Bone Breathing: Making Your Breath Reach the Bones

“Remember to breathe. It is, after all, the secret of life.” ~ Gregory Maguire

Prana or life force is the vital energy that keeps the body alive, and channeling that energy to the different organs in our body is equally important to maintain a state of good health. Our bones are living organs too that provide structure for our body, protect all our important organs and help us nourish our entire body by producing red and white blood cells.

An ancient Taoist practice that uses this life force to restore health and give strength to the bones, is ‘Bone Breathing’. The practice uses breathing and visualization to bring more healing Qi into the bones and joints.

Mantak Chia, a taoist master known for his teaching Taoist practices under the names of Healing Tao, Tao Yoga, Universal Healing Tao System and Chi Kung, in his book, Iron Shirt Kung I, Chia spoke about the potentiality of Bone breathing, “Bone Breathing or bone compression is the method of “Cleansing the Marrow”, or cleaning out fat in the bone marrow so that you can direct and absorb the creative (sexual) energy into the bone to help regrow the bone marrow.”

He also mentioned that bones are highly porous and are always breathing; just like a sponge sucks water, bones suck in oxygen, nutrition and blood.