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<p><strong>Coherence, Yoga, & Meditation: <span class="content_text">(Issue 1.7, May 2, 2005)</span> <span class="hyperlinks"><a href="index.html" target="_parent" class="hyperlinks">COHERENCE Home</a></span></strong></p>
<p class="content_text style1 style8">Please note that this page is under construction and is somewhat disjointed. </p>
<p class="content_text style1">By: Stephen Elliott </p>
<p class="content_text style1"><span class="content_text"><em>This section is dedicated to Ginger Vanhoose, Andrew Stronski, and Michael Moore for their unwavering enthusiasm and encouragement. Thank you! </em></span></p>
<p class="content_text"><span class="content_underlined">Author's Note: </span> This page documents many of my own personal experiences and insights relating to coherence and the practice of yoga, meditation, and martial art. It is written in this light. Having said this, scientific and yogic references are cited as is appropriate to support and complete various lines of reasoning. </p>
<p class="content_text">Having spent most of my life engaged in technical endeavors, it is my tendency to write in a technically factual style. I am often reminded that this style may not be appropriate for the average reader. While I struggle with this, I always return to the conclusion that the "science" of yoga, mediation, and martial art is a "technical subject". Paraphrasing an axiom of Taoism, "If when you start you are off by an inch, 10 years later you are off by a mile." I think this maxim properly conveys the importance of deliberation and specificity relative to yogic, meditative, and martial practice. </p>
<p class="content_text">With these comments, please pause, relax, read, muse, and above all, breathe. </p>
<p align="center" class="content_text"><img src="yoga%20&%20meditation_files/hamsa.jpg" width="750" height="254"></p>
<p class="content_text"><span class="sectionheading"><strong>Introduction:</strong></span></p>
<p class="content_text">Much of my understanding of coherence and its relationship to yoga and meditation resulted from the incorporation of “Coherent Breathing<span class="tm">(TM)</span>” to my own yogic practice. Upon doing so, I rapidly came to the conclusion that the "state of coherence” is both a goal and an outcome of yoga. Let me explain.</p>
<p class="content_text">Autonomic balance is a clearly recognized objective of yogic practice. Yoga leads one toward autonomic balance by both promoting balance and countering the effects of imbalance. This includes the primary yogic methods of breathing (pranayama), physical exercise, and meditation. As is made clear in <a href="science_html_production.htm" target="_self">The Science</a> section, relatively slower deeper synchronous breathing moves one from sympathetic emphasis toward balance. Hatha yoga and meditation aid in undoing the effects of chronic sympathetic dominance by consciously unwinding mental and physical tension. Taoist yogic methods emphasize slow controlled body motion, synchronized breathing, and deep relaxation, frequency of motion serving to govern and thereby entrain the breathing frequency. These and other points will be elaborated on in the following pages.</p>
<p class="content_text">I created my first "breathing pacemaker" a couple of years ago. I did this after putting in long hours in front of the computer using one of the popular software programs capable of monitoring heart rate variability. I was introduced to this program by a neuro-therapist in the area, now a good friend and research partner. That day I purchased a copy.</p>
<p class="content_text">Interestingly, at that moment I was engaged in my own investigation of EEG (electroencephalo-graph) assisted meditation, an area that had interested me for many years but I felt unable to afford my own equipment until about 5 years ago, technology having achieved a new plateau of affordability for personal EEG gear.</p>
<p class="content_text">I was particularly keen to experiment with EEG biofeedback because I had practiced yoga and meditation of one form or another for many years, often in excess of 40 hours per week without fail. Yet, despite my effort, my practice was not yielding the results that I had read about in the classics and desired to experience myself. Were the yogic experiences cited in the classics real? If so why was I unable to access them? Yet, I knew from prior experiences that the classics were not just "literature".</p>
<p class="content_text">In any case, I had been using my EEG equipment during meditation every day for a couple of years, formulating thoughts and opinions about meditative states and related EEG patterns when I was introduced to heart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback. Within a couple of weeks I was playing with the respiratory sinus arrhythmia phenomena and attempting to discern the optimal relationship between breathing and heart rate variability. Once I understood this relationship clearly, I began to work with it every day as an integral part of my daily practice. In doing so, I noticed that it evoked a new and powerful state, one that I had not accessed previously with regularity and precision. But my eyes were open watching the computer monitor. I wondered, what would this be like if my eyes were closed? </p>
