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210
THE SCIENCE OF BREATHING
ideas. The reason is that there is not a sufficient supply of oxygen. Therefore the position of the body is important. The best position is that in which we feel easy. For a Hindu that position is the easiest in which we sit on the floor with the legs crossed. When we stand we must keep our hands perfectly straight and not raise the shoulders, so that the organs will be all in their natural position. In the breathing exercise, first let out the breath so that the lungs are perfectly empty, and then take in the breath slowly, perhaps while the heart beats four times. After that we must retain the breath for two heart-beats or for two moments, and after that we must let out the breath, not all at once, hastily, but slowly by degrees. For that also, we must take the same time, as we did while we breathed in, and then we must take the same time before breathing in, as we did while retaining the breath, that is, two moments. There are other exercises, of course, for a person affected by certain diseases. The rules in that case would be different. temples we make different movements of the body which also have different meanings and are done for a certain purpose. We join our hands before the face or otherwise, but all these motions, and keeping the arms in different positions, are used only to assist the idea which is supposed to be in our minds at that time. The hands crossed before the face show a reverential mood, and a negative or receptive condition, in which we are ready to receive something from a divine source, and if we are in this mood, we are in a fit
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