I could use a little improvement

[Sketch]

I started singing in my late teens, but I didn't start breathing until a few years later.

 

Standing next to a piano in a school auditorium for ten minutes during an audition for an amateur musical theater production.

The musical director had to show me how my diaphragm worked. I'd been stuck in a shrill, nasal Bob Dylan imitation I swore was "my voice" .

She told me to exhale, let my lungs fill up on their own. Push from here. 

 

She told me I could even go back to my nasal little head voice any time I wanted. This was crucial; folky punky little me was worried about my authenticity being polluted by actually learning how to sing. It took me a while to learn more than four chords, too.

 

I passed the audition and never missed a rehearsal. Everything from my perspective changed.

 

The muscles I breathe with were mine, and I could use them any way I wanted.

 

This morning, I'm tipping my ribcage back with the tiniest engagement of the lower serratus muscle while I anchor my weight through my heels, assisted by a very relaxed circulating proprioceptive pulse. On the release, the ribs move up in the back and space through the back tissue opens up. I feel this opening as movement up my back. The dropping of my weight into my heels I feel as movement down my front.

 

 I am very grateful to the musician who taught me how to breathe. Been practicing ever since.

 

Can you share a moment with a teacher that started you off on your way with a lifetime practice?

Edited December 8, 2020 by Sketch

[Rara]

I think about this a lot at the moment. Because martial arts was my plan in later life to instil "focus and discipline" into me, but I grew up playing guitar.

 

I realise I need nothing else really. It's an immersive experience and a way to end up in the flow of the Dao. Mastery of just one craft, no matter what

[Sketch]

Getting comfortable behind an awkward guitar - a steel bodied resophonic, heavy enough to be foolish to play standing up - got me into Alexander Technique, a postural training system I worked with for a few years. 

 

 

[liminal_luke]

Thirty some years ago, I took a year off college to attend a Talmud-For-Beginners program in Jerusalem.  Always drawn to the esoteric, I sought out a course in "Jewish Meditation" from a Hasidic-leaning anthropologist who ended up teaching me how to feel a ball of energy between my hands and Mantak Chia´s inner smile practice.  My Torah days are long past but those early Taoist lessons have stayed with me.

[silent thunder]

In a tangential manner to the OP, I found the work and insights of Susan Harper inspired me to re=negotiate my relationship to breathing and to my spine and ribcage particularly and to all of my bone tissue...  as fluid processes, not static 'things'.

 

Intrinsic Movement.  Breath fluidity.  Body and (particularly) Bone Fluidity.

 

 

 

[Sketch]

1 hour ago, silent thunder said:

In a tangential manner to the OP

 

But in keeping with the spirit of the post, and the sort of thing I'm generally glad to find  on this site. Thanks!

Edited December 9, 2020 by Sketch

[dwai]

Been doing nādi shōdhana practice on a daily basis off late — very good for the mind and balancing the opposite energies in the body. It’s surprising how overlooked and under appreciated this simple alternate nostril breathing is.

 

PS - I was taught this a long time ago but I had stopped practicing it many years ago, labeling it as “beginner stuff” 😬

Edited December 9, 2020 by dwai

[Sketch]

16 hours ago, dwai said:

Been doing nādi shōdhana practice on a daily basis off late — very good for the mind and balancing the opposite energies in the body. It’s surprising how overlooked and under appreciated this simple alternate nostril breathing is.

 

PS - I was taught this a long time ago but I had stopped practicing it many years ago, labeling it as “beginner stuff” 😬

 

Amazing. Last time I tried to breathe through one nostril or the other, I could not. Hadn't even looked into it until today. 

Beginner stuff indeed.   Thanks for the timely tip!

[Toni]

4 hours ago, Sketch said:

 

Amazing. Last time I tried to breathe through one nostril or the other, I could not. Hadn't even looked into it until today. 

Beginner stuff indeed.   Thanks for the timely tip!

honestly i can't do it neither, there is always one nostril not working!!

 

Why is it? I should fix that

Edited December 10, 2020 by Toni

[Sketch]

It seems to be a result of released blocks somewhere along the line.

Practice is magic.

 

Unwinding wounds I didn't know i had. 

Edited December 10, 2020 by Sketch

[dwai]

The active nostril changes throughout the day. Normally one nostril is going to be “more open” than the other depending on the time of the day, corresponding to the yin/yang cycle.
 

The idea is to not have one nostril permanently blocked. Doing NS will balance the energies out in the body. 

[Toni]

51 minutes ago, dwai said:

The active nostril changes throughout the day. Normally one nostril is going to be “more open” than the other depending on the time of the day, corresponding to the yin/yang cycle.
 

The idea is to not have one nostril permanently blocked. Doing NS will balance the energies out in the body. 

Do u think it is a good exercise to improve breathing? My left nostril is clearly more blocked than the right

[dwai]

21 minutes ago, Toni said:

Do u think it is a good exercise to improve breathing? My left nostril is clearly more blocked than the right

It’s good, period. Goes beyond just  breathing  

[Sketch]

On 12/10/2020 at 3:55 PM, dwai said:

It’s good, period. Goes beyond just  breathing  

You ain't just a whistling Dixie. 

[doc benway]

On 12/8/2020 at 12:39 PM, Sketch said:

Can you share a moment with a teacher that started you off on your way with a lifetime practice?

