Éiriú-Eolas - Breathing Program

[Jacques]

I still do the whole program for the moment when time permits.

Here is a few things that I have noticed so far :
I had a few twitch in my shoulder while doing the exercises, I felt very tense in my legs and feet a couple of times, I woke up a few times during the night sneezing heavily and my nose running heavily, twice I had a strong itch in my throat and when I allowed it to pass a strong but brief feeling of sadness came to me, I still don't know if I zone out or just fall asleep briefly during the meditation and sometimes during the bio energetic breathing.

I am more cranky than usual like there is some emotion that needs to be let out but it might be due to something else than the exercises ;)

I have noticed it yesterday too that i am more rapidly cranky than usual. I know that when i have finished the bio energetic breathing that i have a lot of emotions which are very close to get out but because i am doing the meditation juste after that, it releases the tension.

I am going to take a pause after the bio energetci breathing for the next couple of days and see what is going to happen.

 

[Regulattor]

After 4th day of complete program as of physical experiences I can report increase in postnasal mucus drainage and increased perspiration after 3 stage breathing. Some twitching in arms and shoulders, much much better sleep. Yesterday during Bioenergetic breathing I've experienced sharp pain in my upper right and center abdomen and it well may be my gallbladder or stomach issue, so I'll try to readjust breathing amplitudes in order to be more comfortable. And I find Ba-Ha part pretty challenging for me. Part of me wishes to stop doing it somewhere after accelerated breathing portion but another part of me strongly suggest to stay on course. Result of which is considerable exhaustion and tingling sensations in my arms at the end. So when I hear Laura saying "...Relax..." it's like I just finished marathon and ripped finish ribbon.

But the curious part gets during and after meditation. I don't really now how to describe this, but it's like I'm entering some kind of space inside my mind thou I experience this like something external. At first there I can't "see" clear and recognizable shapes only sort of amoebic balls of purple or white "shapes" floating around. After awhile I can see faces of unknown people, weird symbols and yesterday I "saw" a women with long brown hair in tank top shirt. I was "looking" at her from behind. Today I was with friend on coffee break and we ware talking about stuff and suddenly I've noticed women turned away, few tables away. She was dressed in green tank top and have long brown hair! I was stunned.

Now this is not the first time I have this kind of experience. Two years ago, after I joined this forum and learned about Benefits of meditation and controlled breathing I've started practicing some Ayurvedic breathing which in itself it's very similar to 3stage breathing only there wasn't mouth exhaling and pipe breathing. But nevertheless I have experienced very similar effects as with Eiriu-Eolas meditation. After few months of practicing this technique I quit since I wasn't sure where this thing is going to lead me.

Uh, almost forgot. Last Friday (it was first day of practicing Breathing Program) I was talking with my brother in the yard and we both saw very strange areal phenomenon. It was intense white light object flying from NW to SE from our position. It's altitude was no higher then usual plane traffic in area. It maintain its speed which was about normal for planes but the way it was flying was strange. Erratic or wobbled I suppose. It didn't fly steadily like a planes do. We never saw such phenomenon thou I did see some weird "things" up there.

 

[Laura]

I've mainly had issues with sitting cross-legged for so long. My legs fall asleep and start bothering me. I end up sitting with legs straightened out in front of me, which eases the "pins and needles" sensation and lets me concentrate on the program and my inner state better. It certainly is a discipline and seems like it is meant to "do what IT does not like" in a lot of ways, like holding the arms in position during 3-stage or just the length of the ba-haa portion, which makes a part of me want to just quit when it starts to get tired of it all. Certainly seems like their are many layers to the affect it has on me.

Geeze, sit in a chair. Be comfortable. The girls in the video are doing yoga and stuff and they sometimes do the program in a chair or lying down! I ALWAYS do it in a chair! With my knees?!

 

[Mr. Premise]

I found the "discomfort" of the Beatha breathing part decreases each time I do it. I have done it 5 times or so all the way through and it gets easier each time.

One other benefit I found. My heart rate has decreased by 10 since I started. It used to be around 70 bpm at rest and 145 or so in a vigorous workout. Yesterday I worked out at a hotel fitness center where they had treadmills and stairmaster things that monitored the heart rate and doing my normal workout I had a hard get my heart rate past 130. I used to be able to get it to 145 with no problem. Today I counted by heartbeat at rest and it was 60! (much healthier than 70)

So the whole thing, particularly the Beatha circular breathing seems to be a really good aerobic workout.

 

[vinny]

Can three-stage breathing be done without the arm positions?

my understanding is that the 3 arm positions allow you to focus on fully breathing, and progressively using the whole of the lungs:
1. with the diaphragm, which many people don't use fully as a matter of course, and is something that is always focussed on in exercises to do with breathing 'properly',
2. extending up into the chest area, and
3. fully extending the chest, so as to fill right up to the top of the lungs.
So the arm positions are a useful reminder, and help focus the mind on the correct parts of the body, and feel the expansion, and especially when raising the arms and putting hands on the back of the shoulders really helps to stretch the body, to maximise air intake.

