Turtle Shell Breathing is the first level of breathing to condition the body for martial arts training. By practicing this breathing style you will be able to take strikes to the body with out being injured.

To make the torso this powerful takes about 3 years of consistent daily practice and many hours of training.

So if you do not want to be a martial arts master why should your practice turtle breathing?

Here a few reasons this practice is worth the time and effort. It will build the energy (Chi or Qi) circulation in the body and will strengthen the immune system. It will also increase your energy level and your ability to focus.

Developing the sensitivity of this practice will aid in building the awareness. It will also enhance the focus needed to do many other meditative practices.

How to begin the practice of Turtle Shell Breathing?

1- Use the reverse abdominal breathing method.
When doing the reverse abdominal breathing bring the abdomen inward on the inhale breath. Also lift your perineum as you inhale just like you were closing your anus.
Then on the exhale expand your abdomen and relax the perineum.
This form of breathing is called the Taoist breathing because it helps you to initiate and lead the energy in the body.

2- Circulate the energy using the grand circulation.
There are many different methods of the grand circulation. When practicing the turtle breathing you will use the grand circulation to build the flow of energy around the torso.

3- This practice can be done sitting in a comfortable erect position or standing.

4- First inhale using reverse abdominal breathing while guiding the energy from the perineum up the spine. Visualize making a soft wave of energy along this path. As the energy fills up the spine imagine the energy rolling around the torso away from the spine to the front side of the body on the exhale. Then inhale back down the front side of the body to the perineum and up the spine to repeat the cycle.

Other Notes on Turtle Shell Breathing

Let the arms be relaxed and move them like slow soft whips guided by the flow of energy around the torso.

Visualize the body becoming a protective shield building strength with every breath.

If you are familiar with other forms of grand circulation and notice that energy is flowing down the arms as well this is ok. Just keep your focus and intent on the torso circulation. Do not focus on the arms or leading the chi down the arms.

Turtle Shell Breathing is a very yang oriented practice so do not do for long periods of time. Start with 3-5 minutes depending on your skill level. After 30 days of training you can slowly add a few minutes if you like. Remember that this is not a competition to see how long you can do this practice be safe.

It will help you to become stronger and will increase your health, but be smart listen to your body and take your time.

There are many different methods and meditation tools to help you achieve better health, focus, creativity, stamina and peace of mind. Understand why these methods do different things so you can build the perfect practice to fit your needs.

Using this strategy will save you years of effort and show you how to reach deeper levels of meditation than you ever thought were possible.

To learn more about how to build the right meditation program to fit your life style check out the Meditation Mastery Plan. Have fun with your practice. Peace…