Heart chakra opening

[Thrice Daily]

4 hours ago, Rheor said:

I guess this sort of big crisis just happens in a cultivator/meditator life, it forces one reassess things.. Due to energy blockages I found I could not hold a particular concentration technique which seemed only to interfere.

 

 

I am glad it helped you. For a time I tried different techniques, in the end, neutral awareness and letting go seem to be the best also in my experience.

 

Outside of sitting, I like to practice "allowing" my experience to be as it is when I remember, helps me snap out of negative mind patterns especially regarding happenings in my body or how life "ought" to be.
 

 

Never been on group retreat, I sit alone. I do have contact with close family though. I meditate only 1 hour per day now so I can focus on attending more on practical life matters like finding a job, learning new things, resuming social life...
 

Vipassana is one technique I am particularly drawn to, sounds good. I will probably give it more time once I get a bit more solid ground in mundane life.

Thank you.

Yes when you feel the time is right you will know, and booking into vippasana will be an unforgettable experience. 

 

I still remember the huge pot in the cold wintery morning there, filling it with jugs of boiling water then pouring the oats in as the hot water swirled round and round. Stirring pouring stirring pouring. And adding the other ingredients to the porridge very precisely . Never cooked such a big pot of oats. 100 or so people !!!!

 

The cooking is so precise there, the measuring of rice and the spices for the dishes, it really is unforgettable sitting and serving there...

[snowymountains]

11 hours ago, Rheor said:

Due to the sensations shifting when releases occur, I am intimately convinced that this is the result of energy purification. I remember wanting to take an appointment with a cardiologist only to see that they were all booked for months.
With that said, I will consider your words of caution.

 

Some pathologists or GPs may be able to do a lot till you see a specialist. We often think of them as generalists, but some of them do have domain knowledge in other areas, it's just not at the same depth as that of a specialist in that area - this is my layman's understanding of it at least and what I do personally ( I don't have any training or knowledge in Medicine )

 

11 hours ago, Rheor said:

A part of me wants to follow your suggestion, especially if no medication is involved. I can't help but be skeptical especially if the physicians are not familiar with energy symptoms. Might be worth a try.

 

The CBT psychotherapist will work with the symptoms no matter what caused them, in your case they could work with you on the brain fog and what you can do to improve. Imo it's still important to see a medical doctor for the brain fog as there may be underlying physiology.

 

E.g. - just to give an example as to why seeing a doctor in parallel to psychotherapy is important, I am not saying this as something that may be relevant to you, just an example/illustration of the importance of a medical doctor alongside psychotherapy - after a car accident people often experience brain fog (and also short term memory loss), it is very important that they are monitored by a medical doctor as one of the factors causing this is that their organism needs a lot of resources to repair, in a sense the memory loss happens because their organism prioretises not to register an event and instead uses all its resources to heal.

 

So a medical doctor monitoring the process of physiological healing is very important. A psychotherapist will help a lot, but only a medical doctor can deal with the physiological components of this. Any backpedaling on the physiology front may undo progress in psychotherapy.

 

Psychotherapy-wise Imo when there are symptoms there, first lower the symptoms and integration follows after the symptoms have been treated - Jung was of the same view btw, he was extremely practical and efficient with his patients/clients, all the integration stuff he discovered, working on polarities etc, he knew well when it's time to work on that and when it's time to focus on symptoms. CBT is excellent at symptoms treatment - provided the psychotherapist has training and experience in protocols relevant to your symptoms, so ask them over the phone.

 

Best of luck with recovering.

Edited September 14 by snowymountains

[Rheor]

On 9/12/2024 at 12:54 AM, stirling said:

Sorry Rheor, I see that I never replied to your thoughtful answers to my questions.

 

I was already glad for your previous answers, no worries.

 

On 9/12/2024 at 12:54 AM, stirling said:

Instead of constructing a person who has no confidence, can't force things, is losing grip, is frozen, I would advise accepting things as they are moment to moment. To wrestle with the underlying CONDITIONS of how things are a notice that you tell a story about a person who you don't want to be.

