Éiriú-Eolas - Breathing Program

[Oxajil]

Now onto the Beatha portion. I hate this. Even writing this is making me teary eyed and frustrated. When I do the Beatha portion I just sort of fall apart. First, after breath 3 or 4 I get dizzy, then I have to fight this dizziness to keep going and it just gets worse. Then the panic and frustration set in. Next comes anger, serious anger and rage. Its at this point that amidst the oscillating frustration and anger coupled with increasing dizziness I have to fight with everything I've got to overcome the excuses to stop. At this point I'm not even out of the first round of slow breathing. Usually I just quit the entire program for a while after a Beatha session. Two weeks ago I started the actual CD sessions again, just the Pipe breathing at first and this week, I added Beatha back in (4 of 5 days a record!). It has been worse than before, now my feet, lips, inner thighs and hands went completely numb and didn't come back to me till 5 minutes after I was finished. (I sit in an upright chair for EE). I guess I am curious if perhaps I am doing it right. If this is what I am supposed to be experiencing then I'll power through, knowing I am working towards a higher cause. But if I am doing it wrong and I'm just experiencing some kind of adrenal dump I'd like to be corrected.

Hi Wunjo, first of all I would think it's important to know if indeed you're doing it right. If you know that it basically consists of cycles of BaaaHaaa's where one breaths in through the nose with the Ba and out through the mouth with the Ha, and without any holds (holding your breath) in between, then I think you get how it's done. Laura also suggests that when you breath in during the Ba you can think about all the good things that you want to keep/achieve in your life, and during the Ha you can think about all the toxins and other hurtful things that you want out of your life.

Also, this portion, as far as I understand, represents Life with its ups and downs. When the BaHa has its faster rounds, it may represent the more accelerating periods of one's life, while the slower rounds may represent the more slow/quiet periods of one's life. In a way, BaHa can stir up many emotions, and in your case one of those emotions could be anger. Have you ever tried punching your pillow, maybe break a few things in a safe environment, as expressing your anger this way may be quite therapeutic in dealing with anger issues?

If the Beatha part of the program is becoming too uncomfortable, you can just skip that part until you feel like you can do it again. Meanwhile you can do pipe breaths during the day, meditation before sleep, and 1 or 2x full EE program (without the Beatha part) each week. This way you'll still be processing difficulties in life on a subconscious level, but more comfortably. And whatever comes up can be written down in a journal. And you may also want to try to write down about the anger that you felt. Does it remind you of something? Could it be related to something? If not, just writing down your experiences could be helpful.

The numbness that you felt is also quite normal. Many of us have experienced the same during this part, but with continued practice it eventually subsided. With me, there may still be some little numbness present, but not too much.

Hope this helps!

And POTS? That's just cool, its like a warm bath after a rough day!

Yes! I remember once when I listened to it, I literally felt like being in a place with flowers. It just came out of nowhere! Very pleasant :)

 

[Nienna]

A couple other things about the breatha part. First of all you say you get dizzy. Maybe you are breathing too forceful. I caught myself doing that in the beginning. Laura says to breath in gently through the nose and out through the mouth.

If you are breathing gently and you still are feeling panicky, then try just doing the slow parts of the breatha for a few months, then, do the slow and the medium breaths. When you feel comfortable, you can add the faster breathing. Also, you can do just one round of each speed for a while if you still have problems.

The two most important parts of EE is the pipe breathing and the POTS.

Doing the breatha brings up repressed emotions, just as the pipe breathing does in a gentle way, but the breaths does it more rapidly. So, actually, you don't even need to do the breatha if it bothers you.

Remember, you are supposed to feel comfortable, if any part makes you feel uncomfortable, don't do it. :)

 

[Explorer]

Every portion of EE is going smoother thanks to everyone's recommendations. Thanks guys.

 

[monotonic]

Sometimes I find it very hard to do the round breathing because my nose freezes. Imagine trying to do round breathing with a constant brain freeze that swells at each in breath. It is hard to imagine how anyone else does this.

I find that if I can cope with the searing frustration, my next problem is that I just can't keep up. My reaction time slows greatly and I find myself breathing in when I should be breathing out.

One problem I have is that after doing EE I cannot go to sleep. It's like it burns up all the melatonin or something and leaves me buzzing and distracted for hours.

 

[Alana]

Sometimes I find it very hard to do the round breathing because my nose freezes. Imagine trying to do round breathing with a constant brain freeze that swells at each in breath. It is hard to imagine how anyone else does this.

