Breathing Exercises for Everyone!

[Seraphin]

Make sure that you have a pen and paper handy for after the Meditation! If you have to hunt for them afterwards you may forget things.

Colour Breathing

Begin by setting yourself in a relaxing position, whether standing, sitting, lying down, etc. If you like you can light some candles, and/or incense and put on music. (Although it may be better with either no or very basic music like a drum, to start with, as other music may become distracting from listening to your own rhythm.)

Start breathing deeply, in through the nose, with the tongue lightly touching the roof of the mouth behind the teeth, creating a connection from the lower jaw to the upper, and breathing out through the mouth with the tongue where it is comfortable for the out breath (not touching the roof of the mouth).

Concentrate on the breathing.

Concentrate on the sound of the breathing, hear the inhale, and hear the exhale.

Spend some time listening to your breathing; hear the rhythm of the breath. Try to hear your heart beat, beating along with the rhythm of your breath. If you have a drum, and wish to use it with this process, then feel free beat along to the rhythm and heart beat. As you listen, imagine a color for it, if there are multiple colors try concentrating on one for the moment rather than on several.

Visualise the color before you moving to the same time and rhythm as you. See it as alive and moving, dynamic.

Hear its rhythms along with yours.

Then as you breathe in visualise the color entering you with your breath, as your breath.

Drawing from the color before but not consuming it.

Visualise the color drawing down into your lungs.

With the exhale, visualize the color being drawn back from your lungs and out with your breath (as your Breath) back into the dancing pool of color.

Then concentrate on feeling your breath, feeling the color. As you breath in feel the color against your lips, your tongue and mouth, feel it going down your trachea or wind pipe, down to your lungs. Feel the color travelling into your blood stream and to the heart, feel the color pumped out through your body, as it does, feel those muscles relax. Feel the color return to you lungs and exhaled on the breath rejoining the pool of color as the cycle continues.

Make a mental note of any other feelings that come to you from the color, sensations of hot and cold for instance, or feeling of obstacle or blocking in any area and write them down after the meditation.

Concentrate then on tasting your breath, and the color, Imagine what the color tastes like to you, is it sweet, sour, bitter, salty or a combination? Does it have a different taste on exhale to inhale?

Can you taste it in other areas of your body aside from your tongue (taste buds)? Again make a mental note of it and write it down after the meditation.

Now concentrate on smell, what does the color smell like? Does the smell change as the color moves through your body, or out? Or perhaps it has no smell, note this again for later, and write it down afterwards.

Concentrate once more on the color; imagine it again moving through your body in a cycle, along with its associated feeling, smell and taste, and in rhythms to your body. Change this so that you are now only inhaling the color and not exhaling it. Feel it being absorbed into your body, and as it is absorbed feel it relaxing that area, and removing any blockages there. As the last of the color is inhaled and absorbed, feel totally relaxed, and at peace, and let your breathing slowly return to normal. Take a moment to enjoy the feeling and slowly return to your normal awareness, feeling relaxed and revitalized.

After that, write down the experience, how detailed you want to make it is up to you, but should include the date, the type of the exercise, and the notes such as the color, taste, smell etc., it should also include any images that you encounter. The reason for recording this is so that you can later pick up on recurring patterns and associations in your consciousness that can give you more self knowledge, for instance.

Benefits

The main benefit of this exercise is relaxation, and the reduction of stress. Use over a period of time, perhaps in conjunction with the other exercises and progression in further stages of Star Breathing will improve concentration, and visualisation, as well as awareness of your own body, and senses.

It may also help improve circulation, and breathing and potentially reduce blockages of any sort.

However that may or may not be able to be confirmed, or measured.

Chakra Breathing

Try the above exercise, but instead use it in relation to the chakras starting with the base. Whether you choose to isolate a chakra, and focus on the one area (perhaps covering them all over a series of meditations) or cover each chakra in turn is up to you.

I would recommend starting with the Base Chakra and moving upwards to the Crown, unless there is a particular chakra that requires work (to remove blockages for instance) that you wish to do in isolation.

I would not recommend opening and closing the chakras without research into Chakras and doing exercises to build your awareness of them (and taking it slowly), and that you feel confident in doing so or have someone that can guide you through it.

Rainbow Breathing

Similar to the above however concentrating on the chakras together, so instead of visualising red for the base chakra, and concentrating on that you visualise red energy coming up from the earth into your base chakra as you breath, then feel the color (energy) moving up to the next charka and changing in color to that (for instance Orange, then yellow, green, blue, indigo and lastly, violet) as it moves up and out the crown chakra in a fountain that returns to the earth.

Same recommendations as for the Chakra Breathing.

Element Breathing

If you have done no work around the elements I would recommend research and exercises that build your awareness of the elements before doing this exercise, unless of cause you feel confident in doing the exercise or have someone to guide you through. This is not so much that it is dangerous just that it may bring up experiences or associations that you might not be ready or willing to face.

