Releasing tension in meditation and breathing techniques?
I’ve just started learning to meditate, using the guidance of Barry Long! I’m getting used to focusing inward, but I’m struggling to find the bands of tension he describes that I have to let fall in to my stomach and dissolves. Does anyone have any tips for finding these?
Also, for any meditating singers out there – how similar is diphramic breathing for meditation to the kind of breathing need in singing?
July 30, 2010 | Filed Under Meditation
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5 Responses to “Releasing tension in meditation and breathing techniques?”
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It’s exactly the same. You want your stomach to move not your shoulders. The primary difference is that in singing you are going to force air into the diaphragm and teach it to expand. Then you will use the diaphragm as a muscle to control the flow of air. In meditation, there is no such effort. Not that this effort would be bad training for anyone interested in meditation, but there is nothing forced while meditating. You simply learn to breaths slowly in and out with the diaphragm. It is not as important to control it to the extent a singer would want to. (LOL Not unless you plan on being buried in a coffin and stopping your heart anyway.) In short, there is a time and place for everything.
Regarding the "bands." Ignore them. They are not important if you do not find them. You do not need to have bands. It is just one way of looking at things and there are many many others. If you never run across a band for the rest of your life, don’t worry about it. They have nothing at all to do with meditation and more to do with this guys idea about meditation.
There are many things you can do to relax without jumping around your body looking for bands of tension. First, stay focused on your breathing. I find it useful to imagine myself sinking after each exhale. Sinking into myself, becoming heavier and heavier. My focus is generally between my brows and a little above. When I did Yoga they recommended just under the nose. In Japanese meditation they wanted me to focus on the naval. I say, focus where it is most comfortable. Once you are proficient in one spot you can move your attention around and find others. It is not important.
There is nothing at all special about meditation. Your body has been doing it naturally your whole life. You just have not taken the time to notice. As you get into it more and more you will begin to recognize different states of awareness. You may even learn to control some of them.
Good Luck to you. Don’t get caught up in any one person’s dogma or vocabulary. There is nothing at all special abut meditation. Anyone can do it and with practice you will get better.
Breath like a baby does, relax your stomach when you inhale, your stomach should swell, when you exhale, your stomach should retract.
My tendency is to "carry" my shoulders I have to pay attention to that fact and release them. You simply need to find the thing that you "carry" or tense up and concentrate on releasing those parts.
Taoist/Atheist
Meditation, the first cousin of the doze!
Inward comes in three directions. One is through your mouth, second is through your anus and the third is through the vagina if you are a female. For male there is two direction only.
If you find there is no response to the first direction then you must go to the second or third inward direction. You must focus on the colour of the energy first then visualize it to be a form going through your body and reaching your guts point.
first barry long is not a meditation teacher
the tension he speaks of is his
the fact that you can not find them is because
you do not have them
avoid long and find a teacher who is in a state of meditation
barry long is in a state of delusion if he is pretending to be a meditation
master
try gangaji or
osho you can find them on the web
if you want to experiance a taste
then see mother meera the next time she is in your area
she is also on the web