 

I can't deny anything about that.

 

On 9/12/2024 at 12:54 AM, stirling said:

If you are feeling stuck, SAY so. Earnestly put your hands out with open palms and openly, without an object, ask for help. Say that you are lost and don't know what to do. Have no outcome or method of cause or result in mind, and be open to whatever comes to mind. Watch your mind, and your life for an open hand... an idea, a person who invites you to do something... anything. Another possibility: there is a way out of your life that is something that compromises your pride, or is uncomfortable for you to consider. I might be the thing that you would NEVER do, like bankruptsy, or something else that wouldn't kill you or violate being open or kind to the world or life, but MIGHT violate a fixed idea you hold.

 

I was lost and stuck, that's right. I have been guided with lots of spiritual resources which I am grateful for. Now I am trying to make the bridge between spiritual and mundane life (so to speak), C.G. Jung and consequent (personal) dream work has been useful recent addition in this regard.

 

The main stuckness I feel now is devoid of unnecessary stories, I do struggle with living with the intensity of the heart opening still rather disturbing in terms of mental confusion/spaciness/overload but I don't dread it so much any longer (you contributed to my new stance too ).

 

On 9/12/2024 at 12:54 AM, stirling said:

Being conscious of the non-dual SHOULD include a trust that what needs to happen will happen, and that you are protected. Nonduality also means that reality will mirror your attachments, aversions and fear back at you, challenging you to surrender or drop them in the interests of dropping what obscures you seeing reality clearly. One of your primary obscurations is your limiting story about the past and future that stops you from moving forward. Reading your paragraphs, I see a LOT of limiting beliefs. You have a complex story that you appear to be using to create a cul de sac in your life. My suggestion: DROP IT. Stop telling this story about yourself. It isn't happening now, it is a story about a past you no longer live in, even if that past was yesterday.

 

In my opinion, being aware of non-duality creates a great tension of opposites between "spirit" and "matter". At least in my case, it's as if I had to consciously make an extra effort to stay grounded in the mundane/phenomenal world, keeping the "bridge" was harder.

I hesitated to edit out the post after posting the negative parts, but I thought it would be better to leave my demons in the light and not falsify what I first wrote. I was about to drop my limiting stories and hold on to my new prospects instead anyways.

 

On 9/12/2024 at 12:54 AM, stirling said:

Question: What actually DRIVES you? What are you actually excited about?

 

Curiosity, understanding things deeply, team work, social interactions, nature

 

On 9/12/2024 at 12:54 AM, stirling said:

What do you WANT?

 

Balance/middle-ground between "spiritual" and practical life, expressing hidden parts of myself

 

On 9/12/2024 at 12:54 AM, stirling said:

See above. My daughters boyfriend is a remote programmer making over $100 a year. He retrained in AI, did a few projects for his work, and will be making even more in the months to come. His is awkward with other people, and now has more limited interactions in his team which works for him. He had to work through a similar set of imagined limitations (expertise working as a data analyst) to move forward.

 

Good to hear for him. I let go of emotional projections I had about my previous field and technology while still keeping in mind how it could be dangerous or even useful, it is out of my control anyway. I tried out of my good will to retrain, I just had no will nor mental capacity to restart from scratch, so I let go. I'm trying for now to find a job that is not too mentally demanding for now that allows room for energy unfoldment.
 

On 9/12/2024 at 12:54 AM, stirling said:

You demonstrate the ability to discard negative story-telling already! Good news! Now, trust (since you evince an interest in non-duality) that what you are surrounded by can't help but love you since it already what you ARE. Notice what it mirrors back to you, and notice where it reflects the fictional stories about reality you are constructing and DROP them.

 

Yes, I realized long time ago, I had no choice but to drop a lot of stories anyway, starting from external ones, moving on to internal ones. This has been hellish, I can't hide it.

 

On 9/12/2024 at 12:54 AM, stirling said:

The way out is to be sick of suffering. Stop escaping.

 

I would if I could

 

On 9/12/2024 at 12:54 AM, stirling said:

Seriously... ask for help, be serious about taking what you are presented as your path and it WILL change.

