Conscious Connected Breathing

Conscious Connected Breathing is a system of conscious breathing that invigorates the body with life force while transmuting emotions and clarifying consciousness.  Through deep connected-breathing, we break through our mind/body armor and release self-limiting emotions and karmic and muscular patterns.  This process balances and harmonizes body, mind, and soul, helping us in regaining our true Self and vitality as we open ourselves to joy and freedom.

Conscious Breathing has been a fundamental part of the yogic science of pranayama and the Taoist practices of T’ai Chi and Tantric Qigong for millennia. As long ago as 2700 B.C., The Yellow Emperor (Huang Ti) allegedly practiced a form of Qigong called Tao Yin to increase his vitality and life span. Fundamental to this practice was the way in which the movements were coordinated with and empowered by the breath.

In the 1920s Paramahansa Yogananda brought the ancient science of Kriya Yoga and Conscious Breathing (pranayama) to the United States. In pranayama, breath is regulated to build an energetic charge which assists in the release of stress and increases the health of the practitioner of yoga.  Furthermore, Yogananda states that “Yoga works primarily with the energy in the body, through the science of pranayama, or energy-control.  Prana means also ‘breath.’ Yoga teaches how, through breath-control, to still the mind and attain higher states of awareness. The higher teachings of yoga take one beyond techniques, and show the yogi, or yoga practitioner, how to direct his concentration in such a way as not only to harmonize human with Divine consciousness, but to merge his consciousness in the Infinite.”  -Yogananda, The Essence of Self-Realization

It wasn’t until the 1930s that the West had its own bona fide breath guru, Wilhelm Reich. Wilhelm Reich, a student of Freud, created a style of therapy which focused on somatic as well as verbal analysis. Reich developed the theory of character armor i.e., persistent patterns of muscle tension and restricted breathing which repressed emotions from conscious attention by blocking their awareness and expression. Muscular armoring is chronic muscular tension that blocks the unimpeded flow of life force through the body. Today this is commonly and simplistically called “stress.” It is now commonly accepted that stress and the repression / restriction of life force can result in both emotional stagnation and in physical disease.

Reich, along with another of Freud’s students, Otto Rank, traced the genesis of muscular armoring and restricted breathing all the way back to our first breath at birth. He thought that the trauma of birth catalyzed a compensatory response characterized by limiting the breath. We learn to minimize our perception of emotional pain and fear by restraining the breath, although this also limits our ability to experience our emotions and our selves fully and authentically. Reich used breath to energetically charge the body with life-force, which he called Orgone (Chi, Qi, Ki, Prana) resulting in the freeing of blocked emotional energy and chronic muscular tension.

Perhaps the most famous of Reich’s students was Alexander Lowen.  Lowen devised a process he termed “Bioenergetics,” which consisted of both analysis and exercises to free physical, emotional, and energetic blockages. In 1971, he published The Language of the Body (originally published in 1958 as Physical Dynamics of Character Structure) which led to the coining of the popular term “body language.”

In the mid-1970s, I had the opportunity to study with one of Lowen’s students. I found Bioenergetic Analysis to be dynamic, challenging, and deeply profound in its ability to open physical-emotional blockages in a well grounded manner. This work led directly to my study and practice of T’ai Chi Chuan and Qigong with Master Yung-ko Chou. These gentle Taoist arts accelerated my progress with Bioenergetics helping me to ground and integrate higher energetic states more easily.

It was around this time that the work of Reich, Lowen, and Yogananda was co-opted and popularized as the Rebirthing movement and also led to the work of Stanislav Grof. Grof originated the term “holotropic” to describe modes of consciousness or psychic states which aim toward the experience of wholeness and the totality of existence. Grof asserts that the holotropic is characteristic of non-ordinary states of consciousness such as the meditative and mystical.

In his book, The Cosmic Game - Explorations of the Frontiers of Human Consciousness, Grof says “In the last few decades, it has become increasingly clear that humanity is facing a crisis of unprecedented proportions. Modern science has developed effective measures that could solve most of the urgent problems in today’s world–combat the majority of diseases, eliminate hunger and poverty, reduce the amount of industrial waste, and replace destructive fossil fuels by renewable sources of clean energy. The problems that stand in the way are not of economical or technological nature. The deepest sources of the global crisis lie inside the human personality and reflect the level of consciousness evolution of our species.”

Following this line of thought leads one to conclude that saving the planet requires that we first save ourselves. We must clarify our consciousness, transcend the separate, individual, illusory self, and unify our Mind, Body, Emotions, and Spirit. We must Awaken to who we really Are. © 2010 Keith e. Hall. All rights reserved.

