Hello and good day to all,
I would like to ask something about the square breath pattern. In the different dimensions (elements) of the heart. We use different points of inhalation and exhalation. How about in the Square Breath? Do we use only the nose for both inhalation/exhalation, or we follow what is in the companion cd of EYH to breathe in and out both from the nose and mouth together? Is there any benefit if we use the square breath pattern for each of the dimensions (elements) instead of just using the swing breath pattern?
Live long and prosper,
Christopher Go
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March 26th, 2008
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Hi,
Four months ago I went to a Gypsy psychic near where I live for advice, she ended up talking me into getting a spiritual cleansing for my family and I. After 2 days of the start of the cleansing I started feeling extremely sped up and wound up, and started getting pressure headaches, dizziness, shakiness all over the body, tinnitus (which is ringing in the ears), and even my blood vessels and muscles feel very tight and constricted constantly. It’s very uncomfortable to feel like this, and at this point I fear what being like this for so long is doing to my health. I’ve tried everything I can think of energy and reiki healings, prayer, meditation, hatha yoga (which actually just made it worse) sea salt baths nothing has helped. Someone just told me she might have awakened the Kundalini energy in me. Can anyone tell me, is this true? I’m desperate to find a solution to this.
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March 25th, 2008
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Dear friends,
This week we’re at the “Council Grove Conference on Consciousness”, a small conference of luminaries in the field of consciousness and biofeedback research. This is a conference which goes back to the late 60s, sponsored by the Menninger Foundation, and now by the Life Science Institute. We’re excited to participate in this conference, and to bring greater awareness of the heart into the field. We’ll give you an update on it next week!
love,
Puran and Susanna
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March 24th, 2008
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Dear friends,
Easter is a time of great inspiration for all of us as the great celebration of rebirth and renewal.
How can you be reborn and renewed and make rebirth and renewal happen in your life? That is, how can you make real change in yourself that is aligned with your soul, removes the distortions and pain in your being and takes you on the next step toward your purpose? And could this happen not just once and not just on Easter, but continually?
The answer is so simple that people just dismiss it - “It couldn’t be that easy.”
It doesn’t require membership in any organization and it’s not limited to any tradition. No matter what else you believe about spirit, life and the material world, you can still make it work for yourself.
It even works if you don’t believe it will work. But it works better if you understand how it works.
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March 23rd, 2008
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We strive to see in each person the greatness of their heart. Everyone has a heart, and each heart is big enough and grand enough to hold the whole of creation.In politics, the tendency to deride those with views different from our own is so strong, we may find ourselves asking, does this person have a heart? But of course they do! A person can’t live without a heart. Let’s be big enough to celebrate the greatness of people who we feel are wrong, even politically dangerous. So let’s look at the candidates for the Presidency in this incredibly exciting nomination race. We don’t want to comment on policy pros and cons, or even on the character of the candidates; we just want recognize the greatness of the hearts we see.
In Barack Obama, we feel the height of the heart. His book is called The Audacity of Hope. His vision is optimistic, idealistic, and hopeful. This is the feeling in the heart which lifts you up out of despondency and keeps you reaching for the vision of how things could be. We all have this feeling, yet some of us have forgotten it, or no longer believe in it. We’ve been hurt before by following our dreams. We don’t want to be hurt again. Yet something in us keeps on believing. Dennis Kucinich also has the height of the heart, as seen in his visionary ideas for change (Kucinich is no longer in the race).
In Hillary Rodham Clinton, we feel the forward dimension of the heart; that which keeps you going straight to your heart’s desire. We admire her tenacity, toughness, and discipline in pursuit of her goal. She works incredibly hard, and she puts everything she has into it. She persists even when her campaign has hits obstacles, such as 11 straight losses to Obama.
In John Edwards, we feel the depth of the heart. The depth of the heart is the depth of all feeling, and it is often touched upon by grief. Edwards’ really projected the despair of the working class and middle class anxieties. This was an effective strategy, for the emotion he accessed is very powerful and completely universal. During Edwards’ speeches, it was said that you could hear a pin drop. It is a complete contrast to the energy of an Obama or Clinton event. However, the feeling of the depth of emotion does not inspire action, it does not uplift. So it is difficult to use this energy to create change or inspire millions of people.
In John McCain, like Hillary Clinton, we feel a strong forward dimension. His campaign has also faced and overcome incredible obstacles, going from a distant third in early contests to achieve the Republican nomination. McCain also has a strong width of the heart; he is a moderate Republican at a time when the party has attempted to purge all its moderate members, with conservative activists disparaging them as ‘Republicans in Name Only’. He has worked with Democratic Senator Russ Feingold on campaign finance legislation.
It takes great width of the heart to work with political adversaries on a common cause. In looking at a human heart, we are looking at the face of God. So let us see the greatness of the hearts around us; the greatness of the heart is so much bigger than the flaws.Puran and Susanna
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March 6th, 2008
7287pwkr
I am very confused and require some help.
