Circular breathing vs breathing with pauses (Bruce Frantzis related)

[Sebastian]

10 minutes ago, freeform said:

 

I will - I'm just in a slightly busy period at the moment.

 

No worries

[freeform]

On 21/09/2019 at 10:40 AM, Sebastian said:

On 15/09/2019 at 11:02 AM, freeform said:

1. Jing - Quiet

2. Shen - Deep

3. Yu - At Ease

4. Huan - Slow

5. Mian - Cotton Soft

 

Thanks for sharing your perspective on breathing Freeform... I found it very interesting. Would you mind describing the 5 stages in more detail

 

I can add a little more detail - but there are still layers (on the Shen level) that I've not achieved myself, so I'll only talk about the aspects that I have achieved.

 

That post that explains the method, in brief, is the method used to achieve these qualities - you can't achieve them through 'trying to do them' - because then it won't have the transformative effect, and you'd be fooling yourself. You have to let these qualities come by themselves.

 

When I first started, my breathing would get very deep - but also quite loud and a bit too fast. I was really frustrated, so I tried to subtly quieten down my breathing... needless to say, my teacher noticed and gave me a disapproving look

 

So I had to back off and carry on with the loud breathing - within a couple of sessions it completely changed and the quality of Quiet began to manifest on its own.

 

1. Quiet

 

This means that the breathing is physically quiet. Someone would have to come right up to your nose to hear your breath. The Qi also moves 'quietly'.

 

The quality on the Qi level can be understood if you think about what causes your breath to be loud... it's the movement of air that hits impediments along the way and causes turbulence - it's the turbulence that causes the noise.

 

So on the Qi level, it doesn't mean that there are no impediments - it just the Qi flows smoothly without causing turbulence. Most people can't feel Qi directly (even if they think they can) - so it's best not to 'search' for this quality of Qi. At the stage of Slow, when your Qi starts to interact with your physical body, then you can feel (the effect of) Qi much more strongly.

 

 

2. Deep

 

This means that the breath is sinking to the depth of the Lower Dantien (by itself!). So you can see/feel the Qi Hai point moving up and down. When you normally breathe with your belly you'll notice there is a certain area that 'leads' - for me it used to be above the belly button, close to the diaphragm - it would 'bulge' out with every breath. That means my breath didn't have the quality of Deep.

 

Again - it needs to happen by itself - if you make your belly expand and collapse, that is not the quality of Deep! Once you achieve this quality in your breathing practice, it happens by itself - both during practice and unconsciously in day to day life (although at an early stage it will still vary a lot - if you start thinking or being emotional your Depth will be lost)

 

On the Qi level, it feels as if there's a very large volume of Qi starting to move... like a tide under the ocean.

 

 

3. At Ease

 

This is the quality that would benefit everybody. Whether you do Internal Cultivation or not, the quality of At Ease can really improve one's life.

 

Internally your breathing becomes anchored to the LDT.

 

Whereas at the stage of Deep, your breathing is tentatively coming from the LDT - at the stage of At Ease, it is anchored there - meaning that when thoughts or emotions come up, instead of them affecting your breathing, your breathing affects them... Your breath becomes a way to reach a deep inner comfort and Sung.

 

On the Qi level, your Qi itself becomes habitually 'sunk' and anchored to the LDT. This is very useful for Internal Arts practitioners! When you stand or do any forms, (assuming you're practising correctly) your Qi will naturally start to sink to your LDT (which is a lot harder than some claim).

 

 

4. Slow

 

Breathing starts to slow down. 2 breaths a minute is common. Meaning 15 seconds for inhale, 15 seconds for exhale. Again - not to be contrived!!

 

At this stage your Qi starts to affect your physical body. As the Qi moves gently like the tides, it begins to touch the soft tissues and allow them to 'release' or Sung at a deeper level. You might not feel Qi, but you will certainly feel these waves of deep physical release move through your body.

 

5. Cotton

 

This is achieved by regularly sitting and allowing the previous qualities to transform you more deeply. At the stage of Cotton, your tissues have been loosened and transformed by regular practice at the Slow stage.

 

Your tissues will feel like soft, smooth layers of cotton moving and sliding over one another with each breath. Your insides feel completely Sung - there is no hardness or holding. Your Qi has fully penetrated and anchored to the physical 'tissues' of your body.

 

With Qi Gong (and Yi Jing Jin) practice this softness is later transformed into elasticity and eventually into what feels like very strong steel cables under high tension (I haven't reached this stage).

Edited September 27, 2019 by freeform

[Creation]

@freeform,

 

Thank you for writing that out.  If I may press further, in the initial stages were you practicing sitting or standing?  You have mentioned before the challenge of learning to properly sung.  Was this breathing method the primary way you worked on it, or were there others?

 

_/\_

[freeform]

On 29/09/2019 at 11:48 PM, Creation said:

in the initial stages were you practicing sitting or standing?

 

The breathing practice is done sitting. It's similar to mindfulness or anapanasati - but with a very Daoist approach. It will, after some time, naturally make its way into your standing practice (as well as normal day to day life).

 

On 29/09/2019 at 11:48 PM, Creation said:

You have mentioned before the challenge of learning to properly sung.  Was this breathing method the primary way you worked on it, or were there others?

 

The breath is an excellent starting point. Or at least was for me. Others prefer to approach it in a more physical way during standing or moving - all of these are necessary for full development of Sung though.

 

Reaching the stage of At Ease certainly gives a very visceral access to the quality of Sung. Some people can get to At Ease just doing the breathing practice, others need Qi Gong/Neigong...

 

Sung doesn't really have an endpoint as far as I can see - there is always more sung.

 

[Jim D.]

I addressed this in a comment several years ago on Embryonic breathing. I see it as a form of meditation.