Breath Retention Technique

<h2> Breath retentions</h2>based on material from www.touching.ruBreath retentions (general principles)Retention on a full exhalationThe "middle" retentionRetention with three tensionsRetention on a full inhalationRetention on a comfortable inhalationThe combined retentionWays of doing breath retentions dailyAfter the practice Breath retentions (general principles) Breath retention - this is a powerful technique of self-transformation. It works on every level of the human being and, willingly or not, acquaints the practitioner with those aspects of himself that usually hide from other instruments of self-inquiry. What is more, the technique is extremely simple - in essence it all comes down to stopping breathing for a while. The kinds of retention and the ways of doing them daily are listed below; for now, let us look at the principles common to them all.Retentions lay bare the so-called "karmic material" (unlived experiences, samskaras) - and this is often very unpleasant. Psychosomatic illnesses are possible, as is a loss of interest in life in general and in the practice of retention in particular, but all of this is merely the mind's speculation. The best thing you can do in such periods is to keep doing the retentions daily, without breaking off because the indignant mind is giving you some particularly hard "dressing-down". Death, after all, will take no account of your condition, your health, your objections or your unreadiness to die here and now...In the course of regular breath-retention practice a powerful "cleansing" of the whole organism takes place, leading in the end to a perfectly functioning body - immunity improves, and sleep, appetite, bowel movements and so on become normal. At a certain stage of the practice you stop falling ill. With any illness. Altogether. There are known cases in which practitioners of retention found their blood pressure and heart function normalised, and asthma and prostatitis, ulcers and many other conditions cleared up.Breath retention is an excellent exercise for defeating the first enemy of the man of knowledge - fear. Any attempt to "abstain from fear" is folly, doomed from the start. Fear must be passed through many times and drunk to the dregs; this is the only way to defeat it. By doing retentions regularly and going through your fear, you do not become brave. Fear simply stops being an obstacle for you. It stops challenging you. And then comes the turn of clarity…The best frame of mind for the practice, however, is the absence of any expectations whatsoever. Cleansing from unlived past experience, an increase in the body's overall energy, the strengthening of its immune system and even the conquest of fear - all these are wonderful, but they are side effects. There is no point in fixing your attention on them. Expect nothing from the practice! Just do it day after day…Breath retentions combine perfectly well with all other practices. What is more - since relaxation, including relaxation of the body, is an essential element of retention practice, it is recommended that before a retention you practise qigong, anapana, the practices of Raja-Buddhi Yoga or any other techniques that help you enter a state of calm, relaxed presence.Retentions must be done on an empty stomach, when the stomach is already empty. Depending on the type of food, this is roughly 3-5 hours after eating. It is also recommended that you do the breath retention in the "best" state you are able to enter - for example, having remembered that you are a mortal being, or having stopped the inner dialogue, or having concentrated on the experience of Love, and so on.You can use a clock to measure the length of the retention. Some practitioners find it easier to count their own heartbeats. Or to be guided by music playing. Or by their own sensations. The method is not important - the time is tracked only in order to check whether there is progress in the practice. The task of the retention is a supreme effort. What matters is not how long you held it today but whether you gave everything you had, whether there was a crossing of some threshold. The supreme effort must be made with the spirit, without the help of the physical body. The body must be absolutely relaxed. Regard the practice of breath retention as a kind of "spiritual" barbell.With practice your daily result will grow. Increase the length of the retentions slowly but steadily. Do not chase results, but do not indulge yourself either. Look for the golden mean and do not confuse effort with force. You have to understand that no two days are alike - sometimes you manage to hold longer, sometimes less. The result can be affected by psychosomatic illnesses (in the early stage of practice), by fatigue of the body, by heat, by a stuffy room and by other uncomfortable conditions.Remember - what matters is not the time but only whether there was a supreme effort; so that at the end of the practice you know for certain that today you could not have held the retention any longer. There is no sense