Breath Cessation in Pranayama??

07.Discussions on AYP Pranayama, Mudras + Bandhas
21

It’s getting a little scary here… Mind is really protesting against the cessasions, but they happen anyway.
I tried to attend my aikido class today after a couple of months break due to overload. I could not follow the practices properly since I had so much breath stops and got overwhelmed with the force behind it. As soon as my teacher came near to assist or aid it got worse and kriyas started (mainly mountain pose with hands together above head) so I had to wave him away - couldn’t speak. Tears just streamed. I had to keep my eyes open, because when I closed them they went to sambhavi mode and I swooshed away immediately and lost body sensations…
Tonight when joining the global AYP meditation I started with 5 minutes pranayama under hardly no breathing and then passed out after 5 minutes meditation and woke up 1,5 hours later…
This is also accompanied by crown activity and fatigue.
It will be very interesting to see if this trial to join the aikido class again brings back overload symptoms or if I’m able to handle the greater amount of energies flowing now… We’ll see…

22

Hi Everyone :slight_smile:
I found a fascinating document! It examines the effects of Pranayama and Meditation on the body, brain and blood. Get out your dictionaries but it’s worth the read. :sunglasses:
http://www.aolresearch.org/pdf/A%20theoretical%20appraisal%20of%20yogic%20breath.Richard%20Brown.pdf
:slight_smile:
TI

23

Hi Avatar186 :slight_smile:
You know, I have a hard time believing your statments for these reasons:

  1. rechaka (exhalation) is apana, which is the expelling force which is related to ida. Isn’t this the force that would expell the CO2?
  2. to lessen carbon dioxide in the body, you don’t bring in more oxygen, you have to reduce the carbon dioxide in the blood and cut down metabolism.
  3. I’ve seen many documents on pranayama and kundalini meditations that give a ratio of breathing that is 1:4:2. (Inhale for 1, hold for 4 and then exhale for 2). For example, you inhale for 4 seconds, hold it for 16 seconds and then exhale for 8 seconds.
  4. I just did some experiments using a heart monitor and, under the assumption that when the heart is oxygenated it slows down , these are my findings:
  • my resting pulse was 85
  • Performing continual inhalation and exhalation similar to spinal breathing for 10 minutes (8 seconds each cycle, no pausing) reduces my heart rate to ~ 80 bpm.
  • Performing continual inhalation and exhalation similar to spinal breathing for 10 minutes (4 seconds to inhale and then 8 seconds to exhale, no pausing) reduces my heart rate to ~ 80 bpm. Same as previous.
  • Performing a 2:8:4 cycle brought my pulse down to 78.
  • Performing a one second inhale and then holding the breath for 8 seconds followed by a 1 second exhale brought my pulse down to 72! After doing this for 5 minutes, my top lip began to tingle and went numb and I felt like I had just come from a deep meditation session.
  • You can see the heart rate slow down after 4 or 5 seconds of breath retention. After a certain point though, like 30 seconds or so, the pulse starts to go up again.
    My conclusions?
    -Breath retention oxygenates the blood and causes the heart rate to slow down. Thus, any breathing pattern without a retention period probably isn’t as effective at oxygenating the blood as one with a retention in it.
    -The best pattern to oxygenate the blood seems to be to inhale as quickly as possible, retain the breath for 16 seconds and then exhale as quickly as possible and then repeat. Again, I don’t know if the heart is slowing because of the extra oxygen and the CO2 remains the same, or because the oxygen increases and CO2 decreases. That part would be nice to know. Is there a doctor in the house?
    -It doesn’t seem to matter if inhalation is shorter or longer than exhalation. Could this be the case?
    :slight_smile:
    TI
24

it is not even neccasarily the breathing im interested in, but the stimulation from it. that vibrating on your upper lip, except threw out the whole body.

25

Hi Avatar186 :slight_smile:
Did you read that article about the effects of pranayama at this link: http://www.aolresearch.org/pdf/A%20...%20Brown.pdf ?
If, perchance, you have been inhaling longer than you exhale, you have been accumulating CO2 in your blood. C02 buildup stretches the veins and arteries as pressure builds. That might account for a whole body tingle.
Did you know that pursed lip breathing will oxygenate your body faster than “than being put on 2 litters of oxygen a minute.”? Pursed lip breathing is inhaling to a count and then exhaling for 2 to 3 times the count of the inhale. (Inhale to a count of 4, exhale gently through the pursed lips to a count of 8 or 12). The effect is very similar to chanting out loud. http://www.emphysema.net/maryb.html
However, the tingle body is also associated with the etheric body.
Try this experiment:

  1. Shake your hands in front of your body for 20 seconds.
  2. Hold your hands on your knees, palms facing upwards.
  3. Do you feel a tingle in your hands? That is, according to Samuel Sagan, the etheric body.
    Sagan says that the next step is to focus on the third eye and notice that it is tingling too. Then, start raspy breathing or Ujjayi Breathing (partially block the epiglottis and breath like a mummy risen from the dead). Notice that the tingles get stronger? It is very interesting. So, perhaps the reason why your whole body tingles (if you have not been overloading your system with CO2) is that you’ve cleared your etheric body and can feel it. In that case, good going! I’ve heard that once you clear your whole etheric body, it is very easy to dissociate the astral body.
    :slight_smile:
    TI