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tamasaburo
USA
136 Posts |
 Posted - Jan 18 2010 : 3:26:30 PM
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Hi everyone, I've been wondering about this for a while and through practice I feel like maybe I've gained some insight, but it continues to be something I'm not sure I'm fully grasping:
In AYP spinal breathing and other similar pranayama-type techniques, the overwhelming tendency seems to be that the intention should go up on the inhale and down on the exhale. In a certain way, this makes perfect sense because the lungs do indeed fill up, creating a sense of fullness up top during inhale and then the reverse is true for exhale. However, in another sense, the movement of the diaphragm seems to run counter to this: during "normal" breathing (or perhaps almost any breathing?), the diaphragm goes down on the inhale and up on the exhale. Similarly, this movement seems counter to the movement of the air, which feels as if it's going down on the inhale and up on the exhale (not that I'm implying it's wrong if it is moving counter to the air--I'm just trying to make sure I'm getting it right).
Now, my inner sensitivities are probably still at a fairly gross level and so I can only feel my diaphragm in a fairly vague way (though I can feel my lungs more clearly and I guess I tend to think of the bottom of the lungs as being roughly equivalent to the diaphragm in terms of what I can feel and try to move). So my question is: should even the diaphragm be trying to move up on the inhale during spinal breathing and down on the exhale (i.e. reverse of normal)? Or does the diaphragm simply move counter to the mind and intent, going down on inhale even as the mind traces the spinal nerve up? I find myself wondering about this because my intent sometimes wants to follow the air down towards the perineum as it comes in on the inhale and up and out as the air goes out on the exhale. If it is moving counter to the air, should we be simultaneously sucking the air down and moving the intent up, or just ignoring what the actual air is doing in order to feel the movements of the spinal nerve?
This seems especially relevant to bhastrika pranayama, which I think I've been getting better at but maybe don't still fully grasp, since the diaphragm movement here is supposed to be central and isolated. I think I have a tendency to want to pull the diaphragm up on inhale in bhastrika, but I'm not sure if this is an error.
Thanks for any insights or comments. |
Edited by - tamasaburo on Jan 18 2010 3:32:40 PM |
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cosmic
USA
821 Posts |
Posted - Jan 20 2010 : 10:07:32 PM
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Hi tamasaburo,
I think breathing naturally and putting your attention on tracing the spinal nerve is the way to go. If something feels unnatural or conflicted, you might be trying to micromanage your breathing too much. Personally, I just let the breathing take care of itself, and trace the spinal nerve accordingly (up/inhale, down/exhale). That works fine for me.
Don't know if that answers your question, but I hope it helps.
Peace
cosmic |
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Intention and diaphragm in pranayama
