Chapter 3, Physical Level Exercise: Pour Breathing and Accumulating Energy

These exercises are straightforward and clear. There is also a
fascinating appendix in this chapter relating to space impregnation,
biomagnetism, and some methods of psychic healing.  In terms of
magical theory and practice, vitality and life force are transferrable.
They can be accumulated both within and outside of the individual's
body.  Life force is extremely receptive to thoughts and intentions. 
Consequently, it can be employed in many different ways.  Bardon
intends the student to use the exercises in this section to develop a
supreme mastery of the life force.  
   Bardon does not refer again to the accumulation of vital power
until later chapters. In chapter 6 and 7, accumulated vital power is
used for the creation of elementals on the mental plane, for the
development of clairvoyance, and for animating the astral body of
elementaries.  In chapter 9, he discusses charging talismans with life
force which shines brighter than sunlight.  
  Also, in Bardon's book on evocation, he refers to charging a magic
wand with vital power and biomagnetism which are the preferred
energy for curative operations.  In Bardon's book on Quabbalistic
practices, pour breathing is also used for accumulating in the body a
series of different colors other than white light.  I will refer to my
own experiences and perspective on the accumulation of life force
toward the end of my commentary. 
    There are basically three parts to these exercise for the physical
level of this chapter. 1. Breathing in and out through parts of the
body similar to what was done in the last chapter.  2. Accumulating
vitality in the whole body.  3. Accumulating vital energy in parts of
the body.
    
Exercise 1.  Breathing through parts of the body.  To begin, we
practice inhaling and exhaling with each part of the body.  You start
with your feet and work towards your head.  The idea is to practice
successfully pour breathing in each part of your body.  
    Assume a position of meditation, relax, and close your eyes. 
Concentrate on one of your legs.  If you can, transfer your
awareness into your leg, that is, imagine your mind is within your
leg, in the shape of your leg, and that there is nothing else in your
mind but this activity.
    Now imagine that the pours of your leg, like the lungs, are
breathing in and exhaling vital force from the surrounding universe. 
We have already practiced this procedure with our whole body in
chapter 1.  As with the whole body breathing, you will have your
own set of feelings and sensations which indicate the practice is
developing.  
    You may feel a warmth in your leg.  The skin may tingle as if
there is a slight charge of electricity accumulating. You may feel
increased pressure within your leg as you inhale and a decrease of
pressure as you exhale.  You may feel an increase in blood
circulation to the leg you are concentrating on.  In any case, you
should be able to notice a difference in sensations or vitality between
the leg you are concentrating on and your other leg.  If you succeed
in this after seven breaths, practice pour breathing in your other leg. 
    After this, practice breathing through both legs at once.  Then go
on to one hand, the other hand, and then both hands at once. 
Bardon gives examples of working with the "genitals, bowels,
stomach, liver, lungs, heart, larynx, and head."  
     It is clear that Bardon intends the student to extend his awareness
into every part of his or her body.  Over the long haul, the task is to
sense the condition of each part of the body so as to heal and restore
the body to health and harmony whenever needed. It is left to each
student to pursue this exercise in a way which leads to complete
success.. 
    Exercise 2.  Accumulation of Vital Energy.  As you breathe
through your lungs and the pours of your body, you imagine
holding this vital energy inside of you so it builds in charge.  As you
exhale, you breathe out air but think of nothing in particular.  In
contrast to the previous exercise, in this procedure we gather the
energy evenly throughout the body.  Begin by practicing this for
seven breaths and adding one additional breath each day.  Work up
to practice sessions of twenty minutes but no more than this.  
    One of the primary concerns throughout Bardon's three books is
the necessity for a magician to gather the energy required to fulfill
his purposes.  It is not enough to have high and noble ideals, to
develop pure virtues in yourself, and to commit to great purposes. 
You must also empower your spirit, your mind, your emotions, and
your body in a specific way--you should be able to gather huge
amounts of energy on any plane inside your body whenever your
wish. 
   The idea in this exercise is to acclimate and condition your body
to gradually increasing charges of vital energy.  If you are
successful, early on you will be able to sense a kind of pressure
building up inside your body.  This pressure can become quite
strong and you will want to become very familiar and completely
comfortable with it. 
   Again, it is advisable to move slowly so that you gradually
increase the amounts of energy you work with.  In this way, you
avoid placing stress or excessive tension on your nervous system. 
