Sugar420

somebody aksed me for some breathing / relaxation exercises, so i thought id share them with everbody just in case there was somebody else

in sanscrit the word prana means 'breath' but it also is used to mean 'vital life force', a primordial energy, and it is involved in physical, mental and spiritual health and strength.
pranayama is a whole discipline devoted to studying your breathing and sytematically controlling, and altering it
becuz the breath of the lungs is considered one in the same as the conscious mind as it arises from the physical brain, then awareness and control of the breath = awareness and controll of consciousness.

theres a whole lot of stuff said and written about prana, and pranayama is like a huge field of study, with many different breathing patterns and esoteric doctrines, but i think the main thing is that breath really is vital to consciousness.
whatever else may be going on in your life or in the reactions and sensations of your body, or thoughts you are thinking or tasks you are doing, consciousness of breathing is consciousness of self awareness

so here's some simple ones

deep rythmic breathing:
first: sit up straight, chair or crosslegged it doesnt matter. no tight restricive clothing, comfortable posture, ect...
to begin, use your 2nd 3rd and pinky fingers of your right hand on your left wrist to feel your pulse. count along with your pulse 1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4 to get your rhythm.
if your pulse is fast or excited thats ok, just count along untill you have the rhythm going and it will naturally start to slow down. when you have the rhythm, put ypur hands on your knees (or wherever comfy) and start breathing along
inhale thru your nose deep and slow count 1-2-3-4 hold it for a count of 1-2 then exhale 1-2-3-4 then wait 1-2 and inhale 1-2-3-4... and so on

they say each inhalation/ex should last about 8 seconds, and inbetween breaths 4 seconds. it doesnt matter as long as in and out are equal and inbetween breaths is half as long, so inhale 6 seconds, hold for 3... and so on if it is easier.
as long as you are keeping the rhythm from your pulse you will naturally attune to the rhythm of the universe.
only do 3 or 4 breaths this way, practice 3 times a week, not more than that. DONT OVERDO IT
the next week add on another round and the next week another untill you are doing 7 rounds. at this point you will start to get very good at pranayama and stress release.

you can even do this while walking! walking to your car in the parkinglot, walking thru the grocery store, at work, wherever whenever. just as above, you get your rhythm, and you start steppin - inhaling smoothly and slowly step 1-2-3-4 and hold it for 2 steps and exhale for 4 steps, rest for 2 steps and begin the nex round. if this isnt comfortable for you, just inhale for three steps, wait one step, exhale 3 steps and so on

its all a matter of tuning into the rhythm. its difficult at first, but like anything, with practice it get easier. with concentration and persistance a person may naturally tune in to the cosmic rhythm, the cycle of the sun and stars, the seasons and the tides and the spin of electrons, becuz the breath of the universe is your breath.

couple more things about this practice:
breathing exercises should never be pushed to the point of weariness or exhaustion
exercises should not be repeated too often
they should not be merely mechanical
there should be no hurry or haste
attention should be concentrated on the exercise while it is being performed
exercise should always be gentle and nonviolent
breathing should not be jerky or irregular, but smooth, steady and continuous
this is all about nose breathing -dont be a mouth breather!!

most important part of pranayama is the exhalation. If the quality of the exhalation is not good, the quality of the whole pranayama practice is adversely affected
when someone is not able to breathe out slowly and quietly it means that he or she is not ready for pranayama, either mentally or otherwise
Swami Sadashiva Ishamananda says "if the inhalation is rough we do not have to worry, but if the exhalation is uneven it is a sign of illness, either present or impending."


Nadi Sodhana (alternate nostril breathing)

nadi sodhana means "cleaning of channels" and is for the cleaning and rejuvenation your vital channels of energy.

see, we don't breathe equally all the time with both nostrils, but one nostril is much easier to breathe through than the other at any particular time and that this alternates about every 2 to 3 hours
clinical studies have shown that the nasal cycle corresponds with brain function. the electrical activity of the brain was found to be greater on the side opposite the less congested nostril. the right side of the brain controls creative activity, while the left side controls logical verbal activity. the research showed that when the left nostril was less obstructed, the right side of the brain was predominant. test subjects were found to do better on creative tests. when the right nostril was less obstructed the left side of the brain was predominant, and test subjects did better on verbal skills.

the exercise produces optimum function to both sides of the brain: that is optimum creativity and optimum logical verbal activity. this also creates a more balanced person, since both halves of the brain are functioning property
hatha yogis consider this to be the best technique to calm the mind and the nervous system

1.close the right nostril with your right thumb and inhale through the left nostril. do this to the count of four seconds.

