Breath

[Forestluv]

My vision is to explore breathing more deeply.

Over the past week, I've been doing 1hr of kundalini yoga and 1hr of facilitated breathwork with on online group. It's had opened new areas of awareness and experience. I see a lot of potential for awakenings, healing, mind-body awareness, personal development and clarity through breath. I will be describing my explorations in the journal. 

[Raptorsin7]

@Forestluv How do the breathwork sessions compare to psychedelic's experiences?

[Forestluv]

Tonight was my 9th consecutive night of facilitated breathwork with an online group. Every night has been deeply insightful, yet each in a unique way. I will describe my session tonight since it's fresh and I want to sit with it. I will describe some previous experiences in another entry.

It was a powerful breath work session tonight. Some things are being revealed from a different angle. So far ime, breathwork is one of the best ways to go beneath the ego / thinking mind and explore mind and body from a valuable conscious state. Yet I've found it does take work. There can be resistance in the beginning and one needs to have intention and motivation to let go of the thinking mind. Then, all sorts of things can arise.   

Tonight, he facilitator started off asking us to think of three vision / purpose words for the next year. The he asked us to think of one feeling word such as joy, love, peace, inspiration etc. He then told us that when we aren't feeling that we are misaligned to the vision. I thought "Hey, that kinda sounds like @Nahm". 

The the first 15min. of breathwork was to calming the mind and body. He than starting ramping it up with deeper, faster breaths with some tribal music. Then there was a switch to upbeat techno music and we launched off. My breathing became powerful. Every in-breath was "creation" and every out-breath was "experience" and the feeling driving it was "inspiration". And then all barriers fell and it was pure inspirational creative experience. 

Years ago I was a competitive marathon runner. During the intense breathing part tonight, it was like a was running intensely in the zone. Perhaps an intense tempo run. The body was breathing itself. I've been experiencing chest pain for a couple months, yet there was zero pain tonight. The lungs and body were powerfully breathing - fast smooth breaths driven by inspiration.

During the comedown, all sorts of inspirational images came to mind. Inspiring things I can create. Imaginations of facilitating a breathwork class at my college to help students realize and breakthrough their blocks - and to greater experience and express what they love. I felt inspired to start a breathwork facilitator program. 

During group chat after the session, I mentioned it was powerful and I wanted to integrate this. What do I do next? Lay down and reflect? Meditate? A couple people smiled and said "You now do what you love to do". A perfect answer.

After an hour or so, ideas of "Yea, but" began to arise. Things I "should do".  Yet it's nice to have the contrast. I'm in closer connection to creation, experience and inspiration. It's like a beacon of light that has appeared, yet it has dimmed down a bit. Hopefully with daily practice, the mind and body will get better conditioned to naturally move toward creation, experience and through the feeling of inspiration. 

* I should also mention that I am off work now and I live alone. So I don't have a lot of responsibilities at this time. As well, I've been doing 1hr per day of kundalini yoga, which is also impactful - so that may allow greater insights during the breathwork sessions. 

[Forestluv]

29 minutes ago, Raptorsin7 said:

@Forestluv How do the breathwork sessions compare to psychedelic's experiences?

In some ways, I can't put them into two different categories. I think my psychedelic experiences have influence my breathwork sessions. Last week after my second session, the facilitator said I was going places and asking questioning as if I had been doing breathwork for years. Most likely due to my psychedelic experience.

Ime, I would say that psychedelics are more mind expanding and zoom out. I've gotten a lot of personal insights from psychedelics. And they can go into transpersonal / transhuman realms. Here, anything I write is a contextualization at a human level. Psychedelics are more expansive than anything I can write here. Psychedelics have led to an understanding of nonduality, infinity, god-consciousness, love, systemic thinking, holism, and empathic abilities. Yet at a human level, I return to a mind and body with clogged pipes. Psychedelics aren't the best personal plumber imo.

