Vitality, Japan, Neurasthenia, Experience with Clients So Far
Breath Wish Newsletter, 23, April 2023.
Some of you may remember the video I did a few years ago on Neurasthenia in Japan. I like Japan as an example because traditionally they had a kind of explicit physiological discipline compromised by imported Western culture and its associated habits. Something that happened abruptly. And the malaise that spread alongside it was well-noted by Japanese physiologists and physicians at the time.
You can watch that video here, in which I go into the Japanese experience of Neurasthenia in detail:
Another writing I did on this is here, regarding Nietzsche and fried nervous systems, for a little bit of a different take:
The Japanese Physicians Outlook
I have recently been finding and paying for the translation of some obscure Japanese books from last century. An expensive hobby for sure. It is interesting to note how my experiences comport with their own, both on a personal and client level.
As Western science filtered into Japan, it is interesting to note many of their prominent physicians began to reappropriate ancient habits and contextualise them scientifically, as the anti-dote.
Kenzo Futaki, one prominent physician (referred to in the video) involved in this work, even commented, "...it is an unfortunate feature of the age that people will not believe anything unless it has a scientific backing" while acknowledging belly practices were as old as time and not of his creation.
These gentlemen considered the autonomic nervous system far more important than the central nervous system for governing vitality. For them, the CNS managed intellectual and analytic activities, whilst the former governs our most vital functions. Respiration, nutrition, circulatory mechanisms, and you get the idea.
Interestingly, the word vitality floats around so much with many abstract interpretations at the moment, but how many have understood it in such a way? The literal vital functions of the body itself as the things that imbue vitality. As the progenitors of vitality in the most fundamental sense?
I only ever see it in terms of warriors or being lactose tolerant. This is not to say the writers who elaborated on these concepts introduced them in such a way, or that being lactose tolerant by birth is not un-vital. Instead, that's how the fandom takes it, which is unfortunate because no one works to encapsulate it physiologically speaking.
In the Japanese literature, I have also noted that they considered the area of the "solar plexus) pictured below as the governing, prime regulator of the autonomic function. A complex intermodal hub of nerve endings and a central control room, in the sense that so many of these interrelated systems are regulated by the action, and tonus, of this section of our bodies.
In my work, I found that the diaphragm is the prime regulator of circulatory function. There are also dense convergences of nerve connection to different parts of the body. In this convergence, pressures, gaseous exchange, blood flow, and nerve stimulation act as one process; they can only be resonant in their proper interaction. as more comes to light in recent time, it seems the Japanese physiologists were very much right from a technical standpoint in their hypothesis.
They made other interesting claims: what I describe as the vital or supra-physiological experiences, that of will or emotions, are very much expressed according to the qualitative anatomical integrity of the solar plexus region.
For bodywork practitioners, this will come as no real surprise. However, like all things, the devil is in the detail, and how an individual can improve this is a matter of hard work. This is something I will be introducing in my course material.
Many people will tell you that breathing slowly or through your nose is enough. And while this is good, more is needed for true resonance. My course will be designed to maximise all elements of us as a reflex and process - as much as you can online.
What I’ve Noticed Thus Far…
In general, it is right to say that people can be classified into a few categories of breathers:
Shoulder breathers (people who breathe high into the chest and recruit muscles in this region to assist)
Chest breathers and Reverse breathers (much the same as above + they occasionally use muscles chains in the wrong direction)
Floppy belly breathers (a lower-placed but overwhelmingly feeble breath)
I would also add nose and throat breathers.
In reality, we are curious mixes of all these things, and we have built ourselves in all sorts of strange ways, odd ways of regulating or processing our vital functions. It is worth taking a moment and noticing the matrix of muscles you use to breathe.
There are straightforward, energetic implications to this - something I will write about in next week's jewsletter.
There are also downstream emotions and feelings that people of each type experience. For example, “flabby” or “floppy belly” types are typically exceedingly anxious individuals. If your experience is coloured by anxiety, and you make decisions from this perspective induced by your bodily posturing, what does this tell you about how much free will you have? About what your self is? You need to start viewing yourself in this way.
