Leo's shamanic breathing technique

[Jordan94]

I've been trying the shamaning breathing technique that leo describes in that video

 

 

I'm really interested in using it before my vipassana meditation session to improve the quality of my focus and meditation basically (right now if I meditate 1 hour I will be actually focused on the sensations barelly 20-25% of the time on average, which i find quite low)

It has worked well, but my throat gets really dry and it get really unconfortable and really really hard for me to continue and not to swallow saliva to moist (i've tried drinking a lot of water prior as well), to the point where doing it even only 10-15 minute was already really hard and unconfortable

 

So my question is, is there an alternative to this technique (or maybe just breathing the same way with no interuption but throught the nose) that will produce the same concentration benefits ?  Wim Hoff's breathing technique ?

Edited August 6, 2018 by Jordan94

[YogiLogan]

Try oiling the throat

[Jordan94]

Thanks for the advice

I took 2 spoon of olive oil tonight before my practice

Felt quite disconfortable in my throat so i took some water after

 

And then for the breathing, i didn't really feel much difference from normal, still quickly i really need to swallow saliva

[Osm]

@Jordan94 I don't think you're supposed to take water after the oil

[Leo Gura]

Olive oil tends to be quite bitter. You might want to find a more neutral oil, like MCT oil.

[Marcell Kovacs]

Actually swallow the saliva, it's fine!

I've done several retreats using solely this technique and swallowing is actually OK, contrary to what Leo or anyone says on the forum. It's not like if you swallow, all your progress up to that point will be lost, everything continues. Also, when you feel like your throat is getting dry, swallow as much saliva as you can and continue with the practice afterwards. This obviously, shouldn't take more than 5 seconds. Use your nostrils to breathe in and out while you're swallowing and everything will be fine, that is what I do every single time. I also used to be so frustrated by this, but eventually realised there's no reason.

Another thing Leo recommends is building up to 90 minutes which in my opinion (at least in my experience) is useless. The peak usually kicks in at around 35-40 minutes and settles down around the 55 minute mark, therefore I find that 60 minutes is usually enough for me. I've done several 90 minute sessions and honestly no matter how hard I tried to get to the peak during those 30-35 minutes it never happened. Also, of course after your timer is up, you want to lie on the floor for another 20-30 minutes to let the emotions purge.

[wren]

Hi Jordan,

 

I have found this technique to be enormously beneficial. In the first session, I was really surprised at the altered states of consciousness attainable without any substances. In the second session, I was able to work through some personal issues. And in the third session, it was the first time that I actually saw that some of this mystical mumbo jumbo might be real. It was the first time I actually felt my materialist paradigm start to crumble.

 

Regarding the dry mouth and throat - you could try a diffuser or humidifier with or without oils.

Or you could try just pushing through. I swallowed saliva when I needed to. I went through lots of different phases. Sometime I was producing so much saliva I had to swallow every minute or so. Sometimes my mouth was bone dry and I had to hold my lips like a tunnel and just keep going. I tried through my nose for a little while, but couldn't get the volume of air that I could through my mouth. I even had a sip of water if I needed to. A few seconds break across a whole hour did not seem to affect it. Because it kept changing, I found that if I pushed on through, it wouldn't be a problem.

 

I find 60 minutes best. I couldn't really tell the difference between 60 and 90.

The real realization for me was that the real work, the real experience wasn't during the breathing. Like Marcell said, it was the 30 mins afterwards. I don't know if for me it was purging emotions, or surging consiousness. Lie in corpse pose. Breath naturally (and by allowing myself to breath naturally, I actually found my breath was very slow, light and subtle). That's it. No need to meditate, no need to think. That's when the magic happens.

 

I hope you find a way to make it work, because for me - this technique is definitely worth the effort.

[Leo Gura]

@Jordan94 You could also try breathing through the nose.

With all these kinds of techniques, it's not about strictly adhering to the rules, it's about finding what is workable for you, your mind, your personality, your body. Stick to the spirit of the technique but otherwise feel free to experiment a bit. That way you will customize it to suit your individual needs.

[Widdle Puppy]

I am not so disciplined with the actual breathing method of holotropic breathing. Stan grof doesn't teach it to be so specific either. Just follow the general idea of it. You don't have to keep pushing yourself if it's incredibly difficult and making you rigid and focusing so much on the method, but if you are to go down that path then so be it. 

For me I continue doing it and push myself and when it gets super hard I push myself until it doesn't feel right to keep pushing. 

[Jordan94]

Thanks for all the answers some great advices there

 

So I'll just keep experimenting

Tonight I tried going with the nose, it was obviously way more comfortable, I still did feel similar effects after I stopped after 10 minutes : lots of quite intense thingling sensations especially in the front part of the 3rd chakra, breath that can go wayyyy slower kinda as if I didn't need much air anymore, good level of presence, although i felt that the stillness of the mind was maybe a bit weaker than the last times, although it might just be a coincidence too, so yea i'll keep experimenting some, i'm already quite happy with the effects on the focus with only 10 minutes of nasal breathing also