Spiritual Breathing or Fifth Gate Breathing

Spiritual breathing is also called Fifth Gate Breathing (Di Wu Xin Hu Xi, 第五心呼吸), baihui breathing (baihui hu xi, 百會呼吸), or upper dan tian breathing (shang dan tian hu xi, 上丹田呼吸). It means to breathe through the third eye and is crucial in opening the third eye for enlightenment.

Spiritual Breathing (Shen Xi, 神息)

Reaching the level of spiritual breathing presupposes regulating your body, breathing, mind, and qi, and now the spirit. Your qigong practice and the search for spiritual enlightenment have reached the final stage and are approaching maturity. According to The Complete Book of Principal Contents of Life and Human Nature (性命圭旨全書), “What is spiritual breathing? It means the maturity of cultivation.”7 That means cultivating the interaction of kan and li has reached the stage of regulating without regulating, and all the cultivations have become natural.

Five Gates Breathing (五心息)

Five Gates Breathing means that, after (you have) regulated the Four Gates Breathing to the point that regulating is unnecessary, then (you) add the fifth gate’s breathing. The first possible fifth gate is the baihui. The baihui cavity connects to the huiyin through the chong mai (i.e., thrusting vessel). The chong mai is what is called the spinal cord and is made of electrically highly conductive material.

Therefore, though the baihui and the huiyin are located in two different places, their functions are connected and act as one. The huiyin is the most yin place in the entire body, while the baihui is the residence of the yang-shen (i.e., yang spirit) and is the most yang place in the entire body. The huiyin is the yin meeting place of the four yin vessels conception, thrusting, yin heel, and yin linking vessels and is the key controlling gate of the entire body’s yin and yang. To qi practitioners, it is the secret gate for leading qi.

When the huiyin is held upward, the huiyin gate is closed and the body’s qi is condensed inward into the bone marrow, the spirit is converged and the qi is gathered, the entire body turns yin, and consequently, the jin is stored. Conversely, when the huiyin is pushed out, the huiyin gate is opened, qi is released from the four yin vessels, the yang spirit is raised up, the entire body turns yang, and consequently, the jin is emitted. One stores and one emits; this is the key cycle of the internal jin’s storing and emitting.

五心息者，在四心息調至不調而自調之境地時，即加添第五心之息。第五心者，百會也。百會由衝脈相通於會陰。衝脈者，脊髓神經也，特高之電導體也。因而百會與會陰雖於上下兩處，其作用唯一己矣。會陰為陰為全身最陰之所，百會為陽為陽神顯陽之地，亦是全身最陽之處。會陰者，四陰脈，任、衝、陰蹺、陰維脈交會之所，是全身陰陽控制之關，是練氣者引氣之竅門。會陰上提，會陰鎖，氣內斂入骨髓，神凝氣聚，全身趨陰，勁由之而蓄。反之，會陰下推，會陰開，氣由四陰脈外放，陽神上提，全身趨陽，勁由之而發。一蓄一發，此為內勁蓄發關要之鑰。

The Fifth Gate Breathing is the most important key to the jin’s manifestation. The yi and the qi of this gate are balanced with the other four gates, and when the yi and qi are strong in this gate, the yi and qi of the other four gates will also be strong. Naturally, the jin’s manifestation will be powerful.

The Baihui

The baihui (Gv-20,百會) is the residence of the shen, and the huiyin (Co-1,會陰) is the storage place of water. The shen is yang while water is yin. That is why the shen is commonly called yang shen (陽神) while the huiyin (Co-1,會陰) is called sea bottom (haidi, 海底).

The huiyin is the place that connects the real dan tian and the four yin vessels and thus stores the qi, while the shen is the place that governs the effectiveness of the qi’s manifestation. In fact, these two cavities are the two poles of the body’s central energy through the spinal cord. When this central energy is strong, the body’s vital force is strong. Naturally, the jin manifested will be powerful and precise.

According to Chinese medicine, huiyin means “yin meeting” and is the gate that controls the qi’s storage or release from the four yin vessels. When the huiyin is pushing out, the qi in the four yin vessels is released, and when this cavity is held upward, the qi is preserved. This implies that when you store your jin, you are holding this cavity upward while inhaling and when you emit your jin, you are pushing this cavity outward while exhaling.

Wŭ, Yu-xiang said:

(Throughout your) entire body, your mind is on the spirit of vitality (jing shen), not on the qi. (If concentrated) on the qi, then stagnant.” This is the Fifth Gate Breathing. Spirit (i.e., shen) is the master of the qi’s circulation. When the spirit is high, the qi’s circulation is natural, strong, and smooth. When the spirit is low, then the qi is stagnant, weak, and hard to circulate. This is the secret key to jin manifestation.

武禹襄云；〝全身意在精神，不在氣，在氣則滯。〞此即意第五心之呼吸也。神為氣行之主宰，神高，氣行自然沛而順，神低，氣滯弱而難行。此為勁發之訣竅也。

When the entire body’s concentration is on the spirit, the spirit can be high and the qi can be led effectively. However, if the yi is on the qi, then your mind is not ahead of the qi and so not leading the qi, and the qi will be stagnant. This will cause the power to stagnate during expression. The key to leading the qi efficiently is to develop a sense of enemy. This means that you have an imaginary opponent. When your mind is on your opponent, your yi will lead the qi there for jin manifestation. The strength of your qi depends on the strength of your yi. However, the strength of your yi depends on your fighting spirit and morale. When this spirit is high, your alertness and awareness will also be high. Naturally, the qi can be directed efficiently.

The above is an excerpt from Tai Chi Ball Qigong: For Health and Martial Arts by Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming and David Grantham, Publication Date 2010, YMAA Publication Center, ISBN: 9781594391996.