 

[gaman]

I'm not very good at remembering dreams, and certainly not to the detail of many of those here as they have related, but after I've gone on the breathing program I'm aware I've been dreaming more. In the past I've had lot's of "fun/james bondish" type adventure dreams, and even dreamed of myself and my grandfather outside at night hunting these giant black snakes, but they weren't ever fearful that I could remember.

However, the other night I had a dream and it was if I was standing somewhere at night and there was a dark spherical shadow area near the ground that I was trying to investigate and a savage dog head was growling and biting out ad me (I only saw it's head and neck). This made me cautious but didn't scare me, but then I leaned down as I was fighting to push the dog aside and sensed something so coldly evil that I woke up emotionally shaken. I don't look forward to another dream like that but it did give me a taste of what this purer predator type of thing might feel like without buffers.

 

[Laura]

Can three-stage breathing be done without the arm positions?

my understanding is that the 3 arm positions allow you to focus on fully breathing, and progressively using the whole of the lungs:
1. with the diaphragm, which many people don't use fully as a matter of course, and is something that is always focussed on in exercises to do with breathing 'properly',
2. extending up into the chest area, and
3. fully extending the chest, so as to fill right up to the top of the lungs.
So the arm positions are a useful reminder, and help focus the mind on the correct parts of the body, and feel the expansion, and especially when raising the arms and putting hands on the back of the shoulders really helps to stretch the body, to maximise air intake.

Nomad is right - and it's not just a reminder - moving the arms helps to give some "lift" to the upper chest cavity.

 

[Vulcan59]

So I have been doing E-E breathing exercises since I first downloaded it and on the whole I experienced most of the symptoms described by various members here. Today however there was something different.

At the end of the bio-energytic portion and just starting the meditation portion, the base of the skull felt very "heavy". I thought I had tensed up but I wasn't tensed at all, very relaxed. The next thing I know is like I didn't feel my arms or legs or my body at all!! It was only for a few seconds but enough for me to have noticed it. It was like, I was "floating in the air" sort of. It's hard to put it in words but is that what "zone out" is?

 

[Oxajil]

I've done the exercise twice, both in the evening/night before sleeping.
The first time was without the warming up and I was laying down the whole time.
The second time was the whole exercise (so also did the warming up) and I was sitting down, when the meditation part came I laid down.

I think that when you do the exercise and do the breathing there are short moments that your thoughts might wander off and there are moments that you are One with your body or so I think. Moments that you breath and many moments that you Breath.

Here are some observations during the exercise/breathing:

- When I start doing the pipe breathing it's a bit hard to inhale 6 seconds, but when I have done it a few times I can do the 6 seconds with ease.

- The Ba-Ha/bio-energetic breathing has an interesting effect on my body. At the end of the first time doing the Ba-Ha, my nose and mouth start to tingle, at the end of the second time my hands and feet start to tingle as well and at the end of the 3rd time doing the Ba-Ha my whole body tingles! But when I lay down and do the meditation part, the tingling goes away slowly (though the ''tension'' around my mouth doesn't go away).
By the way, I really find the Ba-Ha powerful, especially during the ''fast'' part (perhaps these ''fast'' parts cause my body to tingle?, thought I think it's not only the fast part, but the whole Ba-Ha exercise.) Somehow I think this tingling has something to do with energy.

- I also need to swallow a few times, but I do that during the ''Hold In'' parts. Also yawned a few times.

Observations right after:

- I feel like everything around me is ''soft''.
- When I breath, I'm able to breath in a lot more air than before doing the breathing exercises.
- I also feel like the air I'm breathing (right after the exercise) has changed (though I could be wrong). Somehow this new air feels cold and fresh.
- When I breath, I feel like my whole body is breathing (through the skin).

Also dreamed, but nothing special I think.

AND during and after the exercise I feel very relaxed!! Thank you All for making this!!

 

[Beorn]

So I have been doing E-E breathing exercises since I first downloaded it and on the whole I experienced most of the symptoms described by various members here. Today however there was something different.

At the end of the bio-energytic portion and just starting the meditation portion, the base of the skull felt very "heavy". I thought I had tensed up but I wasn't tensed at all, very relaxed. The next thing I know is like I didn't feel my arms or legs or my body at all!! It was only for a few seconds but enough for me to have noticed it. It was like, I was "floating in the air" sort of. It's hard to put it in words but is that what "zone out" is?

As far as i am aware 'zoning out' is more to do with consciousness than bodily sensations. Losing sensation is quite common when going deeper into meditation.

My arms also felt like they were floating. I thought I might float away. Quite often I feel a vibration through my body or hands, or a warmth in chest/neck/arms.

 

[alphonse]

Being a parent to 4 children, naturally the links below were of great interest to me.

