Confused about full yogic breath

thumbnail
Wet Paint, modified 14 Years ago at 8/14/09 8:28 AM
Created 14 Years ago at 8/14/09 8:28 AM

Confused about full yogic breath

Posts: 22924 Join Date: 8/6/09 Recent Posts
Author: Crazywisdom
Forum: Dharma Overground Discussion Forum

In some descriptions of the full yogic breath they say start breathing in and expanding the lower belly then the chest and then realy high up in the chest so your shoulders pull back and actualy lift up a bit. Then start breathing out and contracting first the belly, then the chest. However, in other explanations people say to start with the belly then the chest and then start breathing out and contracting first in the bell and then the chest. This confuses me and I realy want to get this down. I am also confused if what is meant by the babys breath/the natural breat and dan tien breathing and belly breathing are also all the same or something different. Sometimes it seems to me what is meant by the later types are just breathing in and out with the belly with virtualy no chest expansion and dan tien breathing sometimes refered to as just belly breathing and sometimes breathing more in and out of the energetic dan tien center rather then just breathing from the general dan tien area without focus on energy. Can anyone clarify for me?
thumbnail
Wet Paint, modified 14 Years ago at 8/14/09 5:33 PM
Created 14 Years ago at 8/14/09 5:33 PM

RE: Confused about full yogic breath

Posts: 22924 Join Date: 8/6/09 Recent Posts
Author: telecaster

I think you are on the wrong forum for specific questions about "yogic breath." I am sure there are hatha yoga sites that can answer that.
This site is mostly people helping each other get stream entry and beyond and in those practices, usually, the breath is observed just as it is, with no manipulation such as the "yogic breath."
thumbnail
Wet Paint, modified 14 Years ago at 8/16/09 6:37 AM
Created 14 Years ago at 8/16/09 6:37 AM

RE: Confused about full yogic breath

Posts: 22924 Join Date: 8/6/09 Recent Posts
Author: Crazywisdom

I have posted the question on yogci forums as well. I want to get as much opinion as possible because this is taguht differently by different people. Since this is supposed to modulate the natural breath I think asking on a forum were people just observe the breath would be a good idea. Besides the likelyhood of people here eitehr heving been taught the structure of natural breathing within yoga, qigong or budhism is quite likely.
beta wave, modified 14 Years ago at 8/17/09 2:41 AM
Created 14 Years ago at 8/17/09 2:41 AM

RE: Confused about full yogic breath

Posts: 5 Join Date: 8/30/09 Recent Posts
For what it's worth, I was taught variations of breathing for chi kung... You really need a teacher to help you out on this stuff, not just someone on the internet. But just for your thinking, here's an important point. If the goal is natural breathing, I was taught that you don't do anything. Natural breathing just happens, the body knows what to do. Belly breathing (belly expands on in breath) is what happens when you breathing naturally at rest. You do this naturally when you sleep. It is the baby's breath. The only hard part is just settling down and letting the body do its thing.

Hope that helps.

By the way, I saw your other posts on a the 'help with grounding' thread... I don't know what system you are practicing, but It does seem like there is a similar concern of trying to push ahead with progress while being a little unclear on the instructions, and yet still trying to ground/relax.

Please don't push ahead unless you know what you are doing or have a teacher that can help you through it. Okay? You'll just waste your time. If you don't understand 100%, then chances are you will just be building bad habits that will take even longer to correct. Good luck!
karen kelley, modified 14 Years ago at 10/11/09 10:24 PM
Created 14 Years ago at 10/11/09 10:24 PM

RE: Confused about full yogic breath

Post: 1 Join Date: 8/24/09 Recent Posts
So do we understand by our bodies or by our minds? emoticon
thumbnail
Eric Alan Hansen, modified 14 Years ago at 10/13/09 5:57 AM
Created 14 Years ago at 10/13/09 5:57 AM

RE: Confused about full yogic breath

Posts: 128 Join Date: 9/9/09 Recent Posts
A few thoughts about the breath: by "natural" breath we mean the breath just as it is, functional, dysfunctional, or otherwise. It is well known in a variety of medical and/or healing systems that the breath can become pathological in a variety of ways, but by natural breath we mean whatever it is that we've got, that is what we work with.

In applying a simple introductory practice of "Mindfulness of Breathing" (or should it be called Remembering the Breath) the Anapanasati Sutta whatever it is we got is just observed, so yes, this is the mind observing the body. What is interesting is that in performing this simple practice, the breath begins to move to the more subtle and functional mode automatically, as though it were an experiment in quantum mechanics. Try it.

p e a c e

h a n s e n
thumbnail
Eric Alan Hansen, modified 14 Years ago at 10/13/09 4:24 PM
Created 14 Years ago at 10/13/09 4:24 PM

RE: Confused about full yogic breath

Posts: 128 Join Date: 9/9/09 Recent Posts
Just think of the dan tien as your center of gravity, it is not like a chakra or anything, with a corresponding endocrine function. If you relax into an asana the diaphram rises and falls and it just naturally pushes the belly in and out. No rocket science here. Belly breath is just one of a number of relaxation exercises, and they are just that, for relaxation.

Again, this is a good point to say that what I practice is simply the observation of breathing, remembering to remember to notice or focus, which ever comes easier on breathing. You should experience pretty much instantaneous results from this if you are paying attention. I used to notice this when doing asanas back in 1967. Today I sit for about 45 minutes doing nothing but coming back to the breathing and getting anchored in it. It is a very transformative practice once you get into it and start spending some time with it.

p e a c e

h a n s e n
thumbnail
Eric Alan Hansen, modified 14 Years ago at 10/13/09 4:36 PM
Created 14 Years ago at 10/13/09 4:36 PM

RE: Confused about full yogic breath

Posts: 128 Join Date: 9/9/09 Recent Posts
If you want to get unconfused about yogic full breath try swimming a mile or so and sprint the last few laps. Or try timing yourself underwater see if you can stay under 2-4 minutes. You'll get full yogic breath right away. And it will be a completely normal, natural reaction too.

The idea as I remember it is that in our stressed-out mechanically oriented dysfunctional pathological way we tend to breathe only a partial exhale, then we suck in the next inhale before the exhale is complete. People with post traumatic stress syndrome are the canaries in the mine shaft on this one, they usually experience this worst of all, but it is true of most of us to normally exhibit some dysfunction. The yogic approach is to regulate autonomic functions, but what I suggest is quite the opposite. When you apply mindfulness/remembering/memory/sati to the breathing just as you already breathe, it changes into something else. As you move the mind to a more subtle activity, the breath moves with it. This forms a positive feedback loop that result in extraordinary relaxing mental states. The breath will eventually bottom out, the exhalation will get to completion. And all this is without using one iota of force or control.

p e a c e

h a n s e n

Breadcrumb