Éiriú-Eolas - Breathing Program

[Wisteria]

I could be wrong, but it sounds like you might not be "filling up from the bottom". That is, your expansion with the inhale goes too quickly to the upper parts of the body, without filling the "root" or lower part first. Holding the air with the chest (upper part) without having first filled the "basement" will cause a feeling of panic. Think of it as filling up a glass of wine (with water!): you start at the bottom, then slowly fill it up. The idea of the hold is not to do it only with your chest or whole ribcage. Instead, the diaphragm plays a crucial role: you can think of it as a beach ball that you are pressing under the water - the 'hold' is the feeling of keeping it under water, despite the tendency for it to bounce back up on the surface. When you master this, you can incorporate more of the lower ribs, perhaps even sternum. But always start by feeling the diaphragm going as low as possible - one teacher told me, that when you do it properly, it feels as your hips are expanding to the sides!

Good luck, and let us know how it goes. :)

Thanks for your feedback Aragorn. I don't think that's the problem though. I've been a (classically and tonally trained) singer for 24 years and am very practiced with the art of diaphragm breathing. If anything, I have less feelings of panic when I do the second (chest) and third (upper) stages. I think this may be because there might be a little residual air still in my diaphragm so I don't feel like I'm so starved for oxygen.

I tried holding my own count instead of going by Laura's, and that worked really well. I think that provided I don't push myself too hard too fast, I'll be able to work my way up to the real count soon enough. :)

 

[Xico]

hello:

this is another symptom I've been experiencing lately, I don't know if this is because of a serious cleansing going on, but when a lay down to sleep, later on i start to feel this heat all over my body and , i start having these sweats, that literally soaked my pillow; this sweats last most of the night.

honestly i never had these before... any thoughts?

 

[herondancer]

hello:

this is another symptom I've been experiencing lately, I don't know if this is because of a serious cleansing going on, but when a lay down to sleep, later on i start to feel this heat all over my body and , i start having these sweats, that literally soaked my pillow; this sweats last most of the night.

honestly i never had these before... any thoughts?

That could be a detox symptom, especially if you have been making dietary changes along with your EE practice. Maybe look into supplementing with magnesium, potassium and trace minerals to make up what you may be losing in the sweat. And drink plenty of water. Magnesium baths are soothing and may help too. How long has this been going on?

 

[Xico]

hello Herondancer:

it has been going on for 3 or so months this comes and goes, i drink plenty of water, take my magnesium supplements, and i have cut sugars and breads, though not completely, because some times it very strong the urge to eat some pizza or any dessert. my EE program i do it after working out for 45 minutes or so..no heavy lifting just cardio.

Regards.

 

[herondancer]

Ok, you're on the right track it seems. Have you reviewed the Life Without Bread thread? Read the whole thing for the background info. Yeah, it's long and the early posts are more for background than application, given what has been learned since the thread started. When the discussion turns to the Paleo diet and related info, that's the real heart of it all, and you'll have the knowledge base to understand why. In looking through the thread, there was mention of a few members having night sweats. They chalked it up to eating a fat-rich meal too late in the evening. Maybe try eating early and lightly before you go to bed.

The Ketogenic Diet thread is the place to go next, as that is the diet group members are working with now. There is also a good thread called Where to Start?

One thing though. You absolutely cannot cheat on the diet, if you expect to get any good out of it. So not cutting out gluten, dairy and sugar completely will only make the process more difficult. Both gluten and dairy take six months to clear from the body, so every cheat resets the clock. As to the sugar cravings there are these suggestions. It helped me just knowing how much damage sugar can do to a body. Nora Gedgaudas' book Primal Body, Primal Mind has a properly scary chapter on it!

Good luck! If you go for it wisely, but wholeheartedly, you'll see results faster than you can imagine. :)

 

[Xico]

Hello herondancer:

thank you so much for this valuable information,


kind regards. :D

 

[davey72]

I wonder if humming would stimulate the vagus nerve? The reason i ask is because i was watching o show and realized that Eskimos hum. It almost seems like a type of meditation. When i tried humming it seems to me that it would stimulate the vagus nerve

 

[H-KQGE]

I wonder if humming would stimulate the vagus nerve? The reason i ask is because i was watching o show and realized that Eskimos hum. It almost seems like a type of meditation. When i tried humming it seems to me that it would stimulate the vagus nerve

I think humming is one of the things that can help calm the (parasympathetic) nervous system and whilst in terms specific to meditation, these practices might help with continuous thought invasion, upper body (neck shoulders) and breathing, I don't see how they could benefit an EE practitioner. What about the exhaling part and BEATHA? To hum you'd have to keep your mouth closed, (obviously it's not the same if the mouth is open) that said, some yoga practitioners do hum on the exhalation point. EE covers all the benefits of humming from what I know others better versed might shoot this comment down but I think EE is the crown on the head of yoga. As someone with former (long-time) breathing difficulties, I'd rather not complicate the process, even if directed to do so. Personally I sing all the time at different pitches to all types of music. It's always been great. Fwiw.

