Re: Emotions and breathing

[Guest guest]

No, I can't. Breathing patterns or breathing mindfully gives me no relief or change at all.I think Kaivey mentioned that he had difficulty changing his feelings through breathing, too. I'd like to think that I'm not the only person for whom mindfulness of the breath has no effect.I'd be interested in discussion on this. I feel like I'm missing something vital that could really help me but I don't know what. Breathing is supposed to be a pretty simple thing. I've tried a lot of variations of counting, breath-holding, etc. and it usually makes me more anxious, not less. I do have the habit of holding my breath, especially when I'm concentrating. And I've be diagnosed with sleep apnea. So I've got a lot of issues around breathing. It feels like just one more thing about me that's not working right, my emotions being the main thing.Bruce I'm beginning to notice the extent of how fickle emotions really are. I woke this morning and began tearing up before my feet had even hit the floor. Damn it, I slept ok. I got up and started moving, knowing this is the best way for me to let it pass. Motivation is at a zero so it's harder to do what works but I persist. All of a sudden, someone made contact with me. Wow! The whole world changed, I felt injected with drive and visions of future possibilities. I tend to think that my response to the morning sadness should be a mirror of my response to the connection (and visa versa). Those emotions flow so quickly, even in the space of 24 hours. I know the breath is a key tool and I watch it as much as I can. It seems like the body responds to anxiety (in terms of breath) with suction, mammoth in-breaths. One seems to struggle with the ability to breathe out evenly and the in-breath is gasped in a life saving mode. On the other hand, in a physical state of numbness/hopelessness the out breath is calm and long-lasting, the in-breath is still gasped but that's only to be back all the quicker to the out-breath again, (there is a perpetuation of the thought that `this' breath is the last), it's a very long out-breath. Being able to notice those extremes shows me that there will always be better and worse and to seek a "middle way" through. Can you guys change the way you feel by consciously altering your breathing patterns? I use my hand on my diaphragm and sometimes move my body into different positions, mindfully compressing different muscles, I use the stillness of meditation and of course, just letting it flow. Still thinking,