Again, he stresses that you do not practice for more than twenty
minutes at a time. 
   Bardon says during this exercise your body will eventually develop
a dynamic charge of energy.  You will feel you have become radiant
with energy emitting brilliant rays of light like the sun.  There are in
effect two aspects to this energy accumulation.  There is an intensity
of compressed vital energy inside your body.  And there is an
emanation of a more refined energy like heat waves or light which
fills the space around you.  You definitely want to learn to extend
this emanation of energy or light rays for at least ten meters around
yourself.
    After you accumulate energy at any time, however, also release
this charge of energy so that your body returns to normal and is
completely free of tension.  That is, breathe out the energy with as
many breaths as you used to breath in.  Walking around in a high
energy state, though perhaps exhilarating, is also stressful and
unhealthy for the body.  The exercises will naturally strengthen your
health and increase your vitality but in a gradual way over time.  In
addition, after much practice, you can learn to emit the charge of
energy in your body quickly to the outside world rather than through
the process of breathing. 
   Exercise 3.  Accumulation of vital energy in parts of the body. 
This third step simply combines the two previous exercises.  You
breathe in through your lungs and the pours of your whole body
accumulating the energy in specific parts and organs of your body. 
Bardon mentions that in magick it is advantageous to learn to
accumulate very great amounts of energy in the hands and the eyes. 
    Again, after you accumulate life force in a specific part of your
body, use the same number of breaths to expel the energy to the
outside world.  The emphasis here is not on circulating or
accumulating the energy in one organ and then moving that same
energy to another part of your body.  Instead, the practice is focused
on getting each part of your body to use the pour breathing as a
means for accumulating energy. 
   After a long amount of practice, also learn to emit the
accumulated energy in each part of your body directly and swiftly to
the outside.  When you have successfully learned to accumulate
energy in each part of your body and also release it as with a burst
of energy, you will have completed the physical exercises for this
chapter. 
    
COMMENTARY, PART 1

In this section, I would like to offer some practical tips and a few
notes on theory.  

Exercise 1.  Once again, in this exercise we practice breathing vital
energy in and out of specific parts of our body using the lungs and
pours of our entire body.  No accumulation of energy occurs other
than during a single breath.  Certainly, knowledge of anatomy is
important.  You should be able to visualize fairly easily and
accurately the shape and location of different body organs.  
   Biofeedback experiments indicate that individuals can consciously
alter the electrical activity even of single cells on the surface of the
skin.  If you concentrate on skin, muscles, or internal organs, you
can dilate the blood vessels increasing or decreasing blood flow and
circulation.  To this enhanced mind body coordination, we add pour
breathing.  
    In the physical exercise for chapter 1, you worked at acquiring
sensations and feelings to associate with the movement of life force
in and out of the pours of your whole body.  This exercise of
breathing through parts of the body is a continuation of the previous
exercise.  If you have difficulty, there are many ways of breaking
the exercise down into smaller, more easily mastered components. 
     As in the practice of developing clairfeeling in later chapters,
some individuals will notice that certain areas of their bodies are
more sensitive and receptive than other parts.  You may notice that
your hands, hips, legs, solar plexus, forehead, or even your eyes
respond quickly to generating feelings of energy flow.  If you find
pour breathing works to some extent in some areas and not others,
develop those areas further.  Then gradually extent that same
awareness to other parts of your body.
   For example, consider the hands.  Take one hand and massage it
slowly and carefully.  Notice every nuance of sensation involved
with touch and muscular stimulation.  Notice the warmth and the
different effects of pressure on the skin versus the muscles
underneath.  Work with the muscles from different angles and with
different amounts of pressure.  Notice pain sensations when the
pressure is too great.  
   If you notice tension in the muscles, explore that tension.  What
are its qualities?  Is there an ache, a sharp pain, or soreness?  Is it
strong or weak?  Is it easily released or persistent?  Notice also any
effects on the rest of your body and nervous system as you run into
pain or tension.  Does the rest of your body remain relaxed or does
your whole body become alert or tense to some degree?
   Slowly make your hand into a fist until it is tight and then slowly
release that fist.  Notice for example thirty or forty degrees of
muscle tension as you tighten and release your fist.  In other words,
slowly count to thirty as you are tightening your fist so that on each
count your muscles are slightly tighter and do the same as you relax
your hand.