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Presencing™: Growth, Meditation, Manifestation

Presencing™ is a method of self-inquiry that scans the body, mind, and emotions for what is Present at that time. What is present is often the tip of the iceberg, a barely recognizable “feeler” put out by your higher self to try and get your attention. Your higher self tries to get you to notice something, some resistance, some karmic / emotional / physical pattern that requires release before your evolution / understanding / manifestation can proceed smoothly.

What appears as something minor, can often be a significant guide to your healing and mental / emotional / spiritual progress. The small self tends to defend against this knowledge and self-responsibility, repressing self-knowledge and projecting responsibility externally. Until we are fully self-aware and claim responsibility for, and mastery of our thoughts and emotions, our progress will be slowed. Allowing the unimpeded flow of what needs to shift, heal, and be recognized within ourselves creates a profound and simple process of self-knowledge and emotional freedom. The energy trapped in subconscious repression and external projection is then freed to create empowerment, joy, and creativity.

Meditation
Often the agenda of meditation is represented as developing the ability to still the mind. Let’s be honest, the mind resists this. The brain is designed to process information for survival and growth and is loathe to let go of this function. Many people learning or practicing meditation are curious as to why their minds often seem noisier when they sit for meditation than in their daily lives! It would seem counter-intuitive, but meditation retreats can be just as “noisy” as a football game. Its just that it is all internal. This can be somewhat frustrating at times. Combine this emotional / mental content with physical discomfort or distraction, and meditation can be a bit of a challenge. The very process of “stilling the mind” can become an active repression of coded information valuable to a more highly efficient process of self-knowledge. No amount of “stilling” will negate the noise until its message is received and integrated.  Presencing™ allows these messages / feelings / distractions to reveal their hidden wisdom. For some, the Presencing Process(sm) is so efficient that within a few minutes a person can achieve deeper states of meditation, peace, and joy than they thought possible.

Therapy / Communication Skills
As a therapeutic modality, Presencing™ presents a palette of mind – body tools to create a more holistic approach to healing. One of the difficulties with verbal therapy is that, well, we lie! Even when we think we are telling the truth, we tend to edit, rationalize, and project i.e., we have defense mechanisms. Talk therapy can be like Talk Radio: we all want to be a righteous Rush Limbaugh, defending our paradigm from too much scrutiny. Not that this is entirely a conscious decision. We have “sleeper cells” deep within us that press our subconscious agenda.

The mind and the mouth can lie, but this is not so with the body. The body is always broadcasting our truth. Therapies based on the work of Reich, Lowen, et al recognize this and turn to the body for greater truth. Presencing™ is a simple and more gentle path to the same end. No stress, strain, or catharsis is required. Truth and freedom from past trauma can be achieved through attention, recognition and validation of both mental / emotional and somatic content.

Manifestation
One reason we often find it difficult to create what we want is that we are always praying for what we don’t. Affirmations often are inefficient in manifesting because we tend to broadcast affirmations mainly with the conscious mind. Our subconscious mind / emotions may be broadcasting antithetical requests sequentially or simultaneously. We are both asking for what we want and what we don’t. No wonder Universal Mind is confused! Perhaps we have delivered to us a mix of both. What we ask for can be partially negated by subconscious thought processes / emotions. One example: we want to manifest something, but fear that we cannot. Which desire is stronger? If equal, they tend to cancel each other.

The Law of Attraction states that you attract what is similar to yourself. This is not a new concept in metaphysics or religion. Thousands of years ago the Old Testament gave us a heads-up: “As ye sow, so shall ye reap”; (T-5.VI.6:1; Galatians 6:7, 2 Corin 9:6). So, to effectively attract what we want, we must clear ourselves of the subconscious resistances and counter messages we are broadcasting. Simply put: the Presencing Process(sm) helps us sow the right seed. © 2009 Keith E. Hall and Inner-tranquility.com. All rights reserved.

Rev. Keith Hall has synthesized the seminal aspects of Breathwork, Bioenergetics, Neo-Reichian, Tantric, Taoist, and Buddhist practices to create the Presencing Process(sm). Presencing(sm) facilitates deep healing, joy, empowerment, and freedom from past limitations so we can manifest clearly what we desire in life.  Presencing(sm) is a simple, yet profoundly powerful process for creating our lives the way we wish to.

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Kundalini or Heart Attack?

This article relates to: Orgasmic Kundalini Rush, Tantric Taoist Awakening

Q. Heather42 asks: Just checking, but you do realize these are similar to symptoms of heart attack? Some preliminary heart attack events do not necessarily involve chest pain, and/or the person can be asleep during the chest pain phase. The time frame of early morning, abdominal tingling, and immobility, especially of arms, are all classic symptoms associated with heart attack. Has Scott had his heart checked lately?

