ultradian” rhythm, long observed by medical science, is related to the functioning of the brain hemispheres and can play an important role in healing. When the left nostril is more open, the right hemisphere of the brain is generally more dominant; when the right nostril is more open, the left hemisphere is generally more dominant. One can intentionally open a nostril that is more congested and thus make the other hemisphere more active by lying down on one’s side with the congested nostril above and continuing to breathe through the nose. If one is feeling out of sorts or has a headache, trying this experiment for 15 or 20 minutes can often bring relief.
7 Swami Rama, Rudolph Ballentine, and Alan Hymes, Science of Breath: A Practical Guide