CHAPTER XI.
THE SEVEN YOGI DEVELOPING EXERCISES.
The following are the seven favorite exercises of the Yogis for developing the lungs, muscles, ligaments, air cells, etc.

They are quite simple but marvelously effective.

Do not let the simplicity of these exercises make you lose interest, for they are the result of careful experiments and practice on the part of the Yogis, and are the essence of numerous intricate and complicated exercises, the non-essential portions being eliminated and the essential features retained.
(1) THE RETAINED BREATH.
This is a very important exercise which tends to strengthen and develop the respiratory muscles as well as the lungs, and its frequent practice will also tend to expand the chest.

The Yogis have found that an occasional holding of the breath, after the lungs have been filled with the Complete Breath, is very beneficial, not only to the respiratory organs but to the organs of nutrition, the nervous system and the blood itself.

They have found that an occasional holding of the breath tends to purify the air which has remained in the lungs from former inhalations, and to more fully oxygenate the blood.