Breathing transports oxygen into the body and carbon dioxide out of the body. Aerobic organisms require oxygen to create energy via respiration, in the form of energy-rich molecules such as glucose Humans typically breathe between 12 and 20 times per minute, with children breathing faster than adults. Babies may breathe as much as 40 times per minute. Adults normally breathe about 500-700ml of air at a time. An average 14 year old takes around 30,000 breaths per day. Breath is sometimes used as a metaphor for life itself ...

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• Breath - Control of Breathing

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Breath, Breath - Control of Breathing

Read more here: » Breath: Encyclopedia II - Breath - Control of Breathing

Control of breath means the cessation of the outgoing and ingoing movements of breath. Breath is the gross representative of the subtle, vital force inside the body. Just as by catching hold of the key of a timepiece you do not allow it to move and the subtler cog wheels and finally the subtlest hair-spring come to a standstill, even so, by the control of that force which sets into motion the mind, the mind stops its motion. It is Prana that makes the mind move. If the Prana is stopped the mind cannot move and a state of stillness (Manonasha) comes. Therefore: "stopping of the movement of Prana is Pranayama" ("Pa ...

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Pranayama, Pranayama - Control of breath, Pranayama - Quotes, Pranayama - Cautions

Read more here: » Pranayama: Encyclopedia II - Pranayama - Control of breath

Kriya Yoga: The Breath of God Is Our Breath of Life

Kriya Yoga gives extreme importance to the breath. It teaches that breath control is self control, breath mastery is self mastery, it is deathlessness. If you take a very short breath and seek God in the fontanel and the pituitary, you will attain calmness and God realization. The Bhagavad Gita, verse 5:27, mentions this short breath: "We are to fix our attention in the pituitary, take a very short breath and touch Him in the pituitary and in the fontanel." The breath must be so short that if you place your finger in front of your nose, the outgoing breath will not touch the finger.

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Pranayama is defined as breath control, but actually, Prana is energy, the type of energy that is received from Kether or from the spiritual world. It is sometimes defined as a white light that emanates from on high or that is surrounding us at all times. Call it what you like, it is possible to energize our electrochemical bodies by controlled breathing, and the Pranayama methods are highly effective in attaining specific energy states.

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The sage Patanjali postulated an eight-fold system of spiritual yogic practice for achieving the divine goal. It comprises:

Yam (Controls) Niyam (Rules and regulations) Asan (Bodily Postures) Pranaayam (Breath Control Exercises) Pratyahaar (Sense control) Dharana (Concentration) Dhyaana (Meditation) Samadhi (Mergence)

(See also: Patanjali, Yoga, Yoga and Health, Yoga Systems, Yoga Positions)

Pranayama is the fourth limb of Raja Yoga expounded in the Yoga Sutras of Patañjali. Prana is the source of which energy evolves from. It is the universal substrate. Pranayama is the knowledge and control of Prana. In a systematic manner Patañjali proceeds from the external sheath of man and slowly proceeds to the subtler and subtler sheaths. Breath and mind are closely interdependent and interpenetrating. Pranayama - Control of breath. Control of breath means the cessation of the outgoing and ingo ...

Including:

• Pranayama - Control of breath
• Pranayama - Quotes
• Pranayama - Cautions

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Our existence can be broadly divided into three categories - thinking, feeling and being conscious. The common link between all three is our attention. When we respond to something, physical or mental, consciously or unconsciously, we take our attention to the related part of the body. When we think, our attention is in the brain and when we carry out habitual activities, it is probably in the spinal cord.

(See also: Sudarshan Kriya, Faith and Belief, Spiritual Guidance, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Meditation and Breath

Meditation is the practice of turning the attention from outer awareness to inner concentration. In the practice of Kundalini Maha Yoga, meditation is much more than a relaxation technique. It is a way of easing resistance to the ascent of the Kundalini energy by quieting the fluctuations of the mind. Of all the forms of meditation, meditation through attention on the breath is the simplest and most direct way to Self-realization.

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Breathing Meditation: Radio Interview with Swami Prajnanananda Giri

This is a transcription of an interview with Swami Praj–anananda Giri for the "PhenomeNews" radio program in Detroit, USA, in December 1996.

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Breathing: God Is In The Gap Between Breaths

God is in the breath inside the breath, said Kabir. He showed that anyone can become illumined from within. Osho once explained a sutra from Kabir's song: "Student, tell me what is God?" he asks. He provides the answer: "He is the breath inside the breath."

