10-05-2013, 10:12 AM
does anyone here do breath meditation?
and can you have 'awareness' of the breath even outside of meditation?
and can you have 'awareness' of the breath even outside of meditation?
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10-05-2013, 10:12 AM
does anyone here do breath meditation?
and can you have 'awareness' of the breath even outside of meditation?
10-05-2013, 12:39 PM
All day, every day.
10-05-2013, 01:16 PM
10-05-2013, 06:03 PM
http://beginwithin.org/huna-breathing/
Breathing is cyclic and the power of each phase depends on its proportion to the other phases, the emphasis, if you will. I am conscious of my breath almost all of the time and it is quite a challenge to breathe fully at all times aha I use my breath for a lot of energy work, I think of it as being like the bellows to a flame.
10-06-2013, 12:37 PM
this is an accordion.
10-06-2013, 01:50 PM
OK this might be a weird question, but do any of you ever notice a chakra 'pop' at the peak of inhalation or when you empty your lungs out completely during breath meditation? Happens to me sometimes, feels kinda nice .
10-06-2013, 02:02 PM
For me it is holding the exhalation where I most easily connect.
10-06-2013, 03:17 PM
(10-06-2013, 02:02 PM)GentleReckoning Wrote: For me it is holding the exhalation where I most easily connect. This is the same for me. I'm speculating, but perhaps the cyclical nature of breathing at the right speed lets you take into a subcycle of all the other cycles out there, whether it be a particular chakra, an entity, or the universe. Changing your breathing fine tunes your own resonance perhaps.
10-06-2013, 03:20 PM
(This post was last modified: 10-06-2013, 03:20 PM by AnthroHeart.)
I used to try using my breath in meditation, but I can't stay focused on it for long, as my mind drifts. I'm so glad to have air to breathe.
10-06-2013, 03:44 PM
One of the main reasons I first started working with breathing meditation was because it is helpful to train focus and willpower by training yourself to focus upon a single motion or to feel in to your body starting with your nostrils, in your nose, down your throat and in to your lungs which connects oneself to a greater inner body awareness.
10-11-2013, 10:41 AM
(10-06-2013, 01:50 PM)Spaced Wrote: OK this might be a weird question, but do any of you ever notice a chakra 'pop' at the peak of inhalation or when you empty your lungs out completely during breath meditation? Happens to me sometimes, feels kinda nice . Do you feel it directly in the center of your chest? I sometimes get what feels like an increase of energy at that point which radiates outward over my chest. It feels as if a hole opens up. It's sort of like adrenaline, but without the antsy feeling..feels really good. I've had it happen when coming to understanding with others.
10-11-2013, 02:37 PM
(10-11-2013, 10:41 AM)Icaro Wrote:Yes that's where I feel it most, and it's just like you describe(10-06-2013, 01:50 PM)Spaced Wrote: OK this might be a weird question, but do any of you ever notice a chakra 'pop' at the peak of inhalation or when you empty your lungs out completely during breath meditation? Happens to me sometimes, feels kinda nice . Sometimes I also get pops along the spine while taking deep breaths that often get rid of soreness/stiffness I was feeling in those spots. (10-11-2013, 02:37 PM)Spaced Wrote:(10-11-2013, 10:41 AM)Icaro Wrote:Yes that's where I feel it most, and it's just like you describe(10-06-2013, 01:50 PM)Spaced Wrote: OK this might be a weird question, but do any of you ever notice a chakra 'pop' at the peak of inhalation or when you empty your lungs out completely during breath meditation? Happens to me sometimes, feels kinda nice . I get those pops as energy tension is released, but mostly when I try to bring myself to a really relaxed state, with or without conscious effort on breathing techniques. I'll have to try to focus on breathing and see what happens!
10-11-2013, 04:59 PM
The entire energy system of the body is made of nadi or meridians which are lines of force along which energy travels. When charges become trapped in closed circuits within the body we call those blockages which are areas of the field which contain a disporportionate amount of energy to the areas, either too much or too little, around it. When we do exercises to work with our energy we are pumping energy through these meridians and directing them around the many nadi pathways of our body to energize different centers and chakras.