in comparing yourself either with "yesterday's self" or, still less, with other practitioners. And you should certainly never scold yourself for having held less today than yesterday. Better to save that energy for tomorrow's retention.During the retention itself, avoid the state of "waiting for the end" of the practice. Not only is this an impermissible form of self-indulgence, it is also a way of ending the practice quickly by feeding your fear of suffocation. Instead, shift your attention outward - to the music, say - or, better still, consciously and detachedly "absorb" all your sensations with your attention. Teach yourself to relax during the practice and after it. For the more relaxed you are, the longer you can hold the retention, and the longer the retention, the more deeply you will relax once it is over.If spasms arise - "disperse" them with your attention. To do this, concentrate your attention on watching alertly for the spasm and tracking everything - how and where it begins, what the sensations are, how it develops…. Find the arising spasm with the beam of your attention and "take it apart" into separate sensations... Do not give your sensations names and do not evaluate them in any way - simply observe them closely and impartially. You can also "meet" arising spasms with a light downward pressure inside the throat. Or simply swallow "towards" the spasm. This is easier to do if you keep your attention in the sensations of swallowing. In general, rely on the body as much as possible, on what it will tell you, because each time everything will be different.With practice you will find your way and learn exactly how it is easiest for you to do the breath retention - you will master a great many "technical" tricks. But you should remember that all these devices are only "crutches" and "props", and that in order to put everything you have into the practice today, all you need is the corresponding intent.Attention!Breath retentions go badly with alcohol - even if you drink only occasionally and in small quantities, it can lead to painful sensations in the body and other unpleasant consequences.Any drugs make the practice of breath retention considerably harder - for several days afterwards the practice is noticeably more difficult, and painful sensations are likewise possible.Coffee, black tea and tobacco also make the practice harder, especially if you consume them without any moderation.In many traditions, moreover, it is said that all these substances are, to put it mildly, of no use in our work. Usually, in the course of retention practice, the desire to take any of the above simply disappears. And without any struggle at that. Retention on a full exhalation Retention on the exhalation is traditionally considered ideal for beginning retention practice. Whatever shape, good or bad, your mind, energy and body are in, it is recommended that you begin the practice with precisely this method. It is the most universal of all the kinds of breath retention. It makes sense to reach at least a two-minute retention on the exhalation first, and only then to try other methods on for size. That is, if you pass the threshold calmly, without panic or displeasure, and sit like that for two or three minutes and then inhale just as slowly and calmly - then your crystallisation is right and one can seriously talk about changing the method of retention.It is best to do the retention on the exhalation sitting on the lavatory - because after a while the sphincter of the bladder relaxes, and then the anal sphincter too, and everything inside comes out. Since one of the points of the practice is the cleansing of the whole organism, the body included, there is no reason to prevent this - the more comes out of you, the better.Before beginning the practice you need to calm the mind and even out the breath with a few slow, smooth inhalations and exhalations through the nose. Exhale completely, to the very end, in one slow, smooth exhalation - you must keep exhaling until all the air is gone. You can help yourself by drawing the abdomen in and folding forward as you exhale. Then relax the abdomen, sit up straight with a straight back and do not inhale. To make quite sure you do not inhale, you can make a swallowing movement and the tongue will close off the nasopharynx. Or press down very slightly in the throat, closing the way into the lungs.A very important point - the whole body is relaxed, except for those muscles that keep you from inhaling and from falling to the floor. But if you relax a little more - you will fall and inhale. No unnecessary tension! During the retention you must continually relax the body to meet the growing sensations.Next comes the peak of sensation, also called the "suffocation threshold". This point is characterised by the fact that after it things do not get worse; the limit of the strength and intensity of the sensations in the body has already been passed. The organism can no longer produce more sensation. It is like a car that under no circumstances can go faster than a certain