<p class="content_text">During the holidays I set up a "lab" in my office and invited friends and family to aid me in my experimentation. My quest was to understand how to facilitate this state without requiring the computer. I discovered some fascinating things, the most significant being this:</p>
<p class="content_text">If I asked the subject to synchronize their breathing with a visual indication (in this case, an oscilloscope driven by a signal generator) that was operating at the frequency of 1 cycle in ~12 seconds, their heart rate variability amplitude was maximal and their HRV coherence was optimal.</p>
<p class="content_text"> Why? Because when one breathes at this rhythm, the intrinsic autonomic nervous system rhythm, what I refer to as <em>The Fundamental Quiescent Rhythm<span class="tm">(tm)</span></em>, phase locks with the breathing cycle. In other words, the breathing cycle and the cardiopulmonary cycle inclusive of autonomic nervous system aspects are synchronized. </p>
<p class="content_text">Voila! The Breathing Pacemaker was born! Using a less than perfect audio editing program I put together a simple audio recording that provided a signal indicating when to inhale and when to exhale. That day I began employing this first, albeit crude, audio pacemaker in my meditative practice. Within a short time I was achieving meditative states that while commonplace for me now, I had only read about, e.g. "turya" and "pratyahara", etc. But more importantly, the same breathing modality that results in deep meditation during meditative "practice", if employed throughout the day with eyes open results in autonomic balance and its many <a href="correlates.htm" target="_blank">psycho-physiological advantages.</a> It was then that knew I was onto at least part of the answer that I had been looking for.</p>
<p class="content_text">While I have yet to pinpoint the reference, I believe it is Mabel Ellsworth Todd in <span class="content_underlined">The Thinking Body,</span> originally published in 1937, that refers to the relationship between body and mind as the "mind/body mobius", her point being that while we tend to think of the mind and body as being logically separate, in fact they are not. The mind/body mobius concept is very consistent with yogic theory as well as with the latest scientific findings that, where the brain was once considered the residence of the mind, the mind is in fact distributed within every cell of the body, potentially extending even beyond the body's accepted physical boundary. The principle of the mind/body mobius tells us that our state-of-mind is reflected in the body and our body-state is reflected in the mind. The quantum understanding is more that "body is mind" and "mind is body". </p>
<p class="content_text">Very interestingly the intrinsic autonomic rhythm, reflected as the rhythm at which the heartbeat rate changes, is also reflective of both body and mind, hence, the "psycho-physiological" correlates of autonomic balance. Coherence of this rhythm, coherence defined as maximal variability with amplitude, frequency, and phase regularity results in mental and physical harmony and incoherence, the opposite. This is not surprising given that the central nervous system is the foundational substrate of the human organism. </p>
<p class="sectionheading">Breathing and Internal Tension:</p>
<p class="content_text">I'll start by discussing the most fundamental issue of "internal tension". I refer to tension as "fundamental" because, being the source of physical stiffness, tightness, and associated discomfort, it is an overt "symptom" of autonomic imbalance with which we are all familiar. </p>
<p> <span class="content_text">It is generally accepted that "tension" is a function of stress, but what is the relationship? Tension involves the quasi-persistent contraction of certain muscle “motor units”. Motor units are segregated into groups that possess differing sensitivities to nervous stimulation, smaller units being more sensitive than larger ones. Upon contraction of a given muscle, motor units are engaged and disengaged in a hierarchical order, smaller units at lower nervous potentials followed by larger units at higher nervous potentials. Upon relaxation the reverse occurs. Therefore, smaller sensitive units are engaged first and remain engaged until the muscle is fully relaxed. It has been shown that smaller low threshold motor units may be activated by either physical activity or by psychological stress. Consequently, “mental” stress may both activate and maintain the activation of sensitive motor units.</span><span class="tm">(1)</span><span class="content_text"> It may be assumed that coincident with stress, the central nervous system generates the nerve potential necessary to initiate or sustain contraction, but how? </span></p>
