77 Years Old & Still Healing : How Breathwork Improved Lungs, BP & Reduced Medicine?

Around 50 years of age, my wife was telling, you are not doing any exercise. After joining CBH, only I learned what I was doing was fully not yoga. It was only physical exercise. You have to take care of your mental health as well as spiritual health. I started learning flute, but I said I am not able to blow as long as you do. Now after joining CBH, I found it is just not lung capacity increase. It did increase within 15 days' time. I was able to blow the notes longer period. Even my memory has improved a lot. Helped me to get reduce the dosage of the medicine. And another thing is the mental setup has changed a lot. I am investing on my health. So money doesn't matter. Age is not at all a factor.

Today we have someone truly inspiring with us, a living example that age is never a barrier to learning, growing, and transforming. At 77 years young, Mr. Kashivishwanath Ji not only embraced a new skill like playing the flute but also chose to improve his health and vitality through conscious breathing. From struggling to hold his notes for just 5 seconds to now sustaining them for 15 seconds and beyond, his journey is a powerful testimony to what dedication and the right guidance can do. He has reversed long-standing health challenges, reduced his dependency on medicines and embraced a yogic lifestyle through our Diamond Membership. His story is proof that it's never too late to begin. Let's welcome Mr. Kashi Vishwanathan Ji. Namaste, namaste, Kashi Ji. Thank you so much for being here. So how are you doing?

Oh, very great.

So Kashi Ji, you being one of the youngest members in our community—

that's true.

Yeah, so what really inspired you at the age of 77 to learn something like this and to be part of our community?

Age doesn't matter at all for learning. One becomes old when he stops learning. That is true. Yeah. So I always start learning new things in my life. So I go for things which I don't know. It keeps me interesting and that keeps me going.

So what were you doing before, like in your career or anything?

My career, I was with Air India. I was a maintenance engineer, aircraft maintenance engineer, and a lot of activity, of physical activity, is there. Going up and down the aircraft, that itself is a very big exercise. And After that, around 50 years of age, my wife was telling, you are not doing any exercise. I said, my work is exercise. No, no, no, you should do something. That is the time I started practicing yoga.

Okay.

So 50 years now, 27 years on, I have been doing practicing yoga. Wow. After joining CBH only, I learned what I was doing was fully not yoga. It was only physical exercise, which you taught me that there is more to this, not only physical. You have to take care of your mental health as well as spiritual health. Yeah, in all respects. So all-around growth is what I am seeing now. So very nice.

So, and also you have mentioned that your lung capacity got improved. Within 15 days.

Correct.

So could you please explain us like what are the practices have you done? Why did you join?

Yeah, I started learning flute.

Okay.

One year back.

Okay.

But I was not playing the way that my master was doing. So when I asked him, have I started this very late in my life? He said, definitely not. Any age you can start. Then he showed me some of his students. Very elder people doing very fine. I said, yes, I should do that. But I said, I am not able to blow as long as you do. Then that is the time he suggested to join you. He will be the expert. He will guide you how to improve your lung capacity. So that is a starting point. That is how I joined CBH. Now after joining CBH, I found It is just not lung capacity increase. It did increase within 15 days' time. I was able to blow the notes longer period.

Wow.

So that is something which inspired me to go further. That is how.

So basically, to improve your flute performance, you started joining our company.

Yes, correct.

Got it. And after that, what changes have you seen?

After that, I saw that Diamond has got a lot of value additions. Which I think I was required to go through that. So I immediately upgraded myself to Diamond. Because everybody was telling, why you are spending so much money? I said, I'm not spending money, I'm investing on my health. So money doesn't matter.

Yes.

So I am going to get return in my health.

Absolutely.

That has really happened. Because subsequently I found my clarity of thought and tackling the situations, unexpected situations, well, is all very easily coming. Even my memory has improved a lot. I used to misplace the things here and there, and I will be searching. Nowadays I find Even though I misplaced my phone or something, then in a moment I will recollect it must be there. So it will be in that place. So my memory has also improved a lot. And my attitude towards others has changed a lot. That is something which, even before that I was very compassionate to the people and I used to give a lot of charity, things like that. But now I am able to appreciate their feeling and identify with them.