    As you massage your hand, also learn to visualize the muscles,
tendons, and bones beneath the skin.  Imagine you have x-ray vision
and can see what is going on inside.  If you like, you can imagine
seeing the blood cells carrying oxygen to the cells from the arteries
and carrying away CO2 through the veins.  Imagine too the white
blood cells which attack infections and the other components of the
blood stream such as simple sugars, insulin, enzymes, and so forth
which keep the body running harmoniously.
   Later on Bardon has an exercise in which he has the student
imagine himself wearing several pairs of glows.  The physical body
is the outermost glove.  We could say that the etheric body which
accumulates vitality is made of a more refined material which is on
the inside of the outer glove.  Imagine yourself, then, being able to
perceive the physical hand and then also the etheric or vital energy
which is within the hand.
    Again, if you feel sensations of energy moving in and out of your
hand through breathing, extend your practice to the next most likely
part of your body through which you can feel energy.  You may
want to just work up through the arms by practicing next on the
forearm and then the upper arm and then with the whole arm.  You
may also wish to deepen your exploration of your hand by seeing if
you can get each finger to breathe vital energy in and out and then
each segment of each finger. 
    Bardon mentions that you are to get each part of your body, even
the smallest, to experience pour breathing.  In Bardon's book on
Quabbalah, he mentions specific body parts which the student is to
spend a great deal of time concentrating different colors and
elements into.  In addition to what I mentioned in the previous
section, he adds the ears, kidneys, entire spine, midriff, spleen, solar
plexus, anus, nose, feet, gall bladder, brain, pancreas, and abdomen. 
In various contexts, he also mentions the head, chest area, abdomen,
and legs as four distinct areas to work on. 
    It is perhaps easy to underestimate the importance of this
exercise.  In contrast to every other practice I have studied, this one
exercise develops the strength and resilience of the entire etheric
body.  Many systems of health and healing discriminate in a biased
and partisan manner emphasizing some kinds of vitality and certain
parts of the body.  They do this because their purposes and goals
only require some areas of the body to be developed and not others.  
   The advantage, of course, is that they can gain quick results which
empower the student to feel confident about the practice.  The
disadvantage is that the limitations of their systems disqualify them
on a practical level from attaining to high magick.  They are only
capable of reflecting parts and not the whole of the larger universe
within themselves on an etheric level. Bardon's system requires that
you internalize not this or that religious or culturally satisfying ideal
within you.  Instead, he would have you make a home within your
body and soul for the light of the sun in all its radiance and power. 
    As you breathe life force in and out of each part of the body, you
may feel like you are checking off each body part and internal organ
one after the other on a list.  When you finish the list and get each
part of the body to breathe, you are done.  Then you are ready to go
on to the next exercise.
   There is some importance in continuing to work with this exercise
over a large period of time so you master it on a high level.  We
could refer to the etheric body as the life force and vitality which on
a more refined level regulate and sustain the health and functioning
of the physical body.  Each body part and organ has its role to play
in the activities of our physical being.  In weight training, aerobics,
and many sports and martial arts, you try to develop all the muscle
systems so the entire body is coordinated and harmonious.  
   The same is true of the etheric body.  As you breathe in and out
of the pancreas, liver, or stomach, you are slowly increasing the
strength of the specific energy in those organs.  At the same time,
those organ energies are becoming more developed and more highly
integrated into your etheric body.  In the same way that the many
strands within a rope make it strong, the more parts of your body
you can blend and unite into one etheric vibration, the stronger and
more resilient your health will become. 
    Jacobson was one of the pioneers in the field of relaxation in the
United States.  One of his practices is to tense one set of muscles at
a time while consciously keeping the rest of the body relaxed. Your
awareness is not focused only on tensing and relaxing one part of
the body.  You are also increasing your awareness and control over
your whole nervous system and other muscles at the time. This is
similar to visualizing  tension or pain.  Once you visualize the
tension, you can say to yourself, "Oh, I can see the tension or pain
in this part of my body and so obviously it is here and not in the
other parts of my body.  Everything else can remain relaxed."  Your
ability to sense and manage tension is increased as a result.
    In these pour breathing exercises, we are using the lungs and the
pours of our entire body to strengthen the part we are focusing on. 