(this is about breathing, please bear with me)

http://www.cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php?topic=5732.0 Marital conflict, children and the work
http://www.cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php?topic=3113.0 The effect of the Wave/4th D transition on children ?
http://www.cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php?topic=2832.0 Depression As A Stepping Stone (to Soul Growth)

I was gratefully led to them reading the thread started by DHTH

http://www.cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php?topic=13106.0 Kowledge is very difficult to handle

Thought provoking threads indeed….and they got me thinking this:

My wife started following the breathing programmes first, over a week ago, and then I joined in, and we have done them together for the past 4 evenings – ( by the way they are great, and thank you Laura and the team involved) One evening our youngest, a 3 year old daughter woke up, and she came downstairs and sat with us whilst we did our practice. ( She lay on the sofa and happily decided to join in with Laura, chanting the Ba-ha’s until she gradually drifted off to sleep)

Clearly some of us on the forum have young children, and the questions that spring mind especially with regard to the above links are:

Have any of them expressed an interest in joining in with the breathing excercises,
if they heard mum or dad doing them?
Is it ok four younger people to “have a go at them” if they want to?
Are their little diaphragms and lungs ok to attempt them? My feeling is why not? But I'm not sure.
So advice would be very much appreciated. I think if I invited my 8 and 10 year old to join in they would be keen-

Any thoughts anyone…

 

[Laura]

I think that it is fine for children to join in though at their own pace, in their own way and only if they want to. If they don't do the practice exactly right, that's okay - let them do it as a form of play. Listening to the prayer as they go to sleep would also be beneficial and protective, I think.

 

[Nienna]

Can three-stage breathing be done without the arm positions?

my understanding is that the 3 arm positions allow you to focus on fully breathing, and progressively using the whole of the lungs:
1. with the diaphragm, which many people don't use fully as a matter of course, and is something that is always focussed on in exercises to do with breathing 'properly',
2. extending up into the chest area, and
3. fully extending the chest, so as to fill right up to the top of the lungs.
So the arm positions are a useful reminder, and help focus the mind on the correct parts of the body, and feel the expansion, and especially when raising the arms and putting hands on the back of the shoulders really helps to stretch the body, to maximise air intake.

Nomad is right - and it's not just a reminder - moving the arms helps to give some "lift" to the upper chest cavity.

Yup! I can definitely feel the lungs fill at different levels as I move my arms. I was quite amazed at how this worked never realizing that having our arms lowered really keeps only the lower lungs getting much oxygen.

So many things we learn on so many different levels being in this group. Learning is fun.

Edit: Redid the quotes for readibility purposes. :)

 

[Seamus]

I have run through the whole program I think 6 times since I downloaded the files, which was about 2 weeks ago, and I wanted to report my observations. I have noticed many of the same effects during the program that others are reporting, including tingling sensations, yawning, and urges to swallow during the Beatha portion of the program, a general opening and relaxing of the body during 3 stage breathing and warriors breath, and floating sensations during deep meditation.

I have been trying to pay attention to how the practice has been effecting me during my waking hours, and I have tried to incorporate a couple of rounds of pipe breathing into my day as well. I am much more aware of my breathing, especially moments when I am holding my breath, which I notice happen frequently throughout the day. In general I have been feeling more relaxed, more focused, more open to my daily experience. At times I have also noticed some pretty extreme "moods," especially crankiness, as if I "woke up on the wrong side of the bed". These are the moments when I am most likely to be holding my breath, and I have found that a round of pipe breathing helps to break the spell. I wonder if I am actually more "moody" than usual, or if I'm just more aware of the "moods" and my urges to lash out?

Physically I feel alternating periods where my whole body feels very tense and tied up in knots, and periods where I feel very open and relaxed. My bowel movements and urination have been more frequent and urgent than usual, and smellier, which I assume is related to the cleansing effects of the program. I see a chiropractor now and then and he commented last week, with some surprise, that he noticed a great deal of opening and movement in my body, which would seem to add weight to my feelings.

For the next few weeks I plan to start practicing the whole program only on Mondays and Thursdays, as Laura has suggested, and to continue doing 2 or 3 rounds of pipe breath during the day and the meditation at night:

It also might be a good idea to reserve doing the whole program on one or two days a week, and only do the other breathing parts as needed, and just the meditation before sleeping. Perhaps if we reserve Monday and Thursday evenings for doing the whole program, and we know that everyone else is going to be doing it on those days at some time, it will add force to our practice? You can assume, with the global presence of the people on this forum, that at any given time on those specified days, your practice will be simultaneous with someone else's or overlapping in time.

Of course, if you are ill or dealing with a specific problem, you might want to do it every day for a bit, but that really isn't necessary. What is MOST important to try to do every day is the meditation before sleeping.

I broke up the part three audio program so that I can listen to the meditation portion without having to fast forward through the first 35 minutes of the file every night. I think it would be helpful to have a download link for just that portion of the audio, in the same way that the breathing count can be downloaded in a separate file.

 

[Seamus]

The audio file I made of just the prayer meditation portion is too large to post, I would be happy to make a link available for anyone who is interested.