To: K-list
Recieved: 2003/08/02 13:05
Subject: [K-list] more than you ever wanted to know! Re:
From: Nina Murrell-Kisner
On 2003/08/02 13:05, Nina Murrell-Kisner posted thus to the K-list:
Gruesse, Richard,
I wrote:
> You asked how I can tell if someone is breathing diaphragmatically. It is
> through observation of the expansion of the belly in relation to the
expansion
> of the ribcage. When the belly expands slightly and the torso waves slightly,
> while the ribcage expands relatively minimally (compared to chest breathing),
> it is diaphragmatic. Diaphragmatic breathing, for me, carries the quality of
> core power (inherently, without working at it), and is calming to the mind
and
> body. I tend to think of diaphragmatic breathing as something that occurs
> naturally when the obstacles to it are removed. It is the way our bodies are
> designed to breathe. Another way of looking at it is that any time the
> diaphragm moves with a breath, it has the qualities of the diaphragm, which
> make that breath 'diaphragmatic'.
You replied:
"Sorry, but this might be just what André van Lysebeth, a great
interpreter of pranayama, warns against. (His German book is entitled
"the great opwer of breathing, the corresponding English version
possibly "Pranayama")
He has a picture headed "Inhalation without control of the abdominal
wall". There is a distinctly pot-bellied effect."
Richard, what I describe and what you quote from Lysbeth's book are matters of
degree and variation. A clarification: in the diaphragmatic breathing I
described above, the lungs do expand, and in all directions, but they do not
expand as much as they would if one were only breathing into the chest over a
diaphragm locked in place by belly organs locked in place by holdings in the
abdominal wall and rigidity in the spine and pelvis.
Whatever the degree and variation, when the diaphragm moves down on the inhale,
the abdominal organs are pressed downward and thus must shift, resulting in
more or less expansion in the belly. Note that when the diaphragm contracts on
the inhale and pulls on the rear attachment at the spine (L3-L4), the spine
arches forward slightly and tilts the top of the pelvis forward, which has the
effect of opening the front body, thus making more room for the organs to move.
So, to be clear, the expansion I refer to happens in both the up/down length of
the belly, as well as the breadth. The degree of expansion I refer to is not to
'pot-belly' extremes.
Have you ever watched babies breathe? They breathe with their entire bodies,
including their bellies. That's a pretty interesting case study on 'the natural
breath'.
That said, what you said about weakness in the abdominal wall may occur no
matter how an individual tends to breathe. It is more a function of gravity
pulling on the organs in an unsupportive environment (weakness in the
supporting tissues/muscles of the abdominal organs) than on being pushed down
by the diaphragm. The diaphragm can't compete with the pull of gravity! :)
(Here goes the "non-technical, spiritual" speak:) The way I address this is not
through continually holding my abdominal muscles, but by drawing energy up the
channels of my legs, engaging it with the oscillating tilt of the pelvis (which
is keyed to the breath), and routing it upwards to support the organs from
beneath by engaging mul bhand.
Oddly enough, there are very specific, and, if you will, technical, ways to
describe how this can be done in the body. Also oddly enough, this drawing
upwards can and does arise naturally at times, as well. It is another reminder
of how pliable our bodies are and how integrated our consciousness and physical
body, that on the one hand a natural arising in the body can inform the mind
and, on the other, that an awareness in the mind can inform the body.
I wrote:
> Richard, I found it curious that when you replied to my question about why it
> seems impossible to you to breathe with the diaphragm without resistance,
that
> you resorted to sourcing articles. I appreciate that, as I found the articles
> interesting and educational, but I also wonder why you don't seem to be
> referencing your own source - your own bodily experience. I can trust that as
> much as an article. So, might I repeat, what is it that you experience when
> you try to breathe through the nose without resistance?
You replied:
"Not quite sure what you mean."
I am inquiring about your experiences, through practice in your own body, of
the things you quote, and, specifically, forgetting all your external sources,
what you experienced, in mind and body, of the practice of breathing without
resistance.
I love to read about new things, but I don't form opinions about them until I
have integrated them and understand the workings of them in my own body. (I use
the term 'body' loosely, as my 'concept' of 'body' has expanded exponentially
in the past few years... 'being' might be a better term.) You asked if I
believe in the Socratic Method as much as you do, and my answer would be yes,
but only as regards questioning through the body. I keep clear in my own mind
what material has reached the state of embodiment, and what material is still
percolating through to potential embodiment. Sometimes material I read about
fails the percolation test. /grin/
You asked:
"About conches and control of breath flow into lung lobes, where exactly
is the text (URL and some simple indication of navigastion)?"
There is no text or URL. The method was taught to me during a workshop given by
Lisa Clark, a practicioner of BMC (I believe she is in Durham, North Carolina,
USA). I didn't quite get it then, just vaguely, but later it 'clicked home'
spontaneously. All I can do is advise you to try it out and see what happens.
The trick is finding the ridges on the bridge of the nose that correspond to
the conches on the internal wall of the nostrils. The rest is only observation
of the breath.
best,
Nina
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