A Shaolin Breathing practice to sharpen the mind and to feel more at ease in the moment.

The ancient practises of Shaolin Fighting monks aim to synthesise every imaginable human skill to strengthen the Body & Mind relationship. Can these help you to synthesise every drip of energy to finish your task without sweating? 

The Present neuro-electrophysiological study (chan et al. 2011) aimed to investigate whether the Shaolin Dan Tian Breathing technique, which consists of Passive and Active subtypes, would induce both relaxed and attentive states of being. Meaning it could help you to remain focused on tasks, deal with stressful workload but most importantly do all this with a slight feeling of relaxation and flexibility.

The Experimental setup followed a two-group design: consisting of 44 participants, matched on characteristics like age, gender and education and divided equally in an experimental and control condition.

They were required to stop when feeling relaxed and/or felt slightly warm. Participants in the experimental conditions practised Passive and Active Dan tian breathing (DTB) The experimental group practised both forms alternately within one session while the control group practised: Progressive muscle relaxation. Compared to the control group the experimental condition showed enhanced temporal alpha asymmetry (an index for relaxation & positive Mood) and enhanced intra, inter hemispheric theta coherence (attention/alertness)

Findings suggest a positive effect of Shaolin DBT enhancing neural activity and connectivity. These results suggested that practising the Shaolin DTB facilitated the attainment of the coexisting states of a relaxed and attentive mind.

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Shaolin Dan tian breathing fosters a relaxed and attentive mind

Chan, A. S., Cheung, M. C., Sze, S. L., Leung, W. W., & Shi, D. (2011). Shaolin dan tian breathing fosters relaxed and attentive mind: a randomized controlled neuro-electrophysiological study.