I usually do Baha when in bed, so if my nose feels uncomfortable, I put the sheet over it and my breathing creates a little space of warmth and moisture under there, which makes it feel more comfortable.

I find that if I can cope with the searing frustration, my next problem is that I just can't keep up. My reaction time slows greatly and I find myself breathing in when I should be breathing out.

One problem I have is that after doing EE I cannot go to sleep. It's like it burns up all the melatonin or something and leaves me buzzing and distracted for hours.

Personally, I avoid doing Warrior's breath at night and leave it for the morning or when I need extra energy during the day. I also want to remind you, as was said recently in the thread, that Baha breathing is done with very gentle breaths in and out. I am just mentioning this in case you use more intense breathing, and that might "excite" you instead of calming you. But doing pipe-breathing and the POTS before bed always put me to sleep, so perhaps you can do only those before bed-time and leave the rest for a different time in the day?

 

[monotonic]

Covering my nose with anything except my fingers makes me feel like I'm suffocating - I guess because of recycling my own breaths. But it usually does not help much. If it is okay to breathe less then I will do this.

Warrior breaths don't affect me much. But my whole family seems to be under the impression that you're supposed to try to breathe fully in and out during the round breathing - major tingling! I thought this way but I do it the way you describe to make it bearable. I think we had that impression because in portions of the round breathing Laura is almost yelling at you, and this gives the clear impression you're supposed to breathe hard.

I find it not very relaxing to be trying to match my breathing with these counts. I have to either breathe slowly and carefully or totally fill my lungs which makes me feel like my head is going to pop off. This tends to give me the feeling of suffocation later on, and sometimes this effect lingers for days - which makes me worry I am damaging my lungs. Breathing out It takes effort to expel the last bit of air from my lungs, and this is more of a workout than a meditation.

By the time I begin the round breathing I'm at a difficult spot. After all that breathing I tend to feel like I'm suffocating and hyperventilating at the same time, which is very frustrating, and is a misery I must battle with along with whatever else comes up.

On a positive note, the last time I was in the meditation, and I went into a deeply relaxed state where I felt heat on the surface of my skin on my hands, arms and chest (but it is a state of mind - the sensation leaves when I start moving). I have entered this state before, with and without EE, but only after I started cold showers did the heat sensation start so I think it may be connected. I also tend to feel heavy rumbling in my lower abdomen (tremors? Qi?).

Aside from the physical discomfort, EE seems to bring the worst out in me to do battle. It is exhausting.

 

[Oxajil]

Warrior breaths don't affect me much. But my whole family seems to be under the impression that you're supposed to try to breathe fully in and out during the round breathing

That kind of depends, it is mostly during the more slower rounds of the Beatha that one fully breaths in and out, the point is more to breathe in as long as the ''Ba'' and to breath out as long as the ''Ha''. But the most important thing as Alada said is to take it easy and to do it as comfortable as you can. You could try to breathe in and out as far as you can or as far as it is comfortable and with more practice you could take it a step further.

When we haven't used our lungs as efficiently as possible due to incorrect breathing (i.e. not using our diaphragm) for a long time, it can be taxing if we try too hard in the beginning, so taking it easy may be helpful to you. You can also focus more on the pipe breathing and meditation until you feel comfortable breathing fully in and out with the counts (of the pipe breaths), and to then pick up the Beatha part again and see if it is easier to breathe in and out with the BaHa's (gently).

After all that breathing I tend to feel like I'm suffocating and hyperventilating at the same time, which is very frustrating, and is a misery I must battle with along with whatever else comes up.

What helps me usually, after the Beatha is to slowly take a deep breath and just start breathing normally again, until the POTS comes. The pipe breaths before the POTS can help you further to relax from the Beatha if it was a bit taxing. And if you can't breathe in for the whole count, that's okay. It might take some practice and some getting used to.

Aside from the physical discomfort, EE seems to bring the worst out in me to do battle. It is exhausting.

To do battle? Could you perhaps explain a bit more?

Fwiw.

 

[Divide by Zero]

If its hard to sleep, like someone else mentioned, cut out the warriors breath.

But I also had issues with beatha keeping me up, I think because it brings the heart rate up.

 

[monotonic]

During round breathing there is a substrate of negative thoughts that bubbles up and I must struggle to not give in. This is what I mean by battling.

I had the thought that if the round breathing was symbolic of life's ups and downs, one's breathing response to it might be symbolic as well. For instance whether or not one adjusts one's breathing rate with the rate of the counts, or whether breathing is always at the same rate. Perhaps not unlike the way a person can change their personal narrative, a conscious change in one's breathing response can inwardly affect their response to life experiences.

