Breath

[dmonarch]

Does anyone know of someone who practices lack of breath and can go for what might be indefinitly. A teacher or just anyone. It would be nice to find someone else and share information.
Cheers
Damian

[ImBill]

I'm not sure what you mean by "lack of breath", but I practice breathing as little as possible during part of my meditation time. I imagine that I am only taking in a thimbleful of air for each breath and have done this for at least an hour at a time with no problems. I don't pant or anything, just a slow, natural rhythm. I've read that some people who do this have occasions where they stop breathing altogether, but I've haven't gotten to that point yet.

[dmonarch]

Breath

Hi ImBill
By lack of breath I meant no breathing. So for you it sounds like its a continual concious activity, interesting. How long you been doing it for?
For me i either conciusly or unconciously unite my concius mind with my chest and the single moment that i start which i carry through with me on the session. That is from initial start i carry a single moment with me through time. By doing this i stop breathing without ever trying, its automatic and have gone for hours without breath. Its the funniest state of mind, before i stop i just observe the mind state. Its like unity. There is no concius effort on my part except for the initial part of uniting with the chest and the moment, but that only lasts maybe 10sec to a minute at most.
If youve ever tried biofeedback and practiced geting into alpha i guess its allot like that state of mind without the zombie mind in fact the mind state is more the opposite. Your in neutral mode with neither the concious or subconcious dominant.
Damian

[ImBill]

Hi, Damian,
Actually, I start out consciously controlling the breath to small increments, but then after a couple of minutes, it becomes a subconscious thing like regular breathing. I've even come out of meditation and continued to breath this way for some time afterwards. Your method sounds very interesting. I'll have to give it a try.
Thanks,
Bill

[noises]

I was friends with a world multiple world record holding freediver who's womens static apnea (breath hold under water) record of 8 minutes 23 seconds still stands. We've talked at length about the practices of freediving, and she attributes mediation as one of the most important learned abilities in breath holding.

there's a bunch of reflexes that work when you hold your breath underwater, part of the the mammilian dive reflex, and understanding them as physical phenomena helps because it makes it so much easier to visualise these changes and will them to take place, and for the body to sustain them.

One is vasoconstriction, literally a shrinking of the blood vessels in the limbs. This forces blood out of the limbs and into the organs, so that whatever oxygen you have available is used for higher organic function.

Another isreflex bradycardia. This is actually fun to do if you have a biofeedback device to give a realtime measure of your heartrate. Last two times I've been in hospital, I've consciously willed myself to lower my heartrate to less than 40bpm, thus triggering a slow pulse alarm on the EEG so the nurses had to lower it to 30bpm because I kept setting it off while in in deep relaxation to manage pain. Top-line freedivers can get down to 12 beats per minute, which is truly amazing.

natalia says her training consisted of what's called an apnea walk. Basically, it's walking while holding your breath. The more you practice, the further you can walk, you so can literally measure your progress. Plus you're also doing physical work, so when you bretah hold in a relaxed state, you can actually improve on your normal apnea times.

i know this isn't esoteric knowledge, but it applies, and I hope you find it usefull.

[noises]

oh, and remember, oxygen is fuel for the cells of your body. every life function depends on it. there are case studies of marked situational improvements with depressed patients simply by teaching them to "belly breath" (aka diaphragmatic breathing aka pranayama)

Chi flows are also linked to breath. Deep, full breaths and a complete exhalation are simple, free ways to deal with anxiety, depression, insomnia and promote and enhance immune system function. One of my mantras, written in three feet tall letters down a hallway in my house, is BREATHE DEEPLY AND OFTEN. Oxygen starvation promotes hallucinations, ill health and emotional stress, please be aware of these hazards of shallow breathing and don't overlook or ignore them if you're effected by them.