Breath

Life on Earth originated in the waters of the primeval ocean a good several hundred million years ago. After another hundreds of millions of years, it emerged from the water onto dry land, which had surfaced above the primeval ocean's waters shortly before. The living beings that "decided" to leave the aquatic environment were broadly categorized into the following groups: plants, arthropods, and vertebrates.

On dry land, these forms of life encountered four groups of major energetic interactions more directly. These involved:

Due to their highly developed nervous system, vertebrates achieved the most complete contact with spacetime among these groups. Through evolution, hominids branched out from vertebrates, ultimately leading to the species Homo sapiens—human beings. The human nervous system is advanced enough to allow conscious orientation within these energetic interactions.

Other energetic interactions certainly exist alongside these four primary groups. However, these are foundational. In the rush of other energetic influences, these basic forces are often sidelined, compromising how well we experience them.
Let us look closer at BREATH and the process of respiration.

The Mechanics of Breathing: Muscle Groups

Breathing (inhalation and exhalation) is driven by four muscle groups. The intercostal muscles sit at the top of the torso near the rib cage. The diaphragm and abdominal muscles sit at the bottom of the torso below the floating ribs.

Let us see how it works. Air and other gases flow from areas of higher pressure (atmospheric high) to areas of lower pressure (atmospheric low). This means that air enters and leaves the lungs BY ITSELF, driven by the pressure difference between the outside environment and the inside of the lungs. Higher air pressure outside than inside the lungs forces the air to enter on its own, resulting in an INHALATION. When the air pressure outside is lower than inside the lungs, an EXHALATION occurs. However, something must create these pressure differences. This is precisely the job of the muscle groups: the intercostal muscles at the top, and the diaphragm and abdomen at the bottom.

The Upper Torso: Intercostal Muscles

Let us examine how the intercostal muscles in the rib cage function. Some of these muscles can pull the ribs together, reducing the distance between them. This shrinks the space enclosed by the ribs, which contains the lungs. The ribs then press against the lungs, reducing lung volume while keeping the same amount of air. This creates high pressure inside. Moving from high to lower pressure, the air flows out through the trachea and the mouth or nose. This is an EXHALATION. Naturally, the intercostal muscles responsible for inhalation must be relaxed during this time.

When considering INHALATION, a different set of intercostal muscles actively pushes the ribs apart. The intercostal muscles responsible for exhalation must be relaxed during INHALATION. This second group of intercostal muscles expands the ribs, increasing lung volume and thereby lowering the air pressure inside the lungs. Consequently, air from the outside—where the pressure is higher than inside the lungs—flows into the lungs through the mouth or nose and the trachea, resulting in an INHALATION. This describes the breathing mechanism driven by the intercostal muscles in the rib cage.

The Lower Torso: Diaphragm and Abdomen

Now, let us look at the action of the second pair of muscles: the diaphragm and the abdominal muscles.

If the abdominal muscles are squeezed or tightened, they press against all the organs inside the peritoneal cavity. This reduces the volume there, increases pressure, and shifts all the peritoneal organs upward. They cannot move downward because the pelvic floor bones block that direction. These organs (mainly the intestines and their contents) then push against the bottom of the lungs from below, transferring the high pressure from the peritoneal cavity upward into the lungs. The diaphragm must be relaxed at this point so it does not block this transfer of high pressure from the peritoneal cavity to the lungs. As a result, the air inside the lungs compresses, and an EXHALATION occurs.

During INHALATION, the diaphragm is engaged and activated; previously (during exhalation), it had to be relaxed. When the diaphragm is active, it flattens out, pulling the bottom of the lungs—which is attached to it—downward. This creates lower pressure inside the lungs than outside. However, the abdomen must be relaxed at this stage; if it were active, it would block the downward movement of the diaphragm. Therefore, the abdomen is relaxed and the diaphragm is active when we INHALE using the muscles of the lower torso: the diaphragm and the abdomen.

The Challenge of Synchronization

Notice that the actions of both the intercostal muscle pair and the diaphragm-abdomen pair must occur in opposition (antiphase). When one group works, the other relaxes, and vice versa. This means they must be very precisely synchronized.

We have multiple levels of synchronization:

If any of these three synchronizations fails, we face serious breathing difficulties, which compromises the foundational energetics of life processes. Unfortunately, this happens quite often, leading to a decline in the quality of other vital human activities.

Subtle Energy and Awareness

The most essential purpose of respiration, of course, concerns the absorption (with inhalation) of a whole range of subtle substances and energies necessary to sustain individual life, as well as the expulsion (with exhalation) of unnecessary or even harmful elements.

These processes take place at much more subtle levels than the mechanics described above. For them to occur with proper quality, they should be supported by our awareness—though not necessarily through active manipulation.
However, if we do not bring awareness and mindfulness to the lowest level of mechanical function described in this text, the quality of the most important, subtle energetic processes associated with breath will be severely limited.