 

I have some troubles asking for help, not wanting to be a burden or bother others. And in my specific case here, I felt embarrassed to talk about it as someone who went to an extreme without guidance and feeling lost and confused afterwards when coming back to earth.

Edited September 14 by Rheor

[Rheor]

On 9/12/2024 at 11:24 AM, ChiDragon said:

@Rheor

Based on your symptoms, may I ask you a question?

What kind of activity were you involved when you are a teenager? Did you do something constantly and more often like most teenagers do with your five fingers?

As a teenager I was under "lower" instincts too, I was no exception. It was probably a LOT less than others though.

[Rheor]

11 hours ago, snowymountains said:

 

Some pathologists or GPs may be able to do a lot till you see a specialist. We often think of them as generalists, but some of them do have domain knowledge in other areas, it's just not at the same depth as that of a specialist in that area - this is my layman's understanding of it at least and what I do personally ( I don't have any training or knowledge in Medicine )

 

 

The CBT psychotherapist will work with the symptoms no matter what caused them, in your case they could work with you on the brain fog and what you can do to improve. Imo it's still important to see a medical doctor for the brain fog as there may be underlying physiology.

 

E.g. - just to give an example as to why seeing a doctor in parallel to psychotherapy is important, I am not saying this as something that may be relevant to you, just an example/illustration of the importance of a medical doctor alongside psychotherapy - after a car accident people often experience brain fog (and also short term memory loss), it is very important that they are monitored by a medical doctor as one of the factors causing this is that their organism needs a lot of resources to repair, in a sense the memory loss happens because their organism prioretises not to register an event and instead uses all its resources to heal.

 

So a medical doctor monitoring the process of physiological healing is very important. A psychotherapist will help a lot, but only a medical doctor can deal with the physiological components of this. Any backpedaling on the physiology front may undo progress in psychotherapy.

 

Psychotherapy-wise Imo when there are symptoms there, first lower the symptoms and integration follows after the symptoms have been treated - Jung was of the same view btw, he was extremely practical and efficient with his patients/clients, all the integration stuff he discovered, working on polarities etc, he knew well when it's time to work on that and when it's time to focus on symptoms. CBT is excellent at symptoms treatment - provided the psychotherapist has training and experience in protocols relevant to your symptoms, so ask them over the phone.

 

Best of luck with recovering.

 

Thank you, this is useful.

[ChiDragon]

On 7/27/2024 at 11:16 AM, Rheor said:

I have been meditating a lot for two years, I reduced off from 8 hours daily to 2/3 hours over the course of two months in order to focus

I feel most of my energy working around the heart chakra, like a "lock" in the center of my chest. My chest feels "full" with heat and pain accumulating in the heart, some head pressure aswell along with some level of mental fog. 

 

Pressure keep accumulating in my chest, I do the bare minimum of meditation just to release excesses.
To ground myself: Tai Chi, "earthing" barefoot on backyard,

When you meditate, did you concentrate on your breathing. Since you do meditation and Taiji, both are involved with breathing. If you had done properly with breathing, then, it should help to release the pressure off the chest and head as well. As I recall, the head use about 20% of the oxygen from the breathing. The lack of oxygen, hypoxia, might cause problem in the head as you had described. Try to breathe slowly and deep while meditating.

Use this as a guideline in your breathing.

 

[Rheor]

On 9/14/2024 at 10:06 PM, ChiDragon said:

When you meditate, did you concentrate on your breathing. Since you do meditation and Taiji, both are involved with breathing. If you had done properly with breathing, then, it should help to release the pressure off the chest and head as well. As I recall, the head use about 20% of the oxygen from the breathing. The lack of oxygen, hypoxia, might cause problem in the head as you had described. Try to breathe slowly and deep while meditating.

Use this as a guideline in your breathing.

 

First, thank you for your reply on this thread and your helping hand.
 

I am not sure there is much to do about headaches / fog / confusion / disorientation when something as significant as heart chakra opening is on the way (I still make room to be proven otherwise though).

