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Heavy Breathing
In my opinion, contemporary occultism doesn't pay nearly enough attention to vigorous breathing methods. It's usually all about breathing calmly while endeavouring to still the mind – which is important, of course, but there are other pranayama techniques like ("Bellows Breath") or ("Skull-Shining Breath") which employ quite rapid and forceful inhalations and exhalations.
Yoga is an arduous, ascetic path very much rooted in Hinduism which the NewAge movement in the West has turned into feel-good gymnastics for relaxation and stress relief. Moreover, I would claim that this appropriation goes back even further, to the days of the British Empire. As several authors have pointed out, colonialists usually accepted literate native cultures to a certain extent but despised 'savages' without their own written language. What's more, to be regarded as 'civilised', the colonized had to show restraint and composure in their public affairs; open displays of passion and sensuality were other telltale signs of primitiveness and racial inferiority. Graceful temple dances were ok, ecstatic revelries accompanied by wild drumming definitely not. It's my theory that this attitude also rubbed off on Mme. Blavatsky and all subsequent Western currents like the NewAge. Henceforth, if you wanted to call yourself 'spiritual', you were forced to make a show of being all calm and serene as befitting your allegedly elevated stage of inner development while in actuality, it was just the old stiff upper lip displayed by Her Majesty's officers of the Raj. Under this prim and proper Victorian code, sitting still while meditating was acceptable but any whiff of rowdiness was not, and that of course includes loud breathing. This slant towards quietude in spiritual exercises prevails to this day - gentlemen don't pant and grunt (in public, that is
). Breathing katas, however, involve a lot of panting and grunting (as well as sweat if you really lean into them!).
Goju-ryu's kata is admittedly a drastic example to prove my point about whole-body tension accompanied by forceful breathing. Seen from a layperson's perspective, it probably looks bizarre, and even to a shotokan karateka, it feels a bit alien and extreme. Unlike , goju-ryu karate makes no claims that sanchin will bestow invulnerability on its practitioners, only common-or-garden toughness - you have to tense your entire body to withstand physical impacts, whether you're dishing it out or receiving. Shotokan teaches this principle in the course of its general basic drills, goju-ryu (as well as other styles) has special katas to this end. Different starting points, same aim.
In my mind, one of the key purposes of such breathing katas is that they allow you to feel your own power, letting you observe how it unfolds in these slow forceful movements. It's a unique experience, not like the moderate tension as in the shotokan katas in my two previous posts – it ratchets up the intensity of one's kata practice up to 11. What I think sanchin does is pumping your body full of energy, whether generated by your own metabolism or drawn from the air into your lungs.
Whole-body tension and deep diaphragmatic breathing will add emphasis to any ritual gestures you might employ. You could also perform other exercises you already know in this manner to build up an energy charge inside your body before you begin your ritual, almost literally getting pumped. I think it's a simpler and possibly more reliable method of energy generation than qigong which will take some time to learn under a good instructor – all you have to do is clench all your muscles, inhale through your nose, and exhale through your mouth with every movement, and that's it.
In my opinion, contemporary occultism doesn't pay nearly enough attention to vigorous breathing methods. It's usually all about breathing calmly while endeavouring to still the mind – which is important, of course, but there are other pranayama techniques like ("Bellows Breath") or ("Skull-Shining Breath") which employ quite rapid and forceful inhalations and exhalations.
Yoga is an arduous, ascetic path very much rooted in Hinduism which the NewAge movement in the West has turned into feel-good gymnastics for relaxation and stress relief. Moreover, I would claim that this appropriation goes back even further, to the days of the British Empire. As several authors have pointed out, colonialists usually accepted literate native cultures to a certain extent but despised 'savages' without their own written language. What's more, to be regarded as 'civilised', the colonized had to show restraint and composure in their public affairs; open displays of passion and sensuality were other telltale signs of primitiveness and racial inferiority. Graceful temple dances were ok, ecstatic revelries accompanied by wild drumming definitely not. It's my theory that this attitude also rubbed off on Mme. Blavatsky and all subsequent Western currents like the NewAge. Henceforth, if you wanted to call yourself 'spiritual', you were forced to make a show of being all calm and serene as befitting your allegedly elevated stage of inner development while in actuality, it was just the old stiff upper lip displayed by Her Majesty's officers of the Raj. Under this prim and proper Victorian code, sitting still while meditating was acceptable but any whiff of rowdiness was not, and that of course includes loud breathing. This slant towards quietude in spiritual exercises prevails to this day - gentlemen don't pant and grunt (in public, that is
). Breathing katas, however, involve a lot of panting and grunting (as well as sweat if you really lean into them!).Goju-ryu's kata is admittedly a drastic example to prove my point about whole-body tension accompanied by forceful breathing. Seen from a layperson's perspective, it probably looks bizarre, and even to a shotokan karateka, it feels a bit alien and extreme. Unlike , goju-ryu karate makes no claims that sanchin will bestow invulnerability on its practitioners, only common-or-garden toughness - you have to tense your entire body to withstand physical impacts, whether you're dishing it out or receiving. Shotokan teaches this principle in the course of its general basic drills, goju-ryu (as well as other styles) has special katas to this end. Different starting points, same aim.
In my mind, one of the key purposes of such breathing katas is that they allow you to feel your own power, letting you observe how it unfolds in these slow forceful movements. It's a unique experience, not like the moderate tension as in the shotokan katas in my two previous posts – it ratchets up the intensity of one's kata practice up to 11. What I think sanchin does is pumping your body full of energy, whether generated by your own metabolism or drawn from the air into your lungs.
Whole-body tension and deep diaphragmatic breathing will add emphasis to any ritual gestures you might employ. You could also perform other exercises you already know in this manner to build up an energy charge inside your body before you begin your ritual, almost literally getting pumped. I think it's a simpler and possibly more reliable method of energy generation than qigong which will take some time to learn under a good instructor – all you have to do is clench all your muscles, inhale through your nose, and exhale through your mouth with every movement, and that's it.