If we are practicing breathing in and out of the left kidney, for
example, we are drawing in and releasing vitality through the pours
of our feet, our legs, our arms, our chest, back, neck, head as well
as our lungs all at the same time.  The whole etheric body is
coordinated with the specific organ.  And in turn the excess energy
we generate in the left kidney is also moving in and out of our entire
body. 
    It might be helpful then, at the outset, to picture the entire etheric
body.  As you work with each part, imagine that the unique and
individual energy of that part is adding to the harmony and
strengthening the adaptability and endurance of the whole.  The
point I wish to emphasize is that pour breathing through body parts
develops a coordinated, harmonious, and integrated etheric body
simply by pursing the exercise as it is on its own terms.  
   Later on, I will mention some of the large number of identifiable
vital energies which different metaphysical systems teach their
students to perceive.   It is of course invaluable to develop the
sensitivity or psychic ability to perceive directly the specific qualities
and kinds of energy within the body.  Such knowledge can only add
to your practice. Again, however, I think it is important never to
confuse mastery of specific healing and energy systems with the
overall goal of a magician which is to bring his microcosm into
harmony with the macrocosm.  To accomplish this, you will need an
etheric body which has every part vitalized in an equal and
harmonious manner.

A second area of difficulty in pour breathing involves the flow of
energy in and out of "difficult to feel" body parts.  Previously, I
have followed Bardon's example of a sponge being placed in water. 
You can see a sponge change color as it absorbs water and you can
feel the weight of the sponge increase.  You know from experience
that sponges are useful in wiping up spilled liquids.  Through
imagination, you extend this absorbing quality to the pours of your
body.
   You can experiment for yourself to find what imagery and sensory
experiences enhance your own imagination.  Air, for example,
exerts so many pounds pressure per square inch on our bodies at sea
level.  If you imagine your arm is empty and hollow so it has a
vacuum inside, then there is a sea of air around your arm pressing
upon your skin.  
    Since anything material has an etheric vibration, the etheric
energy of the air as well is ready to stream inside your arm.  You
then imagine the pours of the skin as openings enabling that energy
to come within. Then you reverse the process as you exhale.  For
example, you can imagine your arm as an empty space which
automatically expels everything within it. 
   Though the exercise emphasizes a tactile sensation of vitality
moving in and out of the body, you may also wish to experiment
with visualizing light.  That is, you imagine as you inhale that
brilliant light like the sun is entering the part of your body you are
working on.  As you inhale for four or five seconds, your arm turns
brilliant and radiant like the sun.  As you exhale, the light is
completely emitted.  This exercise is common enough common in
various traditions.
   The problem with using white light is that it may not have the
right quality which is appropriate for your etheric body.  It may be
too harsh or intense, that is, without the organic and natural quality
which is typical in normal breathing.  The reason Bardon
emphasizes brilliant light like the sun is that the solar vibration has a
harmonizing and overall vitalizing influence on the physical, astral,
and mental bodies at the same time.  
   Breath, however, as well as being bright like sunlight, can also be
considered in terms of the five elements. Bardon mentions this, for
example, in chapter 9 when he says, ""it should be added that the
mental matrix, i.e., the binding agent between the mental and the
astral body, is kept working by normal breathing, which supplies the
blood vessels with the four elements, including akasha, via the
lungs."
    If you practice the following visualizations while you do pour
breathing, you may notice they produce slightly different sensations
and energies within you.  To emphasize fire, imagine you are not far
from a cinder cone spouting curtains of molten lava for a hundred
feet into the air.  You can feel the heat on your face and body.  And
in the distance behind the cone the sun is just rising on the horizon.  
As you do pour breathing, you may notice the heat and fiery charge
in the air coming into your body also.  As I do this now, I feel a
primal power and intense heat along with vitality entering my body.
    On the other hand, imagine you are sitting on the edge of a
mountain pool fifty feet across.  Your legs are in the water.  Water
falls down a hundred feet from a ledge above you.  A thin spray of
cool water washes your face and small ripples pulsate against your
legs.  As your breathe in and out as you feel, see, and hear the
vibrations, sensations, and sights before you, you may feel that
watery, cool vibration moving in and out of your body as well.  As I
do this now, after two breaths, I feel a cool, soothing, and refreshing
watery energy flowing through my body. 
   Notice that we are still doing pour breathing.  We can still
visualize our etheric bodies being charged with vitality and brilliant
light, but we are also adding in an emphasis on this or that elemental
sensation.  Next try the element of earth.  Thank or imagine a
location in nature which is silent, still, and where you are sitting
peacefully among rocks, boulders, granite cliffs, and so forth.  