A. Rev. Hall: Thank you for your concern. I am sure that Scott appreciates it. Perhaps at his next physical, an EKG could be run to rule out any atypical cardiac abnormalities. Though it seems unlikely, it would do no harm to have a test run. I am not a physician, so I cannot speak to whether there is a rare cardiac symptomatology that would match the experience Scott is having. The experiences Scott is having are rather common for those who are having quasi - Kundalini or Shakti Prana experiences, but seem rather atypical for cardiac problems. To further delineate:

1. No Pain: Typically, though not always, a cardiac event will entail angina often radiating down the left arm. Though there are cases of cardiac events where patients do not recall any pain, Scott claims numerous Kundalini experiences, distinctly remembered, never with any angina or arm pain.

2. Pleasure: Scott recounts how these events are quite pleasurable to him. This is quite common among meditators who are moving Shakti Prana ( Shakti Kundalini ) and have low fear and karmic resistance to this bioenergy movement. The pleasurable sensations also can become distinctly Tantric in nature for some people. I have never heard of any cardiac events described this way.

3. Creativity: Scott says “When I wake up I feel different, slightly energized, slightly creative.” This state of feeling quietly energized and creative is routinely reported by practitioners of Kriya Kundalini techniques, especially with Tumo and Cobra Breath. It seems to be one of the hallmarks of Shakti Prana as the energy moves into the higher Chakras, especially Ajna ( the Third Eye. )

4. Paralysis: Scott: “I am a sleep or half asleep when it happens 4:30 to 6:00 (AM)…it is never painful but pleasurable, I have tried to move my arm to share it with my wife, but generally can’t move (my) arm, except once, I am awake at this point trying to enjoy and understand it. ”

As I understand Scott’s description of this aspect of his experience, it is likely that he is having what sleep researchers call “sleep paralysis”, a state often linked to lucid dreaming and REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. When it occurs in REM sleep it is called REM atonia. This state is characterized by paralysis shortly after waking up (hypnopompic paralysis) or, shortly before falling asleep (hypnagogic paralysis). This happens when the sleeper is awakened from an REM state into a fully awake state, causing the person to be aware, but unable to move.

In the yogic tradition, this state is thought to be the “dream body” separating from the physical body, where out-of-body travel might occur. It is thought that one of the stages of the journey to enlightenment is “witnessing sleep,” being lucid and in a state of Witness Consciousness while asleep. A variation of this is present when you are in an authentic state of Yoga Nidra. Not the “Yoga Nidra” class you are taking with 10 other people, but the real deal, the Yoga Nidra Theta states familiar to Yoga Masters.

There is also a Hindu mythos that Rakshasas (Hindu demons) attack persons in this state to hinder their progress towards enlightenment. This pertains to those who experience a fear reaction in this state and is, in my opinion, an anthropomorphic external projection of the internal experience. That is, we create an external threat out of our internal fear. This can seem quite real.

5. Tantric and sexual in nature: Scott has stated: “It is very intense when it happens, it feels like an orgasm but different.”

Scott is experiencing a mild variant of the “full body orgasm” first discovered in the West by Wilhelm Reich. As we are able to let go of our neuroses, (our fears, frustrations, physical tensions, stress, our karma) and activate our life force ( Qi, Chi, Ki, or in this case Shakti Kundalini ), we can attain a highly charged energetic state of non genital full body orgasm which floods the entire body and psyche. In a kind of feedback loop, the orgasm itself then continues to release old neuromuscular tensions in the body (somatic karmic patterns).

This is cultivated in Tantra and is predicated on one’s ability to both charge the body with life force AND surrender to its flow. In Scott’s case, it is happening spontaneously after being relaxed by a full nights sleep, which lowers psychic and somatic karmic resistance. For many men, morning is a time when Tantric sexual energy can peak due to elevated testosterone, and a relaxed, rested state. Being able to share this with a partner in an awakened Tantric or Kundalini state (somatically and spiritually), can amplify the experience and one can attain ecstatic, transpersonal, often mystical states of awareness while speeding your liberation from your karmic patterns ( karma burning ).

Taoist Tantra training will enhance this process. This will, at minimum, improve your physical and mental well being, personal power, and creativity. If one attains an enlightened Bodhisattva consciousness, what began as personal accrual of bliss may radiate outward as a boon to humanity in general. (c) 2006 Keith E. Hall. All rights reserved.

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References:
Reich, Wilhelm The Function of the Orgasm: Discovery of the Orgone, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1986.

Conesa, J. (2002). Isolated Sleep Paralysis and Lucid Dreaming: Ten-year longitudinal case study and related dream frequencies, types, and categories. Sleep and Hypnosis, 4, (4), 132-143.

