one of the most powerful meditation techniques i’ve learned, that i use all the time, is very simple
it’s a breathing technique, the extended exhale, also sometimes called sussokan
i would describe the technique as follows:
- bring your focus to your breathing, especially the breathing at the abdomen or hara or dan tien
- have a long, slow, complete exhale, where U try to exhale all the breath from your lungs
- have a relaxed, smooth, calm inhale
- rinse, repeat
optionally, U can also count breaths while U do this, counting to ten or a hundred breaths. this works similarly to a mantra and helps U “measure” your concentration.
if U simply have longer breaths, it is very calming. but if U really try to have a complete exhale, it will feel like U are going to die. U can’t die from this technique, but it will feel like that, especially at first.
as I understand it, this is because we have a kind of addiction to oxygen. we’re used to inhaling a lot of oxygen, and when we slow our breath, we experience oxygen hunger.
this breath is very healthy. it also has many uses. one is that it is calming. another is that it warms the body.
another is that it makes it harder to think, and easier to focus.
if U really slow your breath, U may not be able to think at all. and U can enter a concentration or absorption state.
above all, for me at least, it just feels good. it feels good to breathe this way. it brings me into the present moment, and regulates my nervous system. i try to breathe this way as often as i can, whenever i remember.
this is an old meditation from Rinzai Zen, although it was certainly discovered elsewhere. i’m not a Zen teacher, but this is one of the most useful techniques i have ever practiced, and it is very simple to describe, so i thought i would write this up about how to do it and share it.
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