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Calming Breathing Exercises

Caveat: check with your physician before beginning ANY new exercise routine!

Abdominal Breathing

This post is about abdominal or “natural” breathing, in which we breathe into our stomach rather than our chest.

Voluntary Breathing

Overriding our involuntary breathing and consciously controlling the rate and depth of our breath (Pranayama) has both long-term and immediate benefits, reducing stress and deepening breathing capacity.

Diaphragm

Our diaphragm does most of the work. It’s a large, flat muscle that divides our abdominal cavity in two just below the ribcage.

Like our heart, it can be difficult to feel our diaphragm internally as it moves up and down – but trying is an excellent concentration exercise!

Our diaphragm is a fascinating muscle: akin to a flat rubber sheet, it’s the only muscle in our body that contracts in two directions!

When we inhale – the bottom of our diaphragm contracts initiating an inhalation, drawing the center of the muscle downward, pulling air into our lungs, pressing down on our lower abdominal contents pushing our stomach out.

When we exhale – the top of our diaphragm contracts initiating an exhalation, pulling the center of the muscle upward, expelling air from our lungs, releasing pressure on our lower abdominal contents pulling our stomach in.

Phases of Breath

Our diaphragm doesn’t want to remain contracted; it wants to return to its neutral, non-contracted state.

Thus, it doesn’t take energy to return our diaphragm to its flat neutral state from either its highest or lowest position. However, while the initial phase of every breath is energetically passive, moving the diaphragm up or down past neutral (e.g., to inhale or exhale deeply) requires energy.

Exercise

I suggest softly playing a four beat meditative soundtrack, something like Jason Campbell’s Five Element Music – free on Amazon.

  • Settle yourself physically.
  • Sit upright comfortably.
  • Relax; let go of resistance and tension.
  • Close your eyes – almost.

Tune 100% of your attention to the mechanics of breathing.

Using the four-count music as a guide,

  • Spend a few minutes allowing your inhalations and exhalations to equalize at approximately a 4-beat count;
  • Spend a few more minutes lengthening your inhalations and exhalations to equalize at approximate an 8-beat count;
  • Eventually add a 4-beat pause in between, so every breath consists of an 8-beat inhalation, 4-beat pause, and 8-beat exhalation.
  • Eventually work up to an 8-8-8 count.

The goal is quiet, subtle, rhythmic breathing.

The trick is to keep your attention on the physical sensations and mechanics: feel the air flowing into your lungs on the inhalation; sense the subtle distinction between the passive, active and pause phases of each breath.

Your mind WILL drift. When it does, start again from the beginning: sit upright, relax.

Want help?

Skip Dowds

781-639-9057

 

Meditate. It’s what’s good for you!

 

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Meditation for Beginners

Meditation instructions for beginners

Here’s a typical response to my “learn to relax” sales pitch:

“OK fascinating: we can’t count and recite the alphabet simultaneously – and there’s a part of each of us that’s bulletproof – that literally never changes – yet without which we wouldn’t know we were here. But – how does that help me!?”

Aside from consciousness being the reason that we know we’re  alive….by learning to control our mind, we can experience consciousness itself. While it generally takes awhile become enlightened, the more often and closer we draw towards the still essence of who we are by meditating, the more we appreciate its healing, transformative affects.

If any of these sound familiar:

  • “I can’t sleep.”
  • “I’m stressed out.”
  • “I’m nervous.”
  • “I’m crazy busy.”
  • “I’m a mess.”
  • “I haven’t got a clue.”
  • “I can’t stop [     ].”

MEDITATE! Here’s how:

It’s simple; it just takes practice! Start by allowing yourself five minutes a day to relax, recharge and reboot:

  • Find a comfortable spot to sit, preferably calmly lit and airy; it should feel welcoming and pleasant;
  • Light a candle and place it at arms-length in front of you;
  • Sit upright though relaxed;
  • Close your eyes almost all the way – so you just see the glint of the burning candle at the bottom of your normal field of vision;
  • Chin back ever-so slightly and imagine you’re looking out at the horizon – and smile!
  • Set a timer for however long you have;
  • Scan and relax your body without compromising your posture;
  • When you’re settled, focus all of your attention on one thing for the next few minutes. You’re training your mind to think what YOU want it to! When you find it wandering off, lovingly bring it back. It’s like doing a few sets of slow, purposeful curls for your biceps – but this requires mental rather than physical effort! If you’re a dog owner, this is part where you’re trying to get your mind to “sit” – “stay” comes with practice!

