Involuntary breath pause

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

(First real post! :-))

So, yesterday evening after dancing + yoga, I lay in Savasana and just relaxed the way I’ve been taught. Since my practice became more regular I’ve noticed the extension and freedom of breath/mind/body growing steadily, both in yoga and in everyday life. (Feels great by the way!)
But, yesterday, suddenly my outbreath didn’t stop. It seemed to go on for half an eternity - by the end my solar plexus started pulling heavily inwards, it felt as if it was sinking right into the floor and the rest of the body just followed. I actually had to force myself to breath in, and my first reaction was that this was something I should avoid. I did however realize that this response from my mind was not really relevant as it was connected to the fear of losing breath, and once I let go of that I felt a similar extension in the inhalation. My heart rate had also slowed down into a very relaxed pace.
Once I reached the top of the inbreath, even when the body couldn’t get more air in, I felt the airways staying open to a sort of “silvery” energy(?). After finishing - I probably could have kept going for a very long time but decided not to - I felt very relaxed, and at the same time very energized and clear-headed.

(As I stated in my introductory post I do not have the possibility to practice regularly with a teacher, I have found one who felt like the “right” person to study with but due to my working hours I can only take classes with him about twice a month and will not see him for a while right now.)

So…

  1. What happened?
  2. I still have slower breathing + heart rate than usual, and I could very well reach the solar plexus inward-pull during my outbreath if I ask my body to. Why, and how is this? It’s not uncomfortable but it seems a bit… inconvenient to have this while doing the dishes… :wink:
  3. Any general advice on where to go from here?

Perhaps it is of help to know that a few weeks ago I was led through a guided meditation session which resulted in a lot of unexpected changes; my ear ringing stopped, some very deep tension let go from different parts of my body, my fear of heights and flying disappeared completely and I got a deep sense of bliss and connection as well as a strongly increased empathy/sensitivity to other’s moods. Spontaneous healing?

(I apologize for any strange wordings, English is not my first language.)

Many thank you’s in advance!
Peace
Nila

#2

You were going into z naturl uddiyan bandha. It is natural for this to happen. Dont figt your body will breath when it needs to…in between is where healing happens.

#3

Thank you for your response! I will look/go into this.

And if I may ask you some more questions:
…Is there anything I can do to aid this process besides just letting it happen? Should I for example avoid or enhance any type of diet or asana since the contraction is so strong in the stomach area?

#4

[QUOTE=Nila;55834]Thank you for your response! I will look/go into this.

And if I may ask you some more questions:
…Is there anything I can do to aid this process besides just letting it happen? Should I for example avoid or enhance any type of diet or asana since the contraction is so strong in the stomach area?[/QUOTE]

If you are familiar with the “gunas” in dietary considerations, I would advise you to eat primarily sattvic food (so no meat, no alcohol, not very spicy food, no soda, no coffee, no tea etc). Also eat some ghee (clarified butter) which you can use with your cooking everyday (Ghee balances doshas and especially neutralizes vata).

I will elaborate more if you need me to (when I have time).

#5

[QUOTE=Dwai;55853]If you are familiar with the “gunas” in dietary considerations, I would advise you to eat primarily sattvic food (so no meat, no alcohol, not very spicy food, no soda, no coffee, no tea etc). Also eat some ghee (clarified butter) which you can use with your cooking everyday (Ghee balances doshas and especially neutralizes vata).

I will elaborate more if you need me to (when I have time).[/QUOTE]

I am somewhat familiar with them, and am already more or less strictly lacto-vegetarian so I guess I will not have to change that much. I will look into it more and get back to you in case I have any further questions. Thank you for your help! :slight_smile:

#7

Depending on one’s state of consciousness, the breath will undergo various transitions and transformations, one need not even control the breath in any particular way. That is how it had been discovered in the yogic sciences that there is a intimate link between one’s breath and one’s state of awareness, and through bringing about change on one level it is possible for change to arise on another. So do not be surprised if one happens to come across various different experiences regarding the breath. It is not because of anything to do with the breath itself, but with your awareness. There are certain states of awareness where even the very sensation of the breath has dissapeared from your perception. This often creates fear for the meditator, because he feels as though if he abandons the breath completely he is going to die. But it is not really the case, it is just that your awareness has become so subtle, that the gross part of the breath has disappeared, and you are becoming more aware of the energy of the breath. That is the case with any object of meditation, whether it is the breath, a chakra center, a mantra, a yantra, a physical sensation, whatever it may be. If you were focusing on the mantra, with enough attention the mantra disappears and the energy behind the mantra reveals itself. If you were focusing on the yantra, the yantra disappears and the energy of the yantra surfaces into your experience. The same is the case with the breath. Because what you are calling the breath is not just a breath - it contains within itself a whole spectrum of energies. In fact, it is made of the same stuff as anything else - everything in existence is of the same energy expressing itself in different forms.

So do not be too fixated upon what kinds of changes happen to your perception, what is important is that you maintain your meditation - keep the stream of awareness moving from moment to moment without clinging to anything that arises in your experience. The more you maintain this one-pointed attention in the present, is the more the boundaries of the personality start disintegrating. That is certain to provoke fear, because one has been living in those boundaries for so long - that one cannot imagine anything else beyond it. Those walls provide comfort, security, consolation, safety - and without either of those things one is going to feel vulnerable, one has been dependent upon them for survival. These walls of protection may be helpful as far as your survival is concerned, but as far as one’s clarity is concerned, and the freedom that arises out of clear-seeing, they are not going to be of any help. To see anything with clarity - what is needed is an eye which is capable of seeing with neither attraction or aversion, neither liking or disliking, neither moving towards nor moving from, just a pure witnessing intelligence.

