Saturday, 04/18/2026
Health
Blowing out one’s belly and breathing in!
Update: 27/03/2015
But no! Our lungs are in our breast and the reason we can\r\nbreathe in and out. It is chiefly because thanks to the diaphragm lying across\r\nbetween our abdomen and our breast, the function of which is to contract up and\r\ndown to ‘pump air’ into our breast - it is like a piston in a syringe. Accordingly,\r\nbreathing with our belly means breathing physiologically or most naturally\r\nbecause in this action the diaphragm assumes the responsibility up to 80% of\r\nthe quantity of air taken in and out the lungs while others organs only take\r\nthe remaining 20%. Observing a child who is sleeping will explain this - he is\r\nbreathing regularly and gently and … with his abdomen - only his abdomen moves\r\nup and down while his breast stays as quiet as a mouse. Abdomen-breathing is a\r\nnatural action, not only seen at human beings but also at all species. Observe\r\nthe breathing of a lizard, a chamelion or a bull-frog and you’ll see this. They\r\nonly breathe by their abdomen - that is to say, only their abdomens move up and\r\ndown regularly. Only their diaphragms move a little up and down then there is\r\nenough air needed for their body. Remember that breathing is a normal action\r\nbut extremely necesssary. All creatures can abstain from food or liquid for a\r\nfew weeks and remain alive while they cannot survive after abstaining 5 minutes\r\nof breathing, due to the lack of oxygen. All living beings must breathe at any\r\ntime and anywhere. Old people need to know more how to breathe … if they wish\r\nto live longer and less disease or trifling ailments. Recently, the methods of\r\nbreathing called ‘abdominal breathing’ and ‘diaphragmatic breathing’ have been\r\ndiffused and applied in the States succesfully by Doctors Dean Omish and\r\nDeepack Chopra aiming at treating cardio-vascular diseases and diseases caused\r\nby ways of life. For over two thousand five hundred years before and in the\r\nEast, the Buddha also led people to practise this method of breathing called Anapanasati or contemplating\r\nand wondering our breath, which not only brings us an enduring health but also\r\npeace and contentment to both our body and mind.
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To practise this, put your hand on your abdomen - when you\r\ninhale and see that your abdomen moves up, you have practised it correctly.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nMedical Doctor Nguyen Khac Vien was born in 1913 in Ha Tinh\r\nProvince and started studying at Hanoi medical university. Upon graduation, he\r\ncontinued his studies in France until he got his degree in Paediatrics in 1941.\r\nIn 1942 he contracted serious tuberculosis and was treated at the hospital\r\nnamed Saint Hilaire du Trouvet, Grenoble. At that time there were no drugs for\r\nsuch a disease as now. From 1943 to 1948 he had to undergo 7 surgical\r\noperations to cut off his 8 ribs, his complete right lung and 1/3 of his left\r\nlung. The French doctors predicted that he could live on for about two more\r\nyears. During the time he was lying and waiting for his death, he found out the\r\nmethod of abdomen-breathing to cure him after having referred to the\r\nEastern-Western medical methods applied from the present and the past. As a\r\nresult, he died at the age of 85 (1987). That is, he could live on for more\r\nthan 50 years and during this period of time he enthusiastically worked in\r\nvarious fields. It’s an unbelievable story, but it was a fact!
\r\n\r\nI was lucky enough to make acquainted with him for years. To\r\nme, he was a co-worker, a senior and a master. We both used to change various\r\nideas - on writing, lecturing, and his ‘nourishing-breath’ method. Our changes\r\nwere not enframed in anatomy and physiology, but also in psychology and\r\nreligion studies. What I admired him most was that he was very skinny but\r\nworked resistantly, almost never tiredlessly. While there were many people who\r\nfelt tired and slack in working, talking, and meeting, this person who had only\r\ntwo-thirds of the lung, or who had only one-third of his “living capacity†like\r\nhim, showed his calmness and relaxation. He told me that when he passed away,\r\nthe important thing he would leave behind would not be anything like a literary\r\nor philosophical work but his following twelve-verse poem aiming at teaching\r\npeople how to breathe correctly. And below is Doctor Nguyen Khac Vien’s poem on\r\nhow to abdomen-breathe:
\r\n\r\nPull in your belly and breathe out,
\r\n\r\nSwell out your belly and breathe in,
\r\n\r\nKeep your shoulders immovable,
\r\n\r\nSet your limbs loose,
\r\n\r\nBe calm, slow and deep regularly,
\r\n\r\nConcentrate your mind to follow up,
\r\n\r\nYour breathing in and out,
\r\n\r\nLet your normal breathing go through your nose and,
\r\n\r\nYour pressing one through your mouth,
\r\n\r\nWhether you are standing, sitting or lying,
\r\n\r\nPractise these wherever you can,
\r\n\r\nAnd whenever you can.
\r\n\r\nOld people often have triffling ailments, often feel tired\r\nor shortness of breath. In these cases they can apply this method of\r\nabdomen-breathing and will feel better because it will help increase endurance\r\nand resistance to them. It is due to their elderly, old people scarcely\r\nexercise their body completely, such as running, jumping, and climbing like\r\nyoungsters. Therefore, they can lie on a bed and practise abdomen-breathing,\r\nmaking their abdomen move up and down and it is already good for their health status.\r\nIf they know how to observe their breath and practise breathing at the same\r\ntime - also called ‘contemplating and wondering one’s breath’ ; that is to\r\nthink of your breathing and then your heart will gradually recover its\r\ntranquility, less distress and worries.
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It needs not at all to endeavour. It just needs your\r\ndiligence to form your habit. There have been some people who are anxious to\r\nknow the result and endeavour. As a result, they lead themselves to dizziness,\r\nand their body feels numbed and tingled. Why is it so? It is because there is\r\nthe forcefulness to your body, leading to a disorder to the natural regulation\r\nof your body. Reality shows that there have been people who do their physical\r\npractice exaggerately, to the extent that they lose the control of their mind.\r\nThose with chronic diseases should never endeavour. Instead, they should just\r\nmaintain their patience for a few months until they can create a habit and then\r\nthey can see the result. For those who are under the treatment of some\r\ndeseases, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, etc., should keep taking the\r\nmedicine prescribed by their medical doctors.
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Do Hong Ngoc, MD.
\r\n\r\nTranslated into English by Mr Hoang Huan, layman.
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