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Breath Talks
Breathing (respiration or ventilation) is the rhythmic process of moving air into (inhalation) and out of (exhalation) the lungs to enable gas exchange with the internal environment, primarily to remove carbon dioxide and take in oxygen.
All aerobic organisms require oxygen for cellular respiration, which extracts energy from food and produces carbon dioxide as a waste product. External respiration (breathing) brings air to the alveoli where gases move by diffusion; the circulatory system then transports oxygen and carbon dioxide between the lungs and the tissues.
In vertebrates with lungs, breathing consists of repeated cycles of inhalation and exhalation through a branched system of airways that conduct air from the nose or mouth to the alveoli. The number of respiratory cycles per minute — the respiratory or breathing rate — is a primary vital sign. Under normal conditions, depth and rate of breathing are controlled unconsciously by homeostatic mechanisms that maintain arterial partial pressures of carbon dioxide and oxygen. Keeping arterial CO₂ stable helps maintain extracellular fluid pH; hyperventilation andhypoventilation alter CO₂ and thus pH and produce distressing symptoms.
Breathing also supports speech, laughter and certain reflexes (yawning, coughing, sneezing) and can contribute to thermoregulation (for example, panting in animals that cannot sweat sufficiently).
Title | Speaker | |
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Birth Death Practice, Breath, Time |
May 13 2006 |
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Sitting ZazenSerial: SF-03488 Sesshin 3 Day 1 Zazen, Posture, Breath |
Mar 23 2005 Tassajara |
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Big MindSerial: SF-03504 Sesshin 2 Day 2 Practice, Zazen, Breath |
Feb 21 2005 Tassajara |
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Sink and SwimSerial: SF-03561 Sesshin 1 Day 2 Practice, Breath, Time |
Jan 26 2005 Tassajara |
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Workshop Time, Practice, Breath |
Feb 14 2004 Green Gulch Farm |
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Gratitude For This PracticeSerial: SF-04042 Sunday Lecture: Fear - fear is spawning ground for negative emotions. Attention to breath. How to work with difficult mental states. Walking and attention to breath. Busyness... Breath, Anger, Time |
Nov 24 2002 Green Gulch Farm |
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Sunday Lecture Time, Breath, Practice |
Oct 06 1991 Green Gulch Farm |
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Mindfulness Mindfulness, Practice, Breath |
Jun 15 1991 City Center |
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Sunday Lecture Time, New Year, Breath |
Dec 20 1987 Green Gulch Farm |
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Sunday Lecture Time, Breath, difficulty |
Sep 27 1987 Green Gulch Farm |
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Sunday Lecture Practice, Mindfulness, Breath |
May 24 1987 San Francisco Zen Center |
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Embracing Mindfulness Through Communal PracticeSerial: SF-03978 May be part of sesshin series Time, Breath, Practice Period |
Mar 05 1987 San Francisco Zen Center |
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Sesshin Lecture Time, Breath, Equanimity |
Mar 03 1987 San Francisco Zen Center |
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Awake in Every Living MomentSerial: SF-04003 May be part of sesshin series Time, Practice, Breath |
1987 San Francisco Zen Center |
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Cultivating Presence In Lifes Garden Breath, Time, Practice |
1987 San Francisco Zen Center |
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Breathing Breath, Practice, Zazen |
Jul 1980 Unknown |
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Priest Ordination Ceremony: Paul Discoe and Reb AndersonSerial: SR-00069A Reprocessed version may allow for clarification of transcript (some changes made by SDH, July 2025) Priest, Ceremony, Precepts, Don't Know Mind, Delusion, Greed, Interview,... |
Aug 09 1970 City Center |
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How To Have Sincere PracticeSerial: SR-00145 Suzuki Roshi edited from longer recording. Building, Community, Meditation, Obstacles, Interview, Silence, Breath |
Apr 25 1970 A City Center |
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Some QuestionsQuestion-and-Answer, Breath, Buddha Nature, Posture, Tassajara Zen Mountain Center,... |
Aug 28 1969 Tassajara |
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untitledSerial: SR-00007 Newly reprocessed recording should be a little clearer Lotus Sutra, Monks, Breath, Building |
Dec 24 1968 Sokoji |
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Take One SeatSerial: SF-03025 Commercially produced cassette: Insight Meditation West - Spirit Rock Center, PO Box 909, Woodacre, CA 94973 Buddha, Breath, Practice |
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Breath as a Gateway to MindfulnessSerial: SF-01076 (no date) 1991? Breath, Zazen, Practice |
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Seminar on TaoismSerial: SR-00275A Alan Watts on Taoism, session 1 Forms, Silence, Obstacles, Lay, Bell, Continuous Practice, Consciousness, Breath... |
A Unknown |