YOGA TIPS

Hard-Working Breath

The breath usually goes unnoticed, like a river running on the other side of the city.  Until you get into a deep asana, when you find yourself huffing and puffing, or holding tightly to the breath you've got.  When "in-extremis", in some asana, especially in those moments when some adjustment has to be made, notice what happens with the breath.  It acts as an unbidden helper.  Just take some time to pay attention to what exactly is happening as the breath makes all kinds of adjustments to assist some hidden set of muscles to exert specific forces to assist the motions of the adjustment.

Notice the throat muscles…, for instance.  How many tiny adjustments take place as you shift from one level of Throat Breath to another, when pushing upward into the Bow.  Done in the slow-motion of Chi Mudra Yoga, this small adjustment allows time for the Attention to focus on each of the tiny adjustments in the throat which accompany every movement of the action.

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re-posted from Facebook "Shamanism" Group:

This is the basis of my practice.  I post it regularly, so people can use it.  When people study with me, they learn this first.  Any questions?  I’m happy to answer here.

SHAMANIC YOGA: THROAT BREATH… It's been months since I posted this. Today someone had trouble with TINNITUS,, another with meditation. This is a variation on Ujjayi breath.

Lie down on your back. This lets the 'reptile brain' relax. Once you get settled, focus on your breath. Just watch your breath for a while as you relax your body completely. At a certain point, you can "Catch Your Breath"… i.e., get control of it. You will notice that you can open your throat, with a little concentration, trial and error, so that when you inhale, you SUCK the air directly into the throat, bypassing the what's-it-called (epiglottis)…the breath makes a HISSSSS or sucking sound. Just suck it in, hissing, and concentrate so you make it hiss on the exhale. Relax and concentrate. It takes practice. Notice that when you are lying down, you can relax in stages, and more stages, and then you notice that you can use the sucking breath in conjunction with the relaxing, and wow…you relax even more. Eventually, you can make your body like pancake batter, just spreading on the floor. Practice until you feel real Power in your sucking, inhale and exhale. Continue to relax with the breath. With practice, the sucking breath becomes the CONCENTRATION BREATH. You will notice a very sharpened focus into the inner body. Concentrate on maintaining the hissing, and begin to direct the breath into various parts of the body… the shoulders and hips, first, then the brain, and the organs. You can take the hissing power of concentration into any part of the body. At this point, it becomes the PENETRATION BREATH. If you have tinnitus, you can focus into the ear, until the ringing stops. The breath takes the prana into any part of the body. This technique opens the energy fields of the muscles, glands and organs as you concentrate on them, and the prana brings intelligence into the energy fields. Your MENTAL BODY now enters the PHYSICAL BODY. This is the beginning of the SHAMANIC MIND. In MEDITATION, you can use this to identify any blockages and break them up.