Otherwise, I don't know. Since I watched this video from master Nan Huai-Chin, I am reluctant to focus on the dantian. I might be misunderstanding something, in which case it's my loss.

[ChiDragon]

42 minutes ago, Rheor said:

First, thank you for your reply on this thread and your helping hand.
 

I am not sure there is much to do about headaches / fog / confusion / disorientation when something as significant as heart chakra opening is on the way (I still make room to be proven otherwise though).

Otherwise, I don't know. Since I watched this video from master Nan Huai-Chin, I am reluctant to focus on the dantian. I might be misunderstanding something, in which case it's my loss.

You welcome! Your headaches, most of the time is caused by hypoxia(lack of oxygen). How is your breathing? I wouldn't worry about what has been said in the video. He seems very convincing and very serious about it. However, it seems to me it was baseless of what he is telling everybody. I am breathing all day long by focusing on my dantian. I am staying healthy everyday. Anyway, it's up to you. If your don't feel comfortable with it, just don't try it. Good luck to you.

[Sahaja]

On 9/18/2024 at 11:57 AM, Rheor said:

First, thank you for your reply on this thread and your helping hand.
 

I am not sure there is much to do about headaches / fog / confusion / disorientation when something as significant as heart chakra opening is on the way (I still make room to be proven otherwise though).

Otherwise, I don't know. Since I watched this video from master Nan Huai-Chin, I am reluctant to focus on the dantian. I might be misunderstanding something, in which case it's my loss.

Sorry to hear of your struggles. We all experience emotional and physical difficulties and psychological ups and downs on the path, no one is immune to this. . However, when it starts to interfere with your health, your relationships or daily life in the form of pain or depression or dissociation from shared reality  it’s time to seek some professional help and curtail/end self cultivation activities, at least temporarily. 

from a Daoist model of self cultivation many of the practices you have described having done or are considering can free up yang qi in the body that naturally rises towards the head. This can result in many of the symptoms you describe. A disturbance of shen could also be involved particularly if the heart center has opened prematurely.  While there are practices to ground this energy as well as to develop the subtle body to manage any excess , once the energy gets out of control exceeding your capabilities to absorb and manage it, it can be very difficult to rein it back in on your own without help. 

 

So I suggest ending all practices for the time being and seeking in person help. Once you've worked with someone to get things sorted out and feel back in control you can resume your practices slowly assuming this is what you want to do. My understanding is that self cultivation practices are not advised for people experiencing emotional or mental difficulties as they can act to add more fuel to the fire which is not helpful if you are already struggling.  To tread on the challenging path of cultivation you really need to be in good health and well grounded as a starting point as it’s not an easy road as your experience shows. 

sorry if I sound kind of extreme but it’s from my heart. Best wishes to you. 

 

[Sahaja]

Here is a video about qi rising to the head and to the chest that might be useful to you. Doesn’t directly address the heart chakra opening but might be useful to rule other simpler possibilities out..  There are actually three videos on the topic of qi but given your comments this may be a place to start. 
 

 

[Rheor]

On 9/20/2024 at 6:38 PM, Sahaja said:

Sorry to hear of your struggles. We all experience emotional and physical difficulties and psychological ups and downs on the path, no one is immune to this. . However, when it starts to interfere with your health, your relationships or daily life in the form of pain or depression or dissociation from shared reality  it’s time to seek some professional help and curtail/end self cultivation activities, at least temporarily.

 

My disbelief of western therapy and my own one-sidedness got the better of me.
 

On 9/20/2024 at 6:38 PM, Sahaja said:

from a Daoist model of self cultivation many of the practices you have described having done or are considering can free up yang qi in the body that naturally rises towards the head. This can result in many of the symptoms you describe. A disturbance of shen could also be involved particularly if the heart center has opened prematurely. 

Yes, you have keen eye. The disturbance is difficult, at the same time obstructions are almost constantly cleared out thus relieving pressure, so thankfully there is no alarming stagnation..

I assumed the [shen disturbance] / [heart fire] went hand in hand with the process of opening the heart chakra, so I stopped worrying too much about it.

