2. Breathing and life

   In a physiological view, our life is very interesting. No matter who we are, young or old, we all breath through our lungs using the diaphragm and chest muscles. However, as babies and young children, we breath with a bulging belly. As we begin desiring possessions and indulging in deep thinking at puberty, our respirations start to rise to the chest. Hence, we breath actively in our chest in youth. But our sedentary work environments and life styles, along with the ever-increasing stress of our busy lives, leads us to shallow breathing, and thus, in middle age, we breath slightly using only our upper chest. In old age we breath with moving shoulders. As we further age, our breathing becomes rough and fast. When the number of breaths is equal to the number of beats of the heart, then we will die in less than a day. Therefore, our life can be said to follow the path of breath from the lower abdomen to the shoulders.  
  There is also an energy path in our body which follows this path of breathing. In childhood, energy is concentrated in the feet. This is why children do not feel cold even though they are bare foot in the winter. If you cover their feet with a blanket while they sleep, they will feel a great weight on their feet and kick the blanket away. As they grow, this energy rises to the knees. Thus, they cannot stay still, walking back and forth around a room without being able to remain still. In puberty, this energy flows into the lower belly above the bladder, boys and girls long for each other. As they leave youth and enter middle age, the respirations come up completely to the chest, and they plan their lives, work hard, and make the best effort to accomplish their dreams, eating and drinking heavily. As they feel the twilight of their lives approaching, they try to finish their business. If old age slips up on them unawares, the energy decreases and comes up into the head. They will then have successive concerns to distract them with endless worries and thoughts resulting in chronic sleeplessness. Those who keep well their health will have abundant wisdom and can become leaders of courageous young men, but those who behave unreasonably will meet a tedious and miserable end. In short, it can be said that the energy movement depending on the breathing journey is the path of our lives.
   Thus, drawing down breathing from the shoulders to lower abdomen and energy from the head to the feet are likely to be our most urgent problems. Through the practice of mind cleansing using slow and deep breathing, both problems can be solved and we can enter the path to a purer more satisfying life.
  Let's examine the relationship between breathing and the life span of some animals familiar to us. The turtle breathes two or three times a minute, and its average life span is 250 to 300 years. The elephant breathes five or six times a minute, and its average life span is 150 to 200 years. Man breathes 20 or 25 times a minute, and his average life span is 70 to 80 years. The dog breathes 80 or 90 times a minute, and its average life span is 15 to 20 years.
   In the beginning, it is hard only breathe two or three times a minute like the turtle. In Choong-Ki Danbup, the first practice program of Kouk Sun-Do, we inhale and exhale for 5 seconds respectively, like the elephant, and later if we become proficient, we increase respiration time to 20 seconds like the turtle. We can breathe as deeply as we want through the major movement of the
diaphragm, which is both an involuntary and a voluntary muscle.
  Now, let's examine how deep breathing changes the body. For the average adult, the width of movement of the diaphragm by one ordinary respiration is around 2 cm and the quantity of air circulated is 0.5 liters. Lower abdominal breathing, however, diaphragm move 6 to 8 cm, and the amount of air inhaled is 1.5 to 2 liters (because for every 1 cm lower on the diaphragm the air is taken in accounts for an extra 0.25 liters). This increase in air intake supplies more oxygen to the brain and to all other organs of the body, so that desk-workers and students, who need mental concentration, can dramatically increase their productivity without feeling fatigue, if they practice the lower abdominal exercise. Also, since unnecessary fat in the body is burned away by the smooth supply of oxygen, it helps cure the adult diseases of obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and liver disorder. Because the active movement of the diaphragm gives good stimulation to the stem of the autonomic nervous system, which is connected with the spline part of the diaphragm, it helps the recovery from all disease, by revitalizing the natural healing force of the interbrain and the midbrain. Furthermore, by the contraction and relaxation of organs, following stable and deep breathing, the sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves are harmonized, and thus the autonomic nervous system are strengthened and controlled.
  Moreover, deep breathing requires mental concentration on the lower Danchun. Only through mental concentration, can the energy and blood flow into a focal point, and the Chung (energy) become filled. Indeed, if we integrate breathing with mental concentration, the brain, exited and distorted by everyday life, calms down, the interbrain and the midbrain, which are in charge of the natural healing force, are revitalized, and thus all diseases can be cured by an increase in the natural healing force. Thus, our inherent superhuman ability can be found.
  In addition, with the harmony of the autonomic nerve and the strengthening of abdominal pressure, the digestion-absorption function increases, and the discharging function becomes smoother. Also, because all toxins in our body are picked out and dissolved by the increase in the blood flow of the liver and kidneys, energy and blood are always kept clean and physical function becomes strengthened, so that we can keep the whole body healthy and strong.
  Also, if respiration time increases, breathing becomes deep and even. In turn, all mind fluctuations calm down, allowing us to act prudently and comfortably at all times, without ever exhausting our energy reserves.  The wisdom of realization develops and naturally we become men of depth.