Lung Capacity/Absorption Rate

When doing pranayama breath infusion with compression and expression of the subtle energy in the bhastrika/kapalabhati rapid breathing, there is a distinction between lung capacity and air absorption.

One yogi may have a large lung chamber in contrast to another yogi where genetically the one with the larger lung chamber may always breath in or out more air than the other yogi. For instance, compared to an elephant, a deer has a small lung capacity. And yet, that does not make the elephant to have proportionately more energy in terms of its day to day survival. The deer may have a healthier body despite its smaller lung capacity.

This concerns the rate of absorption of air in terms of the percentage of air which goes into the lung and the percentage of that air which is absorbed by the lungs. One yogi who has a lung capacity which is relatively the same as another yogi, will do better in breath infusion if his lung cells absorb a greater percentage of the air taken in to the lung chamber.

It is important to be sure that the lungs absorb a major portion of the air which enters the lung. In some kundalini yoga classes, I sometimes notice that a student who breathes rapidly, is short of breath when we cease a series of rapid breaths. Even though this student breathes rapidly, his lungs do not absorb much of the air which entered the lung on the inhale.

If the lung cells are lazy about absorbing air, the presence of fresh air in the lung does not mean absorption. Tuberculosis patients may also breath but the lungs do not absorb the air. The lungs may act neutrally where the cells do not absorb the infused air and is reluctant to release the carbon dioxide used air. Lung capacity is one issue. Absorption rate is another. Both should be noted by the yogi.