<p class="content_text">I hypothesize that the tendency toward persistent tension, sustained contraction of small sensitive motor units, is a function of autonomic balance, or in this case imbalance. This imbalance serves to excite the entirety of the central nervous system, this excitation being transmitted to muscles throughout the body, either directly resulting in contraction, or at a minimum, biasing sensitive motor units such that they remain contracted when they would otherwise relax. I tend to think of the nervous signal resulting from imbalance as "bias" or as “noise”. The effect of this "bias", i.e. contractile muscle activity, is commonly measured on the surface of muscles via electromyography. </p>
<p class="content_text">Per arguments in <a href="science_html_production.htm">The Science</a>, autonomic balance is principally governed by breathing frequency and depth. Ergo, relatively rapid breathing results in imbalance, which results in central nervous system “bias”, which results in activation of low threshold muscle motor units throughout the body. Most adults breathe at the rate of 15 breaths per minute while at rest or semi-activity and for that reason exist in the state of persistent sympathetic dominance. The common physiological response to psychological stress is an increase in breathing frequency, pushing the normal (pathological) breathing frequency beyond even 15 breaths per minute. </p>
<p class="content_text">The effect of deep breathing on tension and its mental counterpart, anxiety, is well understood. Even a few minutes of relatively slow deep breathing can move a person from being tense and anxious to being calm and relaxed. This shift can easily be verified via the application of electromyography before and after. If a few minutes of breathing can resolve acute tension and anxiety, can optimal breathing all the time prevent it entirely? In my experience, the answer is “Yes, definitely". (Well, most of the time.)</p>
<p class="content_text">In <a href="science_html_production.htm">The Science</a>, I assert the theory that there is a 12 second intrinsic autonomic nervous system rhythm, <em>The Fundamental Quiescent Rhythm<span class="tm">(TM)</span></em>, that consists of a “sympathetic phase” and a “parasympathetic phase” of activity. The associated figure is presented again below for convenience. </p>
<p align="center" class="content_text"><img src="science_page/fqr_graphic2.jpg" width="510" height="245"></p>
<p align="center" class="content_text">FIGURE 1 - FQR and Sympathetic/Parasympathetic Correlates </p>
<p class="content_text">During the sympathetic phase, small motor units are activated - during the parasympathetic phase, small motor units are relaxed. Consequently, there is a tensing and relaxing that occurs throughout the body on a 12 second cycle coincident with the breathing cycle, the net effect being "balance".</p>
<p class="content_text">This can be verified experientially. Sit erect, relax, and exhale fully. Pay attention to how you feel all over. Now inhale fully but gradually. Feel what is happening. Can you feel the tensing throughout the body? Repeat the exercise, this time paying attention to both inhalation and exhalation. Can you feel the body relax upon exhalation? <span class="contenttext"><a href="audio_samples_for_real/final_instructive_sequence.rm">Click here</a></span> and try it again while breathing in synchrony with <em>The</em> <em>Fundamental Quiescent Rhythm</em>. (Requires <a href="http://www.real.com" target="_parent"><span class="hyperlinks">RealPlayer</span></a>.)</p>
<p class="content_text">A key function of hatha yoga is “undo” tension. In the practice of hatha yoga, one uses breathing, posture, and conscious relaxation to accomplish this. This is an excellent practice but is it not preferable to prevent the manifestation of tension in the first place?</p>
<p class="content_text">I practiced hatha yoga for 60 minutes every day many years. I “needed” to do this to feel “comfortable”. Since I incorporated “Coherent Breathing<span class="tm">(TM)</span>” into my lifestyle, I now practice hatha yoga approximately once per week, now because I enjoy it, not because I “need” it. And, I am no less flexible practicing hatha yoga weekly than I was practicing daily. I am not encouraging anyone to reduce their practice of hatha yoga. It is certainly an excellent practice with many therapeutic benefits. I am encouraging you to seek optimal autonomic balance at all times by incorporating Coherent Breathing<span class="tm">(TM)</span> into your lifestyle.</p>
<p class="content_text">In summary, it is my conclusion that Coherent Breathing<span class="tm">(TM)</span> results in autonomic nervous system balance, which results in average central nervous system quietude (i.e., minimal "noise"), which results in the cessation of "internal tension".</p>
<p class="sectionheading">The Magic of Mindful Breathing:</p>
<p class="content_text">“Mindfullness” has long been accepted as a “necessary condition” for proper and effective yogic breathing. I also accept this as being true. But why is it so? The answer is simple.</p>