Breathwork seems much more down to earth. It feels like "I" am present. Yet not the thinking-dominant me. The feeling, experience-of-now me. Breathwork is also far less intense. There is no body load and there are no anxiety issues. And it can be done every day for continuous healing, insights and restructuring of the mind. It can also be a great release of repressed emotions. During one session last week, I started screaming as loud as a possibly could. The body with rhymically breathing on it's own and I was taking in huge deep breaths so to scream louder on the out breath. My hands were tightly clenched and arms pumping with each breath. During the comedown, there was a wave of tears and relief. It felt like so much had been released. If this happened on psychedelics, it probably would have been a traumatic experience that kept me up all night. Yet with breathwork, it was an enormous release and relief. I had a peaceful night of sleep that night. 

[Nahm]

@Forestluv

That is wonderful to read man. ?? 

[Guest EmptyVase]

On 2.1.2021 at 1:38 AM, Forestluv said:

I see a lot of potential for awakenings, healing, mind-body awareness, personal development and clarity through breath.

It's a total game changer. For over 20 years, I could not breathe properly, due to asthma and a crooked nasal septum. After having finally fixed all that last year, an incredibly deep, transformative and healing process has started for me. Literally everything is changing.

What my yoga instructor said: The breath, our constant friend and companion.

Wish you well, while exploring. ??

[Raptorsin7]

@EmptyVase How did you heal your crooked nasal septum

[Guest EmptyVase]

@Raptorsin7 Surgery.

Btw, sorry for crashing your journal @Forestluv ?.

[Forestluv]

15 hours ago, EmptyVase said:

It's a total game changer. For over 20 years, I could not breathe properly, due to asthma and a crooked nasal septum. After having finally fixed all that last year, an incredibly deep, transformative and healing process has started for me. Literally everything is changing.

What my yoga instructor said: The breath, our constant friend and companion.

Wish you well, while exploring. ??

@EmptyVase Beautiful. Are you interested in breathwork as a practice in life? There are some breathwork communities popping up. There is also a power win breathing with a group. 

[Guest EmptyVase]

@Forestluv 

Oh for sure! Kriya Yoga pre- and post surgery makes a world of difference. It's just so much more powerful and less straining for the body now. It feels amazing.

I've never done breathing sessions in a group though. I actually wanted to join a rebirthing breathing session last year, but then covid happened. I can only imagine that there comes an intense atmosphere with group breathing sessions.

[Forestluv]

 Breathwork goes deeper and broader than I originally imagined. I now see it as a key aspect of integrated consciousness. I also realized that I’m just scratching the surface of it and there is much more to explore. 

I had another insightful breathing session tonight. It wasn’t any type of emotional release, yet more of an experience of mind and body. One thing I absolutely love about breathwork is that it subdues the thinking mind. I’m curious about the neuroscience of it. I wouldn’t be surprised if the DMN gets uncoupled.

The thinking mind slows down and thinking patterns of become in the background. Then the relationship to those thought constructs can be altered or let go of. And I like the control. I can let go of control or regain control. I can now relax into intense tingling and tetanus. I actually kinda like it. That is the zone in which mind-body experience is more prominent than thinking. I now know how to boost myself up there and ride it. It’s a place of Now and experience, that is really hard to describe. It feels right to the mind and body. Yet as the breathing slows down, the thinking mind returns. One encouraging sign is that the nightly breathwork zones are starting to feel more normal. I’d love to have those states be more prevalent in my daily life.

[Forestluv]

1 minute ago, EmptyVase said:

@Forestluv 

Oh for sure! Kriya Yoga pre- and post surgery makes a world of difference. It's just so much more powerful and less straining for the body now. It feels amazing.

I've never done breathing sessions in a group though. I actually wanted to join a rebirthing breathing session last year, but then covid happened. I can only imagine that there comes an intense atmosphere with group breathing sessions.

The one I joined is via zoom. I kinda like it because I can do it every night from the comfort of my home and they are led by trained facilitators (and it’s free). I can send you a DM if you are interested. 

[Guest EmptyVase]

@Forestluv

Yes, I'd love to join! ??

[lostmedstudent]

@Forestluv thank you for sharing your experience

i am interested in the group as well if you dont mind sharing it ?