Many women, for example, cling to breath with their shoulders. Their bellies are very often chronically “sucked in” and completely energetically inactive. They recruit all manner of ancillary muscles to draw breath.
One client was completely incapable of breathing into her belly without consistent rigid recruitment of the traps and shoulders. I had to start her on very short-count breaths into her belly as she couldn't complete long breaths without gasping for air.
"It just makes me feel really anxious when I try to breathe deeper," she told me. She reported significant dysfunction in her relationships and daily life to me.
This kind of thing is not uncommon, and all sorts of feelings come up with such people during a session. Anxiety, sadness. Frustration. Frustration is widespread. A sense of having failed or being under pressure simply because they can't reach the belly with breath and do as I directed.
It is true, overall, people tend to cling or grab hold of breath on the inhale. This means that in our nostrils or throats, we tend to tense ourselves around the intake of air. This is an interesting experiment to run on yourself, to notice when you draw breath in all the muscles and tissues that are tensed as you draw breath. You may be surprised.
Note to yourself, that even if say your nose is relaxed, as you follow the path of air downwards deep in the nostril into the throat, how tense those areas are, and how that tension relates to your throat and even tongue? interesting things to note.
Froppy Berry: Arrogant Twat…
Yet some people, maybe bodyworkers or yoga people who have cared about "tension" for too long, have to opposite problem. At least in some key parts where we need better, stronger, tonus.
I recall many years ago in Kyoto, in a zen monastery, I was sitting. A monk commented on the slowness and softness of my abdominal breath. I recall being shocked; I'd always assumed that a soft, "tensionless" belly and diaphragm were essential. Indeed, that's what (I thought) my Reichian work demanded. He showed me, in broken English, an exaggerated, powerful and almost aggressive breathing into his belly - "This…gooda…STRONG…!"
I remember thinking he was wrong. See, I was an arrogant f$ck once upon a time, just like many of you guys. Thought I knew it all. You become more open to listening and self-doubt only after proper understanding, unfortunately. An open mind is essential for learning.
The key to all this work is the correct balance of tension and relaxation; it's proper regulation. Only the individual can understand this after noticing him or herself, perhaps with the guidance of someone who can see them a little better.
Unfortunately, many people are either extremely arrogant (as a feature of being autonomically pepped up) or incapable from the point of view of intellect or confidence to be able to work it out on themselves. Many of them are in pain and only really want momentary relief, to feel momentarily squishy.
It’a rare to find someone who will go the distance; other than some types of yoga mums.
As an aside, due to their superior discipline, I now hope to pass on the strengths of these methods through them, encouraging them to raise their boys in such ways. Having lost all hope on twatter; chud central, home of the supposed overmen, home to the definite talkers. If talking was superiority they’d have it in droves.
Allowing Things….
When starting my business with my instruments, I genuinely thought this process would be straightforward. I've found that using the breathing reflex, working with the person to help them to simply allow the breath reflex unhindered - because that's what it is at its heart: merely allowing something to happen - is very difficult.
At first, this business was just about breathing and tuning people up, but I've increasingly had to employ some specific bodywork exercises to help them notice what kind of breather they are and try to loosen or sometimes induce tension.
The character doesn’t want to change, and thus allowing is difficult. The character prefers familiarity even if the experience is moribund torture. It prefers this to self-definition and change. Thus, it’s even harder to find someone who is willing to comply with even the most basic requirements of the full course of work. The initial requirements are not even particularly difficult.
I never had a high estimation of people's connection to their bodies, but it's only since working with them I've noticed how utterly f%cked most of us really are.
Biological resonance, the ability to find and maintain it, is only downstream of this crucial individual work.
Many people will tell you just breathe slowly and through the nose. This is very limited. These things are good. But they are not enough. Not even close. There is no simple panacea here.
And vital function, in the truest sense, can only be found in this way. Without it, vital function is a mere accident or early twenties limited. Don't limit yourself by thinking you weren't born that way. There is always some hope with a little hard work.
What has your experience with this vital function been?
Meditation coming out next few days.
Appreciate all retweets, your comments and engagement.
How do you breathe 5 times a minute if each one is aggressive and not slow?
Holding on the empty or the full or both?
(Regarding the advice you got in Kyoto)