Éiriú-Eolas - Breathing Program

[Learner]

Hello,

a few days ago I made a post about some of my EE-experiences. I was not able to add all of the experiences, as it was quite late at that time and I was very tired. But those other experiences will come with this post. Hope, they will be contributing.

Along with the other experiences (lessening of hemorrhoid problems and the feeling of a slowly inner change somehow) I did also have emotional releases. Sometimes I did have some good sobbing sessions, as many of you here also had - from what I've read.
In the very beginning (2nd EE-week since I have started), I felt aggression coming up. During one session around that time the image of the face of a fierce young man popped up in my head, he had dark-brown curly hair and dark eyes full of wrath. I was quite astonished by this clear image (that doesn't happen to me usually). On the very next day I felt really aggressive inside. Probably it were some blocked emotions, that now had become loosen and needed to pass through the body before blown out into the ether. As those emotions confused me (I do not feel emotional turmoil consciously quite often), I wrote about them in my journal. Afterwards I started to feel better.

This reminds me of a post by PepperFritz, incidentally one that I carry around with me:
Quote from: PepperFritz ...

@Trevrizent, I want to thank you for this good piece of PepperFritz. It is really helpful for me to understand that emotional thing, that I described above, as well as other emotional issues, that came and come down since then. Well, I did cry freely some time before discovering EE, but it is more often since I practise it. But feeling more emotions consciously is still somehow distrubing for me, so PepperFritz' post is really appreciated, so I can start to sort out things better.
On the other hand, though it is disturbing, I appreciate the releasing of my feelings by crying (and sometimes by writing, walking etc.), as I do really feel better afterwards :)

I also have lots of dreams, in some dreams there are lots of things going on, but I still have difficulties with recalling them many times.
Around Christmas I had a very emotional full EE-session, there was lots of sobbing. When I did the Warrior's Breath, I did it - other then recommended - six times, as it helped me to deal with my aggressive and sad feelings, that had come up through the session as well as in regard to the past day. Well, I saw light bursting in front of my eyes. As I also never have seen such things (at least as long as I can consciously remember), I got terrified. That phenomenon didn't recur since then.
The night after that, while doing the POTS, I had an imagination or kind of "vision" of walking through a long and dark corridor, but at the same time I had the feeling of someone with a candle, that kind of seemed to be a part of me, walked in front of me - that this one reached out of myself, taking the lead with the candle. Well, after I had fallen asleep, I had a dream of going to make myself ready for travelling in an hot-air balloon. I only had the possibility to travel with my "compass skills" (these skills were part of me). But these abilities did not reach very far yet. They still had to be tuned in the right way, before I could get started. There was another woman with me, with dark skin. Because my skills weren't that good yet, we had to spend the night in the shadow of a church. There we lay on the grass in our sleeping bags.
Well, as I am not very familiar with "The Work" yet, I do not know, if there is any meaning in that. But subjectively it feels meaningful.

Pipe Breathing helped me getting started with the conduction of my very first workshop in January (it was about fundamentalism in Christianity and Buddhism). Before that I had lots of fear of making myself ridiculous and not beeing able to moderate properly. I realize, that it is a program, that is deeply ingrained in me - how I look to others (part of my self-importance program). Well, the breathing helped me to calm down.

Well, this post has become quite long - so I forward my apologies for that...

Warm regards,
Learner

 

[Learner]

Sorry, forgot something to write...

During some EE-sessions, especially in the POTS-part, I sometimes (like others of you, from what I have read) felt a strong connection to Laura as well as the whole community here, although I was not part of it yet....

@tavo: I hope, that you feel better now.
Regarding the breathing in EE, I also had difficulties in the beginning with inhaling and exhaling. I only inhaled and exhaled that much and that way I could do it. I think, the body needs its time to adjust itself to that kind of breathing, as we are used to breathe otherwise. I found out, if I forced myself and anticipated too much, it didn't work out well. I think, what counts is, to keep trying, if this is possible. Even, if it does not feel like you are doing it right, at the moment. It will work out its way by time from my experience. ;)
I do not know, if this could also be something to try for you, to lay straight in bed on your back and doing EE this way (this is, how it works for me at least).
Hope, that helps

 

[aragorn]

Yeh the back pain should be because of my position in the bed indeed, I never found the right position. I'll keep that in mind next time.

