Air is truly the breath of life. It is
the vital fluid that animates our being;
that stimulates into activity every one
of the billion of cells that go to make up
the body.
It is a fact, conceded by every scientific
man today, that the oxygen in the
air we breathe is absolutely the greatest
purifying force in all Nature.
Yet there is but one way to get oxygen
into your lungs and into your system—and
this is to breathe it in.
As long ago as two thousand years
before the Christian Era, the Chinese
and the Hindoos made elaborate studies
in the art of breathing. Indeed, they
developed a complex science having to
do with control of the breath. Certain
forms of breathing were employed for
the cure of various diseases. Thus, for
example, it was believed that controlled
inhalations and exhalations would allay
fevers; or, in a contrary condition of the
body, induce a salutary rise in temperature.
In India the Buddhist priests were at
pains to practice breath-control so as
always to command deep, quiet action of
the lungs. In this measured breathing
the number of breaths was greatly reduced.
The usual eighteen to twenty-two
breaths per minute were reduced to
six or eight. Experience justified the
theories of the priests concerning the
value of a controlled breathing. Its
merits have stood the tests of ages, and
today, in the Orient proper, breathing
is still deemed the fountain of health.
Aside from the distinctly physical advantages
derived from breath-control,
there results also a poise of mind that is
most desirable in its benefits to the
whole nature of the man.
Later in history both the Greeks and
the Romans practiced controlled breathing
for hygienic purposes and for the
attainment of bodily perfection. They
even went further than the Orientals of
an earlier epoch, for they deliberately
set out to enlarge the chest cavity. They
realized that the principal part of the
body is the trunk, and that in this the
chief constituent is the chest. The success
they attained in the development of
superb physiques is demonstrated by the
examples that survived to us of their
classic art. They were able to attain a
bodily perfection unequaled in the history
of the world. In their methods,
controlled breathing was the chief
agent.
In Europe, during the Middle Ages,
this science of breath suffered from increasing
neglect, and finally died out.
As an appalling commentary on the
neglect of proper breathing by the mass
of mankind, we may consider the fact,
now generally admitted by the medical
profession, that fully one half of the
world’s death-rate is due to consumption.
The fact could hardly be otherwise.
Any experienced physician is well aware
that only a small part of the lungs is
ordinarily used by the average person.
A large portion of the breathing apparatus
is in most cases never employed at
all. Naturally, inevitably, such areas in
the lungs weaken and become degenerate.
They offer a breeding place for the
germs of various infections.
The various systems of gymnastics
are designed for the surface-building of
the body. The exercises affect almost
exclusively the outer muscular structure.
The scientific cultivation of the
breath, on the contrary, acts directly on
the inner, vital organs. These are
strengthened and developed from the
outset. Thus a sure foundation is laid
on which to build toward physical perfection,
and the true beauty which is, or
should be, the heritage of every healthy
man or woman. Any ordinary method
must of necessity prove itself as ineffective
as it is illogical.
The majority of athletes exhibit exterior
muscles of most impressive bulk.
It is a curious fact, however, that the
bony structure, which measures the
chest cavity, shows only a trifling development
when deprived of its muscular
support. It must always be borne
in mind that the strength of the body
lies in its organic power—not in the surface
muscles. In fact, the larger the
surface muscles are, the more strength
is taken from the organic vitality in
order to support and feed them. It is by
reason of this drain upon the inner
forces that athletes so often die young.
Abnormal development of the muscular
system at the expense of organic vitality
is a folly always dangerous, often fatal.
Air is the substance on which principally
we feed. What we eat is of secondary
importance. The purity of the
blood and the strength of the arteries
through which it throbs depend absolutely
upon right breathing. The greater
the quantity of air taken into the lungs,
the more oxygen for the purification of
the blood—the constant and prime requirement
for health.
The system of breathing which I advocate
in this work is not a mere matter
of theory, something vague and experimental.
It is concrete; it is exact;
its worth has been definitely proved.
I have demonstrated the merit of the
exercises in my own case. During a year
and a half of practice my chest measurement
increased from thirty-eight inches
to forty-two.
With many flat-chested and anemic
girls I have seen an equally astonishing
improvement. I have seen their chest
develop, their busts become firm and
rounded, and tell-tale hollows under
their collar bones fill out.
Almost invariably, flabby muscles become
resilient, pale sallow cheeks become
pink with the sweet flush of
healthy youth.
Incidentally, I have discovered a variety
of virtues in controlled breathing. Thus,
in the case of that most annoying among
minor ailments, a cold, I have found that
I could invariably be rid of it within
twenty-four hours by means of strenuous
breathing exercises for twenty minutes
at a time repeated often during the
day.
For a more formal indorsement of
this system, I may refer to the Societe
Internationale de la Tuberculose. An
investigation by the society was reported
favorably at The Hague and London.
