Buddhist and Taoist Breathing: The Two Ways to Use Empty-Full Moon

We learned about the Empty Moon and Full Moon breathing skill last week, and this week we are going to talk about the two ways to use this skill.

Buddhist Breathing: When inhaling, expand the abdominal and back muscles to full moon. When exhaling, move the abdominal and back muscles inward to empty moon. On a mental level, do the lower energy center visualization, and continuously loop the mind back there when it begins to wander to other thoughts. When you breath in, picture the energy ball expanding with your muscles, and when you breath out, picture it contracting.

Taoist Breathing: When inhaling, contract the abdominal and back muscles to empty moon. When exhaling, move the abdominal and back muscles outward to full moon. On a mental level, do the lower energy center visualization, and continuously loop the mind back, just like in Buddhist Breathing. When you breath in, picture the energy ball condensing as your muscles pull in, and when you breath out, picture it expanding as your muscles push away.

Buddist breathing will feel the most natural at first, but both types of breathing are very important to overall health and lung function.