Guest guest Posted September 28, 1999 Report Share Posted September 28, 1999 Could someone please explain the breath of fire technique? Also is there a best position in which to meditate? Or maybe it is just a personal preference, in which case I would be interseted in suggestions. Thank you. Peace and Love, ~Jennifer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 28, 1999 Report Share Posted September 28, 1999 Hi Jennifer Here's something else. There's a lot of good stuff in the archives - ONElist have now improved their search facilities. Check them out. Sat Nam! Gordon >>>>> I like the explanation pasted below. For me starting in slow motion with slow inhalations and exhalations helped me to get all the parts coordinated before picking up speed. Good luck! --Ori Breath of Fire One of the breaths used in Kundalini Yoga: Sit comfortably with a straight spine. Rest your hands on your knees, palms up, with your fingers in gyan mudra (touching the tips of the index fingers to the tips of the thumbs). Breathe fairly rapidly (about 2 or 3 breaths per second) through your nose, while you pump your navel point and abdomen-- pulling them sharply inward on the exhale, and pushing them out during the inhale. Your chest should be relaxed. When you're finished, inhale deeply and hold the breath while you pull the energy up into your higher centers. Then exhale and relax. This is a balanced breath with no emphasis on either the inhale or the exhale. Try thinking of it as one continuous breath being pulled in and out. You won't hyperventilate if you don't breathe through your mouth. Start practicing breath of fire for no more than three minutes at a time and work up to 31 minutes or more. --Tantric numerology by Dr. Guruchander Singh Khalsa, D.C. p. 121 ori Kundalini Resources on the Web http://www.eskimo.com/~ori/kundalini.html > "Lindsey, Jennifer" <jennifer.lindsey > > Could someone please explain the breath of fire technique? Also is there a > best position in which to meditate? Or maybe it is just a personal > preference, in which case I would be interseted in suggestions. Thank you. > Peace and Love, > ~Jennifer > > --------------------------- ONElist Sponsor ---------------------------- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 28, 1999 Report Share Posted September 28, 1999 Hi Jennifer First off, check out the KY website - there are instructions re meditation positions and also breath of fire in the section covering the Spinal Set - http://www.gtmark.com/ky/spinal.htm Secondly, I have found the following in the KY archives, written back in March by my assistant Susan. I'm sure she won't mind me reposting it here - it covers more than breath of fire, and should prove interesting to many of our rs Enjoy your Kundalini Yoga Sat Nam! Gordon >>>> Most of us don't know how to breathe properly. We take shallow breaths as if we are afraid of what breath does. But breath is manna to our bodies...so we should drink heavily and deeply to energize and feed our bodies. I was taught by breathing in to the count of four...slow counts. Feel the breath expand your ribcage.....you are aiming to fill your whole chest cavity with air. At the end of the fourth, when you think you can't take any more air in, take a sip more. Hold for a count of four. Exhale over a count of four....and when you think you have all the air out, huff more out. You will be amazed how much you can get out after this count of four. You may experience burning in your lungs doing this. But soon, your breathing comes deep and sure....and the count of four expands to a count of five...six. I was told to concentrate on the emptiness between breathing in and breathing out....that period of stillness. Once your lungs are used to doing this, I started breathing in from different parts of my body. No one taught me this...it just started to happen when I meditated. I would open up my crown chakra and breathe the energy down, on an inbreath....feeling it flow around my heart....keeping it there....then on the outbreath, push the breath down the rest of my body to exit out my feet. Then I would reverse it, breathing in my feet, feel it flowing to my heart, then on the exhale, pushing it up and out my head. Dizzying at first....but the energy that fills me when I do that was incredible. I found out later that I was unconsciously doing something that is taught to get the energy flowing in the two currents that wind around our spines. We would practice this for about five minutes.....at the beginning of each session. It prepared us for the work in the session by calming us and getting our minds into the proper space for work. The fire breath is very different. Here, you concentrate on the outbreath, as it is thrown out with such force, the inbreath comes after it automatically. We were taught to put our hand on our bellies and use those muscles to force air out of our lungs in a whoosh. Our hands were to remind us to use those muscles to force it out. Your whole abdomen is used to empty the lungs very quickly. You should hear your breath coming out vocally....almost like a cough but not so loud...kinda like a HUH sound. Here, you are not using so much breath...it is like little sips in and whooshes out. Like my advanced terminology?? :;grins:: As the fire in fire breath is related to the power centre or third chakra, this is where the breath is being localized. You are using your diaphram and stomach muscles to force the breath out. Dizzying again.....and you feel the heat in your belly rising up into you.....making your head reel with it. It took me awhile to get used to doing this....and my stomach muscles hated me for a while... but it was worth everything to feel what I did when the rising started. At first, we couldn't do it very much.....it was far too difficult to keep up....but as the weeks went by, we had longer lessons using it. The alternate nostril breathing was taught to us after the above two. After doing the first breathing exercise a few times, raise one of your hands to your face, palm facing it. Put your thumb by one nostril and your forefinger by the other. Gently put your thumb over the nostril, blocking the passage of air through it. Breathe in the other nostril slowly, using the first technique. Hold the inbreath for a second...concentrating on the stillness....then exhale. Remove your thumb, and put your forefinger on it's nostril and breathe in...concentrating on the middle...exhale. Continue to alternate with one complete inhale/exhale per thumb/finger. Do this for about eight to ten cycles. You should feel this breathing calming you yet energizing the chakras. > "Lindsey, Jennifer" <jennifer.lindsey > > Could someone please