Breathing is troubling me
 

I first experimented with meditation when I was 13 or 14 years old. I made terrible mistakes back then. Now I am 22 but my past mistakes still haunt me. One of the mistakes I made in the past was that I used force in meditation. I forced myself to concentrate on breathing. I thought that if I put more force into concentrating on breathing and being aware of it, at all times, I will quickly be enlightened. Alas! I was wrong. All I did was make myself uncomfortable.
Now coming to my present problem. Breathing gives me a certain kind of trouble, a discomfort as whenever I become aware of my breathing, I start accumulating unnecessary energy in my head. My head starts becoming heavy and I lose my freshness.
I would like to know a breathing technique that would release energy instead of accumulating it but I am not sure of what to do. Should I just avoid being aware of my breath?(I have been doing so for the past many years and its no good). Should I do some meditation related to breathing or should I do something else? Any guidance will be highly appreciated.

When we watch our breath in meditation it should be a very gentle attitude that we have and not forced at all. Simply be aware of your breath as it goes in and then as it goes out - don't alter the breath at all, it should be natural. Just observe very gently. Or you can just watch where the breath turns, where it changes from the in-breath to the out-breath.

Are you breathing through your nose? This will increase energy in the head and mental energy. So try breathing through you mouth which will bring you into your heart, your whole body and being and ground you. You can even make a sound as you exhale which will reverberate through your body and be very soothing and healing yet energizing. You can also use Mudras to change the focal point of your energy: touching your thumb to your index finger will focus energy in your head so try touching your thumb to the middle or ring finger and see which feels best to you.

I remember when I started out I would do pranayama whilst running! It certainly awakened my chakras but it was so sudden and strong that I didn't know what to do with the energy. Now I practice more gently so I can integrate the energy which is awakened. Good luck with your practice.

In the past few months my condition has improved a lot. One day my problem (The one mentioned above) suddenly melted away as i allowed my attention to wander where ever it wanted to go. My attention went towards my breath and just noticing it gently, i began to feel better. Now i no longer feel discomfort when my attention goes towards breathing.

However, i still divert my attention to things other than my breath. sometimes i need to divert it, other times i have vague notion that i am meditating too much. i worry what will happen if i keep my attention continously for many hours on my breath. i dont know what will happen, but i worry that a strong meditation will take hold of me, then i might find myself in trouble. Experts please guide me on what happens if one's attention remains on breath for long continous periods of time, like a whole day, 2 days, 3 days?

Maybe you're falling into theta brainwaves.It's not that bad.When these states register in your mind,(at first) you become dizzy,tired,your body feels heavy etc.
Everytime i'm doing breathing teqniques,the result is allways 'heavy' and i don't like it either.

Have you tried to meditate upon 'nothing'?
No thoughts,no action,no trying,just nothing.
Just lay down and tell to your self that for the next five minutes,you'll do-think nothing at all.Your only goal is the nothing.

And don't call others 'experts'.There's no such thing.

"No thoughts,no action,no trying,just nothing" (lomax).
This is very tricky. i exist in a state of doing. whenever i am conscious, i have to do something, either notice something, think something, or atleast put my attention somewhere. How do you propose i approach nothing?

***

We may begin by abandoning the concepts attached to the so called activity of meditation

and engage in what we enjoy

a game, a movie, chatting with friends, doing a good deed anonymously :smile:

(Hahaha .... the last activity a not so sneaky trick to steer you on the path of love!)

Notice how your breathing does not come into focus when you are joyful. In fact, nothing comes between you and your joy!

If meditation is a task, a drill, a chore ... it becomes counterproductive.

On a practical note however, just witness thoughts rise and fade like waves. Just look as you would at butterflies flitting from flower to flower. In exuberance and yet without association.

This activity of non doing is meditation. We just choose from time to time to disassociate our innate formless awareness from the mind body construct.

If thoughts come in, let them. If you feel an itch anywhere, please scratch! :biggrin:

Take it easy! Have fun! Enjoy!

(whoops! Notice that breathing or posture has nothing to do with it)

***

By knowing what nothing it's not.It's not so difficult.When you're trying to reach something is not the nothing.When you think of something,it's not the nothing,etc.

I think it's the removing of the 'purpose'.It's like trying to sleep,when all you have to do is to do nothing at all.Then sleep comes easily.

It is tricky,but if you do it once,then your subconsious will know how to trigger the state,and you'll do it in seconds.

The best bet is to tell your self that you'll 'dedicate' some time to experience the nothing.
This way,you're telling your self that you're going to 'switch' from your current state into another one.

Sat
 

Do mindfulness exercises, they teach you not to control the breath but to allow it to come and go naturally. Also exercise, do running and cardio outdoors or at the gym. And yoga is good too.

Last night (15 september) did not go well. I often try to quiet my mind before i sleep. I either relax my body and mind or, whether i like it or not, i notice my breath. Noticing my breath was going well. It was relaxing and there was no headache, but last night there was, once again, headache. The headache appeared in the left temple. Its intensity increased as i kept noticing my breath. I started feeling very uncomfortable, started sweating and heart beat started rising. I started breathing from my mouth. It did not help much. I decided to divert my attention elsewhere, to thinking something or feeling my body. Diverting attention from the breath is not easy. All in all, I did not get a good sleep last night.
There is no escaping breathing. I wonder when will i stop getting headache from breathing. Is there any remedy for this headache?

After I finished writing this, i sat calmly and noticed my breath once again and surprise. I found hope that everything is going to be okay. My headache decreased and I feel much better now. Breath is a mischievous thing.

Breathing is very important but in meditation it is only a vehicle to help you go inside. I have been doing meditation for more than 40-years and I no longer concentrate on my breath, rather I know that quiet serenity I am seeking in meditation and I just go right to it. Over time you are likely to forgo techniques and just be able to go into that inner stillness which we dive into in meditation without using any techniques.

Practice staying with your meditation experience for longer periods of time, while you are standing in the grocery checkout line, or waiting for other things, even try to meditate while you are sleeping. In the meantime you might want to try the full yogi breath, also called Pranayama. There are lots of websites online, at YouTube, etc., that can instruct you in that technique, and it may be helpful.

There are also techniques, like mantra meditation, third eye meditation, meditating on inner sound, etc., which do not use breathing as a primary technique. There are lots of options available, and you have got to find your own comfort level and what speaks to you. Glad to hear you are doing better. God's speed.

Thank You!

When you are focusing on the breath or aware of it, how do you do it?

Do you become aware of the rise and fall of the abdomen? Do you notice where the breath touches the inside of your nostrils? Do you count breaths? retain breaths? What is your method?

Maybe instead of focusing on the breath itself, you could try focusing on the regulation of breath through the nostrils. This is called Anuloma Viloma or Nadi Shodhana. I won't go into the practice...plenty of good YouTube videos and internet articles about it...look it up!

When the body becomes too hot, increase the inhalation through the left nostril proportional to the right nostril. If you get a headache, increase inhalation through the right nostril proportional to the left one.

If you still have difficulty, put your focus externally instead of internally and candle Trataka is great for that. Again, many videos and articles exist, so I won't go into it here.

All the best with it.