Yoga #1

I'm getting confused. Whereas that is not unusual, Listing, as in numbering in sequence, seems to help somewhat. So-o-o...

I'm going to # my Yoga questions and comments. For now, they will just be "next"ed. Maybe, someday, after I've got my Yoga moves numbered the way I like them, I'll cross reference them to that. Anyway,

Yoga #1
Follow the Breath.

Overview:
The human body has a natural ebb and flow based on the heart beat. The heart has a natural rise and fall of speed of about 2 beats a minute. This ebb and flow is DIRECTLY related to the breath by three breaths in, three breaths out.

Function:
This sets up a normal tense and relax cycle. Both for the natural flow of the heart beat, and the natural speed and inclination to breath.

HowTo:
The easiest way to get into the cycle rhythm is to exhale very very very slowly. As one exhales one starts to notice that the breath has a slight pulse. This pulse is based on the pumping heart pushing against the diaphragm. As one exhales there comes a very specific feeling at the end of one heartbeat. That feeling is "the signal to start to INHALE". That is the "pivot" point, the top (or bottom, I forget the diagram off-hand of the biofeedback view ) of the envelop of heart beat speed changes.

Usefulness:
This is the CENTERing that happens for the human system. This centering is talked about in Yoga and religious offerings. ALL the other "tense/relax" cycles of muscle use, in the whole body, ALL the time, is based on, is coordinated with, is trying to synchronize with, this cycle.

I've blogged other aspects of this recently, so I won't do it here.

'nuff