Some techniques need stories to make them more compelling. Here’s one to wrap in your mind along with the Vase Breath.
About 35 years ago in London Ontario, my eldest daughter (undergoing a teenage growth-spurt), could barely drag herself out of bed in the morning – let alone walk the mile to High school. She caught the bus instead, arriving home afternoons even more wilted and languid.
At the time, I was teaching extensive classes in Hatha Yoga both for the Local Community College as well as privately.
One day amidst my child’s ‘weariness’ complaints – I looked her in the eye and asked -
“Would you like to have more energy?”
“Are you kidding Mum?”
“No, I’m not kidding – and you shall have your energy!”
“First thing tomorrow before school, I’ll teach you an exercise.”
And I did.
The following afternoon she came in early.
“What happened – did someone give you a lift instead of catching the bus?”
“No – didn’t wait for the bus – I walked home instead.”
“So, you had more energy today?”
“More energy???…I had so much energy, I didn’t know what to do with it!!!”
There you have it and yes, the exercise is that good. Do it in the morning if you want to have energy all day.
THE VASE BREATH
In this classic Yoga breath you imagine your belly is a large pot sitting on your pubic bones.
1) Sit in a straight backed chair. Don’t rest your back! Feet should be flat on the floor but not touching.
Close your eyes, place your hands across the widest part of the belly and breathe IN deeply – pushing your hands out as far as possible with the force of the breath – then breathe OUT feeling your hands pull inwards as you expel the air. Do this several times till it feels totally comfortable to only breathe in and out of your belly.
2) Open your eyes and lower your hands to just above the pubic bones. Concentrate on that space beneath your hands.
Breathe IN deeply (filling the ‘pot-bellied vase’), now slowly breathe OUT – pulling the gut beneath your hands in and in and IN – while you steadily push the breath out your nostrils – until there’s no more breath to push out and there’s no more muscle to pull in!
a) While you expel the air out your nose and pull in the gut, mentally count 1-2-3-4. By the count of 4 the lower belly should be all tight and contracted.
b) Hold for one more beat – and breathe IN – while vigorously pushing your belly out. This completes the Vase Breath Cycle.
You can count faster or slower until these muscles get used to you controlling them.
All the while, you’re rhythmically filling and emptying your ‘vase-belly’…and gathering and concentrating Chi Power.
Repeat the Vase Breath cycle 10 times. Then immediately enjoy two or three deep rest-breaths, taking air into the upper chest as well – followed by a further 10 repeats (20 in all).
The above is the version I adapted from the original and it works as well with the rest-breath pause in the middle. I taught the original version to my daughter – it continues non-stop for 20 Vase Breath cycles – no rest-breaths between!
Try both versions, find your own pace.
And enjoy your new found energy!
If you want to go further with Power-Breathing – the next step is: THE BLISS BREATH!
The Bliss Breath comes in two parts, the first is the Crown-Sniffing Breath and the second is the actual Bliss Breath itself.
THE CROWN-SNIFFING BREATH
The intention is to sniff energy in through the crown of your head and down the spine to the perineum area (between the sexual organs in the male and at the Yoni/vagina in the female). Although this can be done lying down, it becomes most effective when sitting in a straight-backed chair with the spine upright and with the feet flat on the floor.
1) Concentrate on the very top of your head and imagine you have a huge pair of nostrils up there!
2) Take strong rapid sniffs through your crown/nose, while simultaneously contracting the perineum/Yoni area. For each sniff you do a tiny contraction/relaxation as fast as you can.
You don’t pull the stomach in with this, just contract the perineum.
Do at least 20 or more sniff/contractions. You’ll find it’s somewhat like winding up a spring – eventually it gets harder and harder to sniff…..that means you’ve done enough, the energy is wound up and ready to go! This build-up can be used as instant energy, or it can be discharged into the body as bliss through the Bliss Breath; this is very vitalizing and quite surprising – if you haven’t done it before! Eventually you become so in-sync with being blissful that it only takes a couple of sniff/contractions to be totally in the Bliss state (which does wonders for health and healing).
THE BLISS BREATH
Continuing on from the prior Sniffing Exercise:
1) You are already sitting with your spine erect, feet flat on the floor and you have just completed a series of Sniffing-Breaths, in fact, you’re so full of energy, you can’t possibly fit in another sniff! At this point relax and take a ‘rest- breath’ – a deep breath in from the bottoms of your feet up to your crown and out down to your feet again.
2) Then begin to sniff very lightly and rapidly through your nose (or, if it’s more comfortable – pant through your open mouth): at the same time as you are sniffing or panting, slowly and steadily begin pulling in and tightening the lower belly while simultaneously contracting the perineum/Yoni.
You’ll begin to notice that towards the end of the rapid sniffing or panting, these mini-breaths become slower and slower – and more powerful as the bliss becomes more intense. At the same time, you should experience a wave of bliss (ranging from mildly euphoric to sexual), beginning in the pelvis, moving up the spine and penetrating the various body centers. There may be several waves of bliss and you should continue the panting or rapid nostril breathing for as long as it takes the ‘charge’ to disseminate into the cells.
Sometimes you may need to take a slow rest-breath and then return to the panting to release all of the ‘charge.’
Both the Vase and Crown Sniffing breaths can be used independently to generate physical energy without the Bliss. The Vase Breath when used out of the Bliss cycle, needs 20 repetitions to gather sufficient energy-charge. If 20 in a row is too much to tackle, try 10 – then a rest-breath followed by another 10 followed by two rest-breaths. The resulting energy can last for most of the day!…..then you can do a repeat if necessary.
The Crown Sniffing Breath if used alone (without the perineum contraction) gives an immediate boost when you find ourself suddenly exhausted, or depleted after extreme exertion. Don’t try and do 20 breaths in public – people will think you are hyperventilating and get alarmed….instead, do short, quiet, surreptitious bursts of eight to ten Sniffing breaths whenever required. No one notices unless they are sitting next to you on a bus or in a waiting area – then you can say you are doing a breathing exercise for energy!
RECHARGE – REVIVE – RAPTURE-IZE