   I imagine I am on second Mesa on the Hopi Indian Reservation at
midnight beneath a moonless and clear sky.  It is so quiet and
peaceful I feel the stone cliffs are an extension of my body.  After
several breaths, I feel like I have become part of the earth.  The
vitality I breathe in has a solidity, endurance, and stability within it.
   Consider also the air element.  If I breathe in several times
imagining myself to be high above the clouds at fifty thousand feet,
I feel an exhilarating sense of freedom, clarity, and balance.  The air
element emphasized in this breathing exercise banishes anxiety and
worries. 
   So far, the air is pretty much the same in these four exercises. 
There is some difference in temperature, moisture, pressure, light,
and setting, but it is still the same pour breathing exercise.  I am just
using imagery to emphasize a concentration of this or that specific
element. 
   And finally, if I breathe in imagining myself at the center of a
magick circle or stone circle, I feel my historical identity and my
personality have been put off to the side.  I feel united with a
timeless and immortal aspect of myself.  It is of course quite
possible to combine all five elements at once.  This can be done for
example by imagining yourself at the center of a magick circle and
having the four previous visualizations represented by the four
directions.
   In one scheme, north symbolizes the earth element, silence,  the
season of fall, midnight, and so forth.  The east the air element,
spring, morning, enlightenment, etc. The south is fire, noon,
summer, will, etc. The west is water, evening, winter, love, etc. And
Indian summer is the akasha.  There are, of course, a great many
variations on the use of directions, colors, seasons, and many other
correspondences relating to the elements.  These will differ
according to the tradition you are using.  
   Later on, Bardon also has students practice concentrating the four
elements in four parts of the body at the same time.  Earth is in the
lower pelvis and legs.  Water is in the abdomen.  Air is in the chest. 
And fire is in the head.  
   Taoists, for example, tend to emphasize the development of the
etheric body because of their overriding interest in longevity and the
refinement of chi.  In one Taoist tradition, you learn to sense the
specific vitality in different internal organs.  You then refine and
combine these energies and circulate the resulting product
throughout the body.  
   In such a system (see Mantak Chia's book, e.g., Fusion of the Five
Elements I),  the liver has positive emotions of kindness and
negative emotions of anger.  Its energy is wet, warm, and windy.
You can think of the energy of trees and forests inside the liver. The
liver is complemented by the lungs. 
    The lungs have positive emotions of righteousness and courage
and negative emotions of sadness and depression.  The energy of
the lungs is dry and cool.   The Taoists associate the lungs with
metal so there is a sensation like touching iron with no water in it. 
These two energies, being opposites, balance each other so you fuse
them together as you form what is called an immortality pearl. 
    Similarly, the heart has positive emotions of love, joy, and respect
and negative emotions such as hate,  impatience, and cruelty.  Its
energy is warm, full, stable, and protected.  The opposite of fire is
water present in the kidneys.  The kidneys embody gentleness and
negative emotions of fear and stress.  Their energy is cool, calm,
and breezy.  Think of water flowing and the presence of winter. 
   The stomach is added to the above sets.  Its positive emotions are
fairness and openness and the negative emotions are worry and
anxiety.  Its energy is balanced being neither too hot or too cold.  
   I think the presentation which Mantak Chia does in far more detail
than I am relaying here is a real contribution to occult anatomy.  I
think he has a lot to offer and many individuals find his system
extremely helpful and powerful also for healing. 
   If I place my mind in one of my kidneys, I immediately have an
image of floating down a river.  The water is bubbly yet serene.  It is
cool, purifying, and rejuvenating.  It has an overwhelming sense of
completely letting go into the flow.  It is a lot like the positive
aspects of the astrological sign of Cancer.
   If I place my mind in my lungs, I feel like I am moving into the
future in a balanced and harmonious manner.  There is a sense of
the free, unobstructed movement of winds above the earth.  And I
get a nearly clairvoyant sense that I see things before they happen. 
If I put aside these concepts and metaphorical language, the
sensations I perceive are of air pressure increasing and decreasing
and of the air becoming more moist as I breathe in. There is also a
feeling of being completely weightless as if I am floating in a sea of
air. 
