The breathing practices
Each one is five cycles at a given count. Two seconds in and two seconds out, then three, and so on, one second at a time, up to ten.
Nothing is held anywhere in this. The breath goes in and it goes out, and that is the whole of it. If you have been taught to hold at the top, do not hold here.
Nine practices, behind nine doors
Open one and it loads below, with its own photographs and its own instructions. Or choose a whole group and it will run them one after another.
Simple breathing, sitting still, nothing counted. It is where the sitting practices start from and where they come back to.
Hands in and out breathing
- Stand straight with the feet together, and bring both hands up in front of the chest, palms facing you, fingers pointing up.
- The elbows stay at shoulder height the whole time. They do not drop, at any level.
- Open the arms out to the sides as the breath goes in, until they are straight and level with the shoulders.
- Bring them back in front of the chest as the breath goes out, and the palms come back to face you.
- The arms and the breath begin together and finish together. The breath sets the speed. The arms follow it, never the other way round.
Before you start
- Nothing is held. There is no retention anywhere in this, at any level.
- If your head goes light, stop and breathe normally until it passes. That is not a failure. It usually means the breath was being pushed rather than let out.
- Do not climb past the level where the breath stays smooth. A ragged ten seconds is worth less than an easy five, and there is no prize at the top.
- Best on an empty stomach, or about two hours after eating.
- This does not replace medication. Anybody on buprenorphine or methadone stays on it.
- Severe withdrawal needs medical supervision, and this is not an alternative to it.
Where the breath is explained on this site
Nothing on this page argues for itself. The reasons the breath is worked on at all, and what is known about it, are written out in the educative sessions and in the fourth phase.
And the other half of this phase
Phase two is breathing practices and ṣaṭkarma together. The cleansing practices are taught at the camp and will be added here in the same form.