speed.The suffocation threshold begins roughly 10-30 seconds after the exhalation. It is from this moment that the retention on the exhalation actually begins. You sit, attentively feeling everything you feel and relaxing into it. Remaining a detached witness of all the sensations in the body, but at the same time very attentive to the nuances of those sensations: What are they like? Where exactly in the body? How does it feel? What happens to these sensations as time goes on?Roughly 1-2 minutes after the exhalation comes what is called the "threshold of self-indulgence". This point is marked by a surge of self-pity and a sharp desire to stop the retention even though it is obviously possible to hold it longer. The threshold of self-indulgence, like the threshold of fear, can quite realistically be overcome. To do this you need to bring in your link with intent - the will. Simply give yourself the command to continue the retention. At the moment of passing this threshold the inner dialogue either falls completely silent or becomes noticeably "quieter" and "sparser".As the length of the retention increases, new thresholds appear as well. There is no point in describing them, however - their number and the time at which they occur are fairly individual. Besides, anyone who has learned to pass the threshold of self-indulgence is capable of progressing in the practice on his own. I will leave just a couple of small hints: first, even loss of consciousness is merely a threshold, and one can learn to go further still. Second, even 5 minutes in a retention on the exhalation is not yet the limit.Every conceivable and inconceivable means of holding the retention runs out, and you inhale! The inhalation must be made extremely slowly! The minimum length of the inhalation is 10-15 seconds! The inhalation should be, as it were, "teasing" - you have no strength left to hold on, and yet you inhale more slowly still. You can inhale through the tongue pressed to the palate, or through one nostril, lightly pressing the nostrils with your fingers. If you gave way and the inhalation happened too fast - do not worry, it is not dangerous. But next time be sure to give the inhalation more attention!If the inhalation is done correctly, that is, slowly enough and without panic, then this single inhalation is already enough - the breath immediately becomes smooth and slow, and there is no breathlessness. A slow inhalation is an extremely important element of the practice, something you must teach your body from the very beginning. A slow inhalation is what makes this practice safe for your body. If you inhale quickly, fearfully and impulsively and this becomes a habit, then after a while these "mistakes" will accumulate and the practice will begin to harm your body. So once again - an extremely slow inhalation! The "middle" retention This variant of retention is intended not only for cleansing the whole organism but for gathering energy at the same time. A "gentler" approach to the practice is used here, and if you found the retention on the exhalation too hard, this method may suit you better.The middle retention does not have to be done on the lavatory - because of the tension in the anal sphincter, no discharge leaves the body during the retention - except perhaps in the break between retentions. Still, if during your practice of retention on the exhalation you have got used to doing retentions only on the lavatory, you may do the middle retentions there too - it is no sin. In any case, be sure to visit the lavatory before beginning the practice.The middle retention is better done sitting. Before beginning the practice you need to calm the mind and even out the breath with a few slow, smooth inhalations and exhalations through the nose. Realise that there is nothing you must manage to do or have to do, nothing you need to attain.Begin to squeeze the anal sphincter on the inhalation. Take a deep, calm inhalation into the abdomen, and at the peak of the inhalation squeeze the anal sphincter, drawing it as it were towards the crown of the head; then a calm, smooth exhalation - the sphincter relaxes. In all the rest of the body there is a constant light relaxation. Do 7-9 such breaths. Note that only the muscles of the anus should be tensed, while the muscles of the groin and perineum are, as far as possible, relaxed.The retention is done midway between the inhalation and the exhalation - the chest is relaxed, the lungs are open and connected with the outside air. Close off the lungs with exactly this volume of air. This must be done while keeping the same relaxation throughout the body. Having closed off the air, draw the anal sphincter gently upwards and hold that sensation throughout the retention, neither slackening it nor overdoing it. The sphincter should be tensed the whole time, but not strongly!Unlike the retention on the exhalation, the middle retention is done not to the maximum possible but to the point of the most unbearable, most repellent sensation. The retention must be held for a long time, but