14 hours ago, Forestluv said:

The one I joined is via zoom. I kinda like it because I can do it every night from the comfort of my home and they are led by trained facilitators (and it’s free).

i have tried a few times with michael stone it was a very insightful experience but his sessions are not free so i couldnt continue

[Forestluv]

For those interested in the breath work I’m involved in:

I’m joined a FB group called “21 day Breathwork Challenge”. There are are 2-3 sessions per day and they are led by trained professionals. There is a wide variety of themes including breath techniques, therapy, actualization, healing. It’s a great place to get a feel for a wide range of breath work and learn about different resources. It runs until Jan 21st and is free to join. There are usually 150+ people at each session, so not a small group. 

Once you join, you have access to some previous sessions and playlists. I hope they post up Keri’s session from today (Jan. 7th). She is the most gifted facilitator I’ve experienced so far.  

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1497493063738477/

I’ve also participated with Breathing Space that meets 3x per week. These are also led by trained facilitators. The groups are smaller and there is discussion after each session. It has a somewhat close community feel for me.

https://www.makesomebreathingspace.com/online-breathing-spaces-1

Another is a small group that meets nightly with about 5-10 people each night. It is a small tight-nit group and I don’t know if I can post the link on social media. I haven’t been able to get in touch with the facilitator. Yet he leads group this Sunday and I will ask him. If I’m able, I will either provide the link in this thread or vis DM.

Both resources have a variety of facilitating styles and themes. Some have been amazing for me and some have been meh. 

[Guest EmptyVase]

@Forestluv Thank you for the recommendation, it is very much appreciated. ??

[Loving Radiance]

@Forestluv Thank you for the links! Today I remembered that breathwork allows a smooth flow into resting in awareness.

[lostmedstudent]

@Forestluv thank you!!!!

[Forestluv]

Today’s 21 day session led by Barbara Carellas was amazing. The theme was peace and pleasure. She used imagery, breath, vocals, muscle contractions and relaxation to guide a journey through peace and pleasure. One thing I realized is how many blocks I have to peace and pleasure. I can have a hard time giving myself permission to experience peace and pleasure. There were so many different things trying to pull me out of it. 

It also compliments work I’ve been doing with the Mind Illuminated. This work involves awareness and attention. As Barbara led us through the breathing session, I was more aware of the mind getting distracted and wandering off. I as better able to return attention to the process / experience of the session. I’m also becoming more aware of how many things in life are competing for my attention. Often, the most sensational things win and grab my attention and engagement - even if it pulls me into places that I don’t want to engage in. Yet this is deeper awareness of nature below all the conditioning and mechanical behavior. 

[Forestluv]

I breathed tonight like I’ve never breathed before. The breathing just started breathing itself effortlessly. Fully relaxed flow state. Full body breathing. It was like playing a body instrument. The sensations, energy flow, imagination, pure experience. I was fully present for all of it, it’s  much easier to integrate than psychedelics and it isn’t taxing on the body.

The lead facilitator now wants to expand and gave permission to share on social media. The group I’m breathing with is called Breath Church (it is non-religious). We meet every night at 6-7pm (New York time, GMT -5) on Zoom. You can learn more and get the zoom link by request below (click “attend”).  It’s free. 

https://breathchurch.carrd.co/

Some sessions have professional facilitators. Each night has a different theme, yet most facilitators give plenty of space to have your own journey. I resonate strongly with a couple facilitators and not so much with a couple others. I resonate most strongly with Sage Rader. He has an amazing life story. Breathwork recently saved his life and he wants to share it with others. Yet he isn’t a new age breather. He is quite the character and can bring me into “The Zone”. He is my favorite facilitator for reaching trans-personal conscious states and he makes breathing fun! He facilitates Sunday and Monday. I also like Erin on Tues/Thurs. She works more at the personal level. 

If you have any questions, feel free to post in this journal or DM me. I’m Roger and I attend almost every night. So. . . now you know someone there! They are a great supportive, loving group and I hope to see you there!