In Element Breathing it is similar to the exercises above, except for instead of visualizing a color, visualize an element (obviously in a non-harmful context) and take that element (or rather an aspect of that element) into you, noting your associations to that element, and any images or impressions (or insights?) that you receive.

Healing Breathing

Similar to the first exercise, except you charge the color with an intention of healing, and as it goes through and is finally absorbed into the body, it is with a healing and soothing intent. I have read many meditations or healing rituals that suggest visualising a gold or white light (and I think I've heard also violet or lavendar as well) is the best for healing, however I think this is mostly preference, so use the color you most associate with healing, or feel most comfortable in using for this purpose.

Protective Breathing

Similar to the first exercise, except that instead of absorbing the color into your body, inhale the color and then exhale it into a clear protective bubble or crystal (or anything that works for you as a protective device).

Visualise the protective shield hardening. Repeat if multiple layers of protection are desired. You can use a sigil or symbol to charge the shield if you like, or do a multiple layer for each chakra.

I recommend having using a clear transperant shield (or etc.) as the setting up a shield of a particular color can also color your perception, with your associations to that color. However it can be done if that particular effect is desired temporarily (perhaps to counteract a patterned form of behavior, like in a job interview for instance).

Materialization Breathing

Instead of visualising a colour, visualise something you want to materialise in your life. Visualise its taste, smell, feel, sound and look, and then breath it in much like you did with the color. Absorb it the same way and think of it as a part of you, a part of your life, If its a material thing, imagine having it in the present, know that it is yours and will come to you.

This one is probably best used repeatedly over a period of times, the more times the better you will be able to visualise and the more likely it will come into your life. Notice I say likely not "will", I don't believe that it will come to you just because you want it, I think the way to get the item will come to you if you focus on it, however I have found that usually for me something will be required in exchange, ie work, study, going through a trial, etc. Also...

Be careful what you wish for... ('coz you might just get it.)

Binaural Breathing

To be used in conjunction with Binaural Beats

This is to be used with great caution, here the idea is to put yourself in a specific state of consciousness, or in other words Brain wave state (ie Alpha, Beta, Theta, Delta) normally for this it is to get into the Theta state where it is believed that Psychic(or shamanic) events happen, as well as lucid Dreaming,etc

I would recommend strongly that this only be undertaken by people well aware of their own self, and their psychology before attempting, or that has someone close who is able to note any changes and help you re-adjust back from any negative effects and/or bring you back to normal consciousness. I can't foresee this happening, as it doesn't force you into a brain state, and should not affect you anymore than music for instance, but just in case its better to be cautious than sorry.

Play the binaural beat of the state you wish to experience, note with delta you are likely to fall asleep, depending on your software you may be able to set it to move to that state gradually (for instance move slowly from alpha to Theta and then back up) which will of cause make it more effective. Then start the stage 0 breathing, attune your rhythms to the waves by using the colour as the go between, first adjust the color so that it is working in harmony with the waves then inhale it, feeling it effect your own rhythm adjusting it slowly to that of the waves.

When you feel you are in the desired state, you may wish to halt the meditation as written and just allow yourself to experience it without putting form to it, before then continuing the meditation and finishing up. If your software allows you to adjust the waves back to the normal state of Alpha or Beta, this is of course desired, or if doing this before bed you may want to have it go down to delta, and just go to sleep.

You can of course combine this with the other variant breathing techniques.

[BabyBear]

Love this post Seraphin its been awhile since ive even thought about this when I did my first attempting active practice of my path with my friend in 10th grade we were taught how to do the a breathing exersize like that with crystals to focus in and to absorb their properties
Ive not done it since that year and might start it back up thanks for the reminder lol

[Seraphin]

You are welcome Babybear!

In my experience, I could not have come to a meditative state if I had not begun with breathing exercise so I consider this one of my important notes.

Feel free to print it and follow the meditation.

[BabyBear]

My problem was meditation came to easy for me like honestly way to easy for me.
Ive even written some notes in my online BOS about how ive noticed that cus its so easy for me and always has been ive sorta fell out of caring about meditations as much as i did when i first started

im hoping that the breathing exercises will add back something like when i use to do them with my friends along with some other things i noted in my BoS post

[Zili]

I spent 8 years meditating after every karate lesson (a part of our class sessions to cool down and release excess energy, grounding). But for the better part of a year I have not been able to meditate. There's too much noise in my mind and I've become easily distracted. I always start with a bit of breathing exercise but the only one I really knew was the one we used in karate, not exactly the best for starting a meditation lol. Thanks for the post Seraphin I'm going to try some of these.

[Shub Niggurath]

Very informative thread seraphin, thanks for sharing. I'm definitely going to try the Elements Breathing, seems like an easy technique to get in touch with the elements more in depth and I've never thought of it.
The Binaural Breathing sounds interesting too. I'm listening to binaural beats quite regularly but the results never really satisfied me. It's hard to just listen to binaural beats when you have an absolute pitch - the difference between the frequencies is way too obvious to let you adjust the brainwaves effectively. I've noticed that it works a bit better with some background music so I'm curious if it'll work even better with the Binaural Breathing technique. Interesting.