Discourse on Breathing:      The manner in which you breath effects not only the rhythm of your heart but the functioning of your vital organs, as well as the very thought process itself.   Observe yourself through a day. Observe your mental state as it changes. Note as well how you are breathing at these various moments. As important to the breathing process as the lungs are, is the passage ways which  link the lungs to the outside air.    That these passage ways (ears, nose and throat) be  kept open and moist is as important as the manner in which the breath is drawn.   Clothing that inhibits the chest or abdomen should be discarded during practice in favor of loose robes or nothing at all.   One should be sitting or standing as laying causes the organs to shift making the initial stretching of the chest and abdomen  more difficult.   With palms together fingers pointing upward, place the lower thumb area against the center of your forehead, your wrist even with the bridge of your nose and tilt your head  slightly upward to open the throat area.   Inhale through you nose focusing your inner eye on the bridge of  your nose seeing feeling the air entering this area before it turns and begins it's trip downward to the pit of your stomach.   Visualize the air descending downward first to your navel area, pause, then filling the lower chest area,  pause, then filling the upper chest and shoulder region. Hold the breath for a moment, then begin releasing it through the now open mouth, slowly, with control. First the air from the upper region, then middle region, then bring the last remnants up from the lower region, tightening to expel as  much of the old air as possible before beginning again.   Do not strain as you do this for your muscles will tighten making the already difficult impossible, leaving you gasping for breath and depleted of energy.   With time and repetition the body will open more and more to accept what it knows it needs. Time the length of your inhale and exhale starting with  the second  inhalation (the first being to clear the channels and  prepare the mind).    Strive for evenness. If it takes you 20 seconds to  fully inhale it should take 20 seconds to fully exhale. Remember control. The natural inclination will be to  exhale quickly.  If this urge is strong you are forcing  yourself too quickly, so relax and quicken you  inhalation. Remember though you must stretch yourself. This is work. Once you have trained your body to breath fully and evenly, and your mind to follow the process you can change your hands to a more comfortable position.   Stage two is to listen for your heart beat. Use it as  your breath clock.  Begin by inhaling for the count  of four beats, retain your breath for two beats, and  release it for four more, rest without inhaling for two  more beats, then repeat. When this becomes easy, increase to six and three beats, then eight and four and so on. At first you will find that your heart rate changes speed from inhale to exhale and while  retaining. It is through listening and adjusting the  pressure of the air in your  lungs that you first gain  control over the rhythm of your heart and  your  blood pressure.   Though this could take many years of practice  the only secret is  discipline and constant practice. As you attain greater mastery you begin to mentally  draw air into other parts of your body, filling your legs arms and head.   While sleeping on should seek to imitate the breath of a baby, which is a longer inhalation and a relaxed  quicker exhale until you doze off.   While walking practice the heart rhythm breath using your steps in  place of your heart beat.  Inhale for four steps, retain for two, exhale for four and rest for two.    Aside from practice there is observation of both yourself and others. As to how the depth and rhythm  alters with their mood and activity. By imitating and  practicing and cataloging these different  breaths  you gain control over your own emotional life and  learn to accurately judge that of others.   How do the strong breath, the peaceful, the enraged, the compassionate. All these powers can be attained through the breath.