Breathing problem!

[fredhedd]

i've had the same problem.   actually i still have it but it's not as pronounced.  it used to comletley stop all of my trance work.  i decided that i wasn't going to be able to progress until my focus was very strong.  i guess i went about it the hard way.  

i just kept meditating every day until i could concentrate on one thing w/out distraction.  until no other thoughts came into my mind.  i used the fact that i wasn't able to even enter into trance, as my fuel for my meditation, and it worked well.

i've never been able to be aware of my breathing w/out having it altered in some way.  it seems every time i am aware of it i change it slightly and can't settle into my natural rhythm.  sometimes the change was so slight that i thought i was breathing correctly.  i ended up in the same spot for hours not making any progress, still unable to reach a trance state.  

i also used to get tense upon exit.  it stopped me every time.  just keep hacking at the problem.  you will get past it and be glad you didn't give up.  it took me over six months to make any progress w/ this problem.  be very observant at all times.  you will start to notice small things that will make a difference.  

you could even try changing the position of your body.  i found that lying on the floor, instead of somethign comfortable like my bed, to help w/ my breathing.  

[Leviiathan]

Yes. The little things are something to get worked up over.

[Fyrenze]

Have you ever had problems with sleep apnea? Sometimes they can manifest themself randomly when you haven't had a history of it.

][\/][

[lateralus897]

Fyrenze,
I have heard of sleep apnea, and have considered it, but have ruled that out because of the nature of the experience. I feel like it's a sunconscious "here it comes!" kinda reaction that I'll probably have to learn to overcome.

Fredhedd,
Thanks for the tip, I kinda figured that's what it was gonna take, but I was crossing my fingers for a shortcut. I'll keep working on it.

[Pearlybear]

Yeah I think I know what your talking about it's kinda like riding on a rollercoaster and knowing that your almost at the top of the big hill, stiffening everything to brace yourself...you hold your breath!
I did that too, but i've found it easier to "charge forward" so that the action is more caused by you than something you have to react to, does that make sense? It has helped me a lot![^]

[Tom]

The book by Denning & Phillips suggested learning a rhythm for your breathing and to maintain it without effort. I typedin the book.

http://members.aol.com/tomskinney/index.htm

[lateralus897]

PearlyBear,
That's pretty much what it feels like, I'll give your approach a shot. thanks

Tom,
I'll definitely look into that book. It looks like it could help in much more than just my breathing problem. thank you also

[sweet_celestial_sounds]

Hey Lateralus,

Thanks for sharing.

This is exciting for I had a while of dealing with this. I find that it is not that you stop breathing, but that you are in the middle of separation so don't percieve your breathing. You have to have it in mind at the start of practice to ignore your breathing the entire way. That way when it happens it won't even be a problem, for you would be so focused on relaxing or whatever you're doing to the exclusion of being aware of your breath that when it happens you won't even know it, and can go about practice as if it never happens. As per my experience though it is not really a stopping of the breath, but a transition into projection. If you really pay attention you'll find that you were breathing all along, and are actually interrupting your natural breathing when you are thinking you are starting your breathing.

Take care,
Celestial
(Darryl Berry)

[lateralus897]

That's a very interesting theory Celestial (long time no talk by the way [|)] ). I'll try to be less concerned with my breathing and accept the fact that I can trust that this is being handled by my subconscious and is under control. Thanks for the tip.

[lateralus897]

The big barrier holding me back from having experiences right now is my breathing. I've come VERY close to having a lot of experiences, with only one success in phasing. What happens, is that once I begin to reach heavy sensations (in other words being close to an exit), I somehow stop breathing. Like I'll hold my breath in for no reason whatsoever (it's almost like I'm bracing myself for the exit). And what I'm forced to do is take focus away from my exit technique and put it onto controlling my breathing.

I'm trying to incorporate breathing into a technique, but with little luck so far. Anyone else either have the same problem, or anyone who had it and has gotten over it? Any projection techniques anyone knows that involve focus on breathing? Any other tips on how to overcome this?