by means of relaxation, of "dispersing" the unpleasant sensations with your attention. Without any struggle, you feel everything you feel. You "drink" it, as if "digesting" it with your attention. As soon as it becomes hard for you, you begin to indulge in what you feel or to fight it and can no longer keep your relaxed attention on the process of the retention - then it is time to inhale.Please remember - in this technique you are not making a supreme effort. But if all is well with your acceptance of the sensations and there is no urge to urinate, then you do not need to inhale - sit like that a while longer. When you feel that the most repellent sensation has arrived, or, alternatively, that you are about to wet yourself - relax the anal sphincter and take a calm, slow inhalation. The inhalation must be made extremely slowly! The minimum length of the inhalation is 10-15 seconds! In this method of breath retention too, an extremely slow inhalation is very important.After the inhalation, watch your breathing. Do nothing with it, just watch! Watch how the inhalation gives way to the exhalation. How the exhalation gives way to the inhalation. Do not interfere in any way with the process of your breathing in order to calm it - instead, watch how your breathing calms down by itself. And when the breath has become completely calm, do one more such retention. In all, five such retentions should be done in one session. Retention with three tensions This variant of retention is intended not so much for cleansing the whole organism or gathering energy as for "raising" the energy already present into the "upper centres". It is good for situations in which you need to transform energy gained from various practices into subtlety and awareness, or to "melt down" sexual arousal, excessive restlessness and irritability, or fatigue and dullness.Rising upwards, your energy - of which all your experiences are in fact made - passes into more "subtle" centres. Remaining there, by the very fact of its presence in those centres it increases your awareness. This method is traditionally used after certain kinds of practice, so that the energy gained does not "slip away" along its habitual channels - through arousal, physical activity, dullness and other automatic reactions. In a sense this method of breath retention is the counterpart of turning the microcosmic orbit in the Taoist tradition.Be sure to visit the lavatory before beginning the practice. Sit comfortably with a straight back and be sure to close your eyes. You may find this variant of retention easier if you direct the "gaze" of your closed eyes slightly upwards, but in such a way that no unpleasant tension arises in the eyeballs. Calm the mind and even out the breath with a few slow, smooth inhalations and exhalations through the nose. Leave all worry, all tension and all your aims outside the practice.The retention with three tensions is done midway between the inhalation and the exhalation - the chest is relaxed, the lungs are open and connected with the outside air. Close off the lungs with exactly this volume of air. This must be done while keeping the same relaxation throughout the body.Having closed off the air, gently tense the muscle of the perineum - it lies between the genitals and the anus (it tenses involuntarily if a stranger unexpectedly walks in on you in the lavatory while you are urinating). Next draw the abdomen in slightly and then tense it. Lower the chin, swallowing, and tense the throat at the same time as the swallow, without letting yourself complete it. It is very important that everything else in your body be as relaxed as possible!So three tensions, three locks (bandhas), have been formed in your body - the perineum, the solar plexus and the throat. In shape these tensions "resemble" small balls. They must be held throughout the retention, neither slackening the tension nor overdoing it. There must be tension in these places the whole time, but not strong tension!During the retention you do the following visualisation - be aware that something very, very subtle, very, very gentle, barely perceptible, is rising up through you. As though some current were flowing through you, and you feel it very unobtrusively, only just, as though at the edge of your attention. As though the very essence of this Universe, space itself, were slowly flowing up through you.Unlike the middle retention, the retention with three tensions is done to the maximum. But on no account should any tensions other than those described appear in the body. There is no need to tense the muscles of the face, the back, the hands or anything else. In this retention you must combine supreme effort with relaxation of the whole body, apart from the three tensions.When you feel that you have no strength left to hold on - relax the throat, then the abdomen, and then the anal sphincter, and take a calm, slow inhalation. The inhalation must be made extremely slowly! The minimum length of the inhalation is 10-15 seconds! In this method of breath retention too, an