WHAT TO FOCUS ON:

Raw beginners: “A”,”B”,”C” (each letter represents an individual thought because you literally can’t think/say “A” and “B” simultaneously in your conscious mind):

Imagine you’re trying to slow things down internally; as if you’re trying to synchronize your breath, pulse and rate of thought (“A”,”B”,”C” is just a string of three individual thoughts – think/say them slower to slow down the rate at which your conscious mind thinks). Focus all your attention on each letter as you think/say it in your mind (visualization helps). When you get to “X”…”Y”…”Z”, go backwards: “Y”… “X”…”W”, etc.

Later: Once you have a sense of control, try focusing on something more subtle: your breath; specifically, breath-by-breath pay attention to each aspect of the three-part cycle: inhalation – brief pause – exhalation – brief pause – inhalation, etc. Find a rhythm, perhaps use 4-count inhalations and exhalations so they’re about the same duration – and just notice the brief pause in between.  Tip: “No words!”; if you hear words, you’re “in your head” or distracted, rather than mindfully watching your breath.

The experience is almost always calming and soothing, and the benefits carry over into the rest of your day. May your practice always be so!

June class schedule

Try it and let me know what you think! Allan

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Morning class itinerary, 6-7-17

7:30am Meditation

Lesson (10 min) – sutras III.9 to 13; continued discussing the three phases or levels of meditation: focus, prolonged focus, and absorption. The latter is effectively a self-induced trance: like dreaming, though you’re aware that you’re controlling the content of your thoughts, so much so, that you’re simultaneously unaware of anything else: where you are, what day or time it is, even what you’re doing!– until something brings you out of it like a doorbell or phone.

We read from Swmaij.com about the three states of transition between the three levels of meditation. He uses the analogy of attending a concert:

As you wait for the concert to start, your mind is naturally scattered: chasing sensations, drawn to sounds of conversations, smells of food and perfume, sights of people.

  1. As the concert begins, you experience the first transition: from a scattered state of mind to a focused one (dharana) as you turn your attention to the stage. Satchidananda says in dharana, you experience the end of desire.
  2. As you begin to enjoy the performance, you experience the second transition: your focused state of mind becomes prolonged (dhyana) as the performance holds your attention. Satchidananda says in dhyana, you experience the end of sorrow.
  3. After prolonged focus (dhyana), you experience the third transition: you become absorbed in the concert to the exclusion of everything else (absorption = samadhi). Satchidananda says in samadhi, you experience the end of fear.

Seated conscious abdominal breathing (15 min)

Seated concentration (5 min)

Seated stretches (5 min)

9:00am Practice

Standing stretches (5 min)

Tadasana (5 min) https://www.yogajournal.com/poses/mountain-pose

Gigong monk’s boat (15 min) mindful standing synchronization of movement, breath, and thought https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icS_WezFlJE

Sun salutation (15 min) mindful flowing sequence of seven different classic yoga poses, again synchronizing movement, breath, and thought https://www.yogajournal.com/videos/salute-the-sun-modified

Utthita Trikonasana (10 min) 2x each side; hold each pose 90 seconds https://www.yogajournal.com/videos/extended-triangle-pose

Seated conscious abdominal breathing (5 min)

Seated concentration (5 min)

 

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Meditation tips

Don’t forget your training!

Raja Yoga’s posture and breathing exercises prepare you to hold your physical body very still – specifically, your brain:

• Asana (posture exercises) help maintain a strong, stable outer body so you can hold your skull properly-positioned and still.

• Pranayama (breathing exercises) help maintain a subtle, rhythmically functioning inner body minimizing internal disturbances to your brain.

Raja Yoga’s concentration exercises prepare you to still your conscious, thinking mind, while the three stages of meditation sequentially quiet the sensory, memory, and ego functions of your subconscious mind.

Initially,

Sit balancing a notepad on your head; hold your head up as if you were looking out at the horizon, but look down your nose to a spot on the floor about arm’s length in front of you. I like to use a candle as the object of my focus. Try keeping your spine (which your brain rests on top of) still.

Focus on the mechanics and sensation of your inhalations and exhalations; allow enough time for your breathing to settle into a subtle, rhythmic pace.

Try “creating space” in your body:

• Vertically – as you inhale (the bottom of your diaphragm contracts, pulling it down and drawing air into your lungs), energetically press your perineum down into whatever your sitting on – and as you exhale (the top of your diaphragm contracts, pulling it up and forcing air out of your lungs), energetically press the crown of your head up into the notepad.

