To: K-list
Recieved: 2003/08/04 09:22
Subject: Re: [K-list]East and West
From: Richard Friedel
On 2003/08/04 09:22, Richard Friedel posted thus to the K-list:
There is a clear discrepancy between the teaching of pranayama and
western medicine on diaphragmatic breathing.
According to western medicine:
http://www.emedicine.com/pmr/topic181.htm
"Some patients may benefit from this technique [diaphragmatic
breathing]. The patient is taught to employ only the diaphragm during
inspiration and to maximize abdominal protrusion."
However this maneuver may be done without inhaling at all while holding
the nose and mouth closed.
In contrast see the painstaking analysis of pranayama by André van
Lysebeth in: Pranayama, The Yoga of Breathing (probable title of the the
English translation).
He has a picture headed "Inhalation without control of the abdominal
wall". There is a distinctly pot-bellied effect.
See http://www.lrz-muenchen.de/~s3e0101/webserver/webdata/Lysebeth2.jpg
He explains (see figure on the right) "After an expiration with the aid
of the diaphragm without control of the abdominal wall the diaphragm has
been lowered and the base of the lungs has filled with air. Note that
the abdominal cavity, which at the start was egg-shaped, has been
flattened at the top without however any substantial change in volume.
The organs have been displaced downwards and forwards. In the course of
time a permanent change in the abdominal wall my result. Respiration
becomes more and more belly breathing. The organs, which are filled with
an excess of blood, are constipated (or blocked), circulation is slowed
down and biological processes retarded. This manner of breathing, which
is normally not to be recommended is impossible in pranayama, for in
addition to other disadvantages, rib cage and lung apex respiration is
put at risk. The two following drawings show correct respiration with
control of the abdominal wall."
The other, left figure shows "Yogi inhalation with control of the
abdominal wall"
He states "During an inhale the "diaphragm piston" goes down. At the end
of an inhale it has gone down just as far as breathing without any
control of the abdominal wall. There is therefore no decrease in the
amount of inspired air, although the abdominal wall is elastically
retained instead of giving away to the mass of the internal organs,
pushed back by the diaphragm.
Underneath the navel the abdominal wall remains drawn in (not cramped)!
Above the navel it gives away slightly without stopping control and
without stopping keeping hold of the organs which are moved outwards by
the diaphragm."
The diaphragm may be moved down more or less voluntarily without
breathing in, but then the abdomen is pushed outwards and there is no
diaphragmatic breathing action, which may only be caused by "unlocking"
the diaphragm by inhaling, especially with a sniffing effect.
This gives the feeling that something low down in the abdomen is being
"clenched". The intraabdominal pressure is much greater than when
pushing the belly around.
In any case, the use of a sniff to stimulate the diaphragm is well known
the west for singing instruction.
Be glad to hear if you can throw any light on this.
If western pharmacology is presently scrutinizing herbal medicines used
in the developing world to see if they might be used in the west, then
the same principle should apply for physiotherapeutic techniques.
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