Breath

[Johndoe]

Hi everyone. This is a quote from a guided meditation of Shinzen Young, called "Break through pain". 

 

"Bring your awareness to the

diaphragm, the lower abdomen. As you breathe in, you may detect a kind of pulling in, or contraction in that area. Likewise as you breathe out, you may detect a sensation of expanding and releasing in the diaphragm."

 

He does not mention this explicitly but I suppose he is referring to the normal breath which is breath in expand, breath out contract. I think reverse breathing is a relatively advanced technique for him to be referring to that. Also he talks about it in the sense of observing what is there, and so chances are he refers to normal breathing. 

 

Is this a mistake? Is he talking about the pelvic floor? Is the pelvic floor considered lower abdomen? If he's talking about the pelvic floor isn't it releasing on in breath and contracting on out breath? I've heard of gently pulling the perineum on in breath but in the context of some technique not as a casual function of the body. 

 

Anyone wishing to elaborate? 

Thanks. 

[C T]

I believe Young was giving a discourse on anapanasati aka mindfulness of breathing.

This approach has no relation to your question regarding the pelvic floor.  

[Johndoe]

Yes he is probably talking about mindfulness of breathing. That was my point. I'm not saying he IS referring to the pelvic floor. I am asking. He is using the words lower abdomen and diaphragm to refer to a place in the body. Is there a diaphragm in the lower abdomen? If you are saying that he means it sequentially as in "put your awareness in the diaphragm and THEN to the lower abdomen" the sensations he describes are still reverse aren't they? Thanks for your post.