Breath Notes

It's not so much concentrating on the 'rising and falling' of the relaxed breath as gently concentrating awareness on "where the relaxed breath arises."

And from whence doth the relaxed breath ariseth, O Sage One?

Odd that thou shouldst ask!

Is it from the diaphragm?

Nooooo.

Is it from the lower belly?

Nooooo... but getting warmer...

Not from... you couldn't mean...?

YES! ( Channeling a venerable source:)

"Upon the expansion of the anal sphincter, you breathe in.

Upon the slight tightening of the anal sphincter, you breathe out."

~ Lala Zhagzhig Shortsnort (ie, "LZZSS")

Personally I am finding that

• if I place my awareness just 'AHEAD' in time of where the breath arises,

  • as if the breath was the foaming crest of the NOW wave

  • and my awareness the surfboard being pushed forward by the breath...

• it also seems to place awareness before the thought-making process...

Make sense...?

Anapanasati Sutta, MN 118

Awareness of In-&-Out Breathing

• [6] "One trains oneself to breathe in,

  • sensitive to joy (sukha),

• and to breathe out,

• sensitive to pleasure (piiti)."

-- courtesy of Jhanananda's list http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Jhanas/ (discontinuing)

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/majjhima/mn118.html

Dr. Weil's Today's Tip: "Practicing Breath Work"

In Buddhist and yogic traditions,

• people claim to have reached an enlightened state

• by doing nothing more than paying attention to the rising and falling of their breath.

What easier way could there be to reach such a state?

• Especially since breathing - following the ebb and flow of your breath - is an intrinsic part of meditation.

By paying attention to your breath,

• you will rapidly change your state of consciousness,

• begin to relax,

• and slowly detach from ordinary awareness.

Try to focus

• on the point between your inbreath and outbreath that is dimensionless,

• and glimpse the elements of enlightenment in that space.

From Tarthang Tulku comes the suggestion to balance breathing between the mouth and nose.

With the tongue in the 'EL' position, one can breathe quite comfortably around its edges.

Also good when snout is clogged!

~ LZZSS