90 Days of daily Yogic breathing technique

[lennart]

For the next 90 days I want to do a breathing technique called nadi shodana or alternate nostril breathing. The technique goes as follows. One closes the right nostril and breathes through the left in then you switch and breathe through the right out and in then you switch again and again. I will be doing this practice for 5 minutes daily and I will gibe you some updates. Cause I think this might be helpful and interesting to some of you guys. I will update you on a weekly basis. Cheers

[lennart]

My motivation for this practice is to reduce some stress and anxiety in my day to day life and to become a little more relaxed. Also I want to build my discipline

[lennart]

The first week is over and now I want to share my experiences with this practice. 

Day 1: did it right after waking up so I was really groggy, but did it anyway. I have to pull my nostrils open a little bit because otherwise I cant really breath through them. It was a little bit a strain but not very much. Other than that there were not really dramatic effects. I breathed into my belly which felt like I was getting an organ massage. 

 

Day 2: My nostrils were completely closed so I cleaned them with my Neti pod. After that they were more open. I did the practice right after waking up. It made me me a little bit more awake which was very nice.

 

Day 3: Did it in the morning again and it calmed me. I think because I have to think a little bit about when to switch the nostril I can calm down the monkey mind a little bit.

 

Day 4: This time my nostrils were quite open. I started to notice that after a few breaths I get into the rhythm of it which relaxes me. 

 

Day 5: Today I wasnt feeling that good cause I have a light cold.

Despite of that I could breath through my nostrils. I was a little bit agitated. 

 

Conclusion:

This is only the beginning but I can already feel that this practice has something to offer. It is calming and can make you more focused which is very nice. I am looking forward to continue it.

[lennart]

I do this practice with a friend ( @youngshinzenof mine so we can motivate each other to stay on track. Here are his notes:

Day 1: Wasn‘t sure how to time the breaths

Left nostril was 90% closed, even after using neti pot

Noticed how my thoughts wandered

5min were pleasant to start with

 

Day 2: Used the 4/7/8 technique as breathing intervals after a hiit workout

The workout helped to open up the nostrils

Tried to stay as present as possible

Noticed the darkness behind the eyelids

 

Day 3: Again 4/7/8 after HIIT

Used a timer but somehow it didn‘t ring so it was probably a bit longer than 5 min

Towards the end I was a little lightheaded

But my mind felt more calm, silence was building up

 

Day 4: Felt emotional stress and took some time to do the 4/7/8 technique

During the breathing I‘m more aware of how much I‘m thinking

So I slowly bring it down by focusing

Nostrils were dry and breathing was painful at first, but improved later on

Feels like a subtle reboot

[lennart]

Day6: Did the bresthing this time for 6 min cause with five minutes I had the feeling it was a little bit too short. My nostrils were open so I could breath well. Ich tried to focus on every inhale and exhale. Which worked semi well. And I tried to slow down the breaths.

 

Day 7: Did the breathing very slow. Was very sleepy. So I didnt close my eyes. I tried to fucus on every breath but my attention always drifted away.

 

Day 8: The first time I did the breathing my left nostril was half closed which was really annoying. So I stopped and cleaned it with my neti pod. Then I started again and it was much better. I was maybe a little bit more calm. I used this technique yesterday in university on the toilet and it kind of rebooted me a little bit.

 

Day 9: Did the breathing after cleaning my nostrils. Nothing extraordinary happened. My right nostril is usually more open..

 

Day 10: Just did the breathing after a long sleepless night of working for last university presentation. Always at least one of my nostrils is closed ?. But one thing I noticed is that I can smell more kind of which is really great.

 

Day 11: Did the breathing lying down. Wasnt working as good as seated. Subtle calmness

 

Day 12: Did it after waking up which felt good. Focused on my eyelids. It felt a little bit like getting out of breath. Maybe because I struggled to breathe through my right nostril.

 

Those are my notes for the second week: This week the practice actually helped me to cope with the stress from university. My main struggle is that my nostrils are closed almost every day and that makes the breathing hard for me. What I also noticed was that on wednesday my sense of smell was heightened. This could be because of the breathing. 

[lennart]

Day 13: After neti pod my nostrils were open. I came into the rythm fast and it made me more present

 

Day 14: Caught myself a few times doing it mechanically. Then I deliberately slowed down and became more mindful.

 

Day 15: Didnt had to clean the nostrils this time. I became really present after a while and I could feel at the end when I opened my eyes that my awareness was slightly affected. 

 

Day 16: My mind always drifted towards other things. I couldnt really focus on the breathing. But nontheless I had a tiny effect of calmness.

