Breath & Energy · “Breath Is the Bridge”
The Nine Breathings of Purification (Bön preliminary)
To clear the three root afflictions (anger, attachment, ignorance) from the three energy channels using visualised breath, settling body and mind and opening into clear awareness.
Nine Breaths in 5 lines: Sit straight; picture three channels — right white, left red, central blue, meeting below the navel.
(1) ×3: inhale left nostril → exhale right (gentle, then firm) = release anger.
(2) ×3: inhale right → exhale left = release attachment.
(3) ×3: inhale both → exhale up the central channel out the crown = release ignorance/doubt. Then stop, rest, feel the channels clear, and abide in open awareness.
What it is
The Nine Breathings of Purification (Tib. lung ro sal) is the standard opening practice of the Bön breath-and-movement yogas taught by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche.
Using nine slow, visualised breaths through alternate nostrils, the practitioner imagines three subtle channels in the body and “breathes out” the three root poisons — anger, attachment, and ignorance/self-doubt — clearing the channels so that mind and body settle and clear awareness can dawn.
It is almost always done as a preliminary to seated meditation, the Five Tsa Lung movements, or sound practice.
The Method
As Rinpoche teaches it (Awakening the Sacred Body; Ligmincha practice text):
- Posture. Sit with the legs crossed, spine straight, chest open, chin slightly drawn in to lengthen the back of the neck. Hands rest on the knees or in the lap. Settle and take a moment to be present.
- Visualise the three channels of light. Picture three luminous channels running vertically in the body, meeting at a junction roughly four finger-widths below the navel: - Right channel — white (associated with anger/aversion, traditionally the male/method channel), - Left channel — red (associated with attachment/desire, the female/wisdom channel), - Central channel — blue, running up the core of the body to the crown (associated with the root poison, ignorance / doubt / lack of confidence).
- First set — three breaths through the right (white) channel, to clear anger. Press the right ring finger to close the right nostril, and inhale slowly and deeply through the left nostril, imagining the breath descending the left (red) channel to the junction below the navel. Then switch — press the left ring finger to close the left nostril — and exhale through the right nostril, the breath rising up the right (white) channel. Exhale gently at first, then more forcefully at the very end, releasing anger out into space. Repeat three times.
- Second set — three breaths through the left (red) channel, to clear attachment. Reverse it. Close the left nostril with the left ring finger and inhale through the right nostril down the right (white) channel to the junction. Switch fingers and exhale through the left nostril up the left (red) channel — gentle, then forceful at the end — releasing attachment and grasping. Repeat three times.
- Third set — three breaths through the central (blue) channel, to clear ignorance and doubt. With both nostrils open, inhale through both nostrils, the breath descending both side channels to the junction. Then exhale up the central blue channel and out through the crown of the head — engaging the diaphragm/lower belly to push gently up the core — releasing ignorance, doubt, and lack of confidence. Repeat three times.
- Rest. After the ninth breath, stop manipulating the breath entirely and rest. Feel all three channels open, clear, and bright. Let the mind settle into the resulting stillness and rest in open, clear awareness for as long as it stays. (Sourcing note: channel colours, the affliction each clears, finger/nostril positions, the gentle-then-forceful exhale, and the three sets of three are Rinpoche’s documented instructions. Minor wording is faithful paraphrase; the “four finger-widths below the navel” junction is the traditional location given in the Bön texts.)
Source & Lineage
Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche (b. 1961) is a lama of the Yungdrung Bön tradition of Tibet, founder of Ligmincha International and The 3 Doors.
The Nine Breathings are a classical Bön preliminary drawn from the Mother Tantra and related cycles; Rinpoche systematised and taught them to Western students, most fully in Awakening the Sacred Body (2011), where they open onto the Five Tsa Lung movements.
The three-channel model is shared with Tibetan Buddhist tummo and tsa-lung yogas.
The Traditions' versions
Tsa lung / trul khor (Bön & Buddhist) — the channel-and-wind yogas this practice opens.
- Nadi shodhana (yogic alternate-nostril breathing) — structurally close: alternate nostrils, channel imagery (ida/pingala/sushumna ≈ left/right/central).
- Tummo / inner-fire — same three-channel architecture and junction below the navel.
- Pranayama generally — slow nasal breathing with retention and forceful exhale.
- Qigong cleansing breaths — “breathe out the stale, breathe in the fresh.”
Common refinements
Exhaling too hard. “Forceful at the end” means a firm finish, not a violent blast — straining causes dizziness and defeats the calming aim.
- Breath-holding pressure. Keep any pause at the junction brief and easy; don’t lock or strain.
- Skipping the visualisation. Without the channels and the intention to release, it becomes ordinary breathing — the directed attention is the active part.
- Rushing the nine. Slow is the point; nine breaths over several minutes, not seconds.
- No rest at the end. The settling after the ninth breath, resting in the clearer state, is half the practice — don’t jump straight up.
- Mixing up the sequence. Inhale one side, exhale the other; right channel clears anger, left clears attachment, central clears ignorance — keep the order.