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It has its uses for the flat, heavy state that comes over people after lunch or during a long low patch, because it pushes upwards rather than down. Say the cautions before you teach it, every time. Anyone leading a practice that moves the body this much should be doing the same screening a clinician would.
When I have shaped him and breathed from My Spirit into him (Quran 38:72). The body is spoken of as shaped and breathed into, which is a reason to be careful with it rather than adventurous.
ص
فَإِذَا سَوَّيۡتُهُۥ وَنَفَخۡتُ فِيهِ مِن رُّوحِي فَقَعُواْ لَهُۥ سَٰجِدِينَ
When I have shaped him and breathed from My Spirit into him, bow down before him.’
Qur’an 38:72read it in the library
Translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, The Qur'an, Oxford University Press, 2004.
The activating end of breath work has much less behind it than the slowing end. A review of athletes across several sports found heart rate variability biofeedback linked with better sporting performance, but the studies were mostly small and often lacked a control group. So the case for using breath to raise energy and readiness is suggestive at best, which is another reason to be careful about who you offer it to.
Jiménez Morgan S, Molina Mora JA. (2017). Effect of Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback on Sport Performance, a Systematic Review.. Applied psychophysiology and biofeedback doi
Strength of evidence: one line of research. A single study, or a theoretical account.
This one deliberately stirs the body up, so a body already under strain is the wrong place to try it.
If you are unsure about your heart, your eyes or your blood pressure, use the slow practices instead and you lose nothing important.
A good instructor says light, moderate, heavy. A poor one says set the dial to three. Only one of those takes account of the body you actually brought with you.
Let the in breath come however it comes, then breathe out through pursed lips as though through a straw for a count of eight, finishing with two more counts through the nose. Three ordinary breaths, then go again.
Part of why martial arts suit some people has little to do with the kicking. Every session opens with a plan and closes with a look back at what happened and what comes next.