   In both of the above examples with the kidneys and the lungs, the
energy of the specific organ quickly engulfs my entire body.  If I
concentrate on one body part to the exclusion of everything else, the
sensations and qualities of the energy present fill my entire
awareness.  My whole aura consequently takes on that specific
vibration. 
   Part of practicing the cosmic language in Bardon's book on
Quabbalah is to turn your body into a magical instrument.  This
instrument has the capacity to reproduce any of the basic building
blocks through which mater, energy, mind, spirit, and the entire
universe have been created.  
  In a very similar way, in this exercise on pour breathing we are
training the body to become resilient and flexible.  The energy in
each part of the body is developed so it penetrates and strengthens
the rest of the body.  The vital energies in the body are so unique
they cover a range like the oscillation of light and radiation in the
visible and invisible color spectrum.  Yet each organ and part of the
body contribute to the whole offering an essential vibration. 
Consequently, for me this exercise is a spiritual quest. It begins a
journey not only toward greater health but toward discovering the
elixir of life, the immortality pearl, the philosopher's stone, and the
mystery of divine life and light. 
    Let me give some examples of the auras of three masters I have
met who work extensively with vitality and chi.  Again, I refer to the
key of the five elements. One master's aura is very organic and
natural.  He is grounded like a tree.  It is very healing to be around
him. But he is weak on water and fire.  Without much fire, he lacks
force and direction.  Without water, he has low empathy, that is, it is
not easy for his students to feel the energy inside of his body. 
   Another master has a very water aura.  This individual is
mediumistic, mystical, and psychic to the point of being unable to
communicate with ordinary people.  Though very grounded and
practical in personal activities, air and fire are weak.  Without the
fire, there is little independence and organization.  Without the air,
there is little curiosity or desire to understand others' life
experiences.  Clarity of purpose and execution of plans are missing. 
   The third master has a level of vitality which is radiant and
dynamic.  But there is a weakness of water making the fiery energy
is harsh and dry.  Though highly efficient and productive, the lack
of water causes this individual to lack empathy, intuition, and
genuine caring for others. 
  Even though all three of the above masters have outstanding levels
of vitality and mastery of chi, from a hermetic point of view their
etheric bodies are imbalanced.  Even if the fiery individual in the last
example was genuinely caring and empathic, this would not be
communicated other than perhaps to a close circle of intimate
friends.  Since the element of water is weak in his etheric body, he
acts and comes across in accordance with his dominant qualities.
Consequently, some individuals are uncomfortable being around
him.  They do not like the pushy, forceful, and aggressive energy he
communicates.  
   I have no doubt that each of these three masters could easily at
will produce any of the etheric energies corresponding to the five
elements.  In each case, they have mastered various kinds of
movements which embody the five kinds of chi or life force.  But
they have not taken the time and their traditions have not
emphasized that they round themselves out so as to embody a
magical equilibrium on an etheric level.
    
If you have no luck at all in pour breathing, you might turn to some
of these other systems to help you develop your body and energy
awareness.  Later on, you can return to this pour breathing when
you are more confident and more resourceful.  Pour breathing can
be practiced over many years since it is so basic and universal at the
same time.
   You might try systems like tai chi chuan, aikido, Taoist yoga,
hatha yoga, aerobic exercise, and so forth.  A basic exercise is doing
a number of different kinds of stretching exercises as in practicing
asanas.  As you do these, focus on breathing energy to the muscles
as you tighten them while stretching.  Notice the increased blood
flow and sensations afterwards as you relax .
   Part of magick, of course, is living a healthy life.  This involves
moderation and balance in diet, exercise, stretching, a positive
attitude, and eliminating bad habits and extravagant wastes of your
energy.  It is pretty difficult to ascend in magick without living a
healthy and balanced life. 
   On the other hand, do not be afraid to ask for help.  Over the
years, I have studied with and done quite a bit of body work in
many traditions.  There is something to be said for getting near
someone who is highly developed and working with them in some
way so you can feel their life force inside you.  
   And when you are stuck on some part of a spiritual path it is
always appropriate to ask for help.  You can pray to God.  You can
visualize sigils of spirits such as Romasara and others I will review. 
You can create a ball of energy of bright light in your hands and
then send it to some spirit with the picture inside it of what you
want--in this case, an ability to sense vitality directly and to develop
it within you through breathing. In any case, there is nothing quite
like discovering for yourself through direct experience what works
for you individually.