explain the breath of fire technique? Also is there a > best position in which to meditate? Or maybe it is just a personal > preference, in which case I would be interseted in suggestions. Thank you. > Peace and Love, > ~Jennifer > > --------------------------- ONElist Sponsor ---------------------------- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 16, 1999 Report Share Posted December 16, 1999 Joel- I asked about breath of fire myself a few months ago, these are the two responses Gordon was kind enough to send me. Peace and Love, ~Jen ---------- gordon Kundaliniyoga Re: breath of fire.... Tuesday, September 28, 1999 11:19AM gordon <gordon Hi Jennifer Here's something else. There's a lot of good stuff in the archives - ONElist have now improved their search facilities. Check them out. Sat Nam! Gordon >>>>> I like the explanation pasted below. For me starting in slow motion with slow inhalations and exhalations helped me to get all the parts coordinated before picking up speed. Good luck! --Ori Breath of Fire One of the breaths used in Kundalini Yoga: Sit comfortably with a straight spine. Rest your hands on your knees, palms up, with your fingers in gyan mudra (touching the tips of the index fingers to the tips of the thumbs). Breathe fairly rapidly (about 2 or 3 breaths per second) through your nose, while you pump your navel point and abdomen-- pulling them sharply inward on the exhale, and pushing them out during the inhale. Your chest should be relaxed. When you're finished, inhale deeply and hold the breath while you pull the energy up into your higher centers. Then exhale and relax. This is a balanced breath with no emphasis on either the inhale or the exhale. Try thinking of it as one continuous breath being pulled in and out. You won't hyperventilate if you don't breathe through your mouth. Start practicing breath of fire for no more than three minutes at a time and work up to 31 minutes or more. --Tantric numerology by Dr. Guruchander Singh Khalsa, D.C. p. 121 ori Kundalini Resources on the Web http://www.eskimo.com/~ori/kundalini.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 16, 1999 Report Share Posted December 16, 1999 ---------- gordon Kundaliniyoga Re: breath of fire.... Tuesday, September 28, 1999 11:20AM gordon <gordon Hi Jennifer First off, check out the KY website - there are instructions re meditation positions and also breath of fire in the section covering the Spinal Set - http://www.gtmark.com/ky/spinal.htm Secondly, I have found the following in the KY archives, written back in March by my assistant Susan. I'm sure she won't mind me reposting it here - it covers more than breath of fire, and should prove interesting to many of our rs Enjoy your Kundalini Yoga Sat Nam! Gordon >>>> Most of us don't know how to breathe properly. We take shallow breaths as if we are afraid of what breath does. But breath is manna to our bodies...so we should drink heavily and deeply to energize and feed our bodies. I was taught by breathing in to the count of four...slow counts. Feel the breath expand your ribcage.....you are aiming to fill your whole chest cavity with air. At the end of the fourth, when you think you can't take any more air in, take a sip more. Hold for a count of four. Exhale over a count of four....and when you think you have all the air out, huff more out. You will be amazed how much you can get out after this count of four. You may experience burning in your lungs doing this. But soon, your breathing comes deep and sure....and the count of four expands to a count of five...six. I was told to concentrate on the emptiness between breathing in and breathing out....that period of stillness. Once your lungs are used to doing this, I started breathing in from different parts of my body. No one taught me this...it just started to happen when I meditated. I would open up my crown chakra and breathe the energy down, on an inbreath....feeling it flow around my heart....keeping it there....then on the outbreath, push the breath down the rest of my body to exit out my feet. Then I would reverse it, breathing in my feet, feel it flowing to my heart, then on the exhale, pushing it up and out my head. Dizzying at first....but the energy that fills me when I do that was incredible. I found out later that I was unconsciously doing something that is taught to get the energy flowing in the two currents that wind around our spines. We would practice this for about five minutes.....at the beginning of each session. It prepared us for the work in the session by calming us and getting our minds into the proper space for work. The fire breath is very different. Here, you concentrate on the outbreath, as it is thrown out with such force, the inbreath comes after it automatically. We were taught to put our hand on our bellies and use those muscles to force air out of our lungs in a whoosh. Our hands were to remind us to use those muscles to force it out. Your whole abdomen is used to empty the lungs very quickly. You should hear your breath coming out vocally....almost like a cough but not so loud...kinda like a HUH sound. Here, you are not using so much breath...it is like little sips in and whooshes out. Like my advanced terminology?? :;grins:: As the fire in fire breath is related to the power centre or third chakra, this is where the breath is being localized. You are using your diaphram and stomach muscles to force the breath out. Dizzying again.....and you feel the heat in your belly rising up into you.....making your head reel with it. It took me awhile to get used to doing this....and my stomach muscles hated me for a while... but it was worth everything to feel what I did when the rising started. At first, we couldn't do it very much.....it was far too difficult to keep up....but as the weeks went by, we had longer lessons using it. The alternate nostril breathing was taught to us after the above two. After doing the first breathing exercise a few times, raise one of your hands to your face, palm facing it. Put your thumb by one nostril and your forefinger by the other. Gently put your thumb over the nostril, blocking the passage of air through it. Breathe in the other nostril slowly, using the first technique. Hold the inbreath for a second...concentrating on the stillness....then exhale. Remove your thumb, and put your forefinger on it's nostril and breathe in...concentrating on the middle...exhale. Continue to alternate with one complete inhale/exhale per thumb/finger. Do this for about eight to ten cycles. You should feel this breathing calming you yet energizing the chakras. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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