I started meditating a few days ago and found that I have a little heaviness in the body and problems with vision such as minor blurriness. I believe it is as a result of the mental state I am in. I really don’t know what to do. Should I stop meditating and will it go away? Or should I try something else. When I try focusing on my breathing, it causes me to become dizzy. I don’t know what is happening.
Thanks for the help.
Regards,
David
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January 22nd, 2008
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Dear friends,
Today we celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a truly great American.
When we consider Dr. King’s life, accomplishments, and who he was, we see the greatness of his heart. Specifically, we see the width of the heart in his work to further tolerance and understanding between whites and African Americans, in his personal magnetism and in the way he could inspire and bring together a group of people. We see the height of the heart in his optimism, his idealism, and his far-reaching vision. We see the forward dimension of the heart in his committed activism, continually moving toward his goal of equal rights. We see the inner dimension in his faith, and in his adoption of the principle of non-violence, one act which demonstrated the strength of his faith.
It really shows the power of the human heart that one man — and the thousands of others who worked with him — could bring so much change in our society.
Puran & Susanna
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January 21st, 2008
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My kundalini raised over a year ago and I have developed an extreme sensitivity to energy. I usually feel pressure in my head. Yesterday I tried a meditation technique in which I tried to go into a place of silence. I succeeded and stayed there for about ten minutes. During that time I felt no head pressure, but instead, a very thin, refined feeling. Eventually, I began to let thoughts return, and with them returned the head pressure, which feels like very uncomfortable bulges of mass going through my pituitary gland, crown, back of my skull, etc. What also arose was a feeling of general irritation and judgmentalism. I am just wondering if I am feeling the actual mass of thought, returning alpha brain waves, or what?
I am a student of a Course in Miracles, which states that thought and emotion is of the ego, which is itself a foreign invader. These experiences are raising all kinds of speculation about the nature of energy and whether it is of a divine nature or if it is egoic. I would appreciate your comments.
Majidah
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January 18th, 2008
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I have read in Living from the Heart that there should never be retention after the exhalation. Can you explain why this is so? In the yogic Square Breath Pranayam it is described as four equal parts of inhalation, retention, exhalation and retention (after the exhalation). Is this latter practice harmful? Which is the truth?
In appreciation,
Ann-Marie
Dear Ann-Marie,
Some schools teach a breathing technique where the breath is held after the exhalation. The reason for this breath is to force consciousness out of the body. Breath is life; no breath is like no life. When you hold the exhalation, you are sustaining a period of low oxygenation, which puts the body into a weakened state. The sensation of bodiness is reduced, as are all the sensations of the body.
We should remember that many Yogic techniques were developed for monastic use, not for use by those who have obligations in the world. Also, the ultimate aim of Yoga is Samadhi, the “liberation” of consciousness from the body and mind. This is not healthy for the nervous system, or for the rhythm of the heart. It has been shown that the heart stops beating in Samadhi and goes into a high-speed flutter. (I participated in one of these studies, done by Dr. Herbert Benson, author of The Relaxation Response) Furthermore, Samadhi (like Kundalini yoga) creates disassociation, a serious psychological problem.
We teach a method that is designed for use in the world, which improves one’s health, relationships and accomplishments. A key part of this method is the expansion of the capacity of the heart, and this is accomplished partially by the retention of the inhalation. When the in-breath is retained, it increases the sensations of the body, especially the heartbeat sensation. The strong heartbeat draws one into the heart.
Energy flows on the breath in and out of the body; when this energy is stopped and held in the heart, the heart is forced to expand. This expansion is felt physically in the chest, and we use the sensation as a sign of the second stage of Heart Rhythm Meditation. The heart is also expanded in its capacity to hold emotion, which is energy. Expansion doesn’t happen if the exhalation is held, because there is no energy at that point in the breath cycle.
Different meditation practices are designed for different purposes. Before taking a practice, one should consider what is the purpose of that practice — what is it designed to do? The ancient mystics wanted to investigate the great mystery: what is death? They developed meditations that led to Samadhi, in which the body enters a state very close to death: no pulse, nearly flat brain waves, very low oxygen levels in the bloodstream, very low Central Nervous System Activity (CNA). These conditions have all been measured and documented. More recently, the mystics of the world have turned their attention to an even greater mystery: what is the purpose of life? To answer this question, different methods are needed — the methods which energize your heart.
Thank you for your question.
With love,
Puran
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January 17th, 2008
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hellomy name is candida and i am 16yrs old.i am mentally disturbed completely disturbed and i have so many problems in my life that i donot know what to do so i just want to learn to meditate as i have heard of it from my friends and they said it was pretty relaxing and they really felt peaceful so i would also like to experience that peace so can you please help me out herei am a 16 yrs old girl and i am from ahemdabad.i will be really obliged to hear from you and would be really grateful if you would show me the way to peacei have done the ART EXCEL in the ART OF LIVING course but it did not help me much.candida
Dear Candida,We can definitely help you learn to meditate.For beginning instructions, I suggest you go to this link and look at the sample.Thank you for writing; it’s a pleasure to hear from someone so young.Blessings to you,Puran
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January 16th, 2008
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