Womb Breathing Qigong For Deep Relaxation
Mar 05, 2021We are often taught in many healing modalities to breathe a deep breath. What if I told you there is a breath that can calm you deeply all the way to your soul, and it was not deep breathing, would you believe me? Womb Breathing Qigong is going back to what it was like to breathe in the womb.
What is Womb Breathing Qigong?
- It is a stage of the Primordial Breath (read more about the Primordial Breath Qigong)
- Lower dan tian breathing
- Like breathing in the womb
When can it be used?
- The stage before wuji breath in Primordial Breath Qigong
- At the end of the white tiger breath
- In Zhan Zhuang at the end of your Qigong practice
- To go to sleep
- Anytime you feel anxiety/stress (read about Chinese Medicine has methods to resolve anxiety)
- If you feel you are breathing too heavy
How to know if you are doing Womb Breathing Qigong correctly?
- The breath should feel effortless
- The breath is silent/inaudible
- The breath is so soft you can hold a feather in front of your nose and it won’t move
- In the first 2-4 minutes you feel a controlled breathlessness
- You are belly breathing.
- Breath is so soft you can hold a feather in front of your nose and it won’t move (high level)
Who is this breathing exercise good for?
- People who are heavy breathers.
- People with insomnia.
- People with anxiety or stress.
- People who get angry or frustrated easily.
- People who want to relax.
Womb Qigong Breathing Exercise Instructions :
Take a cleansing breath. Take 3 filling balloon breaths. Now take an inhalation that is 80% of your capacity, focusing on the lower Dan Tian expanding. Your exhalation is passive, natural, and relaxed. As you exhale focus on the Dan Tian condensing. As you exhale feel your whole body and spirit relaxing with the breath. Allow the next inhalation to come naturally so if your body pauses between the breath that is OK, but doesn't control the pause. This will allow the diaphragm to engage and exercise its elastic recoil. On the next breath, breathe in to 60% of your capacity. And follow the same steps. Now breathe at this level until it becomes easy and effortless and then shave off another 20% so you are breathing in at 40% capacity. You should feel light, but controllable breathlessness. The key here is to keep relaxing the breath, relaxing the body, and relaxing your mind and spirit. Thus, breathing becomes easier and easier.
Key Points for Practice:
- Completely relax the body using Melting into Nothingness
- Bring awareness to the breath
- Controlled diaphragmatic breathing with a push out on inhale and squeeze in on exhale for 8 breaths
- Controlled push out on inhale and passive exhale
- Allow the inhalation to happen automatically from the elastic recoil of the diaphragm