 

[aragorn]

I wonder if humming would stimulate the vagus nerve? The reason i ask is because i was watching o show and realized that Eskimos hum. It almost seems like a type of meditation. When i tried humming it seems to me that it would stimulate the vagus nerve

I think humming is one of the things that can help calm the (parasympathetic) nervous system and whilst in terms specific to meditation, these practices might help with continuous thought invasion, upper body (neck shoulders) and breathing, I don't see how they could benefit an EE practitioner. What about the exhaling part and BEATHA? To hum you'd have to keep your mouth closed, (obviously it's not the same if the mouth is open) that said, some yoga practitioners do hum on the exhalation point. EE covers all the benefits of humming from what I know others better versed might shoot this comment down but I think EE is the crown on the head of yoga. As someone with former (long-time) breathing difficulties, I'd rather not complicate the process, even if directed to do so. Personally I sing all the time at different pitches to all types of music. It's always been great. Fwiw.

Yes, there is some evidence, that singing (and humming) stimulates the vagus nerve. The same with the ujai-type of breathing, as in the three stage breathing. Branches of the vagus nerve(s) go through the larynx, but the question arises: what kind of singing (or humming) stimulates the nerve most efficiently? There arent any studies available on this, but my hypothesis is that it would be best if the "sound" is made in the most natural and not overly constricted or loud way. This is just based on my guess, that all overly loud and constricted sounds can be seen as "designed" to be produced in a state of alarm,e.g. yelling. In other words, loud constricted sounds could - and this is just my guess - stimulate more the sympathetic system, i.e. the fight-or-flight reaction. Plus, if you're able to sing so that it doesn't feel like a struggle, your body system is probably doing quite well, you're free of excess tensions etc.

I think there's no harm in doing humming during EE, but is it in any way more beneficial? In three stage breathing, you need that gentle constriction, and it could be replaced with humming. But since there is more evidence that the original "Hhhhh..." is effective, I see no reason to replace it. In round breathing, I think it's best to concentrate on keeping the breathing "going round". Making sounds like humming during that, could distract you, osit.

 

[davey72]

I wasnt really looking to put into practice alongside EE. I was just curiius. I used to have silly habits that annoyed everyone around me as a little kid and i think i may have benn unconsciously stimulating my vagus nerve with these behaviours. I also thought i might start humming while out in my garden provided noone is around. :D

 

[Human]

It's been 5 whole years since it was released into the world.
Thank you all who have been involved in research, creation, development, sharing, testing and giving feedback of EE.

Happy B-Day, EE!

 

[Lizziespreparetogovegan]

It's been 5 whole years since it was released into the world.
Thank you all who have been involved in research, creation, development, sharing, testing and giving feedback of EE.

Happy B-Day, EE!

Wow, happy birthday indeed! EE has been such a help over the years. It's funny cause I started practicing just before I signed up here and looking back I think it was the final push that encouraged me to actually join and participate on the forum. I still remember my very first session with all that incredible tingling and humming in my body :)

Many thanks to Laura and the crew who've made this wonderful gift available, it's been a life saver!

 

[Gaby]

Happy birthday EE May you continue to change the lives of many around the world ;)

 

[Erykah]

Wow Celebration indeed, can't believe it has been 5 years

Happy birthday EE May you continue to change the lives of many around the world ;)

It has changed our lives for sure And the awareness about breathing for stress reduction is finally catching on, Doctors are now recommending it to patients, for all sorts of health issues!
EE, SOTT.net and the forum are really 'ahead of the times' when it comes to science and research that improves people's lives in so many ways!
So glad to be a part of this network and share the knowledge!
Onwards and upwards

 

[Oxajil]

Yay, Congrats to EE!!

Here's a recent experience with EE: Last night I had difficulty sleeping due to a headache, the painkiller wasn't even that effective! So I then decided to lie on my back and first did some pipe breaths with counting, and then did pipe breaths without the counting and recited the Prayer of the Soul, a sentence with each in-breath and out-breath as instructed by Laura. Shortly after I felt the headache somehow ''disconnecting'', it was there, but the pain was reduced loads! I finally could sleep then and woke up this morning headache-free. It's a great exercise to help produce our own natural pain killers, the endorphins.