The Normal Breath: Sit in a comfortable position, either cross-legged or in a

;traight chair. Keep your spine erect, so you are sitting tall and straight. The
shoulders and chest are relaxed. Place one hand on your abdomen. Take a light
breath through the nose, and as you do, let the abdomen fill and extend outward.
The chest should not move at all. This breath is like lilling a balloon. As you
inhale, the abdomen expands. As you exhale, it collapses. This is very important.
Go over this again and again. For about two minutes, practice easy, gentle
breathing, expanding the abdomen as you inhale, and collapsing it as you exhale.
This is the relaxed breathing that you should maintain during the day. You do not
need to continually practice this breath with your hand on your abdomen. Initially,
however, that helps to monitor the breath.

Note: It is important to inhale through the nose, as inhaling through the mouth
bypasses energy regulating mechanisms in the body-mind, and can lead to imbalances
including physical and emotional problems. Be sure to inhale regularly through the
nose. Exhalation may be either through the nose or mouth.

The Long Deep Breath: This is similar to the normal breath, except that it is
deeper. This time, put one hand on your abdomen, and one in the middle of your
chest. This is only for learning the breath correctly, not for regular practice. As
you take a breath, fill your abdomen as before in the Normal Breath. Continue the
breath until your lungs are also full, and your chest is expanded. Then gently
exhale. It is important that you work with this breath until you perform it
correctly, easily. The Long Deep Breath is much like filling a glass of water. You
' pour water in from the top, but the glass fllls from the bottom up. It is the
same with the breath. Breath comes in from the top of your body, but you till up
from your lower abdomen, and then your chest. Practice this for several minutes
every day, until you have perfected the breath.