 

On 9/20/2024 at 6:38 PM, Sahaja said:

While there are practices to ground this energy as well as to develop the subtle body to manage any excess , once the energy gets out of control exceeding your capabilities to absorb and manage it, it can be very difficult to rein it back in on your own without help.

 

I tried grounding the energy doing Hakuin melting butter visualization for 2h30 a day, it went fairly well but it was too much effort only to have it build up again when stopping. I gave up trying to control it and left it to follow its course.
 

On 9/20/2024 at 6:38 PM, Sahaja said:

So I suggest ending all practices for the time being and seeking in person help. Once you've worked with someone to get things sorted out and feel back in control you can resume your practices slowly assuming this is what you want to do. My understanding is that self cultivation practices are not advised for people experiencing emotional or mental difficulties as they can act to add more fuel to the fire which is not helpful if you are already struggling.  To tread on the challenging path of cultivation you really need to be in good health and well grounded as a starting point as it’s not an easy road as your experience shows.

That sure is a tough one to digest.
 

I always struggled to be "grounded" on this earth and have not managed to come to satisfying answers regarding this issue. A strong psychic storm blew my fragile foundations and things went out of control. The DNOTS was my starting point so to me, the personal experiential facts of the path are what they are, I can't say about anyone else how it goes, I have no idea.

Nowadays I do my best to reinvent my self despite all this. You woke up a deep wound haha...
 

On 9/20/2024 at 6:38 PM, Sahaja said:

sorry if I sound kind of extreme but it’s from my heart. Best wishes to you.

 

It'll take a bit to settle what it triggered in me, thanks for your honesty anyway.

[Rheor]

22 hours ago, Sahaja said:

Here is a video about qi rising to the head and to the chest that might be useful to you. Doesn’t directly address the heart chakra opening but might be useful to rule other simpler possibilities out..  There are actually three videos on the topic of qi but given your comments this may be a place to start. 
 

 

Thank you but I will leave it on hold.
To be honest, I am not sure I can take it at the moment.
I hope you will understand.

Edited September 21 by Rheor

[Rheor]

Hello,
 
A quick follow-up/refresh for informational purpose, stemming from @Sahaja and @ChiDragon suggestions.

Lately I stopped all meditation practice, it was a little bit tough due to being attached to it. For now it does not make things easier, I might resume if it gets too hard. Still doing a little bit of Tai Chi. At the moment I am getting migraine headaches and strong heart pain especially before major releases.

I have watched videos about Damo Mitchell on Qi Deviations, I was a bit reluctant at first but he speaks about this stuff with appreciable tact, the main takeaway:

• Stop being introspective with internal practices, instead focusing more the attention outwards using the physical body (walking in nature, going to the gym, biking, hiking,...) and socializing more.
• Yin anchor not strong enough.
  To build the anchor, eat dense heavy food, building the body (perhaps even better to build stronger legs).
  My added ideas: earthing, absorbing moon energy, forest bathing, Yin herbs (any suggestions?).
• Building the Dantian.

All of them could be theoretically be useful for all kind of Qi Deviation, "dragon" sickness, kundalini syndrome, excess Yang Qi rising, etc..
 

I will see if any of the previous points can compliment / make the process a little easier, by strengthening the foundations while going through it and gaining more clarity on the way.

Edited September 25 by Rheor

[ChiDragon]

1 hour ago, Rheor said:

Still doing a little bit of Tai Chi. At the moment I am getting migraine headaches and strong heart pain especially before major releases.

 

Hi Rheor, you had not mentioned anytime about sleeping. How is your sleeping at night? Can you sleep right a way when you jump in bed? How is your breathing. What you do mean by doing a little bit of Tai Chi? Tai Chi is something has to be done daily and diligently as many times a day as possible. You must make progress in your breathing by breathing deeper and deeper from time to time along with your practice. Tai Chi has to be done correctly to get the right effect on your body. You should feel that you are stronger than before doing the practice. It is, also, that you can breathe deeper and deeper.