God is your subjectivity; He is your innerness. Buddha made it a great technique for meditation, watching the breath, because through watching it you will come to know the breath inside the breath. 'Breath' means life. In Sanskrit it is pran or life. In Hebrew,

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Pranayama or breath control signifies stretching, extending and regulating our breathing process. Pranayama can be used as a preparation for meditation wherein it cleanses the body and the mind. It also helps to maximise the benefits of the practice of yogasanas and also focusing the mind.

(See also: Pranayama, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Yoga-II

Yoga is primarily a process of self-culture. Its aim is the attainment of spiritual perfection or Self-realisation. The process of Yoga pertains to the control of the physical organs, the breath, the mind and the senses.

From "Kundalini Yoga" by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Yoga: Yoga for Self-realisation

Prana is the sum total of all energy that is manifested in the universe. It is the vital force, Sukshma. Breath is the external manifestation of Prana. By exercising control over this gross breath, you can control the subtle Prana inside. Control of Prana means control of mind. Mind cannot operate without the help of Prana. It is the Sukshma Prana that is intimately connected with the mind. Prana is the sum total of all latent forces which are hidden in men and which lie everywhere around us. Heat, light, electricity, magnetism are all the manifestations of Prana. Prana is related to mind; through mind to the will; through will to the individual soul, and through this to the Supreme Being.

Excerpt from the book Kundalini Yoga by Sri Swami Sivananda.

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Shaktipat Initiation - Awakening the Kundalini

Kundalini can be awakened by attaining perfection of certain hatha yoga postures called asanas, by certain breathing exercises aimed at controlling the breath called pranayama, by God's grace, by meditation or by intense devotion.

Another technique of great importance is Shaktipat, the transmission of energy. A powerful yogi can transmit energy to an aspirant and awaken the Kundalini. This is accomplished in one of four ways: by touch, gaze, sound or thought.

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Biofeedback as a field has been growing since the late 1960s. This form of training and treatment uses monitoring instruments attached to the body to "feed back" to people information on the functioning of their bodies. In this way, people view information of which they are not normally aware, such as hand temperature, blood pressure, number and depth of breaths being taken, level of muscle tension in any target muscle, or the electrical activity of their brains. It has been established that, once people have more detailed access to information on what their bodies are doing, they are able to either consciously or subconsciously alter or control those functions.

Read more here: » Biofeedback and Neurofeedback: Your Brain and Neurofeedback - A Beginner's Manual

Kriya Yoga: The scientific process of soul culture and the royal path to self-realization

The fundamental thesis of Kriya Yoga is that we are a miniature version of the whole cosmos, a microcosm - an evolving universe within the macrocosmic world. The all-pervading supreme creator is hiding within us and activating every action through the breath - hence the name kriya; any work "kri," is being done by the power of the indwelling soul "ya." The various cosmic forces controlling ether, air, fire, water, and earth also control the kinds of work, namely, religious activities, relationship, food, progeny, and earning money performed by the human body. Yoga is the means of conjoining this correspondence between microcosm and macrocosm - realizing the truth behind the union of individual self and the Supreme Self.

Read more here: » Kriya Yoga: The scientific process of soul culture and the royal path to self-realization

The Sanskrit word 'yoga' is derived from the root verb yuj, which means union. The supreme union of individual mind and cosmic mind is yoga. In his Yogasutras , Patanjali advocated the eight-fold path of astanga yoga . Its eight limbs are: yama (self-restraint), niyama (life-regulating moral rules and observances), asana (postures of bodily restfulness), pranayama (breath control), pratyahar (withdrawal of senses), dharana (fixing the mind on the Supreme), dhyana (absorption of self), and samadhi (liberation of the soul).

Read more here: » Patanjali Yoga Sutras: Supreme Union of Body, Mind, Soul with the Patanjali Yoga Sutras

Hatha Yoga deals with physical body and astral body purification and training. Its goal is to bring the physical body into a perfect state of health so the soul has an appropriate vehicle of expression to work through.

Hatha Yoga embraces many practices, including physical postures and breathing exercises ( pranayama ) , which also act upon the physical nervous system and etheric body. It helps bring the vital energies of the physical and etheric bodies under conscious control.

(See also: Yoga Systems, Yoga, Yoga and Health, Yoga Systems, Yoga Positions)

In medicine, hyperventilation (or "hyperpnea") is the state of breathing faster or deeper (hyper) than necessary, and thereby reducing the carbon dioxide concentration of the blood below normal. This causes various symptoms such as numbness or tingling in the hands, feet and lips, lightheadedness, dizziness, headache, chest pain, slurred speech and sometimes fainting. The related symptom tachypnea (or "tachypnoea") (Greek: "rapid breathing") is not identical with hyperventilation - tachypnea may be necessary for a ...

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• Hyperventilation - Causes
• Hyperventilation - Mechanism
• Hyperventilation - Treatment

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