Tai Chi Breathing: 9 Guidelines to Improve Your Practice

If you are unsure about the intricacies of tai chi breathing, this section is going to be refreshing for you. In the beginning, breathing is not something you have to worry about much as your job is to concentrate on learning the movements of the form. Breathing will improve simply by relaxing and practicing. Once you complete the form and have been practicing for a while, it’s time to start thinking critically about the timing and depth of your inhales and exhales. The good news is that for this point in your development there are nine signposts or suggestions that will have you breathing correctly and therefore feeling better. And when you have memorized the form and maybe learned a second form or weapon, it’s time to learn about and employ reverse breathing.

Tai chi breathing is deep, abdominal breathing where inhales and exhales are coordinated with movements of the body. As a general rule, breathing is continuous and deep while inhaling and exhaling through the nose. Tai chi breathing patterns relax the nervous system to reduce stress and improve wellbeing as well as teach how to store breath to power punches, kicks, and throws.

Unraveling the Misunderstanding Surrounding Tai Chi Breathing

It is important to begin by talking about several misconceptions and myths related to breathing while doing tai chi. The movements of tai chi are so scripted that it is natural to think that there are corresponding breathing patterns that exactly match each movement. However, too much focus on the breath takes you away from the main reason to do the form; to relax and return the body to a sense of equilibrium.

Secondly, tai chi breathing is not perfectly long and continual because throughout the form different breathing patterns are acceptable. Typically, we do want long continuous breaths, but short quick breaths are also employed during powerful movements and for quick transitions. So breathing is always low and full into the belly but can happen at different speeds.

Thirdly, trying to standardize instructions for movements and breathing completely ignores what state you are in when you begin the form. For example, on any given day I can arrive at class: hyper from too much coffee, exhausted from a long day at work, happy, under the weather, chilled, or sweating from the heat. How I am breathing at the beginning of the form is very different from how I end it. And how I am breathing at the beginning of our two hour class is different from how I am breathing at the end. The goal is always to move towards a calm slow, strong state no matter where you are starting from.

Fourthly, it is very difficult to match the inhales and exhales of the people around you. Each of us has different lung capacities, coordination, and speed of movement. Even the size of your torso versus the people standing next to you will influence the volume of air that you are inhaling and exhaling. If you are trying to match a classmate or teacher, it will not be right for you.

As we begin to unravel the complexities of breathing, don’t misinterpret it as very prescriptive list of instructions. Other activities like yoga, meditation, and qigong might have specific breathing patterns that you don’t deviate from but that is not what we are after here. Use the breath to help transition from a less desirable state to a more desirable state. Take into consideration the people around you, the temperature, events in your day or life, and even the season. Work to be in a better place than when you began the form. Then, begin the form again from this new relaxed, stretched, warmer, calmer place and transition again to greater heights.

Breathing is Important, But is Not a Focus Until the Form is Learned

Learning how to breathe is further complicated by contradictory information being offered by different Western teachers and on the internet. In researching this chapter, here are just a few suggestions that I read:

“Breathing is the most important aspect of Tai Chi because breath is life!”

And what about this?

“Just breathe naturally.”

Or this?

“There is no Chi in Tai Chi if you don’t know how to breathe.”

Conceptually, there is a problem with hardline thinking. Tai Chi instruction begins with form work sometimes for months, before breathing is addressed. In the many conferences and workshops that I have attended, breathing is only addressed at a cursory level where masters instruct you when to inhale or exhale during the form. Outside of qigong and meditation, it is not a topic that is addressed in isolation and never taught first before you begin any moves.

You must learn the form first to be able to understand the ins-and-outs of breathing because it is difficult to learn the movements and something else that is new simultaneously. There is a mental part to breathing where you are thinking about your breath and moving it around in your body. For most of us in the West, this is completely new territory and a bit much to ask when we already have the difficulty of learning the form. This doesn’t mean it’s difficult. You just need some familiarity with the movements of the form so that you are not trying to simultaneously remember how to move and when to inhale and exhale.

2 Myths About Tai Chi’s Breathing Patterns

It’s a Secret

Some would have you believe that tai chi breathing is a higher level skill that is only passed down to higher level students of great masters. However, getting new to medium-term practitioners to breathe correctly is no secret and information is shared freely by any master or teacher when asked. What I have come to realize is that during workshops or individual instruction, masters are continually assessing where we are as a group or individual and giving us the next most important key. It’s in their best interest that everyone’s tai chi improves and spreads globally. When someone performs the form relatively well they just start to have better questions that could not have been asked at an earlier stage.

At a higher level, breathing is practiced separately when it is associated with qi gong, silk reeling, and standing meditation. These improvements are naturally integrated back into the tai chi form. Reverse breathing is another topic that is introduced independently and only after a student has made some progress. As we will see in the last section, it’s not because it is a secret but because it can halt your breathing and cause a stressed state before you figure it out. This would work against the goal of tai chi to move you into a more relaxed, awake state.

