The Breath

[Unbound]

Breath is fundamental to absolutely every form of energy work, because it sets the rhythm and creates the consistent flow throughout the body. Such is why breathing exercises are often the first form of meditation taught, because once the breath can be made steady, stable and consistent then it makes every advanced technique that much easier to work with.

Quite simply "breath" is another word often used by mystics to denote "the essence of life". Even if you look at Christian ideas it all started with God "breathing" life in to the form of Adam.

In Brahmanic concepts, Nada-Brahma means "sound-creator", and the fundamental sound of the universe is supposed to be the "breath" or the primal rhythm, flux and flow of the universe itself which is the stimulating force behind all animation, and thus all life.

Also, "breathing prana/chi/ki/etc" is also a very common idea, as the idea that we do not just breath with our lungs the physical air around us, but we also breath in energy in to all of our chakra centers (for those who don't know, the chakras are actually vortexes through which prana/ki/chi or breath is cycled and used to energize the body), thus if the breath is imbalanced, likely so are the chakras. That being said, there are chakra centers all over us, and indeed every single cell has its own chakra by which it absorbs prana, so to my understanding learning to "breath prana with your whole body" is part of the concept behind breatharians, in that they absorb enough environmental energy to be able to subsist on the chemicals absorbed from the air.