Xuan Chu said: "Two immortals, how can they live forever? ”

The young man in white smiled and said: "The princess can practice fetal breath, that thousand-year-old turtle, can live for a thousand years, naturally has the uniqueness of its breathing......"

Xuan Chu said: "I have also learned a little bit of fetal breath, but I haven't practiced it well, and I'm ashamed to say that I haven't practiced it to the point where I am out of my body!" ”

The young man in white smiled: "Fetal breath is a kind of health regimen. The first to elaborate on fetal breath and put forward the cultivation method was Ge Hong of the Jin Dynasty. He edited Zhongyun in "Hug Puzi and Release Stagnation": "Fetal breath can not be sucked through the mouth and nose, such as in the twins, its way is successful."

Xuan Chu said: "Does this sentence mean that it is as if the fetus is pregnant in the mother's womb? ”

The young man in white smiled: "Naturally, the fetus does not need a lot of air, but it can breathe freely......"

The fairy in red said: "The Taoists and health preservationists of the past dynasties attached great importance to the fetal breath, and called the cultivation of the fetal breath "Dao" and "Immortal Dao", and wrote a large number of documents such as "Fetal Breath Law", "Fetal Breath Sutra", "Fetal Breath Ming", "Fetal Breath Formula" and so on. Therefore, there is no doubt that fetal breath is a real health preservation method. ”

Chu Chu said: "What exactly is fetal breath? ”

Generations have not been consistent. Many people think that it is a breathing method, such as "Wan Mi Zhai Book Ten Kinds of Raising Red-clothed Fairies": ""Four Essentials of Birth" says: "Breathing is continuous, such as when the child is in the womb, so it is called fetal breath". We know that the fetus is not breathing in the cell, and the oxygen required is obtained entirely through the mother's blood circulation, although it passes through the umbilical cord, but not breathing; Breathing only describes the slowness and evenness of breathing, and it is not appropriate to describe it as fetal breathing.

There are also people who confuse fetal breath with inner dan, such as "Fetal Breath Ming" says: "Pseudonymous fetal breath, real name inner dan", in fact, denies fetal breath. In my opinion, the term fetal breath, which is analogous to the respiratory state of the fetus in the zimb, does not reflect the essence of the fetal breath. ”

"But fetal breath has been a practical health regimen for more than a thousand years, so what exactly does it mean? ”

The fairy in red said: "According to Ge Hong's definition of fetal breathing, "not inhaling with mouth and nose, such as in twins", describes a method of oxygen inhalation without mouth and nose breathing; "Daocheng" is a state and state that has been attained. Su Dongpo recorded in "Su Shen Liangfang" that his practice feeling was "a breath of self-residence, not out of the house, or feel that this breath from the hair of 84,000 clouds and mist", this is actually a true portrayal of the scene of fetal breath. ”

Xuan Chu said: "Su Dongpo has also practiced fetal breath, isn't he also a Taoist......

The young man in white said with a smile: "I have also had this experience from time to time in qigong practice: when I practice spontaneously for a period of time, my movements become slower and gentler, and my breathing is continuous; Then the movement is completely stopped, and the whole body reaches the state of relaxation and quietness, and suddenly the pores of the whole body are opened, and the internal and external gases are blended together, at this time, there is no breathing, the cool feeling permeates the whole body, and there is no sense of pressure in the muscles and joints, such as weightlessness, and the physical and psychological burden is completely relieved.

But the good times are often short-lived, and the thought of nostalgia for this scene for a lifetime, this state also disappears, and lasts only two or three minutes. According to Ge Hong and Su Dongpo, this is fetal breath. Then, breathing is only a prelude to the appearance of fetal breath, and not breathing through the mouth and nose is the real fetal breath. ”

Ji Chu said, "Aren't you an immortal? Why do you still need to practice fetal breath? ”

Then I felt that the question was wrong, although he was an immortal, but the feelings he had when he first cultivated the Tao were still very profound, otherwise he could remember it for so long, looking at the cultivation of the two of them, it didn't look like a person who had just entered the Dao.

The young man in white said with a smile: "Hehe, a fetal breath is the body's breath, although the fetal breath can not breathe through the mouth and nose, but in the state of fetal breath, it is not that people do not exchange gases with the outside world. In the state of fetal breathing, the pores and acupuncture points of the whole body are opened, the internal and external gases are blended, oxygen enters the body, carbon dioxide is discharged from the body, and the respiratory function is realized. This method of exchanging gases between a person and the outside world is called body respiration.

The body respiration here refers to gas exchange, not to ordinary respiration. According to the feeling of cultivation, there is no division between exhalation and inhalation. It has been scientifically proven that people breathe through their skin. When normal people breathe through their mouth and nose, they also ventilate with the outside world through the skin, and once this route is blocked, people will get sick or even die. ”

The fairy in red said: "And qigong exercise has the potential to strengthen the breathing function on the surface of the body. Once the oxygen that enters the body from the surface of the body is combined with cellular respiration (scientifically called internal respiration), the respiration of the skin and acupuncture points is intensified, and the breathing of the fetus begins without breathing through the mouth and nose at all. ”

The young man in white said with a smile: "The theory of traditional Chinese medicine believes that the lungs are the main qi, and the opening and closing of the fur; The foot sun bladder is the surface of the main body, the division is vaporized, and the opening and closing of the fur; It is believed that the pores of the skin are the gateway to the body's gasification. The practice of fetal breath is actually a proof of the theory of Chinese medicine. "Zhuangzi" cloud: "The breath of a true person is a heel", so it is also known as a heel. From the perspective of body respiration, umbilical breath and heel breath are also a special case of body respiration, if possible. If we take the absence of mouth and nose breathing as the main characteristic of fetal breath, then both umbilical breath and heel breath belong to fetal breath. The concept of fetal breath is broader and more comprehensive than heel breath and umbilical breath. ”

Xuan Chu said: "Fetal breath is a kind of high-level qigong state? ”

The fairy in red said: "Ge Hong uses the method of stopping breathing and prolonging the breath-holding time to reach the state of fetal breathing, which makes people mistakenly think that fetal breath is a breathing exercise method, so the "Three Essentials of Regency" pointed out that "but knowing the breath, not knowing the fetal breath, it is useless", Su Dongpo "breathed by himself, not out and out", pointed out that not breathing through the mouth and nose is by no means mandatory, but when the work is achieved, the physiological state that naturally appears. ”

Xuan Chu: "From this, it can be said that fetal breath is a high-level qigong state. It is different from various primary exercises, inner pill techniques, and other advanced skills, and its main feature is that it does not breathe through the mouth and nose. ”

The fairy in red said: "The main reason for saying that it is a high-level qigong state is: practitioners who can generally enter the primary qigong state may not be able to enter the fetal breath state, and even if they have experienced the fetal breath by chance, they may not be able to enter it again. ”

The young man in white said with a smile: "In terms of the effect of health care and treatment, it is stronger than the primary qigong state, and it makes sense for the ancients to say that it "not only cures diseases, but also decides to prolong life". It makes people have the feeling of fluttering immortals and transcending the mortal world, so it is regarded by Taoists of all dynasties as the great law of cultivating the Tao and becoming immortals, that is, the so-called "long-term practice, ranking among the immortals". ”

Xuan Chu exclaimed: "A fetal breath can also make people rank among immortals? It's amazing......"