In this connection, it should be remembered
that the world at large has
not yet begun to realize the supreme
value of correct, quiet, slow breathing
for general health. Its practice regularly
would unquestionably prove a
preventative of tubercular disease. Its
judicious employment by those already
affected would prove a powerful
remedial agent. Consumptives who seek
the pure air of mountains or plains often
fail to receive benefit, for the simple
reason that they have never learned the
proper manner of breathing. To such,
the best of air is useless as the most
nourishing food to the one who has no
teeth with which to chew.
When one inhales, the lungs seem to
grow. As the cells are filled with air,
the chest proportionately enlarges. At
the same time, the ribs and the diaphragm
assume a new position. The
result is that the chest, the between-rib
muscles, and the diaphragm are all very
strenuously exercised. By proper breathing,
the various muscles involved are
constantly trained; they are developed
and made elastic to such an extent that
the lungs are not required to stand alone
in their resistance against adverse conditions,
both without and within.
The lungs expand during inhalation;
they contract during exhalation. A full
breath dilates the lungs to their maximum
capacity; they relax to the minimum
size when the breath is completely
expelled. By practice one can readily
learn to influence the various movements,
and gradually to control them.
The practice of the first exercises in the
series given includes sudden exhalation,
slow exhalation, and rhythmic exhalation.
These tend to reduce the quantity
of air that is left in the lungs when the
breath is expelled. Such residual air is
poisonous, and an excess of it, due to improper
breathing, is very injurious. Its
retention in the lung cells not only lessens
the space available to be filled with
fresh air, but it also acts as a direct
agent for ill in the bodily processes.
It should be added, and with emphasis,
that the habit of deep breathing makes
one immune to the germs of various
diseases. The practice of breath-control
gives a toughened fiber to the whole
breathing apparatus. This and the constant
purifying of the blood develop the
body’s vital forces to the highest degree
possible, against which disease is rendered
powerless. Thus one may enter
into possession of the health and
strength that are his by right; and thus,
and thus only, shall he know the joy of
life.
Here is an illustration of what may
be done by serious and persistent attention
to breathing. It must be understood,
however, that I by no means advise
others to follow my example, although
I believe it quite possible for anybody—man,
woman, boy or girl—by constant
practice, to develop the same perfect resistance
that I myself have.
For a period of five years, I have made
it a rule to dress in January exactly as
in July—except in the matter of an overcoat.
I go without underclothing, I
wear no waistcoat, (vest). I do not take
exception to the wearing by others of
such garments, during the winter
months. But for myself, as I gradually
learned to take advantage of systematic
breathing exercises and thus to charge
my blood abundantly with oxygen, the
necessity for much clothing disappeared.
Underwear grew to be uncomfortable. I
found myself both happier and healthier
without it. When I wore the heavier
clothing in winter, I suffered from frequent
colds. Now I am rarely troubled
in that manner. If, through carelessness,
I do catch cold, I am able easily to
throw it off within twenty-four hours
by means of extra practice in deep
breathing, together with a short fast.
I do not wish to infer that the heavier
clothing is the cause of colds. My point
is, rather, that the extra amount of oxygen
I take into my blood supplies the
place of the garments formerly worn by
me, as well as acts in consuming, or
burning up, the poisonous material that
gathers in the tissues, and tends to make
you feel cold.
Let me repeat that I do not advise
anyone to experiment with the wearing
of summer apparel in winter until after
several months of systematic breathing
exercises, with the consequent enriching
of the blood. The matter, like that of
the cold bath, is one for individual discrimination.
In my own case, the lighter garb has
become actually a necessity for comfort’s
sake.
Whatever the different systems for
muscular and health development may
be, the value of developing those vital
inner organs—the heart, the lungs and
the digestive organs, is easily understood.
A large arm, or a wonderful leg
development cannot help these inner
organs, if they are naturally weak, or if
they have been weakened. The point is—what
will give health to these organs
the fundamental or motor power to all
health.
Special exercises for the lungs, that
is, conscious deep breathing exercises
for a specific period of time, will give
results which few realize. It is all so
simple that most of us cannot believe it,
like all truths. The maximum oxygenation
of the blood through taking in
large quantities of air—thereby feeding
the organs with purer blood—the
improved circulation, the exhilarated
heartbeat, the drawing away of drowsiness
from the brain, the improved digestion
through the unconscious massage
of the lower organs, all these will show
what results are obtainable. If the
children in our schools were taught conscious,
deep, slow breathing at that
period of their lives when body and mind
are flexible, the habit would be easily
formed for life. This habit would surely
wipe out consumption within two generations.
Millions of human beings die
yearly from this, the greatest human
menace. Why not, therefore, have
schools for breathing. Surely this experiment
is entitled to a place among
the hundreds of other experiments
which have been and which are being
tried.
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE:
Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
