Exhaling Stale Breath

Discussion of meditation in the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions.
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HandsomeMonkeyking
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Exhaling Stale Breath

Post by HandsomeMonkeyking »

Is it physiologically actually true that stale breath is in the body and with exercises we clean it out?
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justsit
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Re: Exhaling Stale Breath

Post by justsit »

When a person at rest breathes, approximately 500ml of air is exchanged between the lungs and the environment; the full capacity of the lungs is not exchanged with each breath. When the person exercises and increases breathing rate and depth, greater amounts of air are exchanged. Here is more information on the amounts and the medical terms for each: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lung_volumes.

So in a way the "residual volume" could be described as "stale," although it is not the exact same molecules that stay in the lungs with each breath. Hope that makes sense.
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Virgo
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Re: Exhaling Stale Breath

Post by Virgo »

HandsomeMonkeyking wrote: Mon Oct 16, 2017 9:58 pm Is it physiologically actually true that stale breath is in the body and with exercises we clean it out?
In general, we use this excercise to clear the channels. This way we are less under the sway of the Three Poisons (each one related to a certain channel). It's part of the fast tantric approach.

Kevin
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