It’s Esoteric

Breathing is simply not something that is discussed in Western pursuits outside of sports. Even in these situations, considerations are most often centered on breathing more slowly and deeply. Conversely, in other cultures, religions, and practices it plays a central role. I would argue that it was a part of Western culture and religions through prayer, song, and work but has just been lost. The word “spirit” as an example is derived from Latin (spiritus) meaning breath. Spirit, inspire, expire… how much closer to breath can you get than that? So breathing is foreign or other-worldly but only because it is a new topic to us and Eastern pursuits have developed breathing to such a high level that most of us have not yet conceptualized.

Here is how it’s esoteric: You can develop your breathing to a level of turning off your mind and using imagery to interact with what feels like everything at once: a.k.a. the universe. It is beautiful and a noble pursuit and is achievable after a ton of work.

Here is how it is not. It is physiological. You are timing your breath with the constrictions of your muscles to maximize blood flow. You are sending messages to your parasympathetic system to calm down by elongating your exhales. You are breathing into the belly to maximize oxygen uptake and creating repetitive abdominal pressure on the organs, so they function well. You are inhaling only through your nose which releases nitric oxide, a beneficial gas that helps to improve oxygen uptake.

Understand that breathing correctly is not only a possibility for every practitioner but is something you should begin working on as soon as you have a series of movements memorized. If you already know the form, investigate how you breathe during each move and make corrections based on the following guidelines.  

9 Guidelines to Get the Most Benefit Out ff Tai Chi Breathing

While breathing isn’t a prescriptive matching of a specific inhale and exhale to every move, there are considerations that should be monitored throughout the form. This is a “breath of fresh air” because these principles are true of every tai chi form in every tai chi style. As we continue into the medical sections of this book you will see that learning how to breathe correctly and then moving what you learn out into your regular day also has positive health implications.

1. Breathe out long enough so that you feel like you need to take a deep breath.
2. Your exhale should be slightly longer than your inhale.
3. Keep your tongue on the roof of your mouth. Say “la” and notice where the tongue goes. Place the tip of the tongue there when practicing tai chi.
4. Primarily inhale and exhale through your nose. Use mouth breathing only if you’re suffering from allergies, colds, or other types of nasal congestion. This includes when you are issuing energy during punches and kicks.
5. Aim for a long, continuous breath without a pause between the inhale and exhale. Breathing should not stop.
6. Breathe into the belly. The changing pressure on your organs while you breathe gives them a massage.
7. When you’re inhaling (storing energy), think of taking in life energy (oxygen) into your body. When you deliver energy or force, you exhale.
8. When your hands move apart breathe in, you are storing energy.  When your hands come together you are delivering energy so breathe out.
9. When your hands move up, breathe in, you are storing energy. When your hands move down, breathe out, you are delivering or expelling energy again.

Note that there is one caveat to the general suggestions: all strikes are exhales. The general guidelines apply to movements throughout the form. If these movements are being applied to fighting, the breathing should be changed.

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Reasons why NOT to over-concentrate on breathing during tai chi.

Hopefully you see that breathing while you are doing tai chi is a relatively relaxed process that should not be overdone. Over-concentrating on breathing can have some undesirable consequences.

• Holding of the breath causes an anxiety response and can stress us out. For some new practitioners who are trying to learn to breathe correctly, they hold their breath between moves or when a move begins. I am not sure if it is due to nervousness, newness, or visually concentrating on someone else’s instruction. I hear it when working with the newest group as some audibly gasp or catch their breath when we pause to discuss a move. It’s a hard habit to break so it’s better not to begin at all.
• Too much pressure (like what is used purposefully in qi gong breathing) can push the chi in the wrong direction. On the other hand, relaxation causes energy to correctly sink to the dantian or to the feet. 
• Becoming sensitive enough to feel energy moving in your body is dependent on the free movement of breath. You have to learn how to feel and sense your breath before you can manipulate it. If you over concentrate and force your breath you can’t sense it flowing on its own.
• Worst case scenario, too much pressure can lead to intestinal problems or even hemorrhoids if you are exerting force while not breathing. This is rare but I have seen it in practitioners who come over from the harder styles like Okinawan karate where pressurize breathing is taught as part of their kata. Tai chi is different.

Developing Reverse Breathing

Some styles of tai chi employ a style of breathing during specific moves which is referred to as reverse breathing. I want to cover it in this section to also pull it out of the secret and esoteric clouds as well as dispel myths about it being dangerous. It is a unique experience and requires practice outside of your time doing the form but can be learned by anyone. Chen style as an example, teachers reverse breathing during tai chi ball, pole shaking, and some silk reeling movements. Exercises are repeated nine times typically giving you time to focus on it independently.

What is Reverse Breathing?

Reverse breathing is the process of inhaling as the abdomen constricts, giving the sensation that air is filling along the lower back. During the exhale the belly relaxes. Most people expand their belly as they inhale and the belly flattens on the exhale. Reverse breathing is simply the opposite pattern of normal breath.

Reverse breathing is used in internal arts to: 

• Store breath to build up pressure to strike, punch or kick.
• Provide added pressure on the organs to massage them internally. Most central organs are filters and the rhythmic pressure of reverse breathing is thought to improve organ function.
• Improve concentration by keeping attention in and on the body rather than giving into random thinking.
• Move energy around the body when someone is adept enough to build up, feel, and move chi.
• Heal joints and tissue by focusing intention and breath on specific area.
• Deepen meditative states.

