Hindu Medicine c8.133

c8.133

The “Summary of the Essence of Yoga” (“Yogasārasaṅgraha”) by Vijñānabhikṣu (second half of the 16th century) describes the space for inhaling (pūraka) as extending “from the skull above down to the soles of the feet.” Here, the sensation one may have in practising deep breathing, namely that the body gets filled with air to the very extremes of the limbs, is taken for a fact; it is believed that this is what actually happens when one inhales deeply: that the vital force of deeply drawn breath is not confined to the trunk, but permeates every particle of the organism from the cranium to the soles. That the breath-force enters the remotest corners of the body, to the Eastern mind, seems to be indicated by the tickling sensation it produces, “ants running over one’s limbs.” The ancient Chinese teachings on the breathing of Taoist saints and ascetics hold a similar view, advising that one should “breathe with one’s toes.”