How To Breathe Like A Taoist

The breath is a powerful tool that helps you live your best life!

Join me as we explore an ancient Daoist practice called “Taoist True Breathing”. In this guided meditation, experience for yourself how the breath can powerfully help you calm down, build mindfulness, and so much more.

Transcript

I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news,

But according to the Taoists,

You probably are not breathing properly.

When you think of Taoism,

You may think of Tai Chi or Qi Gong,

These soft,

Flowing,

Moving meditations,

But the Taoists,

They can be strict too.

In particular,

We're going to explore something called Taoist true breathing,

And it's a breathing practice that has been really transformational for me.

Every single one of my meditations,

I use Taoist true breathing,

And because the breath is connected to our minds and our bodies through the nervous system,

It can have powerful effects,

Not just in our meditation practice,

But also for the rest of our lives.

So it gives me great pleasure,

And it is a privilege to explore some of these practices with you.

So here's a quote from The Secret of Opening the Passes in the 1100s.

Describing this practice of Taoist true breathing,

The breath through your nose becomes light and subtle,

Continuously and quietly,

Gradually becoming slighter and subtler.

Then your breath becomes so subtle,

It's on the borderline of existence and non-existence.

After a long time,

True breath naturally remains,

And there seems to be no flow of air through the nose at all.

So we can understand three key features of Taoist true breathing,

Is that your breath becomes so light and subtle that it's almost imperceptible.

Secondly,

It is continuous breathing,

So there's no breath holds.

And thirdly,

It is natural,

It is effortless.

And yes,

We'll start with some conscious breathing practice at the start,

But then hopefully over time,

We can make this part of just how we breathe during our meditations,

And then perhaps even in the rest of our lives as well.

So why don't we experience it together,

My friends.

So you can be sitting in any way you'd like,

Or do maybe around 10 minutes of practice.

And if you're sitting in a chair or sitting on the floor,

Sitting with dignity.

So imagining there's a piece of string attached to the ceiling to the top of your head,

Feel a lengthening of your spine,

A slight tuck of the chin.

So not having the chin out,

A slight tuck.

If you're sitting on a chair,

Bringing the back of your spine off the back of the chair,

If you can.

So sitting with dignity,

Upright,

And then relaxed.

Relaxing into your seated practice today.

And if it feels comfortable for you,

I invite you to close your eyes and begin to arrive.

Relaxing your face.

If there's any tension in your forehead,

Allow it to release.

If there's any tension in the cheeks or the jaw,

Allow them to soften.

If there's any tension in the eyes,

Allow them to release.

And giving yourself permission to just really land now.

We've got this brief time of presence together,

Exploring these timeless practices to help us live well,

To be empowered,

To take ownership and leadership over our wellness.

So softening even more.

Can you invite any more softness into your practice right now?

Parking any planning or thinking or worrying.

Plenty of time for that afterwards.

Giving yourself permission to just be here.

And placing your awareness on your breath.

Breathing in and out through your nose.

Begin to slow down your breath.

Slow down your breath.

Now sending the breath deep down into you.

So as you breathe in,

Releasing stomach tension,

Feel a sinking of the breath.

Feel an expansion in your stomach and your side ribs.

And as you breathe out,

A slight tension pushing the air back out.

Sending the breath deep,

No movement in your shoulders,

No movement in your chest.

Releasing tension,

Sending the breath deep and checking back in with the face.

If there's any tension there,

Continue to release,

Continue to sink.

We're going to start our journey towards Taoist true breathing with a practice called box breathing,

Which is where we hold our breath in and hold our breath out.

And holding the breath both in and out gives us more control over our breathing muscles.

And so let's try it together.

Breathing in for five,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five.

Holding the breath in for five,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five.

Breathing out for five,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five.

Holding the breath out for five,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five.

Breathing in,

Nice and relaxed.

Holding the breath,

Holding the breath down,

A soft hold.

Breathing out,

Slow,

Kind exhale.

Holding the breath out,

Gentle hold.

Breathing in,

Hold the breath.

Breathe out,

Holding the breath out.

Breathing in,

Holding the breath in,

And breathing out.

Holding the breath out.

