Women And Breathing

理是功能之本，法是功能之基

The intrinsic order is the essence of capability, method is the base of capability.

女子无丹田，炼炁在膻中

Women don’t have a Cinnabar Field, training vapours is in the mediastinum.

男子之命在丹田。丹田者，生丹之真土也；女命在乳房。乳房者，田气之木精也。

Men’s life resides in the Cinnabar Field. The Cinnabar Field, this is the real soil which gives birth to the Cinnabar; Women’s life resides in the breasts. The breasts, those are the real wooden essential liquids of the field of vapours¹.

To understand fully old methods, one has to take into consideration three things: they are, intrinsically, very versatile. Hence, most of the time, they are not governed by rigid rules or principles; they customise training according to each and everyone, there isn’t, apart from some basis, a standard training to be followed. This starts, of course, by recognising and taking into account the obvious difference between men and women and then between all distinct kinds and shapes of bodies; Finally, they come from various traditions that may address or express the same issue in diverse ways, especially because they are meant to be an oral transmission. All this is unfortunately a far cry from most of the training in internal styles nowadays. 

Considering breathing and how women and men shall train it differently can be a good way to understand the flexibility of old methods. Breathing, of course, does not only refer to the pulmonary process in itself, but also to techniques to control the heartbeats, restructure the body and direct flows through inhaling and exhaling as described in an earlier post, as well as working on the Cinnabar Fields. In other words, training internal methods, one, old or young, beginner or more advanced, man or woman, shall not stick forever, as it was also mentioned in the same earlier post, to the usually quoted 氣沉丹田, ‘Vapours sink in the Cinnabar Field.’

The choice of the more specific ‘intrinsic order’ instead of the more general ‘theory’ translation for 理 in the first quote corresponds to another avenue of research, once the duality theory/method in one’s training is fully understood. Indeed, internal arts focus on the inner works that rule one’s body. Thus, women and men having obviously distinct bodies and not the same metabolism, this has some impact on how they breathe and how they train the Cinnabar Fields.

Contrary to what the last two quotes seem to imply, breathing being very evolving, the difference is more about where to start. Indeed structural and even more internal issues make it much preferable for women to start with breathing in the middle Cinnabar Field.

I. A Question of Structure

As far as verticality is concerned, women are obviously more imbalanced in the chest area and less firm in the pelvis one. Starting breathing by concentrating it on the mediastinum, the inferior one to be exact, is a means to help with those two separate issues.

1.1 Straightening 

Apart from the question of internal alchemy, breathing aim to reinforce the lower mediastinum, especially the connective tissues. Traditionally, training the lower cinnabar field means creating, through breathing, something similar to a ball of air within the stomach. Such ball will become harder and harder but without contracting any muscles. Nowadays, the need to and the reasons behind wearing a belt being forgotten, it is not too hard to find people able to have their stomach protrudes quite obviously while practising such breathing. Still, as it has been mentioned before in this blog, this is nowadays a common mistake to ignore that the final aim is not size, but pressure in the stomach, hence the use of a belt to keep it from becoming round, hence the more advanced breathing moving forwards an as flat as possible one.

Training the medium Cinnabar Field (or the lower mediastinum) also aims at creating through breathing such pressure in this area. And people having trained correctly this part can also in the same way make the upper part of the upper abdomen protrude a bit and become harder, exactly like having a small ball of air. Whether training down or medium, apart from the metabolism issue, one of the objectives is to drastically strengthen the connective tissues. This will maintain straight or straighten the whole chest area in order to keep the upper back from falling forwards, a natural sign of decay of one’s body.

Still, this is a harder and quite challenging training as a starting point. First, the medium Cinnabar Field, being at the centre of the torso, the famous 氣沉丹田, ‘Vapours sink in the Cinnabar Field’ cannot apply. Indeed, the rule is 上沈下浮, ‘The upper (part) sinks the lower floats’. This means that, while breathing, one has to imprint a move where the diaphragm and the chest relax as sinking, while everything from the lower pelvis to the upper abdomen is pulled up.

1.2 Strengthening

The other issue women face is linked with the crotch, obviously looser than the men. Their pelvis being wider means that their thigh bones connect at a more pronounced angle than men, having a direct impact on the knees, increasing their potential for injuries. Protecting those from being hurt comes, both for women and men, can come through the so-called round crotch training, obtained first through a certain alignment of the pelvis. Then, to reinforce it, by pulling, among others, the perineum and the anus. That’s where training the lower mediastinum comes into play. Indeed, 下浮, ‘The lower (part) floats’ partly refers to this kind of training.

Again, if both sexes need to train the round crotch, the distinction is a question of priority. Men can, more or less, train both 氣沉丹田, ‘Vapours sink in the Cinnabar Field’ and the round crotch at the same time, it is different for women. Indeed, men’s pelvis is naturally restrained in its width, making it quite hard to extend (though it is one of the goals of the practice for them, but it is another story²), while women have more than a great potential to do so. Hence, starting by training 氣沉丹田, ‘Vapours sink in the Cinnabar Field’ will result, by the pressure put in the lower part of the pelvis, by naturally widening it and increasing all kinds of issues linked to it, knee injuries being actually not the most dire.