Any example would you like to share? Like, for example, you have attended a lot of our wisdom sessions, right? So you might have implemented many things. Any example?

Yes, one such thing is my maid was Sometimes she used to be absent also and then tell some excuse. I used to get upset. Why? What is this? But nowadays I ask her questions, what is it that makes? Then she will tell, my problem is this. So I listen to her and appreciate, yes, she is having problem. I used to Give some suggestions how it can be tackled.

Got it.

So that way I am able to help the needy people also. That is the reason I joined Breath Healer certification course. That is the next level. I realized what is the purpose of my life. Is something that there are many people like me who need my help.

Absolutely.

So that has made me join the course. Now I have finished the Level 1. I am happy. And I have been conducting sessions online as well as offline. Even recently, 2 weeks back, I was in Chennai. I said, I want to give some presentation to you people, my friends, all senior citizens of Dignity Foundation. Okay. They welcomed, yes, please do that. So in 2 centers I did that on the same day. Morning, one session, and evening, another session. And they were all very happy, and I got the feedback from them. Wow, they are finding it very useful. Great. And I said, please continue, at least 21 days you should do that schedule, then it will become your habit.

Yeah.

So most of my students Now about, I have reached nearly 80 or 90. I thought by this time I should have reached 100. Wow. Anyway, 90.

So how are you feeling, you being a learner and now you became a teacher at this age? And that you might have not imagined when you joined CBH.

Yeah, definitely that was not at all my, you know, intention or things like, I never even thought of that.

Okay.

Now, teaching is something which makes me to learn more. That is an advantage of that. So teaching is just not teaching what I know. By telling them, by listening to their questions and doubts, I have to search more for the answers. So with the result, I am learning more.

True, exactly.

Advantage.

Absolutely awesome. So I also remember that you have mentioned that whenever you do the session, you monitor your BP. You have been having blood pressure for some years, right? So like, and you saw that like significant change without taking the medication also. Could you please explain us like what exactly have you done and what changes have you seen?

About 12 years back, I was diagnosed with borderline Blood pressure. Blood pressure, high BP, for which I was given medication. I was taking it, and as per my habit, every time I used to ask my cardiologist, can you reduce the dosage? Because I believe unnecessarily taking medicine is not good. Yeah, that is the philosophy of CBH also. You should get rid of all the medicines. So he used to monitor, and then gradually he reduced. Recently, after doing that, when I was checking, my BP is much under control. I said, let me experiment, not take the medicine, and see. My mentors were cautioning me, be careful, don't overdo it. I said, yes, I am careful, I'm monitoring. I used to keep record, daily record I was keeping. I saw that without taking the medicine, that BP is well under control. And my pulse rate also has come significantly very low. It never used to be below 70. Now it is between 65 and 70. So that is another advantage which I found. Then I checked with my doctor. Okay. This is my record. Do you think I should continue? He said, check with the cardiologist. So he referred me to the cardiologist. He has also seen my record, and he said, yes, you have got a very good improvement, and I won't stop it fully. Instead of 5 mg, I will reduce it to 2.5 mg. So from that day onwards, I'm taking 2.5. Same way, cholesterol also.

Okay.

It was very well under control.

Okay.

So I used to tell that it's well under control. For that also he reduced the dosage. So these are the reduced dosage.

In, I am sure, in what span, like how many months have you seen this change?

This, that pattern of reduction, yeah, I mean maintaining the BP, yes, it's about 5-6 months I saw. Yeah, got it.

And what practices helped you? What are the things have you done that helped you?

One is breathwork. The second is yoga.

I mean the morning yoga classes and prana healing sessions.

Prana healing session is very good. Prana healing session makes me to relax so much, and my pulse rate and BP used to be very low after the sessions.

Okay.

I used to check that also. So these are the three things which I find that it has helped me to reduce the dosage of the medicines. And another thing is the mental setup has changed a lot. Yeah. That is another reason how I am keeping cool nowadays. My daughter used to say, Dad, you are very cool now. Yes, I'm daddy cool. Okay. Yeah.

So like, when it comes to mental and emotional health or whatever it is, so what practices helped you like mainly?

Practices like prana healing session is one.

Prana healing session.

Yes.

And philosophy sessions.