This new or directed energy, when traveling through the system, may interact with, "stick to" or push/pull along energies which are trapped in the body in the same way water pushes up against a dam and pull it with suction from the other side. This can cause blockages to break up, or the area of disproportionate energy to gain levels of equilization which causes its configuration to crumble, and thus the blockage will break down and then naturally move to the nearest or most accomodating "exit", which are usually primary chakras. Thus, the different areas within the body are balanced by equalizing them with other areas, in the same way a guitar must have all of its strings tuned together to create a unified tuning. Breathing is the second most efficient way to energy every level of the being and to draw more prana/ki/intelligent energy in to the complex. It effectively both pulls in useful, new energy as well as pushes out old energy and I believe this is that the lungs and breathing are like a form of bellows which "feeds the fire" of one's spirit and natural energy. Thus when one is breathing at a steady pace, the inner fires are kept at a consistent state of power and stability can be maintained. Altering that breath can either soften the fire or bring more power in to it. The "hotter" the fire, the more energy and vibration ripples throughout the body which, for lack of a better word, "cooks" the self to refine its inner structure and the stronger vibration acts to more and more naturally break up and clear out blockages. There are a few things which can be used as variables with breathing which will change the way the energy comes in to your system and uses it. First, there is rhythm which is inextricable tied to timing, or the duration of each part of the breath cycle. This refers to the natural phases between in breath and out breath, and the maintenance of rhythm and timing is one of the most powerful tools of breathing as every process in the body can be controlled this way. Timing and rhythm is what gives the breathe "momentum" or builds its power upon layers. The longer you keep a consistent timing and rhythm the greater boon to your system. This is very challenging, and one must be careful not to pass out. The second thing is fullness of breath and this means actually breathing to your capacity and fully filling both sides of your lungs in both the upper and lower parts. Many people only breath shallowly in to either the lower lungs and let their chest sink, or in to their higher lungs which are tight and short breaths. This can be done either by breathing in and filling the upper and then filling the lower for a full breath, or like belly breathing in martial arts one can start the breath in their belly and fill the lungs to the top. This will increase one's capacity over time as well as the flexibility of the lungs and efficiency with which breath is taken in. As this is practice, one will gain more and more from each breath naturally and eventually without need to focus on it. The third thing is posture and this is related to breath in that it relates to the breathing of the whole body. Being in a position of good posture and open and loose body while breathing allows all of the meridians of the body to open up which helps the breath fully saturate the body. I find that this is most important which I am filling my body with energy and I have blockages as the posture helps open up blocked passages. The fourth thing would be the difference between breathing with the mouth and with the nose. In Taoist breath meditation one is taught to keep the mouth closed and sit the tongue against the top of the mouth and breathing is done through the nose. This has multiple functions, such as helping to send oxygen more directly to the brain and feeding and opening the primary channels ida and pingala which connect to each nostril and go down each side of the spine. Examining which nostril you can breath more easily out of is a good basic indicator of the balance between the two halves of your energy system. Breathing exercises help this and help to be able to breath fully through both sides, such as the exercise of alternating breathing between each nostril, or breathing in one and out the other, then vice versa. There is lots more that is relevant to this that I will not go in to. Just to mention, the use of mouth breathing I have found to be most useful for two things, as a release valve for expelling energy, or to give oneself a good indication of how open the lungs are by revealing any tension or tight spots. Breathing in positive, light energy and breathing out negative, toxic energy is a common practice. So, the fifth thing is awareness and in many cases this is exactly what breathing exercises are attempting to expand and open up. This is especially relevant towards gaining awareness of the inner workings and movements that occur within the body and energy system. One is able to follow the sensation of their breath, feeling the aira touch their nostrils and gradually, breath by breath, taking the awareness of the breath in to one's nose, down the back of the throat and down in to the lungs, opening awareness of all these areas of the conscious kind while doing so. This concept can be expanded to even begin feeling which parts of your body are oxygenated and the pathways the breath takes as it saturates your body, further revealing blockages and an awareness of the meridian system and internal organ function. The sixth and last for my list although there may be other factors and that is focus. While awareness helps us to, well, be aware of things, focus is about direction and the directing of the breath and energy of the breath is