<p class="content_text">While in a state of rest or semi-activity, one cannot inhale fully without somatic nervous system involvement. In other words, you cannot inhale fully without some degree of intention. The diaphragm, the large sheath of muscle separating the thoracic and abdominal cavities, governs lung capacity. Like any other large muscle, while at rest or semi-activity, it will not fully contract without some deliberate conscious intention. Without near-complete contraction and relaxation, full inhalation and exhalation is not possible. Because breathing frequency and depth are “two sides of the same coin”, without sufficient depth, one cannot achieve properly (slow) breathing frequency. Consequently, the reason proper (deep) mindful breathing is “healthful” is because it functions to slow the breathing frequency, once again balancing the autonomic nervous system and countering sympathetic dominance and its myriad affects, a condition that I theorize results from sub-optimal breathing in the first place! (See <a href="science_html_production.htm"><span class="hyperlinks">The Science</span></a>)</p>
<p align="center" class="content_text"><img src="yoga%20&%20meditation_files/taiji_diagram.jpg" width="176" height="152"></p>
<p align="center" class="content_text"> FIGURE 2: The "Taiji Diagram" - Representation of the Taiji Paradigm </p>
<p class="content_text">Taiji (tai chi) and qigong, practices of Taoist yogic origin, accomplish “mindful” breathing by synchronizing the action of the diaphragm with the action being performed by the rest of the body. Based on the “taiji” paradigm, therapeutic exercises are designed very deliberately around the harmonious interplay of “yin” and “yang”, the basic convention involving an ebb and flow to which both body movements and breathing are synchronized. Traditionally, these exercises are performed at a relatively slow pace, taiji being the well known example. It is well established that the practice of these arts enhances health, well being, and longevity. While therapeutic practices of Taoist origin contain many health promoting aspects and elements, slow conscious movement with synchronized breathing is a foundational aspect of them all. But, what is the ideal rhythm, you might ask?</p>
<p class="content_text">And, my answer will be no surprise: While in a state of “rest” or “semi-activity” which includes the quiet practice of qigong and taiji, 1 complete cycle consisting of a yin phase (~6 seconds) and a yang phase (~6 seconds) every 12 seconds - but, a word of caution regarding this.</p>
<p class="content_text">The 12 second rhythm is not applicable to aerobic exercise. It is typical that during the initial practice of qi gong, taiji, and other weight bearing exercises, until a certain level conditioning has occurred, the autonomic rhythm accelerates to accommodate increasing energy production. A key aspect of this conditioning is the elimination of persistent tension, persistent tension resulting in increased oxygen demand. If you are familiar with scuba, the very same principle is at work. That is, the air supply of someone who is relaxed and breathing slowly and deeply will last much longer at the same depth than someone with rapid shallow breathing. The reason for this is that if you breathe slowly and deeply, the muscles of the body relax, energy demand is lessened, and consequent oxygen demand is reduced. So, if you find it challenging to either move this slowly or breathe this slowly while moving, this is OK. Practice little by little and it will become comfortable and natural. The same applies to walking at a relaxed pace. </p>
<p class="content_text">In summary, you can employ mindful breathing practice either reactively or proactively. That is, you can practice optimal breathing every so often so as to temporarily correct the state of autonomic nervous system imbalance, or you can incorporate optimal breathing into your daily life, avoiding imbalance altogether.</p>
<p class="content_text">We will come back to the matter of mindfulness during the discussion of meditation.</p>
<p class="content_text"><span class="sectionheading">Coherent Breathing & Mantra:</span></p>
<p class="content_text">I'll begin the discussion of coherence and meditation with consideration of "mantra". As most practitioners of yoga or meditation are aware, the mantra is a word or phrase, typically of spiritual significance, that is recited over and over many times for the purpose of evoking a spiritual (meditative) state. Traditionally, a mantra is passed from guru to devotee. </p>
<p class="content_text">What mantra repetition does psychophysiologically, how it functions, why it functions - these are all matters that can only be comprehended via direct experience, and for this reason mantra remains an esoteric mystery. I won't belabor this point. Having said this, I do believe that I can shed some light on one aspect, this being the relationship between mantra recitation and breathing. I feel confident enough in this understanding to assert this tenet:</p>
<p class="content_text"> "A primary function of mantra repetition is to facilitate autonomic nervous system balance." </p>
