While I was meditating today I tried "golden ratio breathing"

Also can someone share some wisdom on Bodhisattva? I really like the concept and art I've seen depicting them but I was hoping to get a clear idea from a real person who practices

>>19537041
woah thats cool anon, will try.
Try using other ratios, pi, shumann, tau, eulers number.

>>19537041
>slight sensation at the end of the exhale. Somewhat similar to feeling lightheaded

yeah that might have something to do with exhaling for 8 seconds repeatedly

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>>19539257
topkek

I always feel lightheadedness exhaling while meditating

>>19537041
>is this smart to keep practicing
Yes, what you are feeling is only the beginning
Fear is holding you back when there is nothing to fear, you are simply merging back into your natural Buddha form

I do pranayama breathing. Inhale 4/5 sec, hold breath 4/5 sec, exhale 4/5 seconds, immediatly inhale after exhaling. The amount of seconds dont really matter, pick a natural flow but the seconds should be equal. This is concentrated breathing, after a while breath normal and observe. So you go from controlling the breath to observing it.
Its possible that you come close to breathlessness

>>19540429
I feel like a big portion of the fear/hesitation is subconscious. I'm learning to lucid dreaming so I can maybe counteract this.

>>19540700
My breathing normally goes shallow or stops completely so I guess I'm on the right track. I try not to have expectations and just go with the flow but I feel like I need some instruction/direction for after I'm really relaxed.

>>19540800
Do what is called the silent temple meditation. Once you're at a state of quinessance imagine you are hollow, cavernous. This cavern is filled with water and it is still. Once the water is still pay attention to the ripples of feeling and thought. But maintain a distance, you are the water paying attention to the ripples, seperate your mind and heart from thought and emotion.

>>19537041
Protip: experimenting with breathing without knowing what you're doing will fuck your shit up. You may develop breathing problems and just fuck up your body/brain due to an altered oxygen intake.

The reason for this is very simple and as follows: breathing is one of the few processes of our body that's typically automatic but can be controlled to some extent. Control over blinking our eyelids is another thing like this. Anyway, when you let your body breathe for you, your body "knows" exactly how much oxygen you need, and, assuming your airways and lungs are normal and fine (which they should be for most people), it'll just give you the amount of oxygen you need. Even if, like most people, you don't breathe as well as you could (i.e., deeply, from the abdomen/diaphragm) it's still better because your body has gotten used to that oxygen intake.

Changing your oxygen intake without knowing what you're doing could just fuck you up, because oxygen intake can affect and be affected by a lot of things: it affects your mental state (because your brain needs oxygen to function, and will function differently with different amounts of oxygen), your emotional state, and even your digestion. Yogis and Sufis and advanced mystics who do breathing exercises have developed a good knowledge of physiology and psychology and tailor the exercises to students, and also include with them changes of diets, certain physical regimens, etc. The people who give breathing exercises to the masses indiscriminately are idiots who don't know what they're doing.

Another problem is that if you intentionally control your breathing long enough, what may happen is that the instinctive part of your body which has gotten used to a certain oxygen intake and so automatically breathes for you may just "give up", and follow your new pattern of breathing instead -- which may not be perfect.

https://sarmoung.wordpress.com/2010/09/11/grdjieff-on-experiments-with-breathing/

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>>19540894
the article is from 1924.
Conscious breathing is integral in many meditations, it's a kickstarter. The atmosphere is made up of roughly 20%oxygen. The body uses about 4% and expels 16%. It's why you can perform CPR. I'm dubious that you can mess yourself up with conscious breathing because the autonomic process of breathing will kick in before you can seriously harm yourself. It's why you can't pass out by holding your breath and even if you stop breathing damage doesn't occur till a couple of minutes afterwards.
My method is the 20 second cycle. Breathe in slowly for 9 secs, pause, breath out for 9 secs, pause. I have been doing this for decades and my mental acuity hasn't diminished and I'm fit as a fiddle.

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>>19540894

this person is angry that you're doing stuff without him

he's completely wrong, you literally can't mess anything up. i got a record on the punching machine at the state fair by doing this trick where you attempt suicide by holding your breath until your brain lashes out with a flood of electrical nerve energy super fast.

>>19540836
Thanks I'm gonna try this out today

>>19537041
it remind me that there is a ratio which inhale in 5 hold 3 exhale in 8. if i remember correctly this one was most fastly effective on symphatetic neurosystem. it does make calm immediately.

>>19540800
Good, dont set expectations. You should indeed not experiment too much on your own. Find a 'guru/teacher'. Finding a teacher may save you years of useless practice. I only meditate after energization practice. I am following kriya yoga, which might interest you. Find a group near your place. Meditating with 1 or more persons will be easier.