Hatha yoga is a branch of yoga that uses physical techniques to try to preserve and channel vital force or energy. The Sanskrit word हठ haṭha literally means "force", alluding to a system of physical techniques. Some hatha yoga style techniques can be traced back at least to the 1st-century CE, in texts such as the Hindu Sanskrit epics and Buddhism's Pali canon. The oldest dated text so far found to describe hatha yoga, the 11th-century Amṛtasiddhi, comes from a tantric Buddhist milieu. The oldest texts to use the terminology of hatha are also Vajrayana Buddhist. Hindu hatha yoga texts appear from the 11th century onward.
The Buteyko method or Buteyko Breathing Technique is a form of complementary or alternative physical therapy that proposes the use of breathing exercises primarily as a treatment for asthma and other respiratory conditions.
Hyperventilation is irregular breathing that occurs when the rate or tidal volume of breathing eliminates more carbon dioxide than the body can produce. This leads to hypocapnia, a reduced concentration of carbon dioxide dissolved in the blood. The body normally attempts to compensate for this homeostatically, but if this fails or is overridden, the blood pH will rise, leading to respiratory alkalosis. The symptoms of respiratory alkalosis include dizziness, tingling in the lips, hands, or feet, headache, weakness, fainting, and seizures. In extreme cases, it may cause carpopedal spasms, a flapping and contraction of the hands and feet.
Ānāpānasati, meaning "mindfulness of breathing", paying attention to the breath. It is the quintessential form of Buddhist meditation, attributed to Gautama Buddha, and described in several suttas, most notably the Ānāpānasati Sutta.
Pranayama is the yogic practice of focusing on breath. In yoga, breath is associated with prana, thus, pranayama is a means to elevate the prana-shakti, or life energies. Pranayama is described in Hindu texts such as the Bhagavad Gita and the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Later in Hatha yoga texts, it meant the complete suspension of breathing. The pranayama practices in modern yoga as exercise are unlike those of the Hatha yoga tradition.
The term breath control may mean:
Breathwork is a New Age term for various breathing practices in which the conscious control of breathing is said to influence a person's mental, emotional, or physical state, with a therapeutic effect.
Freediving blackout, breath-hold blackout, or apnea blackout is a class of hypoxic blackout, a loss of consciousness caused by cerebral hypoxia towards the end of a breath-hold dive, when the swimmer does not necessarily experience an urgent need to breathe and has no other obvious medical condition that might have caused it. It can be provoked by hyperventilating just before a dive, or as a consequence of the pressure reduction on ascent, or a combination of these. Victims are often established practitioners of breath-hold diving, are fit, strong swimmers and have not experienced problems before. Blackout may also be referred to as a syncope or fainting.
Buddy breathing is a rescue technique used in scuba diving "out of gas" emergencies, when two divers share one demand valve, alternately breathing from it. Techniques have been developed for buddy breathing from both twin-hose and single hose regulators, but to a large extent it has been superseded by safer and more reliable techniques using additional equipment, such as the use of a bailout cylinder or breathing through a secondary demand valve on the rescuer's regulator.
Tonglen is Tibetan for 'giving and taking', and refers to a meditation practice found in Tibetan Buddhism.
Ujjayi is a breathing technique employed in a variety of yoga practices. In relation to yoga, it is sometimes called "the ocean breath." Unlike some other forms of pranayama, the ujjayi breath is typically done in association with asana practice in some styles of yoga as exercise, such as Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga.
Conscious breathing encompasses techniques directing awareness to the breath, serving purposes from improving respiration to building mindfulness. In martial arts like tai chi and qigong, breathing exercises strengthen diaphragm muscles and protect organs, with reverse breathing being a common method. Meditation traditions, including yoga and Buddhism, emphasize breath control. Yoga's pranayama elevates life energies, while Buddhist vipassanā uses anapanasati for mindfulness of breath. Coherent breathing involves conscious inhalation and exhalation to achieve relaxation.
Barbara Carrellas is an author, sex educator, performance artist, and certified sexologist accredited through the American College of Sexologists. She facilitates workshops in which participants explore sexuality through a holistic approach that includes practices like erotic breathwork and Tantra, and she has lectured at various institutions, including the Museum of Sex in New York City, Vassar College, Barnard College, and the Chicago Art Institute. She is known for her "breath and energy orgasm" techniques, which she says are "orgasms you can have using your imagination and your breath." Carrellas learned the technique during the height of the AIDS epidemic as a way for people to orgasm without physical contact. Such techniques, she says, offers a way for "people to have more safer-sex options."
Breathing is the process of moving air into and from the lungs to facilitate gas exchange with the internal environment, mostly to flush out carbon dioxide and bring in oxygen.
Taoist meditation, also spelled Daoist, refers to the traditional meditative practices associated with the Chinese philosophy and religion of Taoism, including concentration, mindfulness, contemplation, and visualization. The earliest Chinese references to meditation date from the Warring States period.
Belisa Vranich is an American clinical psychologist, author, public speaker, and founder of The Breathing Class (TM). She has been an active consultant and columnist, promoting intentional breathing practices to improve health and providing psychological viewpoints on sex and relationships. She is an advocate for women's health, as well as volunteering, mentorship, and animal rescue.
Mindfulness-based pain management (MBPM) is a mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) providing specific applications for people living with chronic pain and illness. Adapting the core concepts and practices of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), MBPM includes a distinctive emphasis on the practice of 'loving-kindness', and has been seen as sensitive to concerns about removing mindfulness teaching from its original ethical framework. It was developed by Vidyamala Burch and is delivered through the programs of Breathworks. It has been subject to a range of clinical studies demonstrating its effectiveness.
Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art is a 2020 popular science book by science journalist James Nestor. The book provides a historical, scientific and personal examination of breathing, with a specific interest in contrasting the differences between mouth breathing and nasal breathing. The book became an international bestseller, selling over two million copies worldwide.
Taixi refers to Daoist meditation and neidan Inner Alchemy methods, the principle of which is to breathe like an embryo or fetus in the womb, without using nose or mouth. Techniques developed for embryonic breathing include xingqi, biqi, fuqi, and taishi.