<p><span class="content_text">I propose that mantra repetition accomplishes this by facilitating highly accurate synchronous breathing that approximates a 6/12 second rhythm. W<span class="style5">hen th</span><span class="style6">is</span><span class="style7"> is so, mantra repetition directly </span><span class="style7">results in cardiopulmonary resonance, this resonance being indicative of fine autonomic balance. </span> For this to be true, the mantra must be of a length that fits nicely into the 6/12 second interval described above. A few examples are provided in FIGURE 3 below:</span></p>
<table width="88%" border="1" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" bordercolor="#CCCCCC">
<tr bgcolor="#22D3DD" class="content_text">
<th width="19%" height="30" scope="col"><div align="center">Mantra</div></th>
<th width="40%" scope="col"><div align="center">Inhalation (6 seconds) </div></th>
<th width="41%" scope="col"><div align="center">Exhalation (6 seconds) </div></th>
</tr>
<tr bgcolor="#FFFFCC" class="content_text">
<td height="46"><div align="center">Om</div></td>
<td><div align="center">Oooooommmmmmmmmmm</div></td>
<td><div align="center">Oooooommmmmmmmmmm</div></td>
</tr>
<tr bgcolor="#FFFFCC" class="content_text">
<td height="45"><div align="center">Ham Sah </div></td>
<td><div align="center">Hhhhhaaaaaaaaammmmmm</div></td>
<td><div align="center">Sssssaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh</div></td>
</tr>
<tr bgcolor="#FFFFCC" class="content_text">
<td height="52"><div align="center">Sat Nam </div></td>
<td><div align="center">SaaaaaTaaaaaNaaaaaMaaaaa</div></td>
<td><div align="center">SaaaaaTaaaaaNaaaaaMaaaaa</div></td>
</tr>
</table>
<p align="center" class="content_text">FIGURE 3: Example Mantras </p>
<p class="content_text">You may note that the first and second examples, "Om" and "Ham Sah", require that a single syllable be stretched across the inhalation or exhalation interval. How can this be done with the degree of accuracy that is required?</p>
<p class="content_text">I offer that heretofore there have been three answers to this question. One, with long practice, you can learn to "listen" to the heart, specifically to the variable rhythm of the heart. When you can clearly sense this changing rhythm, you can synchronize your inhalation with increasing heartbeat rate and your exhalation with decreasing heartbeat rate, thereby facilitating cardiopulmonary synchrony, resonance, and autonomic balance. If you have a stethoscope can easily validate this for yourself. Although prior to training, you may find that heart and breathing rhythms do not remain synchronized for long. Once you have a clear understanding of the interval, which again is essentially the same for all adults, then it is easy to reproduce with accuracy. </p>
<p class="content_text">Accuracy of timing can also be supported by the use of a kriya, the best example being "Kirtan Kriya" involving the sequential touching of thumb and forefinger, middle finger, ring finger, and little finger with each recitation. Traditionally, the Sat Nam mantra is practiced in this way. The third answer is - divine guidance.</p>
<p class="content_text">I submit that "the science" of mantra has changed little in the last 3000-4000 years, its ancient beginnings dating back at least as early as the Vedas, the primary texts of Hinduism, circa 1500 B.C. Generally, traditional mantras have "meaning" and "cadence", where cadence plays an essential role both in recitation and in developing the "psychophysiological engram". Here I propose that a central function of mantra was, and still is, highly accurate and repeatable timing, in effect, a "reference rhythm" with which both the mind and the breathing cycle are synchronized. There are many mantras, some "fitting" this fundamental 6/12 second intrinsic rhythm and others not. For those that do, it is easy to understand their efficacy. </p>
<p class="content_text">Chanting is typically a group activity. There is no question that something magical happens when a large number of spiritually minded people chant together. It is known that the electromagnetic field of the heart is most powerful and pronounced during cardiopulmonary coherence. It is also known that the powerful coherent electromagnetic heart field of one person can affect the heart fields of others, leading them toward coherent synchrony. I have experienced and validated this personally. One explanation for the "group phenomenon" during chanting is that the heart fields, nay, the electromagnetic fields of the entire human organism of chanting individuals are both pronounced and synchronized with each other. Certainly, this idea has many exciting prospects.</p>
<p class="content_text">In summary, I propose that a significant aspect of mantra recitation is about developing an internal awareness of the 6/12 second intrinsic autonomic nervous system rhythm and synchronizing one's recitation with this rhythm. When this occurs, it directly results in optimal autonomic nervous system balance, cardiopulmonary resonance, and, when coupled with relaxation and stillness, meditation.</p>
<p class="sectionheading">Khecari Mudra:</p>
<p class="content_text">In <span class="titles">Light on Yoga</span>, B.K.S. Iyengar says, ("pending copyright permission.")<span class="tm">(2)</span> Khecari mudra involves rolling the tongue backward and upward, stretching it upward so that the tip rests lightly against the roof of the nasal pharynx. In this position, the tongue functions as a pranic bridge connecting psychic centers in the head with those in the torso. During meditation, khecari mudra results in a substantially deeper meditative experience. </p>
