the long breath
Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 9:08 pm
Hello All,
Currently, I am interested in the Satipatthana Sutta which I take as instructions.
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .nysa.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
It starts with the long breath (after the instruction to get to an empty place and to sit, I mean). As far as I know "long breath" refers to a breath of long temporal duration, about a minute or more for each breath circle. So that was my starting point: I slowed my breath down to 50 seconds (counting the seconds of a clock). When doing so for several breath circles I noticed something interesting: the whole-body awareness suddenly became more pronounced.
What I mean is: we are aware of our physical body in two ways: One is one part of our body (hand, leg, head, etc) at a time and the other is the physical body as a whole. Most of the time, at least for me, the "one part" awareness is dominating. To slow my breath I had to relax both mind and physical body. To relax the physical body I need to relax it part by part and whenever a new tension arises somewhere I had to purposefully address it and relax it again. And then, suddenly, the whole-body awareness became dominant as if an image of my tactile sense of the whole body flashed in and off, slowly starting to stabilise.
Has anybody else tried to slow the breath to about a minute and experienced the same?
And regarding the satipatthana sutta: is this whole-body awareness that started to dominate during the long breath the "whole (breath-) body" in the satipatthana sutta? :
Currently, I am interested in the Satipatthana Sutta which I take as instructions.
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .nysa.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
It starts with the long breath (after the instruction to get to an empty place and to sit, I mean). As far as I know "long breath" refers to a breath of long temporal duration, about a minute or more for each breath circle. So that was my starting point: I slowed my breath down to 50 seconds (counting the seconds of a clock). When doing so for several breath circles I noticed something interesting: the whole-body awareness suddenly became more pronounced.
What I mean is: we are aware of our physical body in two ways: One is one part of our body (hand, leg, head, etc) at a time and the other is the physical body as a whole. Most of the time, at least for me, the "one part" awareness is dominating. To slow my breath I had to relax both mind and physical body. To relax the physical body I need to relax it part by part and whenever a new tension arises somewhere I had to purposefully address it and relax it again. And then, suddenly, the whole-body awareness became dominant as if an image of my tactile sense of the whole body flashed in and off, slowly starting to stabilise.
Has anybody else tried to slow the breath to about a minute and experienced the same?
And regarding the satipatthana sutta: is this whole-body awareness that started to dominate during the long breath the "whole (breath-) body" in the satipatthana sutta? :
FreawaruEver mindful he breathes in, mindful he breathes out. Breathing in a long breath, he knows, "I am breathing in a long breath"; breathing out a long breath, he knows, "I am breathing out a long breath"; breathing in a short breath, he knows, "I am breathing in a short breath"; breathing out a short breath, he knows, "I am breathing out a short breath."
"Experiencing the whole (breath-) body, I shall breathe in," thus he trains himself. "Experiencing the whole (breath-) body, I shall breathe out," thus he trains himself.