• Circumferentially – energetically emphasize the 360-degree expansion of your chest as you inhale.

It’s a matter of self-awareness and control: as you sit still, eyelids partially closed, staring down and concentrating on the candle flame, monitor and make any necessary adjustments to your posture, breath, and thoughts.

Remember that your attitude makes a huge difference: practicing for physical and mental benefits will produce very different results than practicing as a tribute or homage to consciousness (the universally common aspect of each of us that makes life rich!) – so that consciousness might witness the awesomeness of itself!

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Rule 4: Junk in, junk out

The next rule for cultivating a peaceful frame of mind after following the Golden Rule, being kind to yourself and exercising is to turn inward – literally.

Three thousand years ago, our internal organs and systems were still largely a mystery. Yogis referred to our insides as our energy body: the parts that keep us alive.

People understood the rudimentary mechanics: food, liquids, and fresh air are converted into fuel and circulated throughout our body via blood while our brain communicates with the rest of our body through a system of nerves – but the science of exactly how that’s accomplished hadn’t been verified.

People also understood the primary functions of our larger, more critical organs and system components: our brain, heart, voice box, digestive and reproductive organs, and that they’re linked through our circulatory and nervous systems; specifically, that arteries carry enriched blood in one direction while veins carry depleted blood in the other – and that thoughts are transmitted energetically between our brain and body via a separate system of nerves.

Yogis figured out that we can affect the functioning of our internal organs and systems by manipulating our diaphragm like a bellows – by controlling the rate and depth of our breaths. Your diaphragm is a large flat muscle that serves as the floor of the upper chamber of your abdomen, which contains your lungs and heart within your rib cage, and the ceiling of the lower chamber your abdomen, your stomach, which contains your digestive and reproductive organs, contents and systems.

As you breathe, your diaphragm moves up and down within your abdomen – pulled down to draw oxygen into your lungs, and pulled up to push carbon monoxide out [fun fact: its the only muscle in your body which you can pull in opposite directions]. The practice of controlling the rhythm, depth and subtleness of your breathing stimulates nerve and organ function and blood flow and is very soothing, reducing physical and mental distress.

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Pratyahara

Introduction

Pratyahara is the fifth of the eight-limbed practice of Ashtanga Yoga introduced in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras: a roadmap to peace through meditation. The Yoga Sutras – essentially a poem comprised of fewer than 200 partial sentences arranged in four chapters – is one of two widely recognized authoritative texts on Raja Yoga.

Pratyahara (transliterated as “withdrawal from the senses”) refers to concentration of the conscious mind; it is often practiced by silent recitation, essentially stringing together individual, sequential thoughts – often rhythmically – to momentarily control the content and flow of thoughts.

The stated, penultimate goal of the Yoga Sutras is to all-but-eliminate conscious thought – since at that point, without thoughts to interfere, we are conscious only of our own true nature.

Science

The four functions of your mind are:

1) Buddhi – this is your conscious mind – and the focus of the Yoga Sutras. At any given moment, you are conscious of whatever is reflected in this part of our mind. This is the aspect of mind that gets us in trouble – sometimes referred to as the “monkey mind” as we often seem at a loss to control what’s reflected therein.

2) Manas – this is your sub-conscious or sensory mind which works behind the scenes, automatically processing senses and basic bodily functions.

3) Ahamkara – this is your mental foundation: it’s the most elemental aspect of your ego: the awareness that you are a unique being – separate and apart from everything else.

4) Chitta – this is the storage aspect of your mind: your memories which still have karmic potential (i.e., to the extent the ripples of your past actions haven’t caught up with you yet, the corresponding karmic triggers are stored here).

Context

Patanjali introduces Ashtanga Yoga in Chapter 2, yet splits the discussion of the eight limbs between Chapters 2 and 3: concluding Chapter 2 with remarks on Pratyahara, and beginning Chapter 3 with a discussion of the last three limbs, signaling that Pratyahara is more akin to the first four, than the last three.

Pratyahara is the fifth in a sequence of progressively subtle exercises or practices intended to settle your conscious mind for meditation:

• Yama & Niyama – presented first, these two limbs of Ashtanga Yoga are the most important as they have the greatest impact on your peace of mind. The Yamas & Niyamas constitute a code of conduct intended to balance your actions; specifically, to mitigate the negative consequences thereof.

