Post No. 021 - Breathing exercises

I mentioned that I would do a post on breathing exercises. I'll start this by copying something I wrote for some friends a little while ago:

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BREATHING EXERCISES

My information comes from the work of the very controversial author Tuesday Lobsang Rampa (as well as http://gnwmythr.blogspot.com/2007/08/purpose.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobsang_Rampa, see http://www.karenmutton.com/rampa/intro.htm).

Rampa claims to be a Tibetan lama who took over the body of an English plumber in the late 50s (with the permission of the plumber) in a rare for of transmigration. Critics usually deride this as an obvious absurdity, and I have heard claims that some of the description of Tibet are not actually correct, but the information in Rampa's books led me (as a teenager) to a practical involvement in Buddhism, spirituality and psychic matters.

I've forgotten exactly which book(s) the information comes from, but the breathing exercise for keeping warm is one that I have found works quite well (although it does require practise). This description is about the "alternate nostril breathing exercise" (my guess at a suitable title).

This exercise is supposed to strengthen and balance the mind. I have, at times, been concerned about using it, as I thought if I did so when I was, say, angry or upset, the exercise may strengthen the anger or upset - or that, if I was annoyed with someone else, I might inadvertently use this to strnegthen any projection of negativity towards that person. However, I have found that that is not so: my experience is that the exercise calms, balances and then strengthens the mind. Having said so, however, you need to assess the effect of this for yourselves - I can NOT guarantee that it is so for others, and I do know that crystals are helpful for some, neutral for others and harmful for a few, and keepo that possibility in mind for ALL techniques of working. If you find that the exercise is being counter productive, then you need to re-examine what is happening, whether that is due to external influences trying to stop you (I usually try harder when that happens) or the exercises not being suitable for you. I can't (and won't :) ) try to determine that for you.

Rampa sets great store by doing these exercises using what is termed the Complete Breath (also mentioned in Yogic texts). The Complete Breath certainly probably has health benefits, but I don't know that it is critical for this exercise - although I do find it tends to work more effectively if I try to use it.

A "Complete Breath": is based on using all the lungs: the idea is to use the abdomen first, then expan the ribs, then lift the shoulders. After filling the lungs this way, reverse the order: drop the shoulders, then ribs in, and finally compress the abs. Rampa sets this as an initial exercise for a period to develop some proficiency at this before working up to the next stage.
The next stage is breathing in one nostril, and then out the same nostril - to get used to the idea of breathing this way. The "Complete Breath" is supposed to be through the nose anyway (one exercise, claimed to cool the body and cleanse the liver/blood involves breathing through the mouth: that one I have found doesn't work at cooling the body, and I don't about the liver/blood). Start with around ten breaths in one nostril, then ten via the other nostril, and - according to Rampa, build up to 20 - 40 repetitions per day.

As part of this initial practice is holding the breath for a period. Rampa's "ideal" seems to be 8 seconds to breath in, hold for 32 seconds, and then breath out for 16 seconds - which is a ratio of 1:4:2. I have never, despite years of practise, been able to do this. I aim to keep the same ratio as best I can, but with a shorter overall period. In practise, what I generally do is count while I breathe in, hold my breath for a COMFORTABLE period (I don't want a tombstone that says "Here lays Kayleen, of balanced mind and blue of face"), and then breathe out taking twice as long to breathe out as I took to breathe in.

(In general, I now tend to breathe in for a count of 6, hold for a count of 24, exhale for a count of 12, pause for a count of 3 - so the ratio is all multiples of three.  9th September, 2013)

I also don't, these days, try to acheive a particular number of breaths. I usually combine this with something else, like meditation, or colour visualisations, and base the timing on that. If I want to do a minimum, I'll use three repetitions.

Having developed the nostril breathing, again according to Rampa, you can then start using the alternate pattern: - breathe in the left nostril (abdomen-ribs-shoulder), - hold (for a comfortable period, up to 8 times longer than the period taken to brteathe in), - breathe out the right nostril (shoulder-ribs-abdoment), - breathe in the right nostril (abdomen-ribs-shoulder), - hold (for a comfortable period, up to 8 times longer than the period taken to breathe in), - breathe out the left nostril (shoulder-ribs-abdoment).

Aim to do this 40 times per day - according to Rampa. I can't do this, and 40 x (8+32+16) x 2 = 8,960 seconds /day, which seems a bit excessive to me. As I said, I'll just do three as a minimum and often combine this with something else.

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I actually do now try to do more than 3 such breaths a day.

It's interesting to consider how this breathing could work. The theory of meridians suggests that energy flows around our body - various bracnhes of Yoga work with this to varying degrees (for instance, I read some discussion on this in the "Autobiography of a Yogi", by Paramahansa Yogananda [published in 1946; see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yogananda and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autobiography_of_a_Yogi - which, when I accessed it for this post, had a caution that it was writen like and advertisement). Obviously, in this case, the theory is various postures influence how the energy flows and place some pressure on blockages. I have no argument with this (particularly as I work with [basic] shiatu :) ).

The mind can influence energy flow - hence the use of visualisation in many metaphysical techniques. A number of these techniques combine breathing - either for assisting with relaxation, or to enhance the effect of the visualisation. That suggests to me that breathing has a connection with the mind, and the organ which connects us to the mind: the brain. (to pick up on the theme in my post http://gnwmythr.blogspot.com/2007/08/purpose.html, maybe breathing will be useful training for us to direct energies when we are existing in higher realms?)

To digress for a moment, our brains are arranged into a right and a left hemisphere, with different functions having been identified for each (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateralization_of_brain_function). My training in applied kinesiology ("Touch for Health" - which I would like to learn to practitioner level one day, as I would shiatsu) indicates that functions which trigger each side alternately (e.g., cross crawling, or marching) can have beneficial effects in some cases.

Perhaps the alternate nostril technique helps to balance out the activity in the hemispheres of the brain, and thus helps with the balancing effect? I've tried to avoid using my fingers - e.g., by leaning to use an object to close each nostril, and still find the effect as powerful, but I'm still moving side to side so there may be some physical trigger involved as well; I've also found I can get a good effect by starting with the alternate nostril breathing, and then just using visualisation to direct energy in and out the relevant nostril.

In any case, the energy flows stimulated by this are, in my experience, very beneficial. If they are for you as well, please enjoy using this technique; if this technique is not for you, move on and may you find whatever technique you need (if any).

(I also consider the book "The Science of Breath", by William Walker Atkinson, writing as "Yogi Ramacharaka" in 1904, and now available at the Sacred Texts website at http://sacred-texts.com/eso/sob/index.htm, well worth a look. 9th September, 2013)

Love, light, hugs and blessings

Gnwmythr

This post's photo was taken in the Geriwerd (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grampians_National_Park) in June, 2006, as the area recovered from the fires. The photo is from the slopes of Mt William.

Tags: energy work, Lobsang Rampa, breathing, yoga

First published: Thursday 4th October, 2007