1. Extending the diaphragmatic floor of the cylinder downward
2. Expanding the walls outward
3. Moving the top of the cylinder upward.

These three phases of breathing are termed:

•Diaphragmatic
•Thoracic
•Clavicular

In the first your belly expands, the second your chest expands and the third raises your shoulders. Infants and small children use their diaphragms exclusively for breathing. Chest breathing cannot occur until considerably after birth, not until the bony chest matures. Diaphragmatic breathing fills the lower part of the lungs. Chest breathing fills the middle and upper portions. During normal activity clavicular breathing only comes into play when the body’s oxygen demands are very great or one is agitated.

Once the lungs are filled to their capacity, how are they emptied? What results in exhalation? Relaxation! Everyone has had the experience of sighing, or letting a deep breath out in a completely relaxed passive motion. In normal breathing no muscles contract to push the air out. It is as if the lungs themselves are pulling the diaphragm up and chest wall in. This is in fact, what happens. The lungs are elastic, and they shrink back to their original size once the forces which expanded them are released--much as a balloon shrinks back to its normal size once the end is untied. In forced exhalation, the stomach muscles contract to force the diaphragm upward as it relaxes.

To get this breathing thing down, think of an imaginary ball about the size of a coconut in your midsection. (see above) All you're doing when breathing diaphragmatically is moving this ball. If you need, place your hand on your stomach, pretending you have the ball in your hand, then press it in and up--then let it come down and out. Congratulations! You've just mastered a year of Prana yoga.

Usually when someone is asked to take a deep breath they will raise their shoulders slightly, indicating clavicular breathing which, paradoxically, is the shallowest form. To experience this take a deep breath now. If your shoulders don't rise slightly then take several breaths in very rapid secession and you'll notice your shoulders moving.

The three zones of breathing:
•Upper
•Middle
•Lower.

And there are natural sounds which coincide with these zones. Correctly pronounced the mantra Om moves through each zone. AAAAUUUUMMMM. Another way to learn and appreciate this is by using distinct sounds. For our purposes we'll use the sounds of four different exclamations.

Ee as in free --When one is very thrilled or frightened. Water Quadrant
Ah or Aw --When one is surprised or startled. Fire Quadrant
Oo as in broom --When one is suitably impressed. Earth Quadrant
Oh --When one is engaged in acceptance. Air Quadrant

The sound Ee is the highest (Clavicular breathing), Ah or Aw--mid-range (Thoracic breathing) and Oo and Oh --the bottom (Diaphragmatic breathing). With these four it is possible to make up a breathing-language which can have startling physiological effects. There is a strong link between vowel sounds and physiological states.

For example:

•Oo Aw (Homa) Move from Earth to Fire.
•Oo Ah Ee (Huame) Move from Earth through Fire to Water.
•Ee Oh Ah (Eoma) Move from Water to Air to Fire.

These and any number of other breathing-language words can be used to direct and modify breathing, thus physiological states. Adding a consonant (H, for example) to the beginning of words makes them smoother to remember and pronounce. As does the Mm or Nn sound at the end. The core of the word HUNA, for example, is Oo and Ah. However, pronouncing OoAh is a little clumsy and disjointed. Making it Hh Oo Nn Ah creates a flow and a memorable word--Huna. It could be Buna, Cuna, Buma, Cuma, etc. Saying (and/or thinking) the word HUNA moves one's physiology from the Earth Quadrant to the Fire Quadrant. The core of Huna training is the Earth-Fire shift. Chanting Om (Ah Oo Mm) is to repeatedly invoke the sound equivalent of a Fire to Earth Quadrant shift--the reverse direction from Huna.

The table above give examples of Hawaiian words and their meaning. The first, IKE (Ee k Ee) is a Water to Water shift or loop. ALOHA (Ah l Oh h Aw) is a Fire to Air to Fire movement--also a loop. These are presented to get a feel for the Breathing-Language concept.

Exercise 1:

Practice each breathing zone until you have them well differentiated. Use of the seed sounds will speed up this process. Since the lungs are under both involuntary and voluntary control you have a way to consciously teach the non-conscious. Get a good kinesthetic, auditory and visual sense of each type of breathing and your resultant physiology. Which zone someone uses while breathing (and/or the vowels they tend to emphasize) tells you what their emotional (physiological) state is.

Exercise 2:

Develop a set of breathing-language words for your own use. They will serve as meta-anchors--directing your physiology in the direction you desire. When used quietly or sub-vocally your 'breath' words can automatically shift your breathing hence your physiology hence your mood and resoucefulness. You can now create your very own 'power' words!

Manifesting:

In a state of relaxation (Earth/Air Quadrants), if you:

•desire an event to take place
•believe the event can take place
•expect the event to take place.

you will have a high rate of success. Further, realize that you cannot create a problem in a state of relaxation.

Consider what each of the following means to you in terms of breathing:

•Slower
•Looser
•Lighter
•Larger
•Warmer

Once you know how to create power words for the activity, state or resource you desire, then string them together into sentences. This is the genesis and central concept of effective prayer.

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More:

Science of Breath, Swami Rama, Rudolph Ballentine M.D., Alan Hymes M.D.
For a clear explanation of 'spiritual' breathing read Zen Training by Katsuki Sekida--chapters four and five.
For deep insight and an understanding of the connection between breathing and psychology read The Voice of Neurosis by Paul J. Moses M.D. This slim volume is the real deal!