 

Day 17: Was a little tired because of too little sleep. Felt very effortless. No resistance in the nostrils. Did a small pause between the exhale and inhale.

 

Day 18: Did it for 7 minutes. Slowed down the breath and paused a little bit after exhaling. Was hard to focus the mind.

 

Day 19: In the beginning I was very  unsettled but towards the end my breath slowed down more and I became more relaxed

 

Conclusion after 3 Weeks:

It seems like this practice makes me calmer almost everytime. I wouldnt say the effects are dramatic but they are noticeably. I hope this calming effect will increase over the time. Also I upped the time to 7 min now. I might go up to 10 min. But I dont want to do much more than that because it is more important for me to keep the daily practice than to go deeper in the practice. I trust that this will happen over time.

[Arnold666]

Hit it hard bro, pranayamas gonna change your life. The breath is the controller/wheal/shifting gear for the mind/body. I red more than 500 self help, psychology and spiritual books in the last 2 years and if you ask me for one tool that is the most powerful pranayama is the answer. 

[Dimi]

Keep on doing it especially when you think you need to "ground" yourself!

I would recommend you to try out shambhavi mahamudra, it's a sequence of practices which also contains nadhi shuddi (shodhana).

You will have even more benefits i can guarantee you that, have done it myself and know some others who did it as well ?

 

This however is available to learn from Isha Foundation (sadhguru) and needs to be teached properly, That's very important! You could do more harm than good if doing it "wrongly".

Let me know if you are interested about shambhavi.

Good luck with the rest!

Love

Edited July 21, 2019 by Dimi

[lennart]

3 hours ago, Dimi said:

Keep on doing it especially when you think you need to "ground" yourself!

I would recommend you to try out shambhavi mahamudra, it's a sequence of practices which also contains nadhi shuddi (shodhana).

You will have even more benefits i can guarantee you that, have done it myself and know some others who did it as well ?

 

This however is available to learn from Isha Foundation (sadhguru) and needs to be teached properly, That's very important! You could do more harm than good if doing it "wrongly".

Let me know if you are interested about shambhavi.

Good luck with the rest!

Love

I am definiteley interested. I will keep doing this practice for the full 90 days and afterwards I will decide how I will continue. I am also very interested in Qi Gong exercises and Wim Hof Method...

[lennart]

4 hours ago, Arnold666 said:

Hit it hard bro, pranayamas gonna change your life. The breath is the controller/wheal/shifting gear for the mind/body. I red more than 500 self help, psychology and spiritual books in the last 2 years and if you ask me for one tool that is the most powerful pranayama is the answer. 

Thanks for the encouragement. Which pranayama techniques do you do else? And for how long have you been doing them?

 

[zeroISinfinity]

Pranayama breathing is so powerful. ?❤️

[lennart]

Day 20: Hadnt had much sleep. Felt a little bit long. At first I breathed normal than I started to breath into my belly which felt much better.

 

Day 21: Breathed into my belly. Felt good. Before alternate nostril breathing I did 3 rounds of wim hof breathing. This makes me very euphoric. So I was already in a good place. I feel very calm now.

 

Day 22: Breathed into my belly which felt like a little organ massage. Tried to focus on the sensations in the nostrils. Whenever the mind wandered I brought it back

 

Day 23: Did Ujjayi breathin on the exhales. I contracted my throat so the exhale became longer. When opening my eyes again everything was kind of more fresh

 

Day 24: First I did the Ujjayi breathing then I started to make my bresth very soft and quiet so I had to focus on it to perseve it.

 

Day 25: I am currently on a festival. 

Because of that I didnt have the opportunity to clean my nostrils with neti pod. So my left nostril was pretty closed. Because of that I decided to just do normal breathing through both nostrils. I breathed deeply into my belly. I got pretty relaxed and almost fell asleep.

 

Day 26: Today I did the breathing at a wonderful spot by a lake. I felt scattered. At one point during the breathing I got a little bit more focused. I feel like the benefits are very subtle which makes it easy for the mind to dismiss them....

[lennart]

The place where I did the breathing

[lennart]

Day 27: Had a pain in my neck area so it was hard to concentrate on the breathing. 

I slowed the breathing down which calmed me a bit then I forgot about it and the mind chatter started again

 

Day 28: Was still sleepy. Breathed into my belly which felt good. I got a little bit out of breath because I controlled the breath length too much I think. Other than that I got a little moment of presence.

 

Day 29: Sat with a straight spine on my bed while my eyes were open. Breathed into my belly. It was sobering. I settled.

