b1-66er: The article is 'just fine,' but skip to the "breath holding" part if you wanna get blown away...
D4rw1n: That's pretty amazing. Over the last three decades or so, my personal best is probably about 45 seconds. In the last millennium I remember doing it at the pool quite a bit and getting up to a couple minutes. You guys probably did some of that
b1: I never worked on breath holding as part and parcel of my swimming (although I did work up to 90 seconds in HS, with no tricks, or thought even, really)...
...When my dad started seeing a pulmonologist for his emphysema they were encouraging him to use "back pressure" (I think that was the term), where when you breathe out, you sort of did it through pursed lips (kinda like whistling) ...
I was starting to do some more serious distances cycling and noticed IMMEDIATE gain...
So much so that I habitualized it and do it to this day without even thinking about it when I get winded.
At the beginning of meditation everyday, I start with my eyes open, breathe in through the nose, out through the mouth, 4× before I drop-in...
Then I close my eyes...
Breathe in through the nose, hold for four heartbeats.
Breathe out through the mouth, hold for six heartbeats.
I do that 5×.
Then I meditate.
During the 5 breaths, I already know by the second or third if it's going to be a good session by the color play I see "inside my eyes."
If they fill with color (or grow completely black) as I breathe in, I AM GOOD TO GO!
Sometimes, especially if I'm in a bad mood, I don't get response.
If that happens, I'll get up, and go up and the stairs. Drink a glass of water. Try again.
That gets me focused about 80% of the time. (Although if I'm "focused," there's also about an 80% chance that I'll fall asleep in that session.)
D: That's similar to what we do (per headspace instructions) but I haven't noticed the colors - I'll pay attention to that next time
Water is a very effective medicine
In super stressful work moments, a glass of water resolves my situation about 80% of the time
b1: YEAH!
Isn't that just the coolest thing?
You know, I wonder what the hell's going on there...
Is your body looking for something else to look at so the rest of your mind can get to business?
Or does the radiator of the soul need a top off?
Or what?
When I fast, if I get hungry (which doesn't happen anymore ... that was a couple years ago) I drink a glass of water and the urge to eat goes away immediately.
D: I think the human body has a certain range of tolerance regarding hydration at the cellular level
My theory is when the cells reach the lower end of the tolerance range, they don't operate as well. That includes brain cells and muscle cells
And I think we're very well conditioned to process water
So when I'm feeling at all bad in any way -and I manage to remember to have a glass of water- it very often helps
Even (especially?) when a significant part of my brain thinks whiskey might be the solution