But what about the breathing issues when I woke up? I'm still recovering, and it's 17:30 here already .
We're leaving the summer here, and the change makes my asthma to reappear, but like I said, THIS is not one of those times.

I'm sorry to hear that. It sounds that doing intensively the EE-program for the first time made your asthma worse. Unfortunately I don't have any expertice in medical conditions like asthma so let's hope that someone with expertice like Psyche could offer some advice. But since your breathing problem and chest pain has going on for so many hours now maybe you should see a doctor - it could be something serious.

One possibility...this is just guessing...is that maybe doing the EE brought some unconscious emotions up, making you upset and thus making you hyperventilate. If you keep breathing fast and shallowly, maybe you are still hyperventilating somehow? You could try breathing in a paper bag (breathe in and out a few times using only the air inside the bag) and see if that helps. Don't know how correct that is, but it's a thing I've heard that one can do in order to stop serious hyperventilation.

 

[Tavo]

Aragorn, I didn't feel upset at any moment during the EE, nor did I have any dreams that I remember that could indicate this, so I'd rule that option out.

I had a light cough with phlegm last night, and it got worse today, I forgot to add that.
Maybe coughing during the EE made the breathing work in a wrong way, or something like that, I don't know.

 

[Nienna]

Aragorn, I didn't feel upset at any moment during the EE, nor did I have any dreams that I remember that could indicate this, so I'd rule that option out.

I had a light cough with phlegm last night, and it got worse today, I forgot to add that.
Maybe coughing during the EE made the breathing work in a wrong way, or something like that, I don't know.

In your first post here you said that this was caused by the "quick breathing". Do you mean the Ba Ha, or round breathing part?

If you don't have the lung capacity to keep taking air in for the whole count, then don't. Try to work it so that you take in only the amount of air that you feel comfortable with. And are you talking about the pipe breathing here or the Ba Ha breathing?

The most important thing is to be comfortable. You can push the envelope a bit, but do not strain yourself to keep up with the counts. And it would really help to know if it is the Ba Ha portion that you think did this. If this is what you meant, then don't do that part. Only do the other parts and the Prayer of the Soul. You don't have to do the Ba Ha part to get the benefits of the program. The Ba Ha part just speeds up the process and some of us do not need to push ourselves and can take the slower more gentle approach. :)

Also, there is the chance that your body is trying to cleanse some past emotional/physical blockage and in doing so has produced this effect in you. But, regardless, please only do what you feel comfortable with. And, again, don't do the Ba Ha portion if you think this is what contributed to your condition.

And remember, you can do this sitting, reclining or lying down. Whatever is most comfortable for you. :)

 

[Alana]

Yeh the back pain should be because of my position in the bed indeed, I never found the right position. I'll keep that in mind next time.

I'd advice that you try doing the whole program while lying down comfortable in bed (except from the warrior's breath of course). This will give your body the capacity to relax more fully and allow your lungs to expand so you can take in more air.

But what about the breathing issues when I woke up? I'm still recovering, and it's 17:30 here already .
We're leaving the summer here, and the change makes my asthma to reappear, but like I said, THIS is not one of those times.

You spoke about feeling chest pressure in your previous post. Could this be related to your breathing issues? I have been feeling this heavy weight on my chest for the past week, that prevents me from breathing fully and i find myself sighing a lot throughout the day. To me it feels more like a psychological component rather than a physical one, i don't know if this is the case with you though. I intent to clean mine out with more EE practice ;)

 

[flashgordonv]

This may or may not help in this instance, but I believe magnesium helps with restless legs. fwiw
Here's a thread about magnesium in our diet and heath section, in case you haven't seen it. http://www.cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php?topic=2354.0

Agreed. Magnesium is good for restless legs, I use it often and have been troubled with this issue on and off all my life. The other thing I just found out about and am in the process of trying is L-Tyrosine, another amino acid.

 

[Nienna]

This may or may not help in this instance, but I believe magnesium helps with restless legs. fwiw
Here's a thread about magnesium in our diet and heath section, in case you haven't seen it. http://www.cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php?topic=2354.0

Agreed. Magnesium is good for restless legs, I use it often and have been troubled with this issue on and off all my life. The other thing I just found out about and am in the process of trying is L-Tyrosine, another amino acid.

