How can you meditate if you can't breathe?

[niveQ]

Good morning, afternoon and night,

 

I am going to get right to the point. My girlfriend has pretty bad allergies. She moved here (the midwest) from Texas. Her nose is often congested.

 

Problem one:

 

We don't know how to fix it. We don't exactly want her to take some synthetic cure form a pharmaceutical company.

 

Problem two:

 

When doing yoga and meditating, she often struggles. This leads her to believe that she is not getting what she can get out of the practice.

 

 

Do you gals and guys have any advice? Any natural remedies for her congestion/respiratory problems? Any alternate ways of meditation that she can do?

 

 

Thanks!

[ragamor]

I don't have any experiments with allergies, but i know a thing or two about restoring normal breath.

 

1. Go very gently, don't try to force anything. If feeling like you can't use your nose then just use the mouth.

 

2. Swiths back again to the nose if it clears up.

 

3. Shallow meditation, and relax deeply. Allow the natural body energies to do their thing.

Best way to do this is in a comfortable posision, like on your back on a carpet and head on a small pillow.

 

I do this pratise a lot with great results, sometimes you have to offer no resistance to get somewhere.

 

Edit:

Edited August 27, 2012 by ragamor

[ChiDragon]

Inhale very very slowly with the nose and exhale with the mouth at the same speed. Never breathe in with the mouth to avoid any impurity which might sucked into the body. This is one way which might improve the breathing problem.

 

She might want try this breathing procedure and see if that helps!

While breathing in with the nose very slowly when felt a slight congestion, then, immediately try to breathe out with the nose very slowly to clear the passage. Repeat this procedure continuously. Do not force or fight the nose to suck in the air.

Edited August 27, 2012 by ChiDragon

[sasblamthanb]

Has she tried moderately high dose of quercetin and bromelain in the afternoon?

Has she tested for copper imbalance?

 

hth

[thelerner]

If she's doing yoga I wonder if she's tried a neti pot? It's old fashion but putting boiling water in bowl w/ eucalytis then covering your head and the bowl with a towel works. If it stays bad after trying natural remedies, an antihistamine might give some relief.

[niveQ]

Thank you so much for the replies.

 

She has tried quercetin for a short time, but it wasn't taken long or frequent enough to see any results. She has not looked into a copper imbalance. But, we just did and we are getting some miso soup tonight. We already eat spinach, alfalfa sprout and kale.

 

She has not tried a neti pot, but it is something she has thought about. She is willing to try anything that works. The weird thing is antihistamines give her weird skin reactions such as red bumps that cover her hands, arms, legs, neck and feet.

[Aetherous]

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellness/fatal-infections-linked-neti-pots/story?id=15170230#.UDvbKaOCdlc

 

^ Do neti pots the right way!

[silas]

Meditation is a trance state. Do everything possible to help the breathing (try accupressure on points LI19, LI20 or the center between the brows). If nothing works, then I suggest a subliminal meditation to refocus attention away from the breathing. When recording the guiding script, put in a short statement like: "The congestion doesn't bother me" or "When I am congested, I feel calmer".

 

Subliminal Meditation For Easing Blockages

Edited August 28, 2012 by silas

[The Observer]

Find a certified doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine/whatever paradigm you're into...until then you can try a few things:

 

1) Cupping the arms opens up the lung channels.

 

2)Try brewing her tea with honey, lemon and ginger. This simple remedy allowed me to cure a nasty case of sinusitis I had when I sucked up too many of my own boogers.

Edited August 28, 2012 by The Observer

[Aaron]

When I was younger I had chronic bronchitis, which put a big damper on my meditation, until I started to breathe through the mouth. In my experience there really is no downside to breathing through the mouth, other than it feels unnatural. I'm sure someone will come up with a reason why it is. I also would recommend talking to a doctor about your allergies, perhaps they can find out what you're allergic to.

 

Aaron

Edited August 30, 2012 by Aaron

[Cat Pillar]

When I was younger I had chronic bronchitis, which put a big damper on my meditation, until I started to breathe through the mouth. In my experience there really is no downside to breathing through the mouth, other than it feels unnatural. I'm sure someone will come up with a reason why it is. I also would recommend talking to a doctor about your allergies, perhaps they can find out what you're allergic to.