one of the most powerful practices I know, especially for releasing blockages or balancing the energy system. Not only does one increase and hone the will by focusing on the breath and giving oneself to the awareness of it, but it is a very powerful method for concentrating and moving energy around the body. For example, I can breathe energy in to my sacral chakra, which is like a storage center, focusing on that center to circulate the breathe in that area and thus create a charge, and then I can refocus that energy in to my throat or third eye and that whole charge of energy will be directed towards the new point of focus which then causes the charge to travel to the new location, opening and working through meridian pathways as it does so. This is very useful for clearing blockages, say if I had some blockage in my heart or solar plexus, the moving of the positive energy charge "across" those centers acts to open pathways through the blockage which helps break it down. I do this actively in many parts of my body. Sometimes if there is a particular blockage, say, in the left side of my back, I will just use my focus to focus on points of either side of it and around it so that energy is bounced back and forth across the area, with each pass loosening more energy and increasing awareness. What I typically do when I approach a blockage, which usually results in an area of lower or lack of awareness in my body, I push up against the "edge of awareness" and kind of skirt the parameter of the blockage because the way awareness seems to work is like water, it "soaks in" to surrounding areas as well as being in the center of focus. In this way I slowly, or sometimes quickly, penetrate my way to the core of the blockage. The entire body is made of chakra points, there is no point in the body that is not a chakra point, as points of space are, in themselves, chakras. Therefore, every single blockage has a core, a center or chakra which it is tied to. One, perhaps weird, analogy is of the pores in your skin and how some may become blocked with dirt and grime and produce acne. What we call blockages is the acne, the irritated result of the dirtying of the pore. In this I say that blockages are effects, but it is due to a chakra which does not have an adequate amount of energy flowing through it to maintain its part in the total body circuit. Thus, the key to all blockages is getting to the very core or center of what the blockage stems from and opening up the chakra point again. Thus, the breath is very useful, because it is the primary way the chakras of our bodies are saturated in energy and thus kept in homeostasis with all the chakras. If the breathe does not fill the body, then the whole body is not being saturated consistently in new light. Oh right, I forgot to mention my actual point. The "pops" and releases as such, in my experience, happens when a blockage is released from the system through one of the chakras. The "pop", I believe, is the result of "density pressure" between varying levels of vibration. Thus when lower vibrations are released it is like a release valve and a vaccum of energy is created which combined with the release of the blockage is like a cork being popped out of a champagne bottle.
10-11-2013, 05:07 PM
(This post was last modified: 10-11-2013, 05:12 PM by AnthroHeart.)
When I was a kid, I learned that if you breathed in and out rapidly, and then on the in breath held your breath, while someone pushed on your chest (leaning against a wall), you would pass out. I did it once.
I can't feel blockages. I just know my heart was once much more open because I could feel unconditional love. But I can sense the blockage due to not feeling unconditional love today. It was a bit too powerful. I might have an implant from positive ET's that keeps me from being overwhelmed. It was told this by someone I trust. It is to protect me, I guess from being overwhelmed. Because I have such a tender heart, it's easy for me to be so.
10-11-2013, 05:12 PM
Aha! At least you only did it once. There is another way to do that and that is to lean over or sit down leaning over and breath in and out really fast and then stand up really quickly. Basically just an induced head rush, it spread around while I was in high school and I did it a number of times. Probably not worth the potential brain damage aha I heard of other schools at the time where kids were doing it as a way to get "high", very strange.
Also, I mostly feel blockages through feeling tension in my body or anywhere in my body I have a distinct lack of awareness.
10-11-2013, 05:15 PM
I learned as a kid people would breathe freon to get high. The old style freon, not the new stuff they use now. Definitely gave me a buzz as I tried it once. Glad I only did it once, but it was a peculiar experience.
10-11-2013, 05:20 PM
Thanks for the post Tanner, very informative and in line with my thinking I think the bellows/fire metaphor is a good one.
I learned a lot about breath-work from taking kung fu classes actually, we started each class with breath meditation and we would do breathing exercises after warm-ups and it was a great way to increase your energy level and get more in tune with the body.
10-11-2013, 05:35 PM
Well the two main avenues through which the practice of breathwork has become popular is either through Yoga or through martial arts, especially qi gong and tai chi. Most of the "western occult" practices are all rooted in eastern concepts which were westernized.
10-11-2013, 08:35 PM
Anapana meditation is observation of the breath to instil mastery of the mind. It's one of 3 meditations your learn on a 10 day vipassana course.
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