Not only does it help with restless legs syndrome, at times I would get cramps in my feet. Since using the magnesium oil on any area of my body, it seems to have cut the cramping down completely.

 

[manitoban]

This may or may not help in this instance, but I believe magnesium helps with restless legs. fwiw
Here's a thread about magnesium in our diet and heath section, in case you haven't seen it. http://www.cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php?topic=2354.0

Agreed. Magnesium is good for restless legs, I use it often and have been troubled with this issue on and off all my life. The other thing I just found out about and am in the process of trying is L-Tyrosine, another amino acid.

Not only does it help with restless legs syndrome, at times I would get cramps in my feet. Since using the magnesium oil on any area of my body, it seems to have cut the cramping down completely.

Yeah my mom had the restless leg syndrome and would have trouble sleeping. She tried the magnesium oil before bed and she slept through the entire night for the first time in years.

 

[celtic]

How often should I do the breathing? I don't want to over do it so I think I should see
how many times is necessary. and I mean like once or twice a week or everyday until
I get the hang of it.

 

[Approaching Infinity]

How often should I do the breathing? I don't want to over do it so I think I should see
how many times is necessary. and I mean like once or twice a week or everyday until
I get the hang of it.

If you're just starting out, I think it's best to do pipe breathing and the meditation everyday before bed. You can start out doing the full program twice a week, and if that gets too intense, cut back on the round breathing. But it's best to try it out first for a while and see what results it brings.

 

[Sonrisa]

Just checking in. I feel like I am in the middle of a huge emotional/physical/psychic "storm." The attack I have reported on at work is still going on; this past couple of weeks I have been very, very, very stressed out. I am still doing the pipe breathing and POTS every night, and the pipe breathing several times a day. It helps a lot. I have gotten some amino acids from my homeopathic doctor that are helping a lot with the stress.

I also feel like I am connecting with a larger part of myself better. I also feel like I have the (hurricane) winds of the world whipping through me, and I am going through SO many difficult emotions.... But knowledge that I have had for months, or even years, is finally coming together into realizations about the wider world in general, and my own personal world, and particular people and groups that I have associated with, that I didn't have before, and I have a much better understanding about what's going on.

It's amazing to me that with all the horrible stress I'm going through during the day, dealing with the psychopath boss at work, that I am able to de-stress relatively well by doing the pipe breathing and POTS when I get home. I've been having some dizziness during the day (probably stress-induced, I don't know). My sleep during the workweek is good, but I still wake up feeling really tired. On non-work days, I wake up feeling much more rested, just in time to put on my emotional/psychic "battle armor" and go to work again.

My husband and I have reached the decision that we want to move out of the US, and to France. We are starting to talk to as many people, family member, friend we know to get leads on jobs in France, so we can afford to move there. I finally realize how really and truly awful the US government is. Any ideas or suggestions, or leads, that Forum members can make, would be greatly appreciated.

Sonrisa

 

[forge]

PROPER PIPE-BREATHING

I noticed Laura's remark in the newest C's session thread:

You need to know that it is not good to teach pipe breathing by just saying "it's kind of like constricting the back of the throat." You need to know why: that people start doing it the wrong way based on that and it is hard to undo a bad habit. They need to take the time to learn that this is a GLOTTAL constriction, similar to glottal constrictions that one does to make sounds. It is those two little muscles - vocal cords - just over the end of the trachea that they will be constricting, NOT the back of the throat.

I think, i did pipe-breathing the wrong way until now, by flexing wrong muscles. I tried to assemble a clarification for myself, i hope it helps others too:

Glottal constriction is the good way.

Glottis:
The glottis is defined as the combination of the vocal folds and the space in between the folds (the rima glottidis).
Pictures:
_http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gray1204.png
_http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Arytenoid_cartilage.png


Constricting the back of the throat: BAD!
The wrong way of pipe breathing: airways tighten as strong and easiest to move muscles in the back of throat press your air-pipe together. Hold a plastic tube between your thumb and index-finger and press it together: this is what is happening in your throat when you do pipe breathing the bad way. Try to breathe through this pressed plastic pipe, you will get suffocation alarm, you feel without air. If you ever had asthma, you have fear from suffocation. Smoke and car-exhaust phobia, general hypersensitivity of airways and lungs adds to inconveniences, generating anxiety.

