• Human beings can survive for 20 days without eating. We can live for 5 days without drinking water. How about breathing? Most humans will expire in less than 5 minutes if they don’t breathe. It is important to realize how important breathing is to living.
• Zen Breathing is based on a breathing method written by Zen Master Hakuin Ekaku(1686-1769).His method has been practiced for centuries in Japan and passed down among Zen priests, professional athletes, and a wide variety of performing artists, many of whom haven chosen to keep these techniques a secret from others.
• Many chose to keep this valuable information a secret as Zen Breathing helps the practitioners with their concentration, blood flow, and dramatically increased relaxation levels, all because of increased levels of serotonin within the brain. It is understandable why they might want to give themselves a secret advantage!
• As I’ve gotten to know this breathing method, I have come to realize that my mind and body have transformed into something wonderfully unexpected. Prior to starting Zen breathing, tense neck and shoulders, exhaustion/tension headaches, a perpetual slight fever, poor blood circulation, constipation, depression, harmful stress, anxiety, and fatigue, to name a few, were some of the physical ailments that had caused me more than fifteen(15) years of constant pain.
• By learning and practicing this Zen breathing technique, I discovered over a period of just three months that my physical problems had gradually disappeared. I now no longer suffer from these ailments, and I can live with a true smile!  “Zen Breathing” brought new meaning to my life. I’m here to help you make a dramatic change by yourself, for the better, of your mind and body.
• Based on the original discipline, I established Zen Breathing. While still based on the original concept, I made it more understandable and added more effective ways to reach every single person worldwide, especially those with physical problems like I used to suffer.
• If you start practicing this breathing method, you’ll find it is easier to connect your body and mind, making you more aware of the mysteries of your internal body. I have to insist on how important it is to control breathing, while concentrating on your “Lower Core”. Particular emphasis needs to be placed on observing all of your internal organs, which have been ignored by you, until today, even though they work constantly, non-stop, 24/7.
• It is said that breathing is the only way to be able to balance all of one’s autonomous nerve system, which handles digestion and absorption, metabolism, secretion and so forth. We don’t consciously control our heartbeat or digestive system.
• We can, however, control our breathing. We can manage inhaling and exhaling, including holding our breath, and all dynamic levels in between. Why not start “Zen Breathing and Butter” now, and get more vitality and a better quality of life?
• Yuki Shiina

▲ Return to the Top

• To breathe deeply, it is important to adopt the proper posture.
• 1) Stand with your feet about waist-width apart. Note, standing with your feet shoulder-width apart is too far. Your feet should be pointing very slightly outwards, maybe by a few degrees only.
• 2) Press the bottoms of your feet firmly to the floor. You also want to imagine pressing the base of each toe into the floor.
• 3) Very slightly bend your knees.
• 4) You want to bring your spine into complete vertical alignment. Imagine having all 33 vertebrae fused into a single pole, with the base of your skull resting at the top. Your pelvic area, in particular, should be in alignment with the rest of your spine, so be sure to push your pelvis forward.
• 5) Your whole body should be completely relaxed, with the exception of your “lower core”. To locate your “Lower Core”, first start with a point approximately three finger-widths below your navel. Imagine that point connected to your rectum by a line. In the middle of this line will be your “lower core”, an area approximately the size of your fist. This lower core should be the only part of your body that isn’t relaxed.
• 6) Avoid doing Zen Breathing while under the influence of alcohol, or immediately after eating.
• 7) As Zen Breathing will help to wake up both your body and mind, I recommend practicing it first thing in the morning, if possible, while standing in some sunshine.
• Concentrating on your “lower core”, let’s get started with Zen Breathing.
• Step One - Preparation
• 1) Zen Breathing is done through the nose, not the mouth.
• 2) When you take deep breaths in Zen Breathing, your chest area shouldn’t expand too much. Instead, you will need to learn to breathe with your abdomen.
• 3) Imagine a pipe connected from your nose to your lower core. When exhaling, visualize the air traveling down through your body to your lower core. Conversely, when inhaling,  imagine air traveling from your lower core, up through your body, and out your nose.
• 4) When you inhale, your abdomen, not your chest, should expand. When exhaling, concentrate on making the area around your navel as thin as possible. In fact, as you exhale, imagine pressing your navel to your spine.
• 5) When inhaling, be sure to concentrate on relaxing your sphincter muscle. Conversely, be sure to tighten your sphincter when exhaling.
• 6) Before you proceed further, you need to be conscious of your internal organs. I recommend researching human anatomy on the internet or finding a good book with the internal organs clearly laid out. Everyone knows major organ locations such as the heart and lungs, but you will also need to be aware of the placements and sizes of your pancreas, gall bladder, spleen, liver, and so forth. 
• Step Two – “Coating”
• 1) Close your eyes, and imagine a slab of warm, softened butter resting on top of your head. You can imagine that this butter is a secret elixir that will fix all ailments and prevent future problems. 
• 2) As you exhale, you should visualize this imaginary slab of butter slowly melting, and coating your individual internal organs from top to bottom.
• 3) Inhaling should be done quickly and deeply through the nose. You should fully inhale as quickly as possible, ideally around two seconds.  Exhaling, on the other hand, should last as long, and as softly, as you can make it. If a lit candle is placed in front of you, your exhalation should not extinguish the flame. In the beginning, you should aim for an inhale/exhale ratio of 2/8; Inhaling in 2 seconds, exhaling in 8 seconds. As you progress with your Zen Breathing, exhalation timing will probably increase.
• 4) The number of breaths required to “coat” your organs with our special butter is not fixed. It may be one breath per organ. It may be numerous breaths per organ. Any number of breaths is fine.
• 5) After you have successfully visualized the butter coating all of your internal organs, imagine this butter collecting in your crotch area.
• Step Three - Pumping
• 1) The next step is to imagine the return of the pooled butter to the top of your head by “pumping” it with inhalation, through the spine and back muscles. Pay particular attention to all 33 vertebra in your spine. If you are aware of the different spinal column zones, such as Tailbone, Sacrum, Lumbar, Thoracic, and Cervical, you can imagine the pumping butter making “rest stops” with each inhalation, on the way up your back.
• 2) If you find yourself having difficulty imagining your special butter pumping to the top of your head, please imagine a less viscous elixir.
• 3) Return to Step Two – Coating, and repeat as many times as you can in ten(10) minutes.

▲ Return to the top