extremely slow inhalation is very important. It is also important that during the inhalation, and afterwards as well, you go on keeping your awareness and feeling the space rising up through you.After the inhalation, watch your breathing. Do nothing with it, just watch! Watch how the inhalation gives way to the exhalation. How the exhalation gives way to the inhalation. Do not interfere in any way with the process of your breathing in order to calm it - instead, watch how your breathing calms down by itself. And when the breath has become completely calm, do one more such retention. Do these retentions over 5-10 minutes, as many as you manage. Usually that is between two and five retentions. Retention on a full inhalation Retention on a full inhalation is intended for gathering energy. And whereas retention on the exhalation creates a critical situation in which the organism, in order to survive, must itself give up unnecessary tensions, including self-pity and the inner dialogue, retention on a full inhalation uses an entirely different approach - a powerful wave of energy is created which, like a river in full flood, simply "washes away" these obstacles in its path.If, however, the number of automatic tensions in the practitioner's body exceeds a certain "critical mass", the retention will reinforce those tensions by giving them energy. To prevent this, the practitioner must possess a certain level of awareness. In practice this means that you must remember that you are a mortal being and totally accept everything that happens during the retention on the inhalation. Even if your self-pity intensifies during the retention - let it be so. Let it explode from the energy that has filled it.According to the classical approach, retention on a full inhalation must be carried to the point of losing consciousness. It is not necessary to fall to the floor. But you must every day carry the retention to the state in which there is neither the retention nor you, and afterwards you remember neither how you began to breathe nor at what moment it happened. That is, there must be at least a partial loss of consciousness. What is meant here is consciousness, not awareness.It is best to do the retention on the inhalation sitting on the lavatory - because after a while the sphincter of the bladder relaxes, and then the anal sphincter too, and everything inside comes out. It is better not to prevent this, since the practice must be done in an extremely relaxed state.You must relax the body as though you were falling asleep, and perhaps had even fallen asleep already, yet without losing your awareness. Even out the breath with a few slow, smooth inhalations and exhalations through the nose. Now take a slow and extremely deep inhalation, until the lungs will take no more. At the end of this inhalation, "gulp" in as much air through the mouth as you can. Close the mouth and do not exhale.Keep relaxing more and more all the time, settle comfortably into what is happening, as though falling asleep, but without losing awareness. Concentration in the chest, in anahata, and the creation there of an extremely subtle, indestructible state may also help you. Whatever happens - something in you is absolutely relaxed and aware the whole time - you feel perfectly well and can hold the retention longer still.If spasms begin - do not fight them, simply accept them. Look at your spasms, and at the same time be aware - the spasms are there, but they in no way prevent you from relaxing and falling asleep without losing awareness. This is how you meet everything that arises during the retention.When you have no strength left to hold on any longer, you… hold the retention anyway, continuing to relax. The body will exhale and inhale by itself when you lose consciousness, so do not worry. When the body exhales of its own accord, go on keeping your awareness, and then the exhalation and the inhalation will be slow and smooth. Even in that state the body should make a smooth exhalation and an equally smooth inhalation, each lasting at least 10 seconds! This is achieved through your intent to exhale and inhale slowly. Once again - an extremely slow inhalation and exhalation. Retention on a comfortable inhalation This is one of the variants of retention on the inhalation - you inhale as much as you want, so that you are comfortable, ending the inhalation according to how you feel. Usually this is a volume of air between the middle retention and the retention on a full inhalation. Everything else - the same as in the retention on a full inhalation. The combined retention You can also do a retention on the inhalation immediately after a retention on the exhalation: Retention on the exhalation - Inhalation - Retention on the inhalation - Exhalation. Ways of doing breath retentions daily Retention on the exhalation:One retention a day - better done in the evening, since at that time the body naturally becomes more relaxed.Try to do it on the first attempt, without "warm-up" sets.Five retentions a day - at roughly equal intervals, say in the