Schneck JM. Sleep paralysis and microsomatognosia with special reference to hypnotherapy . The International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis 1977; XXV:72-77.

Takeuchi T, Miyasita A, Sasaki Y, Inugami M, Fukuda K. Isolated sleep paralysis elicited by sleep interruption. American Sleep Disorders Association and Sleep Research Society, 1992; 15: 217-225.

Ohayon MM, Zulley J, Guilleminault C, Smirne, S. Prevalence and pathologic associations of sleep paralysis in the general population. Neurology, 1999; 52:1194-1200.

The Presencing(sm) Process

The Art of Being Present: Saturday, August 14, Olney Yoga, Olney MD tantricqigong@aol.com

Learn to make the most of each moment in your life!

Do you admire those who say “carpe diem” and reach for all the gusto that life has to offer? Ever wonder how you could learn to extract more meaning and enjoyment from your life?

All too often, we live our lives in anticipation of the future while subconsciously repressing unpleasant aspects of our past. We shuttle back and forth between past and future, robbing ourselves of our life and re-creating old patterns of being.   As Einstein once said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result!”

Through the Presencing Process for Enlightenment & Freedom(sm) we can release patterns, which no longer serve us and create our lives with joy and fulfillment, exactly the way we wish to!

Who can benefit from this course:

– Busy professionals who find it difficult to unwind.
– Anyone who feels “stuck in a rut”.
– Meditators & Yoga practitioners who want to deepen their practice.
– Persons having anxiety, frustration, or difficulty stilling the mind in meditation.
– Psychotherapists & clients wishing an approach to mind-body-spirit holism.
– Bodyworkers & energy workers.
– Persons wishing more clarity, direction, & creativity in their personal or professional lives.

In this experiential session / workshop we will:

– Open ourselves fully to our present experience.
– Use sensation, emotion, and cognition to guide ourselves to our truth.
– Release negative emotion easily while opening to joy, serenity, and bliss.
– Use the breath to inspire creativity, vitality, and enjoyment of our lives.
– Learn how being fully present in the moment can create perfect fulfillment.
– Heal our past wounding and manifest success in all aspects of our being.
– Learn how to create ease of communication and greater connection and intimacy in our relationships.

Presencing™ is available as a private session and as a class / workshop.

Presence is the Buddha Pearl

Rev. Keith Hall has synthesized the seminal aspects of Breathwork, Bioenergetics, Neo-Reichian, Tantric, Taoist, and Buddhist practices to create the Presencing Process(sm). Presencing (sm) facilitates deep healing, joy, empowerment, and freedom from past limitations so we can manifest clearly what we desire in life. Presencingsm is a simple, yet profoundly powerful process for creating our lives the way we wish to.

What people say about Presencing™:

Thank you so much for teaching me a more effective way to meditate. God Bless you….
- JK, Carson City, Nevada

I really was able to make some progress in releasing pain.
- VF, Falls Church, VA

…much more of an experience than I anticipated.
-BC, Mt. Airy, MD

Great workshop!
- KK, Arlington, VA

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Tantric Qigong

Bioenergetics Originating with Alexander Lowen, and based on the work of Wilhelm Reich, Bioenergetics contains aspects of both Tantra and Taoist practices. Like the masters of the East, Reich identified the primordial energy that resides within us (Qi, Chi, life force, Ki) and links us to the cosmos and called it “Orgone“. As fascinating a character as you’d ever want to meet, Reich was able to concentrate the Orgone and use it for everything from healing cancer to making it rain. He once ticked off Freud by claiming that one’s analysis wasn’t complete until one was able to have a full body orgasm. Reichian and Neo Reichian based techniques are similar to Tantra in recognizing the central role played by activating and amplifying these core energies, however they differ in the order of opening the various components of the BodyMind to these energies.

Many Tantra teachers aggressively stimulate sexual energies and Kundalini then attempt to have them rise safely up through the body’s Chakras to the head and outward into the energy bodies. Reichian traditions start with cognitive work, gentle energy channeling and lots of grounding positions to fully prepare the practitioner for increasingly higher amperages. Generally, the bodywork aspect begins with the head while pelvic and sexual work comes later in the process. This order of release opens the body’s channels gently to prepare oneself for the safe rise of Kundalini and the efficient release of somatic and psychic blockages. In addition, techniques for remaining present and facilitating non-judgmental communication serve to create a safe space for sharing, releasing, witnessing, and healing our inner wounds. So, to properly equip our evolutionary “vehicles” for this spiritual roadtrip, each traveler must select the correct options for that individual’s comfort and safety. Then, sit back and enjoy the ride!

Tantric release through chakras.

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©1998 Keith E. Hall. All rights reserved.

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