So continue this box breathing in your own rhythm.

And the invitation now is,

As you approach those holds,

Is to do so very gently.

So if you imagine a wave,

A wave doesn't have sharp holds at the top of the wave or the bottom of the wave.

Instead,

If we imagine a nice smooth wave,

Your breath very gently approaches that hold,

Gently leaves it,

Gently approaches the hold of the breath out,

And then gently breathing back in.

And instead of thinking about holding the breath,

Now think of a pause.

So we're reducing those holds now to a pause.

So you breathe in,

Gently approach the fullness of breath,

Pausing,

Breathing out,

Gently approaching emptiness.

Naturally,

Softly pausing,

And then breathing in.

So whether this feels forced or smooth,

All of it is welcome.

No need for thoughts of,

Am I doing this right?

Just as soft as you can today.

Gently approaching a fullness of breath,

Gently approaching emptiness,

And pausing either side.

Checking in with the face,

Softening any tension.

Can you now slow the breath even more?

So this whole wave function with a gentle pause either side,

Can you slow this process down even more?

So that the breath becomes almost imperceptible.

And this will take practice and time,

But just doing the best that you can today.

Slowing that breath down,

And perhaps without needing to label or think,

Just noticing how slowing the breath down feels right now.

What does it feel like to have this slow,

Continuous breathing?

Your attention on your breath,

Slowly coming in,

A gentle pause,

Slowly coming out,

A gentle pause.

And now an invitation to move from doing to being.

Wherever your breath is now,

Just allow it to be as it is.

If it speeds up again,

That's okay.

Transforming this active practice now into an observation,

An observation of this soft,

Mindful breathing.

Can you soften even more?

What could relax right now?

Watching the breath,

And the silence,

Let it expand in you,

The spaciousness,

And ease.

We cannot control our headspace,

Our feelings or our thoughts,

But we can choose how we breathe.

And as we slow the breath down.

The breath is one of the few functions of the body that we can both consciously control,

And it's also automatic.

We breathe thousands of times a day without us needing to think about it,

But we can also choose how to breathe.

And so this is why the breath is so powerful for our mental health and our wellness,

Is that although we can't choose to be not anxious,

We can't tell our heart to stop beating as quickly,

We can't stop that tension in our stomach,

We can choose to slow down our breath and to breathe in a more relaxed manner,

Which automatically sends soothing signals through the nervous system.

And one of the most powerful breathing practices that we can do is something called 4-7-8 breathing.

So my friends,

Wherever you are in your headspace today,

You're welcome.

And I invite us to not try and fix ourselves or fix our headspace,

But simply let's just breathe together,

Taking five of these 4-7-8 breaths.

With no expectations of this needing to fix anything,

But nonetheless using the power of the breath to maybe find some ease today.

And so you can be sitting anywhere you'd like to,

And if it feels safe for you,

Closing your eyes,

Relaxing your face,

If there's any tension in your forehead,

The cheeks or your jaw,

Allow them to sink and to release.

And breathing in and out through the nose,

Begin to slow your breath down.

Can you soften even more?

And let's try five of these breaths together.

Breathing in for four,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Holding the breath for seven,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

And breathing out for eight,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Eight.

Breathing in,

Nice and slow,

Holding the breath,

A soft hold,

Holding the breath down,

Relaxing the face.

Breathing out,

Slow to begin,

Consistent all the way through,

Not pushing too much at the end.

Breathing in,

Holding the breath,

Breathing out.

Can you soften even more?

Breathing in,

Holding the breath,

And breathing out.

Breathing in,

Holding the breath,

Breathing out.

Continuing to breathe slow and mindfully,

Relaxing the face and just taking a moment to thank yourself,

To show up for your wellness,

To be curious about how the breath can help you.

This is a practice you can begin to bring into your everyday.

You notice your breath is shallow and you're stressed.

Okay,

Slow my breath down,

A gentle hold,

A slow exhale,

And coming back into your space,

Opening your eyes,

Taking as long as you want,

Bringing some movement to your body,

Some shoulder rolls.

Gratitude,

My friend,

Sending strength to you for the rest of your day.

Reviews

Thank you George 🙏