 

I had a powerful moment when I first met my current spiritual teacher, one of several [moments] actually.

I'll share a bit of our first meeting below for anyone interested.

 

Spoiler

Quite a few years ago I had a profound awakening experience. It changed my life and perspective dramatically.

I had been practicing cultivation methods for several years when it occurred. The unexpected change in perspective necessarily affected my practice. The complex practices I'd been working with seemed unnecessary and contrived and gave way to a very simple and direct abiding practice. Over time, I grew frustrated as I did not know what to do with this changed perspective regarding my life and practice. I lacked context and direction. My teacher at the time had little direction to offer and, as always, was quite cool, distant, and not very supportive. For this and other reasons I won't go into, I slowly drifted away from the teacher.

 

I happened upon another teacher in a completely unfamiliar tradition. I was inexplicably drawn towards him through nothing more than a photograph. I read one of his books and ended up signing up for a silent, week long retreat with him - my first retreat of any kind. I desperately wanted to meet him to ask him about my earlier experience and how to honor it and bring it more into my daily life. I was told there would be no opportunity to meet him due to time limitations. Mid-week something unexpected happened and through a series of shockingly synchronous events, which I won't detail, I got the chance to have a brief personal meeting. 

 

When I met with him I went to sit across the room on a chair but he insisted I sit next to him, very close, wedged between him and the arm of the sofa. I was quite surprised and felt a bit awkward as my prior teacher always maintained distance - physically, psychologically, and emotionally. He took my hand in both of his, held my gaze intently, and asked what I needed. There was such warmth and openness in the gesture, I could feel the sincerity. I described my previous experience and frustration with not knowing how to incorporate it into my life and actions in a meaningful way. We talked for a few minutes. He acknowledge my experience, pointed out that I was already making appropriate changes in my life, and gave me some general suggestions for continued exploration and practice and sent me on my way. 

 

As I walked away from his cottage I recall feeling that after all that I still didn't know what to do with my experience, the context was missing, the way forward was unknown. There was a deep feeling of disappointment and a little hopelessness. I'd trained with a Daoist master and now I'd met with a Tibetan master and still didn't have answers to my questions. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. The warmth, the closeness, the sincere desire to help, the openness to my needs. My heart opened in that moment and I recognized the non-verbal aspects of our meeting as the most direct and profound teaching I've ever received about opening my heart to others. It gave context to my earlier realization and direction to my life and practice. From that moment on I recognized this teacher as my root guru and have followed his teachings ever since. I continue to respect and feel gratitude for my former teacher but know that my current practice and view are a much better fit for where I am on my path.

 

[dwai]

42 minutes ago, steve said:

 

I had a powerful moment when I first met my current spiritual teacher, one of several actually.

I'll share a bit of our first meeting below for anyone interested.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Quite a few years ago I had a profound awakening experience. It changed my life and perspective dramatically.

I had been practicing cultivation methods for several years when it occurred. The unexpected change in perspective necessarily affected my practice. The complex practices I'd been working with seemed unnecessary and contrived and gave way to a very simple and direct abiding practice. Over time, I grew frustrated as I did not know what to do with this changed perspective regarding my life and practice. I lacked context and direction. My teacher at the time had little direction to offer and, as always, was quite cool, distant, and not very supportive. For this and other reasons I won't go into, I slowly drifted away from the teacher.

 

I happened upon another teacher in a completely unfamiliar tradition. I was inexplicably drawn towards him through nothing more than a photograph. I read one of his books and ended up signing up for a silent, week long retreat with him - my first retreat of any kind. I desperately wanted to meet him to ask him about my earlier experience and how to honor it and bring it more into my daily life. I was told there would be no opportunity to meet him due to time limitations. Mid-week something unexpected happened and through a series of shockingly synchronous events, which I won't detail, I got the chance to have a brief personal meeting. 

 

When I met with him I went to sit across the room on a chair but he insisted I sit next to him, very close, wedged between him and the arm of the sofa. I was quite surprised and felt a bit awkward as my prior teacher always maintained distance - physically, psychologically, and emotionally. He took my hand in both of his, held my gaze intently, and asked what I needed. There was such warmth and openness in the gesture, I could feel the sincerity. I described my previous experience and frustration with not knowing how to incorporate it into my life and actions in a meaningful way. We talked for a few minutes. He acknowledge my experience, pointed out that I was already making appropriate changes in my life, and gave me some general suggestions for continued exploration and practice and sent me on my way. 

 

As I walked away from his cottage I recall feeling that after all that I still didn't know what to do with my experience, the context was missing, the way forward was unknown. There was a deep feeling of disappointment and a little hopelessness. I'd trained with a Daoist master and now I'd met with a Tibetan master and still didn't have answers to my questions. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. The warmth, the closeness, the sincere desire to help, the openness to my needs. My heart opened in that moment and I recognized the non-verbal aspects of our meeting as the most direct and profound teaching I've ever received about opening my heart to others. It gave context to my earlier realization and direction to my life and practice. From that moment on I recognized this teacher as my root guru and have followed his teachings ever since. I continue to respect and feel gratitude for my former teacher but know that my current practice and view are a much better fit for where I am on my path.

 

Profound!! 🙏🏾