Breathing Exercise - In and Out or Out and In?

This exercise is adapted from an exercise Andrew Weil leads on his CD, "Breathing -The Master Key to Self Healing."

Notice your breath as it flows. Then check in with the question, "does the breath cycle start with the inhale or the exhale?" Most people tend to associate the beginning of the breath cycle with the inhale and the completion of the breath cycle with the exhale. Try imagining that the breath cycle starts with the exhale and is completed by the inhale.

Purpose of the exercise: To get you to break out of habitual ways of breathing. Also, the exercise is related to the Zen story, "Empty Your Cup," in which the Master over pours tea into his students cup. The students reacts and the Master points out that, like the cup, he can not help the student because he is too full. The student must first "empty his cup" if he wants to receive.

Likewise - we can only inhale to the degree that we exhale.