 

Aaron

 

Oooh! Ooh! I can come up with a reason!

 

It's said that the downside to breathing through your mouth is that the air doesn't get filtered through the nostrils so you end up with more foreign particles and stuff in your lungs, potentially affecting your health.

 

But when I'm all stuffed up, I breath through my mouth. It's just easier.

[Harmonious Emptiness]

Try Heel brand hayfever nasal spray, found at natural food/supplements stores. It's homeopathic, and works like a charm to the point her allergies might disappear altogether.

 

was recommended by mattwads at TTB who's allergies went away. I recommended it to someone who had almost the same effect though didn't take it for as long and they came back, but she only uses it once a week or so.

Edited August 30, 2012 by Harmonious Emptiness

[mYTHmAKER]

Does she know specificaly what she is allergic to.

If not try eliminating wheat gluten, dairy

Mold can also cause problems

There are places where one can get tested for allergies.

Someone i know was tested and found out she is allergic to lettuce -

eliminated lettuce and skin problems disappeared.

[joeblast]

season allergy free since putting rp on top of kl on top of the other breathwork that I was doing. surges of zheng qi sneezeyawn a wave crest and the sinuses discard contents along with tears and saliva; much easier when in practice of course. or I developed a sort of cleaning motion back long ago that I havent had to use in some time...use the back of the tongue to plug, seal off the sinuses, good in a hot hot shower, steamy, use crane neck and turtle neck motions to take the seal and move the structures around through the motions, at the crest most potent of the motion gently loosen the seal and finish out the neck motion. it will clean out the sinuses and eustachian tubes, but of course isnt a cureall, and...you can overdo it and give yourself a sinus-ache, so be gentle if you try that.

[eye_of_the_storm]

Does she know specificaly what she is allergic to.

If not try eliminating wheat gluten, dairy

Mold can also cause problems

There are places where one can get tested for allergies.

Someone i know was tested and found out she is allergic to lettuce -

eliminated lettuce and skin problems disappeared.

 

I second this

 

Avoid gluten and dairy ... study the negative effects of both these things.

 

Water fast for a couple of days to speed up the process.

 

Happy breathing to you and friend

[z00se]

Yeah i've experienced this first hand for many years. Dairy and wheat are the first things to cut out. Then you can breath through your mouth if you can't breath through your nose smoothly. It doesn't matter in the beginning just watch the breath if thats what your doing in your meditation. Try not to drink alcohol because that will make your nose more clogged too. You can rub either side of your nose for very temporary relief and keep doing this regularly to get the blood flowing through there. It most likely will take a couple of weeks for the nose to settle down but if you meditate and stay away from dairy wheat and alcohol it will most likely improve lots. You can do lung exercises too. take deep breaths and stretch out the top of your lungs by holding up your diaphram for 12 slow breaths then stretch out the bottom by expanding your stomach for 12 slow breaths.

[mYTHmAKER]

 

Water fast for a couple of days to speed up the process.

 

 

yes

[Disabled Not Broken]

Good morning, afternoon and night,

 

I am going to get right to the point. My girlfriend has pretty bad allergies. She moved here (the midwest) from Texas. Her nose is often congested.

 

Problem one:

 

We don't know how to fix it. We don't exactly want her to take some synthetic cure form a pharmaceutical company.

 

Problem two:

 

When doing yoga and meditating, she often struggles. This leads her to believe that she is not getting what she can get out of the practice.

 

 

Do you gals and guys have any advice? Any natural remedies for her congestion/respiratory problems? Any alternate ways of meditation that she can do?

 

 

Thanks!

 

Drink 2 tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar- daily, in 8 ounces of cool clean water [long term cure]

 

Aspirator / Inhaler- spray Hydrogen Peroxide 3% - Nasal [short term cure]

 

use Nasal Strips [when practicing]

[Disabled Not Broken]

If she's doing yoga I wonder if she's tried a neti pot? It's old fashion but putting boiling water in bowl w/ eucalytis then covering your head and the bowl with a towel works. If it stays bad after trying natural remedies, an antihistamine might give some relief.

& that, too ^