In And Out

食氣者必謂吹呴呼吸，吐故納新也*

Who nourishes himself/herself from vapours has to be called the blowing and yawning breathing, spitting out the stale and receiving the fresh.

其息深深。真人之息以踵，眾人之息以喉**

Their breathing came deep and silently. The breathing of the true man comes from his heels, while men generally breathe from their throats. 

得胎息者，能不以鼻口噓吸***

Who obtains the fetal breathing can, without his/her nose or mouth, slowly breathe out and in.

Inhaling and exhaling, it is also a question of order. Internal breathing tends to reverse it, as the Chinese word for breathing, 呼吸, literally means exhaling and inhaling.

Fullness can only lead to depletion while emptiness leads to replenishment, hence it is better to always be on the empty side of breathing.

Exhaling may be the first step towards relaxation but deep relaxation comes while inhaling.

Exhaling extends, inhaling retracts. Yawning extends, blowing retracts.

The less the mouth inhale and exhale, the more the skin does, it is all a question of 旡****.

Exhaling empties the front, inhaling fills the back.

Spitting out the stale and receiving the fresh, swallowing and vomiting, the difference is a question of speed.

Overactive but with a sleeping breath.

Towards the end lies the deeper relaxation.

*Way, Void, Lunheng, Wang Chong, 道虛, 論衡, 王充. 

A part of this quote "吹呴呼吸，吐故納新" is also coming from Zhuangzi Inner Chapters in Ingrained Ideas. 

Furthermore, one of the more usual translations of such quote is: "The meaning must certainly be that the fluid-eaters breathe, inhaling and exhaling, emitting the old air and taking in the new.“ Two points in the difference in the translation must be explained.

"Nourishes from vapours" against "fluid-eaters": vapours has already been explained in a earlier post, but more generally this sentence can be seen as a reference to the breathing techniques in which one mimics eating, as if but not really eating air (watch out for flatulences).

"Blowing and yawning" against "inhaling and exhaling" 吹 means to blow and 呴 to yawn (or breathe on) and is also a special breathing technique different from just simply exhaling and inhaling. For those who practice the 吞吐, "swallowing and spitting out", breathing techniques, it is quite a similar process when done slowly.

**The Great and Most Honoured Master, Inner Chapters, Zhuangzi, 大宗師 ,內篇, 莊子.

***Freeing Form Stagnation, Inner Chapters, He Who Embraces Simplicity (Baopuzi), Ge Hong 釋滯,內篇, 抱朴子, 葛洪.

****To choke on something eaten.