Here is my practice demo, perhaps it give you an idea how it should be.

 

Edited September 25 by ChiDragon

[Rheor]

11 hours ago, ChiDragon said:

Hi Rheor, you had not mentioned anytime about sleeping. How is your sleeping at night? Can you sleep right a way when you jump in bed?

 

Sleep is okay between 7 and 8 hours of sleep daily at the moment, I usually sleep right away, yes.

 

11 hours ago, ChiDragon said:

How is your breathing.

 

I meditated 30 minutes yesterday before sleep, it helped getting to sleep more easily with less pain. I focused on the lower abdomen, breathing deeply without forcing, I will keep doing that for now. While focusing gently on the lower abdomen and not concerning myself with the rest of the body, my breathing is deeper and more relaxed but still constricted between sternum and throat for known reasons.

 

11 hours ago, ChiDragon said:

What you do mean by doing a little bit of Tai Chi?

 

2/3 times 103 movement form for the day ~30 minutes.

 

11 hours ago, ChiDragon said:

Tai Chi is something has to be done daily and diligently as many times a day as possible. You must make progress in your breathing by breathing deeper and deeper from time to time along with your practice. Tai Chi has to be done correctly to get the right effect on your body. You should feel that you are stronger than before doing the practice. It is, also, that you can breathe deeper and deeper.

 

Tai Chi helped a lot, but it did not regulate energy in the trunk that much in my case. Yes breathing deeper and deeper, I didn't pay special regards to that, that was the missing link, extra care on deep diaphragmatic breathing. With that in mind I feel confident to practice more as I enjoy it a lot.

 

11 hours ago, ChiDragon said:

Here is my practice demo, perhaps it give you an idea how it should be.

 

 

Wow this is very dynamic, what style is it ? I personally learned alone from watching David Dorian Ross. You seem quite involved and enjoying it too

 

 

[ChiDragon]

6 hours ago, Rheor said:

I meditated 30 minutes yesterday before sleep, it helped getting to sleep more easily with less pain. I focused on the lower abdomen, breathing deeply without forcing, I will keep doing that for now. While focusing gently on the lower abdomen and not concerning myself with the rest of the body, my breathing is deeper and more relaxed but still constricted between sternum and throat for known reasons.

Thank you for your response. I am glad that you are meditating and breathing helps you in the meantime. So far so good, you are making progress. However, I think I have spotted your problem. Your problem in highlighted in BOLD. It seems that you have a serious breathing problem. You are not breathing enough oxygen into your body. Your brain only used a small portion of the oxygen from your breathing. That is not enough for your brain to function properly. Your headache was caused by hypoxia, lack of oxygen.
 

Here is what you need to do. Instead of focusing to your abdomen, focus your breathing between the sternum and throat. In other words, first you inhale slowly deep down to the sternum, then exhale slowly from there. You should do that in your meditation.

While doing Taiji, you inhale slowly on the first move deep down to the sternum. Exhale slowly on the next move. Just continue with the breathing sequence. Eventually, your breath will go down deeper and deeper to the abdomen. So to speak. Then, you may focus on your lower abdomen.

Here is something that might help you to understand more about breathing. Use it as a guideline.

 

[ChiDragon]

7 hours ago, Rheor said:

Tai Chi helped a lot, but it did not regulate energy in the trunk that much in my case. Yes breathing deeper and deeper, I didn't pay special regards to that, that was the missing link, extra care on deep diaphragmatic breathing. With that in mind I feel confident to practice more as I enjoy it a lot.

You are not at the point to have the capability to regulate energy yet. It takes diligent practice daily for Taiji practitioners to get to that point. Wait until your breath have reached to the abdomen, then, you will be very stronger like you have never felt before. Keep up the good work.

Edited September 26 by ChiDragon

[Thrice Daily]

9 minutes ago, ChiDragon said:

 

 

 

6 hours ago, Rheor said:

 

For me I like practicing day ding against a wall, rolling the spine up against it, flattening the back, with knees bent

 

then I use three part breath. Breath in to lower, then middle , then upper. (At this point I feel the breath strongly around the clavicles)

The breathe out from upper, then middle then lower, 

 

I Do this for just give or ten breaths it's quite effective.