Note: of the 25 sutras devoted to Ashtanga Yoga in Chapter 2 (i.e., a little over 10% of Patanjali’s entire Yoga Sutras), 15 (60%) discuss these two sutras (“conduct”); three discuss Asana (“posture”); five discuss Pranayama (“breath”); and 2 discuss Pratyahara (“concentration”).

• Asana – Patanjali encourages us to learn to sit still and comfortably to facilitate meditation;

• Pranayama – Patanjali encourages us to learn to breathe deeply and subtly to facilitate meditation, as breathing exercises stimulate/calm circulation of our elemental energetic building blocks;

• Pratyahara – Patanjali encourages us to learn to concentrate (i.e., to fully-engage our conscious mind) to quell the effects of desire – the product of ego, memory and the senses – to facilitate meditation; the intent of Pratyahara is to turn one’s attention or awareness from the sensory to the thinking mind – and to begin to learn to control its content and flow.

The longer you can sit comfortably, breathe deeply and subtly, and hold the content and rhythm of your thoughts steady, the longer and more effectively you’ll be able to meditate.

Summary

When you’re sitting comfortably, breathing deeply and subtly, and controlling the rate, rhythm and content of your conscious thoughts, there is a synchronization of sorts between your heartbeats, breaths, and thoughts – a calmness that prepares you for the last three limbs of Ashtanga Yoga which involve further refining the content of your conscious mind by progressively narrowing its focus.

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20 Minute Daily Routine

Prerequisites:

A rudimentary understanding of the anatomical and energetic aspects of your respiratory system (read: don’t try this without some initial instruction and supervision).

Caveat:

As with ALL pranayama exercises, tread deliberately and cautiously; allow your breathing to return to normal if you feel ANY degree of discomfort, jitters, etc.

Guarantee:

Practice some version of this every day for the rest of your life, and you will smile more often than you’ll frown.

 

The Daily Routine: (up to 2-3x a day)[and btw – try to get at least 20 minutes of fresh air every day as well]:

Roughly 5 minutes – “Snow Globe”

Do your own “Shake It Up Baby” happy dance; after a few minutes, settle into a comfortable, seated position keeping your body upright and balanced.

Roughly 10 minutes – Pranayama

Pre-flight “check-in”:

How are you feeling generally? Bring awareness to your:

“maya kosha” markers:

  • heartbeat
  • breath
  • thoughts

“energy centers”:

  • perineum
  • genitals
  • stomach
  • chest
  • throat
  • brain
  • crown of your head

Remind yourself why you’re doing this:

Anatomically, you’re using your diaphragm as a bellows to rhythmically stimulate your internal organs and the flow of oxygenated blood throughout your body. Energetically, you’re stimulating those same organs and blood flow at a cellular level, facilitating the proper functioning of your body/mind at an elemental, or energetic level.

Abdominal breaths (your stomach distends on the inhalation) – repeat 5-6x: SLOW, DEEP inhalation; SLOW, DEEP exhalation.

Thoracic breaths (your chest lifts on the inhalation) – repeat 5-6x: SLOW, FULL inhalation; SLOW, FULL exhalation.

Alternate nostril breathing – begin with 3-4 cycles – or more as time permits (keeping the length of inhalation, retention and exhalation roughly the same; remember you’re looking for smooth consistent rhythm as you breathe); increasing 1-2 cycles daily as appropriate up to 40 cycles. [Note: eventually, you’ll just practice alternate nostril breathing].

Alternate nostril cycle =

  • close L; open R; inhale
  • close R; retain
  • open L; exhale, inhale
  • close L; retain
  • open R; exhale

Post-flight “check-in”:

Repeat the pre-flight check-in and observe any difference in your markers and energy centers; generally, you should feel more calm physically, energetically and mentally than before you started.

Roughly 5 minutes – Contemplation

Spend these few minutes contemplating consciousness.  Remember the “1+1=2” exercise: two things are happening simultaneously: thinking and consciousness of the thinking.  Perhaps the easiest way to recognize the distinction is to imagine what life might be like without one or the other: the ability to think, or consciousness. Without cognition, you’d be a vegetable – unable to process thoughts; without consciousness you’d be a robot – unaware of your own thoughts and actions! Remember, thoughts change constantly; consciousness never does.

Possible side effects: Weight loss (your appetite might wane), mild constipation, and peace of mind…and remember, practice makes perfect. 😉