Indeed, apart from structure, it is about keeping the organs in their right place and having a correct insulation, essential parts of one’s internal training, which are targeted.

II. Properly Placed and Closed

Organs produce vitality and, like any production line, having them correctly placed is crucial. Furthermore, internal alchemy working obviously through heat, the issue of being as insulated as possible is also of importance. Starting one’s training with 氣沉丹田, ‘Vapours sink in the Cinnabar Field’ for women has a negative impact on both goals.

1.1 Manufacturing Line

五臟六腑，各安其位，"The five viscera and six internal organs, each in its place’ is an often overlooked requirement in internal arts. One would tend to think that the size and place of the organs do not change anything while it is in fact crucial. To keep them at their right place and size, the flat stomach is one of the methods used by internal arts.

Training 氣沉丹田, ‘Vapours sink in the Cinnabar Field’ doesn’t seem to be a big issue for men as their crotch, as mentioned earlier, is naturally closed. Still, it is actually a question of age and it may not be great to start with such training for older people of both sexes³. For women, what one wants is to avoid to create an even more favourable environment for what is called pelvic organ prolapse. Obviously, pushing down puts yet more pressure on the organs and the older a woman gets, the more she should be paid attention to this issue. This is also why starting with breathing techniques in the mediastinum is preferred.

Furthermore, breathing techniques are evolving. Indeed, any technique cannot escape the natural cycle of birth, growth, peak, decay and death. In simpler words, if one keeps on using the same breathing, once its benefits are reaped, it will be detrimental. As far as sinking is concerned, the idea is, especially for women, that if one keeps on pushing, it will eventually have the connective tissues loosen under pressure. And pulling the perineum, the anus and so on, will not be a sufficient counter-poison, gravity ruling over them. Hence vapours sinking the Cinnabar Field or the upper (part) sinks the lower floats shall evolve towards pouring (in) the Cinnabar Field, 氣灌丹田 or the upper (part) sinks then floats, the lower part floats then sink, 上沈就浮，下浮就沈.

Both sayings turn around the idea of changing from a one-sided directive breathing to a lively one (the poured liquid bounces back once it reaches the bottom of the cup). Using correctly this technique relieves from any down pressure. That is why it is preferred, for ladies, to master this second type of breathing before training the lower Cinnabar Field. This way, when training it, they will directly pour (in) the Cinnabar Field to avoid a too strong downwards pressure. In other words, at any time 氣沉丹田, ‘Vapours sink in the Cinnabar Field’ is a breathing technique that women should better actually avoid.

Apart from keeping the organs in their right place issue, one also has to consider heat, a great part of internal alchemy, and its counterpart, the need to insulate as much as possible the body.

1.2 Insulation

As already explained in ‘External Comes First’, when we exercise, the organs produce heat. A large part of this heat is located in the stomach and naturally creates pressure, which will stress our anus and sex, which in response will slightly open to relieve them. By doing so, we will be losing part of the heat we generate. Internal arts are all about endurance and saving as much energy as possible. The idea is then to reinforce those parts so that they don’t bow to pressure and keep the body more insulated. Of course, if at the same time, one breathes while making the vapours sink in the Cinnabar Field, this is double punishment. Male teenagers can withstand it, especially when such training was just for a couple of months to a year before switching to other types breathing. For women, even teenager, this would not be recommended, as their pelvis is naturally more prone to open.

One has to understand that heat and pressure are an essential part of internal alchemy and that, one of the means to improve drastically the internal organs is to subject them to a great heat and pressure that can only be created if the down part of the pelvis is totally locked. Therefore, as far as priorities are concerned, reinforcing this area comes before training breathing techniques involving it.

Finally, one can easily check if she/he trains properly, through the need to go to the toilet. Indeed, the more one trains locking the down part of the pelvis, the less need she/he will feel to go to the bathroom⁴. The lock, at its utmost, is supposed to reach the level of 男子修成不漏精⁵，女子修成不漏經, ‘Men who have achieved perfection don’t leak sperm, women who have achieved perfection don’t leak menstruation’…

Old internal practices were all about changing and evolving, their main guidance being opportunity. Women and breathing is a typical example of how practice is not orientated by techniques believed to be good for anyone of any age, more creeds than anything else, but by a deep knowledge of the internal processes governing our dissimilar bodies at our different stages of life.

1. Women Golden Cinnabar, Preceding Volume, 《女金丹·卷上》

2. This is actually a typical example of ‘different body, distinct training’. Men, indeed, have quite a rigid crotch, so they need first to make it a little bit more supple, while it is the opposite for women, their pelvis is way too pliable, the priority is strengthening.

3. Indeed, if one understands how the virtuous/vicious circle theory has an impact on one’s training method, growing up to adulthood is virtuous while, because of decay, after it becomes vicious. For this, while training 氣沉丹田, ‘Vapours sink in the Cinnabar Field’ is not an issue for a young male, it becomes one as the possibility of cystocele becomes more a risk for older men.

4. By pushing too much and too often the lower pelvis down, some may get, oppositely, the toilet syndrome, having to head more frequently to the washroom than they used to do. In the worst case, they will have to go while training, losing a lot of heat…

5. For those who may work on this, another version of this saying uses 糟 (dregs, decay, messy…) instead of 精 (semen in this particular case).