 

Day 30: 

- Sat on the balcony

- felt very present and calm

- towards the end I started to become unsettled and thought about how much time this would take

 

Day 31: 

- sat on the balcony at my grandmas house

- there was a lot of chaos and a little argument between my grandma and my mom

- the breathing technique made me a little bit calmer

- although my stomach pain was very distracting

... not the best conditions ?

 

Day 32: Sat on the balcony and did normal deep belly breathing. In through the nose and out through the mouth. Calmed down.

 

Day 33: 

- left nostril was a little closed

- deep diaphragmatic breathing

- 6 minutes

 

Conclusion after 4 weeks: more and more I have moments of presence they arent very strong but I think through consisten practice they can become more predominent...

[lennart]

Day 34: Mini atem session (3min): 

I was in a bad mood because I got teased by my brother. I couldnt let go of it even an hour after. So I went to the bathroom and did 3 min of breathing. Afterwards I felt definitely better than before. My anger wasnt as gripping and was slowly overcome by benevolence. Great! Unfortunately the peace dissipated after a while but the anger was permanently weakened.

Did two of those

 

Day 35: Did 5 min upon waking up

Right nostril was a little bit closed which irritated me a bit

But I got into it quickly

Felt like I was doing the switching in a trance while 

my mind went on doing its thing.

 

Day 36: 

- 6 min

- on the balcony

- had some moments of wakefulness

- then the monkey mind came in: “ great I will write about this in my blog”

- the diaphragmatic breathing is good for massagen the stomach area

 

Day 37: 

- 6 min 

- sat on the balcony and listened to the birds

- felt very peaceful

- at one point I lost focus

 

Day 38: 

⁃    5 min in my bed

    ⁃    Breathing deep into the belly 

    ⁃    Feels good to open up the belly area

    ⁃    A little bit more centered

 

Day 39: 

- 6 min on the balcony

- after some breaths the breath slowed down 

- I became more aware: became aware of the colour behind my closed eyelids and some sounds

 

Day 40: 

- got a good organ massage through the belly breathing

- had a little neck pain which was disturbing 

- felt better after

 

Conclusion after 6 weeks: 

This week I had a day were the technique was really helpful for me ( Day 34). I am enjoying the technique so far. The effects arent always noticeable but for example it always feels good to breath into my belly because it wakes up and massages the organs.

[lennart]

Day 41: 

- In the mornings I most often have a little stomach pain and the belly breathing is really good for alleviating that. 

- breathed for 6 minutes

- I wanted to do box breathing (3-3-3-3) but it was too straining so I just breathed naturally

- felt more awake afterwards

 

Day 42: 

Did 5 minutes of a guided breathing video + positive visualization with relaxing background music

Was feeling very good.

 

Day 43: 

- 5 min

- had a lot of thoughts but I let them go

- was feeling calmed and refreshed after

 

Day 44:

- sat straight without back support

- was difficult to breath into the belly

- I think its better to lean against something for me

 

Day 45: 

- sat on the balcony in the sun of chair

- got in to the rythm and had a moment of being very mindful

 

Day 46:

- did 4 min on the balcony and got interrupted 

- then I did 5 min in my bed lying down

- my stomach hurt a little bit 

- so I couldnt breath as deep

 

Day 47: 

- Was laying on my bed

- breathed deeply and counted my breaths which made it easier for me to stay focused

 

Conclusion after 7 weeks:

I still like the calming effect of the exercise and it is handy to do when one is in a negative mood. I intend to go to 10 min from now on

[lennart]

Day 48: 

- 5 min laying on my bed

- Lying down works well for me

- Counted in my mind the in and out breaths. That helps me to stay focused

- Will do another 5 min session later

 

- again 5 min laying on my bed

- After a long hike and I was really exhausted and tired

- It felt so good to breathe into my stomach had a lot of pleasant sensations in there

- I counted the breaths which helped with my concentration

 

Day 49:

- did 10 min laying in bed 

- counted the in and out breaths and focused on the blackness behind my eyelids which helped a lot to stay focused

- belly breathing was pleasant for the stomach

 

Day 50:

- 10 min laying on the bed

- was hard to focus even with the counting

- it felt very long and in the last minute I needed to check my phone

 

Day 51:

- 10 min sitting on my bed

- counted the breaths and tried to refocus when mind wandered

- afterwards I was calmer

 

Day 52: 

- 6 min laying in bed

- counted from 10 backwards which helped to stay focused because one has to be more alert to count backwards

- became more present towards the end

 

Day 53:

- nose was clogged so I did normal breathing for 6 min laying on my bed

- breathed in to my belly while counting

- Recognized that when I focus on my eyelids I become very present

 

Day 54: 

- 6 min laying down in bed. I really relaxed me and in the end I layed there and just noticed the darkness behind the eyelids.