And then the learning about yogic practices which you have been teaching, that has helped me a lot in understanding how you should practice yogic life. And not only your yoga, means not only physical, but this type of—

So this is what I want to ask you, what is your understanding about yoga before and now?

Yeah, yoga before was more like physical exercise. And my teachers in those days, they used to give much importance to the breathing, along with the yoga. Whereas you have been telling, it is just not yoga, you must coordinate the breathing. So that makes it quite different. So now it has become a very habit. Normally, breathing itself, deep breathing I am doing. And also my posture, always I sit like this, and In a get-together, people used to say, "Why are you not comfortable?" I used to ask, "What do you mean not comfortable? How do you say I am not comfortable?" "No, you are not relaxing." I said, "I am relaxing." But I sit erect. That has become my habit. If you think that slouching in the chair is relaxing, I beg to differ from your view. That is not relaxing. You are actually damaging your body. Body by not having the proper posture. That is what my reaction to that.

Also, Kashi Ji, like many people tell me that I'm too old to do this. So will I be able to do this? Like especially 60 itself they say, yes, I'm too old to do this. So like, what do you think? Like what should they do? Or like what is your opinion on this?

Or like, see, age is—

what advice?

Yeah. Age is not at all a factor to do proper practice. At any age you can start, and it is only your mental firmness. You have to be committed to that. That is number one. The second feedback which I got from my students, they learned pranayama, but slowly they stopped. I asked why. Said, afterwards I thought it is not required. After what? I had some problem, that has become all right. I said, no, that is where you are mistaken. You continue. No, there is no time, I have a lot of work. I said, okay, start from the time you get up. Let us count each minute what you are doing. How long it will take to brush your teeth? 'And like that I will build up.' And they themselves will come out, 'Yes, after that there is space, time is available, I am not utilizing properly.' I said, 'That is the time, 5 minutes or 10 minutes of pranayama is sufficient for you.' True. So that is how I teach them. And my advice to everyone, whatever is the age, whether youngster or elderly. Consistency is important. Exactly. That is very, very important. That's what I, I tell my students, and many of my students have realized that, and they are giving me feedback. So that is making me happier.

Yeah, so more satisfied internally. Exactly. So, um, What are the other changes, like in terms of spirituality? So what are the changes have you seen in terms of spirituality, understanding about the spirituality after coming here?

Earlier I was not very much— I was not reading any books also. The only books I was reading is technical books only on aircraft, aircraft maintenance, or the related magazines. Whereas this spirituality, now after becoming CBH member, reading book club helps me to increase the, my habit of reading books. Yeah, I started reading books also. So that makes me to understand many things which I was not bothered earlier. I didn't give much attention. Nowadays, because of that, it helps me. Same way, the chanting club also helps me. Because I never used to pray with any mantras or anything. Even though my father was very staunch Shiva bhakt, he used to perform puja every day about 2 hours before going to the office. But I was not like that. After joining the college, early morning 6 o'clock I had to rush for the classes. So there wouldn't be any time for any of this. Once in a while we go to the temple, that's all. Whereas now, my understanding of the thing, Bhagavad Gita I never read, now I started reading.

Okay, nice.

And also a lot of lessons which you have taught on Arjuna, how he is perplexed during the war, how Krishna advised him, all that is something new perspective I'm getting. Do your work.

Yeah.

Don't worry about the result.

Exactly.

That is something. Got it.

So I'm super happy about the transformation you have seen. What exactly, like, what changes have you seen after coming to the Diamond especially?

Okay. After coming to the Diamond member, I started realizing who I am, what for I am in this world. With the result, now I am doing that course for the breath healer also. Now I have decided there are many people in the world who are senior citizens now, or some who are going to be senior citizens. They require my help, not only on The health part of it. Many of my friends and my relatives whom I have seen, even financial aspect, they are not prepared. All of a sudden, one day after retirement, they don't know what to do. Next day morning when they get up, they don't know what to do because they are not prepared for the retirement. So I am going to coach them to get ready for retirement. Probably a person who is in the 40s and 50s, if he starts realizing the health is the primary important aspect, the second is all other health, financial health, mental health. So that I want to coach the people. That is my objective now. Great.

I also remember that you have mentioned about like you give 25% charity. We recommend 10%. So what really inspires you to do that?

Yeah, I've been a donor for a long time. When I was earning salary, I used to allot 10% for any charity. After retirement, my expenses have started coming down. Yeah, because my commitments or children, they have all settled now. My health also is quite good, and I don't have to spend money on health also. So my wife and I, we found our expenditure is coming down. But we travel a lot, and being in Air India, I used to get the passage free. So we used to travel a lot, and in that we spent. But we can afford to spend because we have got the savings for that. Yeah. One important thing is I don't get pension. Here in India, we don't have pension. That made me realize before retirement, I should plan for my income. One of my juniors helped me. He was doing a course on CFA. Then he told me what are all things you are doing. Then he helped me a lot in fine-tuning my finance. I said, that's a very good thing. So that has helped me. To keep my finance in good health. Wow! And I used to, then my, since my expenditure is reducing, I said I can afford to donate more. That is how 25-26% is what I am nowadays. It is, and I keep a proper record of that.

Super, super inspiring, Kashi Ji. And what is your advice to the young generation or young people whoever is watching this, they are having health issues, So what is your advice to them?

Young generation, what I find is they are not bothered about their health. They are bothered only about the enjoyment which they feel. That is main important. With the result, unhealthy food habit, timing, not sleeping properly, and various other You know, drug abuse, things like that also is there. But majority of the people do not follow a routine. That is something which is very important. They have to follow a routine in all aspects in their life. Everything you do according to the schedule. Not very rigid, you have to be flexible. But at the same time, food, whatever time That is the time you should eat. And particularly nighttime, early dinner is a must so that you will get ready for a proper sleep.

Yeah.

And many of the youngsters I find deprived of sleep. That is something which is bothering me. I used to tell them, don't neglect your sleep. That is the most important aspect on your life. What are all things happening in the sleep? That whatever I have learnt, I used to tell them. These are all things which happens during night. But very difficult to keep the concentration of their attention, you know. Attention span is very low for the youngsters. But within that attention span, try to— this is my advice to the people.

Absolutely.

If you are not ready now, as you are advancing in age, you'll get more and more problems.

Absolutely.

Then it will be too late.

Too late. True.

So that is my advice to the youngsters.

Yes, yes. What about the people who want to join, but why should I pay for breathing exercises? This is what the question people ask me. So what do you say?

Right. One of my friends was telling, everything is available on YouTube. 'You watch that and do it.' I said, 'There is a difference. Watching on YouTube is okay, but practicing it, somebody has to monitor you. You must give proper advice. That will happen only when you join a course like this.' Yeah. I said, 'Any course you want, if you want, not necessarily CBH. Maybe there are many people who are doing it, you can join.' If you have time, physically you can do. If you are difficult to join a physical course, online courses are available.

Yeah.

So that is what I have been telling the people, that having a coach who monitors and then gives you proper guidance is very important. That will not happen in case of only watching YouTube video. There are many videos, same way for the flute also. Yeah, I used to tell the same Many people say everything is available, why are you spending money? And I beg to differ. There is a must. So many friends have joined.

Absolutely. So that is super, super awesome, Akash Ji. So thank you so much. And so thank you so much for inspiring the whole community. You being a very active member in our community, like I saw many people are getting inspired by you doing all the things along with them. And you even, I see like in the morning you even try to do Surya Namaskara.

Yes.

Standing, not in the chair variation. It's super, super inspiring at this age. So thank you so much. Keep inspiring all of us like this.

And thank you, thank you very much for the opportunity you have given me to tell what I have to say to the people. This is a great achievement which I should say CBH has brought about.

So Kashi Ji, finally, what is your advice to the people who are still thinking whether I should join this breathwork course or not? So what is your advice?

For the people who are sitting on the fence, whether you should join or not, whether it will help them or not, my advice message is breathwork is the basic requirement which will be the first stepping stone on their health. So breathwork is the most important. Please join. Then only you will realize it. Give it a try at least, and then see for yourself what happened. The 30 days challenge will bring you all that. So I tell those people who are yet to decide that they should join, then they will realize the benefits.

Yeah, thank you, thank you so much. Thank you so much.

Thank you.