Yoga Philosophy

Author(s): Virchand R Gandhi, Bhagu F Karbhari
Publisher: Devchand Lalbhai Pustakoddhar Fund

Page 61

THE SCIENCE OF BREATHING.
breathe with the chest and sometimes with the abdomen, but this of course is not the case; it is always. the lungs which perform the function of breathing. The real difference is this: when we breathe the chest breathing, we expand the sides of the chest instead of the top or bottom part, and expand the ribs only, and this is called the lung or chest breathing, but when the upper and lower parts are more expanded than the sides the diaphragm is set in motion and the action is also transmitted to the abdomen, and this is called the abdominal breathing. We are to see whether we have breathed in such a way as to expand all sides of this cavity, or in the upper and lower direction, or at the sides. The ribs are different in their action; the middle rib has more stiffness and requires more force to expand it, and when a person breathes only so as to expand the sides he must expend more force. Another difficulty is that when a proper amount of oxygen is not admitted into the system the blood remains impure, and the functions of the other organs cannot be carried on satisfactorily as they should be, but when we breathe abdominally a sufficient amount of oxygen cannot be admitted into the system, and the same is true of the chest breathing. The best system would be that which permits the cavity to be expanded in all directions, and in which all parts of the machinery receive movement as much as possible. We may call this the full or deep breathing, because the whole cavity is then filled with air, and we receive the largest possible
42