The Beginner's Guide to Healthy Breathing

Leave it to Sounds True to find leaders in the fields of spirituality and health to explain the elements of some of the essential areas. Each original guide in their series is about 70 minutes long and provides the kind of information and instruction one would expect in a good primer. Although the liner notes are meager, limited to information about the narrator, each CD includes a "table of contents" that makes each part of the program easy to locate. Author and qigong master Ken Cohen opens his program by discussing healthy breathing and giving the listener a chance to assess his/her breathing habits. He then discusses the three stages of natural breathing: abdominal respiration, dan tian breathing, and embryonic respiration. Cohen's program includes four exercises: breathing while lying down, expelling unhealthy air, reversed breathing, and exploring other kinds of breathing. Although his voice is pleasant, Cohen narrates carefully--too carefully, I fear--making his presentation sound rigid and precise. P.B.J. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine