The Libra Centre.

Breathing.

As we stand at the threshold of a new and exciting existence, it would be as well to elaborate for you some of the techniques used to achieve the higher state of consciousness you will require to progress further and further into new realms of knowledge and understanding. The most basic of these techniques is the art of breathing. Now I realise that you breathe unconsciously all the time, but as breathing is so fundamental to life, it is well to have a fuller understanding of it and bring it into consciousness. Start by becoming aware of your breathing for a moment. This will allow you to make a comparison between your natural breathing rhythm, which is different for everyone, and the conscious breathing which you are about to experiment with.

Now you are going to take a deep breath, because I want you to see the difference between normal breathing and deep breathing. Breathe through your nose. for as long as you can, it should be one long in-breath but if you are new to this it will probably have to be a series of short breaths. I want you to really fill up those lungs. when you have done as much as you can, breathe out. and out, what I want you to do is really empty those lungs. Now repeat the process again. do this three times to begin with and work your way up to 9 breathes, 3 times a day. Remember they need to be really deep breaths. It is as well to have loose clothing and if possible fresh clean air. This is your Health Breath. You will find yourself filled with a new vitality as you make this part of your daily routine.

The next breathing exercise is rhythmic breathing. This is more of an experiment than anything else so you will need a notebook. To get the idea of what to do follow this. breathe in for a count of four, hold for a count of four, breathe out for a count of four, hold for a count of four. This is the four stages involved with breathing. In the above we have used a count of four on all four stages. Many people will tell you this is the so and so breath and will induce so and so. What I want you to do is to do this four count breath for five minutes, then record in your notebook what experiences you had, did it have any effect, did it alter your mood, how did you feel. was the rhythm balanced, did any section feel better than any other section. Now I want you to vary the count, breath in for four. hold for eight, out for four, hold for eight. do this for five minutes and then write in your notebook, same as before. Vary the counts any way you like, experiment, find out for yourself. Be vigilant, sometimes the differences can be very subtle. Always have a short break of normal breathing between experiments. And always repeat each experiment over several days, and write it down, do not just think it. be methodical, be scientific, be a Spiritual scientist.

Now you may be wondering why I don't just tell you which breathing rhythm to use to induce which effects, well there are two reasons, one, you have your own rhythm and therefore each different rhythm will have a different effect on different people and two, you need to find out for your self, to test and to prove, it is called independent investigation of the truth and is the way The Libra Centre recommends, follow no man blindly, you have been blessed with a rational brain, use it, and set yourself free.