What do you think?
Rate this book
Make Exercise A Meditation: Mastering Your Breath
143 pages, Hardcover
Published January 7, 2025
1 person want to read
About the author
Oscar Ichazo
74 books21 followersÓscar Ichazo was an early developer of the Enneagon or Enneagram of personality, and founded the Arica School in 1968.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 21, 2025
In this book Ichazo gives a critique of modern ideas about exercise, and compares these to Eastern and ancient concepts. He incorporates a detailed knowledge of modern anatomy and physiology with a deep understanding of traditional concepts from acupuncture, yoga, and tantra. In 1958 he used his integrated understanding of mind and body to develop a set of exercises referred to as “P-cals” that promote health and well-being by producing vital energy. I started doing Pcals in the 1970’s, and is has been a key aspect of how I have stayed healthy and free of the systemic diseases that so often plague people at my age.
It may be surprising to open a book on exercise and see that the first chapter begins with pictures of women in medieval hats, a traditional Islamic dome, and modern skyscrapers. The point Ichazo is making is that the way we think about the human body is a reflection of our culture, and that the approaches to exercise that arose in the 20th century were based on the idea of the human body as a machine, rather than as an organism that can regenerate itself. By comparison, he describes how traditional Eastern exercises are based on an internal transformation of thoughts and emotions that produces regeneration of the physical body by enhancing vital energy (chi). He discusses the Eastern emphasis in terms of his experiences with Judo, Atemi-waza, T’ai Chi Chuan, Pranayama, Hatha Yoga, Raja Yoga, and Taoism. With this awareness, he developed Pcals as a set of western calisthenics and Eastern yoga asanas, as a way to awaken the body and increase vital energy in as little as 10 minutes per day.
It may also be surprising see that Ichazo states that the interest in physical exercise methods did not develop in industrialized societies until the 1960’s. However, few pages later he describes how the interest in popular sports arose with the industrial revolution and the all of the calisthenics and gymnastics exercises had already been developed by the end of the 19th century. In the middle of the 20th century the Cold War increased the focus on physical fitness in the Soviet Union and the United States, as political and military leaders recognized that the importance of regular exercise had not reached the masses of people. I remember from my childhood how President Kennedy reported that many schoolchildren failed a basic fitness test, and how the Royal Canadian Air Force (RAF) exercise programs were published in 1961 and became very popular. Reading about the history of exercise, I see that the RAF programs are credited with launching modern fitness culture. With this background, it seems appropriate that the book talks about the 1960’s because it goes on to provide a critique of western ideas about fitness.
Ichazo explains how the culture of the industrial revolution led to the idea of the body as a machine whose parts needed to be moved regularly, rather than as an organism which needs to produce vital energy. After describing the approach of Eastern traditions, he describes the sequence of Pcals exercises in detail, starting with the basic plan based on the anatomical structure of the body cavities in accordance with the principles of the ancient schools. He then describes the different organs and system of modern biology that can be associated with these cavities. After this he describes each exercise in terms of both the cavities and the specific muscles involved, followed by a description of how the exercises produce internal massage of the endocrine glands. Finally, he gives specific instructions for breathing exercises followed by descriptions of how to perform each of the exercises.
The role of the breath in Pcals illustrates the difference between the conception of the body as a machine versus the body as an integral organism. When I learned calisthenics in grade school, we huffed and puffed as the movement of our muscles drove the breath. By comparison, in Pcals the movement begins with the breath, and the muscles move in response to the breath. This provides a method for “mastering” the breath, becoming aware of it in everyday life and seeing whether my breathing moves my body or vice versa. When my body moves the breath, I tend to have tensions in the muscles of my thorax and do not breathe completely. When my breath moves my body, the muscles of my thorax are relaxed and I take deep, full breaths.
It may be surprising to open a book on exercise and see that the first chapter begins with pictures of women in medieval hats, a traditional Islamic dome, and modern skyscrapers. The point Ichazo is making is that the way we think about the human body is a reflection of our culture, and that the approaches to exercise that arose in the 20th century were based on the idea of the human body as a machine, rather than as an organism that can regenerate itself. By comparison, he describes how traditional Eastern exercises are based on an internal transformation of thoughts and emotions that produces regeneration of the physical body by enhancing vital energy (chi). He discusses the Eastern emphasis in terms of his experiences with Judo, Atemi-waza, T’ai Chi Chuan, Pranayama, Hatha Yoga, Raja Yoga, and Taoism. With this awareness, he developed Pcals as a set of western calisthenics and Eastern yoga asanas, as a way to awaken the body and increase vital energy in as little as 10 minutes per day.
It may also be surprising see that Ichazo states that the interest in physical exercise methods did not develop in industrialized societies until the 1960’s. However, few pages later he describes how the interest in popular sports arose with the industrial revolution and the all of the calisthenics and gymnastics exercises had already been developed by the end of the 19th century. In the middle of the 20th century the Cold War increased the focus on physical fitness in the Soviet Union and the United States, as political and military leaders recognized that the importance of regular exercise had not reached the masses of people. I remember from my childhood how President Kennedy reported that many schoolchildren failed a basic fitness test, and how the Royal Canadian Air Force (RAF) exercise programs were published in 1961 and became very popular. Reading about the history of exercise, I see that the RAF programs are credited with launching modern fitness culture. With this background, it seems appropriate that the book talks about the 1960’s because it goes on to provide a critique of western ideas about fitness.
Ichazo explains how the culture of the industrial revolution led to the idea of the body as a machine whose parts needed to be moved regularly, rather than as an organism which needs to produce vital energy. After describing the approach of Eastern traditions, he describes the sequence of Pcals exercises in detail, starting with the basic plan based on the anatomical structure of the body cavities in accordance with the principles of the ancient schools. He then describes the different organs and system of modern biology that can be associated with these cavities. After this he describes each exercise in terms of both the cavities and the specific muscles involved, followed by a description of how the exercises produce internal massage of the endocrine glands. Finally, he gives specific instructions for breathing exercises followed by descriptions of how to perform each of the exercises.
The role of the breath in Pcals illustrates the difference between the conception of the body as a machine versus the body as an integral organism. When I learned calisthenics in grade school, we huffed and puffed as the movement of our muscles drove the breath. By comparison, in Pcals the movement begins with the breath, and the muscles move in response to the breath. This provides a method for “mastering” the breath, becoming aware of it in everyday life and seeing whether my breathing moves my body or vice versa. When my body moves the breath, I tend to have tensions in the muscles of my thorax and do not breathe completely. When my breath moves my body, the muscles of my thorax are relaxed and I take deep, full breaths.
Displaying 1 of 1 review