Is reverse breathing bad for you or unnatural?

Reverse breathing has gotten a bit of a bad rap as being dangerous for us because of the manipulation of breath that is included in hard qi gong practices and other more advanced internal arts (E.g., arts that require having a skilled guide) However, reverse breathing is a completely normal process that is undertaken by the autonomic system subconsciously. Here are four examples:

Emotional reactions: When your emotional mind is amped up your body switches your breathing so that you can flee, scream, or attack. Think of someone jumping out from behind a door to scare you. Your whole upper body is tense and your stomach remains taut but you still manage to rapidly inhale deeply to scream. 

Yawning and sneezing are reverse breathing: When we yawn we inhale profoundly and slowly while controlling our core muscles. The instant before a sneeze our stomach muscles seize up and we quickly inhale fully to power the sneeze.

Belly laughter: Think about your last fit of laughter during a funny movie or by spending time with a delightfully immature family member. You stabilized your body with your lower abdominal muscles while joyfully losing control of your lungs throat, and mouth.

Pushing a heavy object: Trying to push a large object like a car requires reverse breathing because the pressure caused by inhaling while maintaining a firm stomach stabilizes the spine. You can try it out for yourself. Assume a pushing posture and imagine a heavy object you are about to move like pushing. What happened to your abdominal muscles? Chances are that they automatically tensed to employ the stable force needed to push from your rear heel through your hands.

Learning Reverse Breathing

Learning reverse breathing is simply learning to take overt control of a subconscious, autonomic process. It needs to be practiced independent of the tai chi form but then can be added to the form as part of the practice during punches, kicks, and strikes. Note that not all styles employ reverse breathing and you can benefit tremendously from tai chi without ever using it. The advantages of learning reverse breathing and adding it to your form include health benefits from abdominal movements and pressure and increased power during strikes.  

Reverse breathing is most easily practiced by thinking about two body parts. We need to maintain the 1) abdominal muscles and 2) elevate and relax the perineum. Before we start, it is important to note that we are manipulating the abdomen and the perineum as we respond to the breath.  We are not forcefully moving the body parts to cause ourselves to breathe differently.

Secondly, the pressure and pushing involved in reverse breathing is extremely gentle. Hard qi gong styles ramp it up a bit but this is not what we are discussing here. Reverse breathing is just the opposite of standard breathing. As relaxed as you are breathing typically should be the same in the reverse process.

Inhale

Breathe deeply filling your lungs fully down through your abdomen.

Maintain firm abdominal muscles

As the breath enters and begins to expand into the stomach, hold the stomach muscles in place so that the breath has the sensation of filling your lower back. Breathe deeply and maintain the ab muscles as they are.  It will feel as though the abdomen is rising and that the breath is actually sliding down the back and filling the abdominal cavity with pressure. 

Raise the perineum

The perineum is the point between the genitals and anus at the bottom of the pelvic cavity. In Chinese medicine it is called the Huiyin (literally: meeting of Yin) Cavity and is considered the gate and meeting point of the four Yin meridian vessels. As you inhale, gently pull up on the anus from the inside. No puckering or tilting your pelvis. Simply draw up on the inner muscles attached to the anus.

Exhale

The exhale is more of a full relaxation than actively trying to push air out. Note that you are letting your belly completely fall and expand into the most unflattering posture possible. This is the most difficult part of the process for most people as many of us spend a lot of time sucking in our gut to look better. Embrace your inner Buddha and let the belly out. As you do so, let the perineum drop and the anus relax.

Practicing Reverse Breathing

Know that this process is awkward at first and takes practice. Newcomers often unintentionally create tension in the abdomen which causes them to hold the breath. The best way to learn to reverse breathe is through exercises that employ the hands which can act as visual signals for the breath. Here are two common activities. Try each of them nine times:

Circling the hands: From a standing position, have your palms face each other in front of your belly button and inhale as you raise your hands to eye height. Exhale and relax as the hands circle back down towards your center. On the inhale keep your abdominal muscles taut and raise the perineum. On the exhale relax the belly and allow the perineum to drop.

Expanding the hands: Imagine you are holding a big yoga ball in front of you. As you inhale, imagine you are compressing the yoga ball slightly. As you exhale, let the arms float back out and the ball regain it’s proper shape. Breathing is the same as above.

Here are some points to keep in mind during practice:

• Start small with shorter breaths.
• Frequent short practices are the quickest way to make it start feeling natural.
• Do multiple repetitions (we always do nine) because you will further relax with each repetition.
• Concentrate on practicing the breathing in isolation before trying to incorporate it into qi gong, yoga, or martial movements.

References:

• Yang Tai Chi for Beginners – Tai Chi Dvd:  Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming
• Qi in Taijiquan is an Intention Wave: Tai Chi Magazine.  Vol 39, No. 2.
• Continue Reading: The Science Behind 4 Powerful Deep Breathing Techniques