Aikido Techniques: Misogi Breathing to Relax The Mind

Aikido Techniques: Misogi Breathing

The mind and body must be unified to properly execute Aikido techniques.   “Relax Completely” is one of the Four Basic Principles of Aikido and is essential to the proper execution of Aikido Techniques.  A relaxed mind creates a relaxed body, but how do we truly gain mental relaxation and calmness when our lives are so full of things that stress us?  Misogi breathing is a technique used by the Aikido practitioners to create that mental calmness by focusing on the breathing alone and shutting out the rest of the world.

Aikido Techniques: Misogi Breathing Demonstration

The air moves in: the air moves out – Misogi breathing is more than just drawing air in and out of our lungs – it is a dicsipline, which challenges us to control our mind and body as we perform this exercise.   It permits us to achieve a Zen-like state of mind and permits us to transcend the day-to-day cares of work and family.  The student sits comfortably in either the seiza or zazen position with good posture and half-closes the eyes to shut out much of the outside stimulus of the environment.  On inspiration the mind imagines that the air  travels into the nose through the mind and down to the one-point which expands to an infinite size.  Expiration is the reverse of this process where the air passes from the center through the mind and out of the mouth in an “ahhhh” sound.  During expiration the one-point contracts to an infinitely small size.

Aikido Techniques: Misogi Breathing Helps Control the Mind Which, In Turn, Controls the Body

The challenge comes from the fact that you must control the breath cycle even if you have completed a strenuous part of a workout such as randori.  The mind will have mastered the technique when breathing can be regular and full in spite of the “desperate” urge to gasp for breath.  When this state is achieved the mind and body are truly unified allowing a much fuller state of relaxation.  It is during the most strenuous phases of training that this technique should be exercised even while executing a technique or being thrown for it is the relaxed state of mind that “sees” the environment completely and permits nage to locate and deal with threats from all directions.

Thus, Misogi breathing is a way to achive a “higher” state of consciousness because the mind can be freed from the worldly cares which attempt to control it.  The mind can then achieve control over the body so that the two can act together as one.

Click here to read about the advanced Aikido Technique of kiatsu, using ki extension to unlock the body’s ability to heal itself.