I am fascinated by The Breath. I want to learn more about it.

[ivankiss]

It keeps blowing my mind. 

I think I already know quite a few things about it, but I feel like there's much, much more.

I'd like to understand it deeper and conceptualize it more clearly. 

Please share what comes to mind!

Thanks!

[Thought Art]

Exhale

https://www.amazon.ca/Exhale-Breathwork-Exercises-Supercharge-Perform/dp/0143135325

My copy is still on the way so I can't tell you much about it.

Edited June 4, 2021 by Thought Art

[kinesin]

@ivankiss

Quote

 

Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) is typically a benign, normal variation in heart rate that occurs during each breathing cycle: the heart rate increases when breathing in and decreases when breathing out.[1] RSA was first recognized by Carl Ludwig in 1847[9] but is still imperfectly understood.[10] It has been observed in humans from the early stages of life through adulthood,[11][1] and is found in several different species.[12][13][14]

During inhalation, the intra-thoracic pressure lowers due to the contraction and downward movement of the diaphragm and the expansion of the chest cavity. Atrial pressure is also lowered as a result, causing increased blood flow to the heart, which in turn decreases baroreceptors firing response which diminishes vagal tone. This causes an increase in heart rate.[1]

During exhalation, the diaphragm relaxes, moving upward, and decreases the size of the chest cavity, causing an increase in intrathoracic pressure. This increase in pressure inhibits venous return to the heart resulting in both reduced atrial expansion and increased activation of baroreceptors. This relieves the suppression of vagal tone and leads to a decreased heart rate.[1]

 

from wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vagal_tone#Respiratory_sinus_arrhythmia

The vagus nerve mediates activity between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.  Your breathing rate and pattern is under your direct conscious control, meaning that learning to be aware of your breathing at all times will give you a high degree of insight into your physiological state, and learning to control your breathing in specific ways will give you absolute control over many bodily processes which are still mostly considered to be autonomous by medical science.

Trust me, this knowledge is the key to understanding the significance of breathing.  Hardly anyone is aware of this, it's at the absolute cutting edge of breath mastery.  There will be many other answers in this thread, but this is the only one you need.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sympathetic_nervous_system

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasympathetic_nervous_system

Slow, deep inhalation leads to sympathetic nervous activity.  Slow, deep exhalation leads to parasympathetic nervous activity.

Edited June 4, 2021 by kinesin

[RendHeaven]

 

[The0Self]

@ivankiss This is a fantastic endeavor with fruit beyond measure.

? 

[Guru Fat Bastard]

The Yogi's of lore knew a thing or two.

[Zigzag Idiot]

Underneath I’ve pasted a bit from Chance and Choice. It goes along with the excellent material  @kinesin posted.

 

Esoteric traditions have always known that the autonomic nervous system is the key to Awareness and thus to spiritual development. The autonomic system is the doorway to the wisdom of the body. The body systems may be unconscious, and the autonomic nervous system may be outside "our control," that is, our ego control, but it is still a part of us, the holistic self. For this reason some people have learned to control some of the autonomic systems, and a few Yogis for instance, can slow down, or even stop, the heart for a short time.

The autonomic nervous system is divided into two parts: sympathetic and parasympathetic. The sympathetic system accelerates the twelve organ systems of the body with adrenaline. It is tuned to the left hemisphere of the brain -- the ego, time and waking consciousness. The parasympathetic system does just the opposite. It slows down the organs. It is tuned to the right hemisphere of the brain -- to self, space and dreaming.

The sympathetic design system connects the organs to the spinal cord horizontally. The spinal cord is related with one nerve to the cerebellum, and 20 nerves to the organ systems, through the twelve chest vertebrae and the five lumbar vertebrae. Thus in waking we are not just apprehending the real world, but are also processing the reactions of the organs. For that reason we naturally create the human environment in part as an organic projection. For example, we build kitchen's for our stomach, and toilet and sewer systems for our waste elimination organ system. Our skeleton is like our machines, our brain is like our computers. We build facilities like our liver for power and energy production, and our fashions are related to our skin and sensation system. We have to get in tune with our body and its twelve systems to understand our environment.

The slowing parasympathetic nervous system is only connected to the head nerves and to the sacrum. There are no connections with the vertebrae. The directive tenth nerve, vagus nerve, which actually changes it position over time and is thus known as the "wandering nerve," branches out to other organ systems. But the vargus nerve does this in a 1:1 relation, not 20:1 as in the sympathetic system. The deceleration side of the nerves is tied to the spiritual side of man. The quickening is tied to the material. For example, in the male sex organs, erection depends on the parasympathetic system, on romantic love. Ejaculation comes from the sympathetic system, from the movement of love making, from quickening.

Consciousness is inherently fragmented. It follows the numbers one to infinity. Awareness is holistic, unifying. It follows the number zero. Slowing down and quickening have a limit which leads to the same experience from two different directions. Slowing down the associations in Yoga creates a state of meditation. Quickening can lead to the greatest velocity, the speed of light, illumination. The slowing down is stopping, absolute zero, which again is illumination, but of a different character. As soon as you come to a full stop and reach complete silence and center, you are in the same place as the speed of light, and illumination will come by itself. This has been described by many Asian traditions and scientifically by transpersonal psychologists like Charles Tart. Thus Yin/Parasympathetic and Yang/Sympathetic blend in total awareness of Chi. With this blending a human can be totally awakened to both this and the next world.

Taken from  chapter four - http://www.chanceandchoice.com/course-overview/brain-and-mind/

 

[Applegarden8]

Sadhguru has told alot of info about breath on youtube, particularly on his sadhguru exclusive.

If you want to inquire about the breath, alot of yogis and monks generally are the way to go. A bhuddist monk also has alot knowledge about the breath, shinzen young comes to mind.

[ivankiss]

Awesome! Thanks everyone!

[Javfly33]

Simple. It's imaginary. 

[gettoefl]

i think this channel is real good

https://www.youtube.com/c/TAKEADEEPBREATH/videos