 

another cool way to open the breath I do lying down. I imagine a balloon inflating under my hand. I do many hand placements left and right over entire lungs region and the back over kidneys.

 

I just place hand and imagine a balloon inflating u nderneath, directing the air there. It's quite effective.

[ChiDragon]

6 hours ago, Rheor said:

Wow this is very dynamic, what style is it ? I personally learned alone from watching David Dorian Ross. You seem quite involved and enjoying it too

I am practicing the Yang 108 form. Some of the movements won't be seen on the present practitioners. I did not do the movements sequentially. I break them down and do it the way I wanted to. So, I don't have to memorize them in sequence. Taiji is not the form dependent but the diligent practice is. The coordination of the movements and breathing is the key to success in Taiji. To reach the realm of Taiji practice is when the breath had reached down to the abdomen. It has been known as sink chi to the dantian.

[ChiDragon]

18 minutes ago, Thrice Daily said:

Breath in to lower, then middle, then upper

I don't see how you can do that. The normal sequence of breathing is the air goes into the nostril, the throat, then the lung. Actually, your breath does not go into the abdomen. The Taoist thought it was. It is because when the lung is full of breath, the diaphragm goes downward causing the abdomen to expand outward. That was why the ancient Chinese Taoists thought the breath went down deep to the abdomen. It was only a manner of speaking.

Edited September 26 by ChiDragon

[Thrice Daily]

It's quite easy just try it. 

lower - First part relax abdomen (abdominal breathing)

middle - depress diaphragm feel expansion of middle torso (diaphragmatic breathing)

Upper - breath into upper chambers of lungs by clavicles (clavicular breathing) 

 

 

Then release part by part till lower abdomen, 

 

This is one full breath. 

 

you can practice th an separately too to get an idea of what's going on in the body.

 

In yoga it's called three part breath Dirgha Pranayama . It's just a way to take a complete breath. 

Edited September 26 by Thrice Daily

[ChiDragon]

On 9/26/2024 at 11:55 AM, Thrice Daily said:

It's quite easy just try it. 

lower - First part relax abdomen (abdominal breathing)

middle - depress diaphragm feel expansion of middle torso (diaphragmatic breathing)

Upper - breath into upper chambers of lungs by clavicles (clavicular breathing) 

What you have, here, is not the right sequence of breathing.
FYI middle - depress diaphragm feel expansion of middle torso (diaphragmatic breathing) is already put you into the Upper condition.
Actually, abdominal breathing means diaphragmatic breathing. The reason why it is called abdominal breathing is because when the lung is full the abdomen will be automatically in the expanded position.

Here is the proper sequence of abdominal breathing:

1. Inhale until the lung is fully filled with air.

2. The diaphragm will automatically concave downward,

3. That will cause the abdomen to expand outward.

 

Edited September 28 by ChiDragon

[Thrice Daily]

You have still described three part breath  

 

but the last part was not really described fully, it takes a little more will for the additional third part of breath

 

Next time you try the breath you describe, when you feel you have taken the full breath,  try slightly pursing your lips and try to suck air into the the top so you even feel sensation tightening around clavicles. Even into the neck, you don’t need to force it , it can be quite gentle.
 

Tell yourself mentally “I can breathe in three times more air” you will fill a lot more up. Trust me, it works. 

[ChiDragon]

This is what Qigong is all about in breathing. The ancient Chinese Taoist didn't know how to explain it due to the lack of scientific knowledge. So, they came up with some fictional stories for their explanation why their practices work for them.

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/9445-diaphragmatic-breathing

Edited September 30 by ChiDragon

[blue eyed snake]

On 29-9-2024 at 12:48 AM, ChiDragon said:

The ancient Chinese Taoist didn't how to explain it due to the lack of scientific knowledge.

 

Imho opinion the old chinese masters knew very well what they were talking about, but in general the western mind has closed itself off for what truths lay therein.