 

[Alada]

It might take some practice and some getting used to.

Exactly, things do change given time. Best just to relax and gently breathe at a level you’re comfortable with, do what you can and the rest will come with time.

It takes time to rebuild the function of the diaphragm, it’s a muscle after all and if it hasn’t been getting much exercise will be more difficult to control at first, so you may not yet be getting the subtle control that helps with slower, shallower breathing, which would help with the 'running out of breath’ or suffocating feeling. Again, I think given time it will come, don’t worry to much in the meantime about doing things ‘right’ or ‘perfectly’, it’s not very relaxing that way!

On the subject of practice and to help improve the connection with and control of the diaphragm you can always use little practice sessions through the day whenever you have a minute or two. Nothing heavy, you can even do it sat at your desk or while walking, a set of sic or twelve deep breaths consciously using the diaphragm and breathing down into the belly. The more often we remember to breathe in this way it seems, the better the autonomic response can re-learn and take over the task of breathing once again.

Remember, we start out as children breathing with naturally the diagram but the stress response of the sympathetic nervous system gradually induces the body to breathe up in the chest. It’s a habit that has to be un-learned with time.

 

[monotonic]

I began EE before the DVDs came out, but have only kept up with it for at max several weeks at a time. I adopted the practice of always breathing in through the nose and out the mouth, as I found it improved my concentration and attention span. I have just started again, which explains the "adaption phase", but the next time I did it was different; much less emotionally hectic.

Coincidentally, while I was doing the round breathing last time, there was a pack of coyotes making a lot of noise outside somewhere. I have always been curious about animal communication which been mostly unclear to me. However this time listening to their calls I felt some part of me was working on it, and it no longer seemed like random barking. The inflections all stood out to me and it seemed to be like the way our voice inflections convey emotion, just in a different "language" and the emotions carried of a simple nature. I suppose I could describe this state as a non-anticipating state, that is really listening and not adulterating what is heard. This is a state I try to have while listening to music.

 

[monotonic]

Sometimes it seems no matter how shallow my breaths, my nose still hurts too much from the cold. Covering it with my hand can warm the air but it doesn't help much. Why is this?

 

[Oxajil]

Sometimes it seems no matter how shallow my breaths, my nose still hurts too much from the cold. Covering it with my hand can warm the air but it doesn't help much. Why is this?

Hi monotonic, did you try out any of the suggestions above? I wonder whether there may be something going on with your blood circulation. Perhaps it may help you to check out the threads in the diet & health section. Fwiw.

 

[Yas]

Hello!

I just wanted to share that I experienced one more benefit of EE! Well, actually Pipe Breath, to be more specific.

Last night I had some flu symptoms (It has been a long time since I don't get the flu, but I guess this time it got me) I was feeling as if I had a fever but I wasn't cold like one usually is with fever. So I did some pipe breathing thinking that it might work to relief the general discomfort I was feeling and it worked instantaneously! :D

I've read that someone posted something about pipe breath and pain relief here before, but I just wanted to share this new discovering for me as it was great and I could sleep very well after this...

In general, the EE program has been really helpful to me. I notice that sometimes it is harder for me to do the pipe breath, as if I am blocked or something. It also makes me sleepy sometimes, and I fall 'asleep'. Some of you have also mentioned having this experience of falling asleep or 'going somewhere else' for a while. I have been told in the EE forum that it is normal. But generally I feel energized after doing it and I also profit very well from the meditation part. I feel quite aware of myself after the Beatha portion and it helps a lot in self-observation of the emotions and sensations that I experience. I had a few days when I wanted to cry a lot after the program and once I did it I felt 'lighter'.

Great stuff indeed!

One thing I wanted to share (and ask about) as well is that, when I get really deep in meditation I often 'see' geometrical figures and symbols inside my head. This happened to me already with other meditation techniques that I did before knowing EE, but EE seems to potentate the meditation and if it's not one of those days that I feel sleepy after doing it and I get to a deep meditation state, I start seeing all this squares and triangles, and so on... they are generally in 3 dimensions and different sizes and colors. And also symbols such as the Celtic triquetra (some time ago) and the Celtic cross (more recently). Now, I feel a little awkward telling you this, but maybe you've got something to say about it...

Best regards!

 

[Alana]

Sometimes it seems no matter how shallow my breaths, my nose still hurts too much from the cold. Covering it with my hand can warm the air but it doesn't help much. Why is this?

If the environment is cold and dry, the nose hurts from my experience. Perhaps a humidifier in the room might help?