morning, at midday, at lunchtime, in the early evening and in the late evening.Three sets of five retentions - in the morning, at lunchtime and in the evening. The retentions are done "building up", with a rest between each one, each subsequent retention being held a little longer than the previous one. Adding one retention at a time - after 10 days of doing a single retention, one more breath retention is added, done immediately after the first: Exhalation - Retention - Inhalation - Exhalation - Retention - Inhalation. After 11 days of the double retention another is added, after 12 days - another, after 13 days - another, and so on. In all, 40 such retentions must be reached. Four years are allowed for this.The "middle" retention:Three times a day - in the morning, at lunchtime and in the evening, five retentions per session.Retention with three tensions:One session a day - better done in the morning, immediately before the practices for refinement. For 5-10 minutes, as many retentions as you manage in that time. Or do this retention "as the situation requires", that is, when you need to "digest" energy you already have.Retention on a full inhalation:Once a day - better done in the evening, since at that time the body naturally becomes more relaxed. Try to do it on the first attempt, without "warm-up" sets, and to enter a state of partial loss of consciousness but without loss of awareness.The combined retention: Retention on the exhalation - Inhalation - Retention on the inhalation - Exhalation - is done once a day, better in the evening. Be sure to see that both retentions are done well, including the slow inhalations and exhalations.There are quite a lot of ways of doing breath retentions; only the main ones are listed here. And here, as everywhere, each person decides for himself which retention to practise and by which method. Along with the decision, a person takes on responsibility for that decision. Besides, you can create your own variant of doing retentions - the main thing is that it suits you. So look for your own method, your own path, and do not be afraid to try different approaches. When you decide on any change in your practice, remember the words don Juan Matus said to Carlos Castaneda: "A warrior's decision must be free of fear and ambition. Any path must be looked at directly and without hesitation".Let your decision be imposed on you neither by your fear nor by your ambition. Let it be a warrior's decision. After the practice Every retention gives you, to one degree or another, all the effects described for the others. Therefore, whichever kind of retention you did and by whatever method, a strong surge of energy after the practice is inevitable. For harmonious development it is necessary not only to gain and release your energy but also to spend it properly, on abstract aims.That is precisely why, after the retention, it is very important not to indulge in thoughts like "how hard that was, I only just managed it… I gave way… tomorrow again…" or "wow, how long I held it today… I must be a good yogi and an impeccable warrior…"It is not worth spending the resource you have gained on indulging your sense of self-importance or your self-pity, or on strengthening your inner dialogue or your natural aggressiveness. There are several ways to "put" the released energy "to work":1. Immediately after finishing the retentions, begin one of the practices for refining energy, for example the Six-Pointed Cross of the Buddha. This method combines perfectly well with those described below, so this practice can be done in any case.2. Be aware of everything that happens inside you. Every experience, every emotion, every thought. Every movement of the body (breathing included). If you are the witness of your energy, it will be "absorbed" exactly where it should be - into awareness. It is like a well-working liver - you do not have to tell it, "liver, I have eaten fatty food, now secrete some bile". The liver does it by itself, without being forced.3. Create intent. Pour your energy into your intent. This simply has to be done. If you have no sense that it is working, you can call on intent aloud, as in the tradition of Carlos Castaneda: "I, (name), create the intent…". It is better to intend mystical and abstract things, for example impeccability in doing the practice. A sure-fire option is simply to shout "Intent!" and feel that Intent. Though shouting after a retention is rather hard.4. Simply restore the subtlest, most exemplary state you know of. Give yourself the command to restore the experience of what lies beyond. Something you have already happened to experience. For example, enter samadhi. Even if only for a short while…The division between these methods is quite conventional - one flows smoothly into another. Do not neglect this after retention practice. Whatever it may seem to you - that you are tired, that everything is fine as it is, and so on - do the practice of redistributing energy all the same. For by redistributing your energy properly, you are learning impeccability.