 

Conclusion after 8 weeks: 

You likely noticed that I didnt stick with the 10 min. Thats because it felt like the 10 min were just too long and I didnt wanted to force myself to do it because than it would be likely that I wouldnt do it. Also I notice how there are little moments of being present. Especially when focusing on the darkness behind eyelids. It seems that this is useful for me. I enjoy doing it daily. It makes me kind of proud to have gotten this far.

[lennart]

Day 55: 

- 6 min laying in Bed

- had a little pain in my neck are because I exercised before

- counted the breaths from 1 to 10 and then backwards

- helped me to recognize when I lose focus

- after a few breaths the breath slowed down

 

Day 56: 

- 6 min laying in bed

- my right nostril was a little bit closed

- did the breathing anyway

- tried to really let go on the exhales

- counted the breaths and focused in the end behind my eyelids -> more present

 

Day 57:

- 7 min sitting in bed

- tried to progressively slow down the breath

- I made a little pause between the outbreaths and in breaths

- I became more mindful

 

Day 58:

- sat on my bed with back support 

- 7 min

- I tried to really slow down the breaths

- when it was very slow I became more aware

 

Day 59: 

- 7 min sitting in bed

- I tried to breath really slow but after a while I got out of breath and I breathed harder again. 

- when I opened my Eyes it felt like I was gone

 

Day 60:

- 8 min sitting on my bed

- slow breathing + countin the breaths

- a few times I lost focus and forget the counting

- felt that I got into the parasympathetic nervous system

 

Day 61:

- 8 min sitting on my bed

- On the exhales I could really relax my muscles. Especially in the face

- more relaxed afterwards

 

Conclusion after 9 weeks:

I am starting to slowly increase the duration. Sometimes I go deeper than other times but thats ok. I can relax a little more I think also.

[Arnold666]

Here is something helpful for ya from this guy Lucas Rockwood

Think of your breathing as either water, whiskey or coffee. Water breath is balancing, always a good choice, day or night; and it can be used freely without a worry. Whiskey breath is down-regulating, relieves stress, and can help put you to sleep. Coffee breath is up-regulating, wakes you up, and prepares your body for activity and exercise. Your breathing pattern is defined primarily by your rate of breathing, meaning how fast or how slowly you breathe. As you're reading this now, you're probably breathing about 8-15 breathes per minute. This slightly-elevated breathing pattern is the "normal" in today's busy world. You can affect your breath and your nervous system response in a matter of minutes simply by changing your breathing rate.

? Water Breath / Balanced Breathing: 4-6 breathes per minute

When you breathe 4-6 breathes per minute, it has an adaptogenic effect on your nervous system. If you're up, it will bring you down; if you're down, it will bring you up. You can practice Water Breath standing, seated, lying down, and even while driving. Like drinking a glass of water, it's always safe, always appropriate, and always healthful.

✔️️Practice any time, day or night
✔️️Use before high-stress meetings or presentations
✔️️Use if you're feeling sluggish midday
✔️️Use during all yoga practices and low-intensity exercise

?Whiskey Breath / Down-Regulating Breath: < 4 breathes per minute

When you reduce your breath below 4 breathes per minutes, it triggers a strong parasympathetic (rest and digest) nervous system response, reduces your heart rate, reduces activity in skeletal muscles, and improves digestion. This type of breathing is great after meals, in the evening, and most-commonly, right before bed. This practice should be done seated or lying down, and never while driving or doing anything standing or active. It's extremely common for students to fall asleep while using Whiskey Breath, so it should be used with care, only when appropriate.

✔️️Use primarily before bed
✔️️Can be used (with care) to reduce intense stress or anxiety
✔️️After eating, this breathing pattern can aid in digestion

☕Coffee Breath / Up-Regulating: > 20 breathes per minute

When you breathe at the rate of 20 breathes per minute or more, it stimulates your sympathetic nervous system which is ideal before exercise, before busy or task-related work, and also in the morning. Rapid breathing reduces CO2 in the bloodstream which leads to constriction of your breathing passageways and veins, so it should be practiced briefly, with care, and only at appropriate times. Never practice while driving.

✔️️Use first thing in the morning
✔️️Use just before yoga or exercise

[Arnold666]

Coffee: Wim Hoff, Kapalabhati, bhastrika = 

Water /ish : Anuloma Viloma, Nadi shuddhi, ujjayi breath.

Beer: Bhramari, Ohm chanting etc.
 

So use it for the right purpose, and also, please do at least 15 minutes so you can clearly see what is changing in your experience.

Edited September 2, 2019 by Arnold666