So I would not be too concerned with any of the various different kinds of experiences that may arise during practice - whatever happens, remain a witness in the present without forming any attachment as to what arises in your experience. And that is the whole method of turning inwards onto oneself, of the expansion of awareness towards one’s liberation.

#8

“a sort of “silvery” energy”

Stop entertaining yourself with this.

“I could very well reach the solar plexus inward-pull during my outbreath”

Set this aside as well.

“if I ask my body to. Why, and how is this? It’s not uncomfortable but it seems a bit… inconvenient to have this while doing the dishes.”

That is good. Because it is inconvenient, it is a great opportunity to be mindful in the moment. If you are doing dishes, then do your dishes and nothing else.

#9

Amir,

That was a lot of knowledge, thank you for your posts! So… being present and observing will be focus for me then. Don’t really want to rush into anything, which is why this came as such a big surprise - I’m not looking for anything except awareness. But it is a good thing to be caught off guard when working towards that, I guess! :slight_smile:

#10

[QUOTE=Xtensity;56029]Sounds like the sensations I get similar to right before I project out of body/oobe. Especially that sinking into the floor feeling… if you feel it again try to will yourself somewhere with your mind…

Other than that, I’m not sure what it could be.[/QUOTE]

Hej Extensity,

I do have some experiences from that too but have found it is not quite beneficial to me if I look at what I (consider myself to) “need”, if you understand what I mean.
I primarily want to build a solid base of grounding, presence and awareness… And I guess I feel like oobe’s and other related experiences/activities actually pull me away from that.

#11

Nila,

" I’m not looking for anything except awareness."

I would question this. You are looking for awareness because you think that awareness is going to be a source of your happiness.

#12

[QUOTE=AmirMourad;56294]Nila,

" I’m not looking for anything except awareness."

I would question this. You are looking for awareness because you think that awareness is going to be a source of your happiness.[/QUOTE]

Actually no. But I assume I should question it anyways.

#13

Nila,

If that is the case, then why are you interested in coming to more awareness ?

#14

[QUOTE=AmirMourad;56373]Nila,

If that is the case, then why are you interested in coming to more awareness ?[/QUOTE]

Amir,

It’s not easy for me to explain these things in words, but the closest I can get is probably peace and awareness. Which might equate to joy/happiness in some way, but they are not my primary “goals”.

#15

Nila,

Whatever the case, one thinks it is going to be the source for one’s freedom or well being in some form or another. So it is not simply awareness that you are interested in, but whatever one feels one is going to attain out of awareness. And the whole problem is that as long as one is entering into the situation with any attachment to an outcome, that in itself becomes the source of one’s misery.

#16

[QUOTE=AmirMourad;56385]Nila,

Whatever the case, one thinks it is going to be the source for one’s freedom or well being in some form or another. So it is not simply awareness that you are interested in, but whatever one feels one is going to attain out of awareness. And the whole problem is that as long as one is entering into the situation with any attachment to an outcome, that in itself becomes the source of one’s misery.[/QUOTE]

Becoming aware of our true nature is the most basic and the deepest rooted yearning every human being has. We are conditioned to give it expression with other means as we grow up in society, per social rules.
We try and fill the yearning by love, sex, materialism, consumerism, etc. But each and every one of them seem to fall short as they don’t satiate the yearning.

One usually steps into the spiritual world after he/she has seen (either intellectually or intuitively) that the “smaller” means of trying to fulfill the yearning are really temporary and short-lived. That’s when the real quest begins…

So there is absolutely nothing wrong in starting out with an attachment to an outcome (to satisfy the yearning which is still unknown but is felt only). As one continues sadhana, the unknown becomes known as one’s own self and then the attachment falls away. To approach spirituality without this kind of attachment is to start a car without a spark plug.

#17

[QUOTE=AmirMourad;56385]Nila,

Whatever the case, one thinks it is going to be the source for one’s freedom or well being in some form or another. So it is not simply awareness that you are interested in, but whatever one feels one is going to attain out of awareness. And the whole problem is that as long as one is entering into the situation with any attachment to an outcome, that in itself becomes the source of one’s misery.[/QUOTE]

Amir,

I am very grateful for your willingness to share knowledge and advice, but at this stage of life I simply have a very difficult time to fully embrace and understand these matters without, well, my “spark plugs”, as Dwai put it.
I kind of feel like I’m back in first grade, trying to grasp the very concept of school…

#18

Dwai,

“So there is absolutely nothing wrong in starting out with an attachment to an outcome”

There is no problem in it, in fact without it the very desire to come to know oneself is an impossibility. But the problem arises once one remains entangled in the same loop like an ox chasing one’s own tail in vicious circles. That is the enormous difference between one’s desires functioning as a stepping stone towards one’s liberation, and them functioning like a veil over one’s eyes. One will have to start from one’s egotism, because that is the space in which one has been living. But there comes a point where one will have to drop one’s expectations and enter into the search for Truth out of a recognition of one’s ignorance. Out of this recognition is born the possibility of being receptive and open to dimensions which may be presently outside of one’s awareness. Limited to the workings of one’s ego, one cannot see anything else beyond the relative likes and dislikes of the mind. And the whole work of the expansion of consciousness involves not trying to annihilate the ego or to destroy it, but to integrate it within one’s system so that it is supportive for the whole structure. The same is the case with every part of one’s being - everything is to be seen, understood, and integrated - if one is to come to an understanding of the full depth of one’s being, then there can be nothing which is to be rejected or repressed.

#19

Yes and one may better understand yearning when sorting out needs and wants, pleasures are often short lived, addictive and distracting and yes that intuitive voice seems to always be leading in that positive direction.