# Hatha Yoga/Chapter 28

CHAPTER XXVIII
FRESH AIR
Now, do not pass by this chapter because it treats of a very common subject. If you feel inclined to so pass it by—then you are the very person for whom it is intended, and by whom it is most needed. Those who have looked into the matter and have learned something of the benefit and necessity of fresh air, will not pass this chapter by, even though they may know all that it contains—they are glad to read the good news again. And, if you don't like the subject, and feel inclined to skip it, then you surely need it. In other chapters of this book we have spoken of the importance of breathing—both in its esoteric as well as its exoteric phase. This chapter is not intended to take up the subject of breathing again, but will merely give a little preachment upon the necessity of fresh air and plenty of it—a preachment much needed by the people of the West, where hermetically closed sleeping rooms and air-tight houses are so much in vogue. We have told you of the importance of correct breathing, but the lesson will do you but little good unless you have good fresh air to breathe.
This thing of people shutting themselves up in tightly closed rooms, lacking proper ventilation, is the most stupid idea that one can conceive of. How ​people can do it after acquainting themselves with the facts regarding the action and functions of the lungs, is more than the thinking man can answer. Let us take a plain, common-sense, brief look at this subject.
You will remember that the lungs are constantly throwing off the waste matter of the system—the breath is being used as a scavenger of the body, carrying off the waste products, broken down and refuse matter from all parts of the system. The matter thrown off by the lungs is almost as foul as that thrown off by the skin, the kidneys and even the bowels—in fact, if the supply of water given the system is not sufficient, nature makes the lungs do much of the work of the kidneys, in getting rid of the foul poisonous waste products of the body. And if the bowels are not carrying off the normal amount of waste matter, much of the contents of the colon gradually works through the system, seeking an outlet, and is taken up by the lungs and thrown off in the exhaled breath. Just think of it—if you shut yourself up in a tightly closed room, you are pouring out into the atmosphere of that room over eight gallons an hour of carbonic acid gas, and other foul and poisonous gases. In eight hours you throw off sixty-four gallons. If there are two sleeping in the room, multiply the gallons by two. As the air becomes contaminated, you breathe this poisonous matter over and over again into your system, the quality of the air becoming worse with each exhaled breath. No wonder that anyone coming into your room in the morning notices the stench pervading it, if you have kept the windows ​lowered. No wonder you feel cross, stupid, quarrelsome, and generally "grouchy" after a night in this kind of a pest house.
Did you ever think just why you sleep at all? It is to give nature a chance to repair the waste that has been going on during the day. You cease using up her energies in work, and give her a chance to repair and build up your system so that you will be all right on the morrow. And in order to do this work right, she requires at least normal conditions. She expects to be supplied with air containing the proper proportion of oxygen—air that has been exposed to the sunlight of the preceding day and which has thereby been freshly charged with Prana. Instead of this you give her nothing but a limited amount of air, half-poisoned with the refuse of your body. No wonder she gives you nothing but a patch-work job sometimes.
Any room that smells of that peculiar fetid odor that you have all noticed in a poorly ventilated bedroom, is no place for you to sleep in until it has been ventilated and kept supplied with fresh air. The air in a bedroom should be as nearly as possible kept as pure as the outside air. Don't be afraid of catching cold. Remember that the most approved modern method of treating consumption calls for the patient to be kept in the fresh air, at night, no matter how cold it is. Put on plenty of bed covering, and you will not mind the cold after you get a little used to it. Get back to nature! Fresh air does not mean sleeping in a draught, remember.
And what is true of sleeping rooms is also true of living rooms, offices, etc. Of course, in winter one ​may not allow too much of the outside air to get into the house, as that would bring down the temperature too low, but still there is a happy compromise which may be made even in cold climates. Open the windows once in awhile and give the air a chance to circulate in and out. In the evening, do not forget that the lamps and gaslights are using up a goodly supply of oxygen also—so freshen things up a little, once in awhile. Read up something on ventilation, and your health will be better. But even if you do not care to go that deep into the matter, think a little bit of what we have said, and your common sense will do the rest.
Get out awhile every day and let the fresh air blow upon you. It is full of life and health giving properties. You all know this, and have known it all your lives. But, nevertheless, you stick indoors in a manner which is entirely foreign to Nature's plans. No wonder you do not feel well. One cannot violate nature's rules with impunity. Do not be afraid of the air. Nature intended you to use it—it is adapted to your nature and requirements. So don't be afraid of it—learn to love it. Say to yourself while walking out and enjoying the fresh air: "I am a child of Nature—she gives me this pure good air to use, in order that I may grow strong and well, and keep so. I am breathing in health and strength and energy. I am enjoying the sensation of the air blowing upon me, and I feel its beneficial effects. I am Nature's child, and I enjoy her gifts." Learn to enjoy the air, and you will he blessed.