#740 Aerobic Breathing

Roger Jahnke, O.M.D., 1996 The human system will begin to disorganize and die after several minutes without oxygen. It is a logical progression of thought that leads to the possibility that altering oxygen metabolism might be curative for diseases that have an oxygen deficiency component to their etiology. Both moderate and vigorous body movement and the accompanying muscle work increase oxygen demand in the cells. Evidence from research in exercise physiology demonstrates that muscular activity accelerates the rate of oxygen uptake from the blood. It has been shown that training and practice increase ventilatory threshold, anaerobic threshold and mechanical efficiency. This suggests that regular body movement with increased breath activity supports adaptation toward increased functional efficiency in the uptake and utilization of oxygen from the blood.

One early source (1896) suggests that just the muscular activity of the breath mechanism itself is enough to increase the uptake of oxygen from the blood. This is not a widely accepted idea. However, most traditional systems of medicine include elaborate methods of breath practice. Some exploration of this mechanism for the absorption and utilization of oxygen is being undertaken. A recent animal study demonstrates that the movement of the breathing apparatus alone may generate oxygen demand. Both Qi gong and Yoga/Pranayama include breath practices where there is no body movement except of the breathing apparatus itself. Such research suggests that simple breathing techniques alone may increase the amount of oxygen absorbed from the blood. Individuals who are restricted in their movement due to health problems may have access to some of the benefits that have traditionally been reserved for those who do vigorous exercise.

Hi. My name is Brian. I just received your #191 Secrets of Optimal Natural Breathing manual and all the other 10 tapes. This is great! I read most of the Secrets of Optimal Natural Breathing already. I did both sides of the Tibetan Caffeine tape all at once. I could not believe the response i got from my body! I'm a practitioner of Chinese Martial arts (Shaolin - internal and external) and this is the same kind of response i got from doing Qi Gong breathing and meditation practices. But the Tibetan Caffeine response was MUCH more intense. As with Qi Gong, i felt the buzzing and heat, like energy flowing inside me. Also i missed a few Bowls because of uncontrollable, loud, spontaneous laughter. I couldn't hold back at all. More importantly to me, i feel completely relaxed and at peace.

Whenever i did Qi Gong breathing, i got extremely hot, fidgety, and tense. With the Tibetan caffeine i felt the warm buzzing without the tenseness and being fidgety. I can't wait to listen to all your other tapes.

For the past 4 years or so I've suffered from some form of chronic abnormality. I don't know if it's an illness or not. I really don't care. The symptoms are weakness, no stamina, insomnia, inability to get a deep breath in, sometimes feeling suffocated. Mostly I've tried to live with it and endure. I'm not into whining or complaining attitude. The thing is, i went to a few doctors complaining about this, and they couldn't help me at all. They said i was fine, and implied that this was in my head. One went even so far as to suggest anti-depressants, but I'm not a unhappy person and rarely get depressed. I came to the conclusion that Western doctors can't help me. I tried the very strict Candida diet at the suggestion of a friend who owns a herbal supplement store but this didn't help at all. All along I thought that when my fatigue was cured, my breathing would return to normal. I never thought that my incorrect breathing could be the cause of this until i read you web site. It literally never crossed my mind. Hopefully, i can correct my breathing with your manual and tapes. Thanks a lot!

-- Brian s