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Vitamine Water

Breath awareness

69 posts in this topic

Goal: increasing body and breath awareness

Technique: 5 minute Diaphragmatic breathing exercise (morning)

Duration: 90 days 

I will be posting my thoughts and improvements here on a  daily basis to challenge myself to stay committed. Feel free to post suggestions, share thoughts or post dank memes. 

Wesley


The art is to look without looking 

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Day 1

Well, my belly is bigger than I thought. I need to workout. 

Belly breathing feels unnatural. I have to consciously stretch my muscles slightly in order to breathe. I hold one hand on my belly and the other on my chest. 

Day 2

I added 5 minutes breath work at the start of my meditation to do more practice. For tomorrow morning I will add another 5 minutes to the breathing only exercise. It's too short to really get into it. 

Edited by Vitamine Water

The art is to look without looking 

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Hmm, it seems like I can't edit my post after 2 days. 

Day 3

10 minutes breath work, the exercise started to work better when I took my hands off my belly and chest. My attention is now focused on the lowest part of my belly instead of how much my hands move when I breathe. 

Breating this way still feels a little awkward. 

It's the same type of breathing when in deep relaxed meditation states, only then it feels more automatic and relaxing. 

I have to get used to this type of breathing in non meditative states. De-stress. 

 

Edited by Vitamine Water

The art is to look without looking 

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Day 4

I wanted to add 5 more minutes but I have to take it slow.

Comfortable session. Breathing felt more natural this time. I have more time to focus on different sensations around the breath (nose, throat, sounds) 

Edited by Vitamine Water

The art is to look without looking 

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Day 5

Comfortable session, but got distracted right after. Getting into a meditative state is a lot smoother by focusing on breath first. 


The art is to look without looking 

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Day 6

Technique seems to get more easy and pleasant. No need to force any muscles in my  belly. It takes a few breaths to be automatic. 

I also begin to notice my breath more in non meditative states. Not for long tho, just a few seconds a couple of times a day.

Normally in moments of 'clarity' awareness is focused on itself like a small epiphany or waking up moment. When I have these moments now, the attention sometimes goes to the breath instead of awareness itself. 

Signs to wake up from the wheel. 

Edit: I realised that I create my own signs. Spooky stuff.

Edited by Vitamine Water

The art is to look without looking 

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Day 7

Shitty day in terms of awareness. Busy day at work. Practiced belly breathing on the bus rides but both times I was a little distracted by the female apparition. Why are women so beautiful? I need to focus here! 

 

 

 

 


The art is to look without looking 

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Day 8

Did an extra breathing session for 10 minutes today. I'll be doing one tomorrow too. I'm a freelancer so sometimes I have more time to self actualize which is nice.

Ideally I can do this exercise in the morning, afternoon and before bed, so tomorrow we're doing the afternoon too. 


The art is to look without looking 

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Breathing more deeply and more slowly into the belly is very relaxing. I first let the breathing be automatic, then after a few minutes I slow the breath down. 

Ujjayi breath helps to strengthen focus and relaxation. I haven't mastered that type of breathing, but it often happens naturally when I try to breathe slowly. 

Edited by Vitamine Water

The art is to look without looking 

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Interestingly, I breathe 24 hours a day, fully 'automatic' and without being aware of it except for the 20/30 minutes breathing exercise. Makes me realise how much I take things for granted. And how much there is I'm unaware of. 

How the fuck does my body keep breathing when I'm asleep? And my hearth pumping? Who's in control here? 


The art is to look without looking 

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Day 9

Nothing much. Short but frequent awareness of breath in non meditative states. 


The art is to look without looking 

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Day 10

Good awareness today. I was watching a movie and there were several moments where I was becoming aware of my breath. But after a few seconds the awareness subsided and attention was back in the movie. 


The art is to look without looking 

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Day 11 & 12

Good awareness during work today and yesterday. I was asleep most of time, but there were quite a few moments of being fully present. I tried to count my breath at one time, and got to 15 ?


The art is to look without looking 

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Day 13

Good awareness today. My metro ride to work is about 10 minutes so I have the opportunity to do the breath exercise. During work it's hard focus on my breath for 10 minutes straight, so I try to focus for short durations as much as I can. 


The art is to look without looking 

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Day 14

Okay day. Compared to the last few days, today was a bit off. Caught up in work. 

There was one instant during lunch where I became aware of my breath and realised that I was unaware of how I was breathing prior before that moment. I didn't know if I was breathing in my belly already, or chest breathing, or mouth breathing or whatever. Kind of like waking up from a deep sleep. 

Even now when I check my breathing I'm unaware of how I was breathing just seconds before.. 

Can I be aware of the unconscious? And if so, is it then still unconscious? 

It feels like there must always be an unconscious. I am for example currently not aware of all the snails in my neighbours backyard. But can I? 

 

 

 


The art is to look without looking 

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Day 15

Okay today. I did manage to take 10 minutes off to practice belly breathing during work. I totally forgot about it during lunch tho. Its not yet baked into my system so to speak. 


The art is to look without looking 

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@modmyth Blenders are amazing. In fact, I use one every day too for my smoothies. But unfortunately it broke down just two days ago so I'm left with eating (and not blending) bananas and kiwi's. Boooring! 

Where do you use your blender for if you don't mind me asking? 

Edited by Vitamine Water

The art is to look without looking 

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Day 16

Wakey wakey! Today I explored dreamland. Zero awareness but hella fun times. It feels like I just woke up, but I'm going to bed for sleep... 

Tomorrow there is more time for self actualization. Then I can finnaly do a full round of 3x 10 minutes, relaxed! 

 

 


The art is to look without looking 

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Day 17

Restful day. Did 3 full breath exercises which felt good and relaxing. It feels like I'm getting the hands of it. In terms of my breath awareness during the day: pretty much non excistant. I need to get out of this pit. I don't like being on autopilot. 

 

 

Edited by Vitamine Water

The art is to look without looking 

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