Constricting the GLOTTAL muscles: having lot of air GOOD!!
Practice moving tiny muscles - eyebrows, parts of skin on your head and neck - or parts of your face, near your ears, as fun so as to be able to focus on flexing tiny muscles. There is a little muscle that feels to be in the center of your throat: see Glottal muscle pictures below. Forget flexing the strong wall muscles of your throat[!], but work - flex - your tiny glottal muscles. This way you will notice almost no constriction in your airways, as you push air out from your lungs it moves freely this way: air feels moving more distinctly around vocal cords. You will have plenty of air, may feel coldness at new places in your throat. While breathing try turn ON and OFF the flexing of your glottal muscles just for practice, to see how it feels, how you get much more air this way. Flexing glottal muscles almost doesn't constrict airways. Flexing muscles in the back of your throat always blocks airways, constricts too much, don't do it. You are doing pipe breathing right, if you breath freely, easily, with lot of air, without getting suffocation alarm.

Glottal muscle pictures:
In this image it is the cricothyroid muscle shown in light rose-red:
_http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8a/Larynx_external_en.svg/1000px-Larynx_external_en.svg.png

An arrow points to it in this picture, it is circled:
_http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Musculuscricothyreoideus.png

This is the tiny muscle - cricothyroid - you FLEX doing glottal constriction, which makes the right 'Darth Vader sound' and lets you have a lot of air[!!], compared to the bad way, almost closing down your airways by flexing the big and strong muscles in the back of your throat: this is easy + wrong, you won't get much air!!

You RELAX your throat(vocal cords) during pipe-breathing with the thyroarytenoid muscle seen here: (written on lower right side)
_http://accweb.itr.maryville.edu/myu/image/IntrsicM2.gif

The Vagus nerve and glottal FLEXing muscle connection picture:
_http://www.pitt.edu/~regional/Airway%20Blocks/AirwayPicture6.jpg
Do you see that yellow branching pipe? That is your Vagus nerve! It rests directly on your FLEXing glottal muscle, as you see, so it's like you pushing the 'Vagus nerve button' when you flex the correct muscle during pipe breathing. This is not the back of your throat as you can clearly see, don't do it wrong: forget flexing the muscles in the back of your throat.

Mucus is normal in your throat and can get in the way, drink a little water repeatedly to cleanse airways if needed for/during pipe breathing exercises.

Caution:
Practice glottal pipe-breathing with care at first during Eiriu Eolas. You may have become used to the slow effects of flexing the incorrect muscles. Glottal pipe-breathing is powerful: sudden perception-changes can occur. You may fall into different mind-states fast and 'without warning'. Your perception resting in your physical location - room - can be displaced fast or lurch away. Shamanic visions can kick in without warning. Feeling of time stopping, slowing to a halt almost instantly is more pronounced this way, may happen earlier.

Note: pipe breathing is still a constriction of muscles. Breathing freely you get maximum air.

Moderators: review please. Is this correct?

 

[herondancer]

Hi Forge,

Thank you for that excellent break down of glottal constriction. It takes some concentrated awareness to isolate those tiny glottal muscles, but once you get it, you will always remember it.

Another way to catch that feeling, as Laura explains in the video, is to go just to the edge of actually making a sound ("haaaaa") while breathing, then backing off just enough to be silent. When you repeat this several times, while paying attention to your throat area, you'll begin to feel those muscles kick in to make the sound.

For those who need some external tactile feed back, try putting one hand gently around your throat and do some pipe breathing. If you feel the muscles of your neck tensing up, you're on the wrong track. Try the technique above. It worked really well for me, so well in fact, that I actually pulled those muscles when I first got it! I guess I don't do things by halves! :P

Herondancer

 

[SeekinTruth]

I think, the body needs its time to adjust itself to that kind of breathing, as we are used to breathe otherwise.

Many of us, myself included, did pipe breathing once or several times a day for a couple of months before the full EE program was put together. So maybe those of us who did got a helpful preparation before starting the whole program. Plus just pipe breathing helps reduce stress in a big way, another benefit.