2.immediately close the left nostril with your right ring finger and little finger, and at the same time remove your thumb from the right nostril, and exhale through this nostril. do this to the count of eight seconds. this completes a half round.

3.inhale through the right nostril to the count of four seconds. close the right nostril with your right thumb and exhale through the left nostril to the count of eight seconds. this completes one full round.
start by doing three rounds, adding one per week until you are doing seven rounds.

alternate nostril breathing should not be practiced if you have a cold or if your nasal passages are blocked in any way.

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Sugar420

here is a cut&paste from a long pdf article with a sort of survey of yoga, which includes this short mention of a taoist meditation/relaxation technique which is presented as "Other Yoga" or "Taoist Yoga"
one version of the whole doccument may be found here
who is the author? i dont kno


Taoist Relaxation Yoga

Although, in a sense, all yogic breathing exercises may be employed for relaxing, as well as revitalization and increased self-control, Taoist Yoga is especially good for relaxation and to remove anxiety. It gives prompt, quick relief. However, the effects can be quite temporary. Therefore, special efforts must be made to prolong and deepen these results by subtle, attentive, repeated, devotion.

The Taoist relaxation method is very simple: "Listen to your breathing." Nothing more is needed, except persistence and patience in such listening. If you do not persist, your attention will stray back into anxieties. Be patient; impatience merely adds to anxieties. Patience is an attitude which undercuts the roots of anxiety. The healing, revitalizing and relaxing effect of attending to one's breathing may be observed by giving it a trial. Breathing involves inhalation (yang) followed by exhalation (yin), that these succeed each other in a natural, rhythmic, continuing and reliable order. When you devote yourself to Nature's Way (Tao) all goes well. When you attend to your breathing, you tend to take deeper breath and you also gradually prolong it, and, in the process quiets your fluttering mental activities as the mind harmonizes itself with the slower, and slowing, rhythm of the breathing. By listening, you must focus your attention on the sound; thereby withdrawing it from whatever has been disturbing, exciting and fatiguing the mind. Of all the ways for seeking relaxation, none can be more harmless than this. No outside help, no drugs, no devices, no special skills, no muscular effort, no training period, no involved instruction are needed for successful use. It can be used anytime, anywhere, by anyone who has a few moments to spare.

Unfortunately, most of those who begin to try out this Taoist technique will give up too soon and drift into the conclusion that their experiment was a failure. How long does one have to listen to the breathing? Why not as long as he feels fatigue? If the method is to be effective, you must persist until you feel the effects. Keep listening until "you finally do not hear it." Listen to your breathing with undivided attention until you do not hear it any more. When you have persisted with patience until this happens, your anxieties should be considerably lessened. There is nothing, of course to prevent you from arousing them again, when you turn your attention back to their initiating objects, persons or activities. But one who has pacified himself with such a relaxing pause should have a bit more reserve energy to cope with his task. The traditional Taoist seeks self-containment; this technique requires nothing more than opportunity and will to escape from the demands made upon self by externals, and ability and will to listen to one's own self-made sounds until they can be heard no more. Whether one then sleeps or finds his attention occupied by other things, the surrendering of his attentiveness to the sounds of his breathing has occurred without further mental disturbance.

Chang said merely, "Listen to your breathing. Till finally you do not hear." This intuitively clear, common-sense advice can only be distorted by complex elaboration. Chang demonstrated with a slow breathing cycle and with a manner in which an enveloping quiescence was intuitively sensed. One who cannot grasp what is simple can hardly expect to comprehend the same when it has been made complex.

Geeno

A buddy of mine was doing this breathing in my friends closet over his plants...

He stood up fast and boom!

This thread just reminded me, so all you conscious breathers out there need to remember some safety.

supermarket :)

Pranayama is the third step of the eight step program of Raja Yoga.


Thats where it came from, and the purpose is mind control through prana/breath manipulation

Peace seeker

thanks again Veda

applejackdaniel

that's neat.

The Rev

If prana interests you, check out the book Science of Breath



The Rev

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