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I don't think I believe that breathing alone keeps us alive. So I don't feel it is the action of breathing that generates chi in the body. Placing attention on the body generates sensation.. and sensation attracts attention. I feel that awareness of sensation generates the chi in the body. Breathing makes sure that there is a continuous awareness in the body on some level. I feel that breathing balances the chi by spreading out the intensity in the body so it feels smooth and the chi gets everywhere it needs to be. So intense feelings like pain and discomfort might be because the chi is only restricted to a certain area and cannot find it's way out to its proper place in the body. Then that means, if I can stay aware of body sensations, then I don't need to breathe as much. I'm spreading the chi smoothly already by having my light attention spread globally throughout the body. It's not perfect yet. When I meditate on sensation, my breathing slows down until I can't really tell the difference between breathing in and breathing out. But what is left behind is the sensation of the breath. What left behind is simply sensation where breathing used to be.

I was recently introduced to Edward Selim Michael by a very spiritually-insightful Jewish woman who has hosted Quaker and Buddhist groups for as long as I have known her. I recently finished reading Michael's book, "The Law of Attention: Nada Yoga and the Way of Inner Vigilance". He clearly states that the aim of the book is "direct inner experience" and that is what attracted me to him. My own spiritual mentor of over 30 years once said, "Question everything, even what I say... and, if a teacher can't point you to the direct experiences, then go elsewhere". Edward Selim Michael seems to be such a being who points one to the direct inner experiences. I just ordered another one of Michael's books, "Obstacles to Enlightenment and Liberation", because he warns against getting into comfortable, familiar ruts and I plan to use his book as a checklist to see what tendencies I may have that could be holding me back. Michael seems to be a man who has been there and not just some one pontificating grand theories and quoting the masters but one who speaks from direct inner experiences. I wasn't sure where to post this topic but decided to post it here because, despite his yoga/meditation inclinations, " It was to Buddhism that he felt closest, but as his teaching was based on his direct experience, he did not hesitate to quote Christian, Hindu, or Sufi mystics." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Salim_Michael To get the discussion going, I will include without comment a few quotes from his book, "The Law of Attention: Nada Yoga and the Way of Inner Vigilance". (Note that I have replaced the masculine word "he" in the quotes by "one".) 1. "The aim of this book is to help seekers arrive at recognizing, through direct inner experience, their higher nature and the after-death state, the state from which they originated and to which they will return on leaving this form of existence." 2. "Without perhaps realizing it, one will then start to sleep inwardly again, thinking that one is still working by being merely satisfied with the intellectual knowledge and memory of certain limited spiritual experiences one may have had in the past." 3. "If, during meditation, this luminous expanse of consciousness becomes adulterated and diluted in the slightest degree with one's habitual state, it will then inevitably cease to be Truth." 4. "It will be readily evident to one who has practiced meditation seriously and has had enlightenment that what was right and necessary at the beginning of one's quest will no longer be right or practical later".

ADHD / ADD - The Absolute Thread A large percent of people claim to be suffering from either ADHD or ADD nowadays. Some of those are just lazy guys with no game and no life, some of those are just trying to get their hands on some Rx drugs, mainly amphetamines, but some of those are also genuinely affected. I have been living with ADHD for over 20 years. I was told by my conservative parents that I am pathologically lazy, have problems with authority and learning and am basically doing all of this just to spite them. A protest of some sort... I guess... At one point in my life I just accepted that I am a no-good lazy, unable to focus and study (basically progress in life) guy. I never thought I had a condition, I just assumed that I am of the lower quality. And yet my mind won't let me accept that I have no potential. I just feel that I can, but also that I am caged or incapacitated of sorts. For those of you who don't have ADHD/ADD - imagine a bird with its wings tied to its body. You know you are supposed to fly and that you probably can, but it just won't happen. Your flying boils down to pathetic jumps that take all of your energy. This leads to extreme confusion and all sorts of other disorders such as depression, anxiety, bipolar and worse. It feels like prison. You open up a text book to study and at about the third sentence you feel as if the whole universe resists you. If you try to read the whole chapter it takes so much mental energy that you end up tired and you go to sleep barely remembering something. At the same time you know you are not stupid, because you feel and understand things your fellows don't. You probably have a well-developed intuition and weird interests. So much confusion, so much anger, so much desperation - that's ADHD / ADD. I have made no research on ADHD / ADD treatment as I've realized that I have it myself just recently. From what I know a lot of people are taking a lot of different drugs. Some with little to no effect, others with nasty side effects and lastly some with decent results. Stimulants and NRIs, DNRIs, SNRIs, are common as scientists believe norepinephrine has something to do with this disorder. And while we are at norepinephrine, let me tell you something... A year or so ago I had a bad panic attack. Really really bad. I had post-traumatic issues for 11-12 months. But that's not my point. The next few days immediately after I got out of the hospital I developed a strong anxiety disorder. Was afraid to sleep, afraid to stay alone and even afraid to take my vitamins. I was so scared for my life that I was constantly listening to my heart and I even lost some hair. But let me tell you this - these few weeks that I was overpumped with (nor)epinephrine I wanted to study like crazy. I started studying to become a doctor. I was so motivated and I was reading textbooks on biochemistry for hours and I was loving it and I was getting it fast and becoming a doctor and graduating from an Ivy-league university seemed quite possible. Never before in my life have I felt anything remotely similar to this. I was finally capable ! (Hint: maybe norepinephrine really has something to do with this) While this feeling was really nice, my anxiety issues were so horrid that fixing them was my priority. I did fix them eventually with almost no drugs and now I am completely fear free. I only fear for the normal things I have good sleep I even do risky things every now and then. However... I am also back to my previous ADHD self and you know... Everything is as it used to be - bad. Now I started this thread because this is a really horrific disease and there is just not enough information about this. Without ADHD/ADD we can achieve so much in our lives and yet we do not know how to fight this disorder. I want to gather all kinds of valuable information here and hopefully help some people get over their ADHD/ADD issues. Everything goes from herbal remedies, to drugs, research chemical, cognitive therapies, personal and misc experiences. Let's figure this out guys ! I want my real life. I want to be a highly productive member of our society ! I bet you want this too. P.S. I have high hopes that chinese medicine or ayrveda might have a cure for this. Please let me know if you know some very skilled and knowledgable chinese herbalists or ayurveda healers.