Qi Gong: Completing the Circuit

"EL"

A little "off topic".

Why do some Qi Gong require the person to keep the tongue to the roof of the mouth?

(I have searched and found some interesting information apart from what I was told many years ago)

 

Welllll....among other things-

completes or enhances "the circuit",

keeps your mouth from going dry,

keeps your awareness engaged-so y'all don't become slack jawed!

Some advocate rolling the tongue back-no thanks.

 

Seems like a distraction. I would think that Qi Gong is to be relaxed without distractions

 

The only explanation I've found to make sense: Because you close off the air chamber of the mouth from the breath circuit and if it's open it creates some turbulence in the air flow.

Put your tongue on the roof of your mouth and exhale really hard through your nose. You'll feel a smooth transfer of air to your sinuses. Put it on the floor of your mouth and do the same. You should feel a slight difference in the air flow.

 

Hey, that DOES work!

And here I was, thinking it was all about the flow of qi (qi being breath notwithstanding).

It also helps to prevent you biting off your own tongue if someone lamps you one.

 

I was taught in the Yee's school not generally the roof of the mouth but specifically lightly pressed into the hard palate, which is the ridge just above the upper interior gumline. The explanation given was very simple but sensible: breathing with the nose can be done solely with the diaphragm, especially when the tongue is "parked" in this way, whereas breathing in or out using the mouth requires more neck and facial and shoulder muscles as well, making nasal diaphragm breathing literally the most relaxed method of breathing (in terms of total muscular involvement during breathing). If you think about it the Shaolin meditation methods require stillness so the tongue in palate format is ideal to create a nearly motionless form of breathing. Later they'd expand this to the moving fist sets that bear their name and lineage, but they all have their root in zuo chan/za zen. This is still valuable today as a meditative format, in my opinion. By comparison in a sporting competition, you might use the same form of breathing to actively relax your breathing between more explosive events like a fast break, or boxing combination and so forth. Learning how to relax yourself not just generally but at specific times is, I believe, a major advantage to any kind of physical endeavor, but especially martial arts and it's taught throughout the Chinese ones. It's a very common theme.

 

But this does not seem to be "natural" I was once told that Qi is better in infants, or when people were in their infantile stage. How is it natural breathing when one is forcing their body to take up such positions. Still appears to be a distraction

 

If I recall that is because they do more "belly breathing" (or more accurately Diaphragmatic breathing) at that age

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaphragmatic_breathing

 

Also, their spine is more supple, so they "breathe through their back" a bit, which is the hardest type of breathing for adults to master (and probably pointless, but hard work is its own reward, apparently).

"Natural" is subjective.

 

Subjective like how?

 

If you think about it the nose is specifically designed for breathing, whereas the mouth is not. The mouth is used for eating, drinking, and a wide variety of other things. The tongue itself is not necessary for breathing, being a sensory organ it's largely in the way. Many authorities don't view nasal breathing as "unnatural" at all, but it still requires a little practice to get it down (much like diaphragmatic breathing requires practice).

According to various resources (I searched and found a few below) it seems to depend on your actual breathing needs. Nasal breathing from the diaphragm seems to be considered better for overall health and relaxation and light aerobic work, or even some power anaerobic exercise. However if you read the last link below, runners often do better with diagrammatically mouth breathing, because the amount of oxygen required can put too much strain on the nasal passage itself.

My interpretation of all of this is that "learning to breathe" is more nuanced, there is not any one "natural" way to breathe there are multiple ways, multiple "modes" of breathing useful for different purposes, and that learning and especially transitioning through the various stages of breathing is the key skill. Someone good at this should be able to use nasal breathing when it's the best mode for their situation, but switch to mouth breathing when more oxygen is required. Or use both, which is something musicians often have to have to learn (I've met people who can breathe in their nose and out their mouth simultaneously). Or maybe even when to stop breathing, surely a skill in and of itself that many swimmers must master. There is a book I've seen called "Zen Training: Methods and Philosophy" that discusses the nasal breathing used in za zen etc on a physical level and ties it to various "stages" of development, with the advanced stages amounting to essentially an extremely highly efficiency, low impact, low exertion breathing rhythm where breathing is slowed to very low rate of just a handful per minute. It's very intriguing stuff, outside martial arts. I don't think it's well understood within martial arts, hence I've never seen a medical study specifically on it. But I know if I lightly park my tongue in to the hard palate, I can breathe a little easier via the nose. Simple test!

http://breathing.com/articles/nose-breathing.htm

https://ultimatefitness.wordpress.com/2006/10/13/the-importance-of-nasal-breathing/

http://lifespa.com/15-benefits-nose-breathing-exercise/

http://runnersconnect.net/running-a...unning-how-to-breathe-properly-while-running/

 

Subjective because the word doesn't really mean anything... or at least it means very different things to different people.

 

Wouldn't "natural" per breathing, be that of not consciously doing something other?

In almost all of the Martial Art and Fitness gyms I have been/observed, everyone is told to "Breathe In Through The Nose, Exhale Out Through The Mouth

No one consciously holds their tongue 24/7

To put it in another perspective:
How is it that smokers need to inhale through the mouth in order to get the gas/smoke into their lungs? (Per the mouth can also inhale)

 

Like I said, depends who you talk to.

Some would argue that we no longer live in a "natural" way, so we have to be taught how to.

Others would just accept that "natural" doesn't always mean best, and we can intervene to improve function/health.

Also, different people "naturally" breathe in different ways, so I don't se how you could say there is any one "natural" way of breathing.

 

How can one be taught something like breathing while maintain a unconscious thought

Those who seek natural/holistic approaches would seem to go against that (bold) "natural" breathing'

So holding the tongue is natural? Someone actually "goes around" holding their tongue to breathe 24/7?


Now, I beseech, don't misconstrue. I am only "projecting other thoughts for the purity of good rhetorical conversation"

In other words; I am not "trolling"

 

I do, except when I'm talking or eating. I've also always breathed through my nose.

I never thought you were

 

So, you are "consciously" breathing through your nose?

Could it be that the majority of people breathe in through the nose

Could it be that any non-conscious way of breathing (without ailment or other condition) be "natural"

Could it be that people who do not, per breathing in through the mouth, have a ailment, as breathing in through the mouth is not natural

 

Some people are just mouth-breathers.

I tend to avoid them, because they gross me out

Don't get me wrong, he's a nice guy,
I like him just fine,
But he's a mouth breather.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoxXKKQYJYQ"]The Jesus Lizard - Mouth Breather (studio version) - YouTube[/ame]

 

What about Alternate Nostril Breathing