<p class="content_text">A second key function of khecari mudra is modulation of breathing frequency and depth. Mysteriously, it accomplishes this in two ways. First, by merely touching and holding the tongue against the roof of the nasal pharynx, parasympathetic action is enhanced. I hypothesize that this position (mudra) clearly indicates to the autonomic nervous system, or self, that verbal expression with corresponding sympathetic emphasis is not imminent and that parasympathetic emphasis is appropriate. I am presently working to characterize and quantify this biometrically. Second, when the tongue is held in this position, it substantially reduces the capacity of the airway between the inner nasal orifice and the throat. This very naturally serves to modulate breathing in such a way as to slow inhalation and exhalation. It would seem that narrowing the nostrils would have the same effect but it does not. If you leave the tongue in place with the tip naturally touching the front teeth and pinch the nose slightly so as to reduce the volume of air passing through the nostrils, one immediately senses air deprivation. This sense does not occur when the tongue is restricing air flow. Admittedly, there is a great deal to know as to how and why khecari mudra functions as it does.</p>
<p class="content_text"> As with other mudras, for khecari mudra to be powerful, it must be cultivated via continued practice. The yoga aspirant is encouraged to hold khecari mudra, not only while meditating, but throughout the day except when engaged in <em>necessary</em> speech. In this way, khecari mudra functions to slow the breathing frequency, increase breathing depth, and increase coherence (frequency, phase, and amplitude regularity) of the breathing cycle, leading one toward autonomic balance and cardiopulmonary resonance. </p>
<p class="sectionheading">Coherent Breathing & Meditation:</p>
<p class="content_text">If you've explored the site, you've read several times that "when combined with relaxation and stillness, Coherent Breathing<span class="tm">(tm) </span>automatically results in deep meditation". If it is true, then what does it say about "meditation" itself? </p>
<p class="content_text">But first, what is the nature of this "deep" meditative state to which I refer?</p>
<p class="content_text">There exists a state between sleep and wakefulness. In Kashmir Shaivism, this state is referred to as "suksma-gati". In the Tantra, this state is referred to as "pratyahara". (There is some distinction between the Kashmiri and Tantric terms relative to specific subtle states.) In the Shaivist system, the state "suksma-gati" is <em>the ground</em> for the practice of meditation and <em>the gate</em> to "turya", "pratyahara", and ultimately, god consciousness.</p>
<p class="content_text">Experientially, suksma-gati exists on the line between consciousness and unconsciousness. While in the state of suksma-gati, without concentrative effort, one dips in and out of "wakefulness". This is to say, that during the meditative experience, there are moments of "awareness" and "loss-of-awareness". The objective in suksma-gati is to remain awake and aware. For this reason, it is important to have an object of concentration. This object <em>must</em> include the breath, for keen concentration on the breath is the mechanism by which suksma-gati is achieved, but may also include concentration on a psychic center, mantra, koan, etc.</p>
<p class="content_text"> Suksma-gati is characterized by a deep letting go that has to be experienced to be apprehended. Commensurate with this letting go, is a many fold increase in "internal awareness" and perception of the flow of internal energy, i.e. qi (China), prana (India), ki (Japan), etc. After some time in this state, the body begins to feel homogenized and there is a distinct loss of body boundary. Upon cessation of the experience, one typically feels rejuvenated and free of mental and physical tensions. I will assert, that this is in fact the case, i.e., that a function of suksma-gati is the unraveling of mental and physical blocks and knots. Suffice it to say that there is much to be experienced in this state and through practice one cultivates access to higher level experiences.</p>
<p class="content_text">Coherent Breathing<span class="tm">(tm)</span> <em>results</em> in suksma-gati, this being dependent on a few factors including, concentration (on the breath), body position, relaxation, and stillness. Generally speaking, the more the body tends toward horizontal, the easier it is to access the state. On the other hand, the more horizontal the body is, the harder it is to remain awake and aware during the practice. I theorize that this is also a function of autonomic nervous system emphasis. Vertical body position results in sympathetic emphasis while a horizontal position results in parasympathetic emphasis. For this reason, many may find that reclining at a 45 degree angle yields optimal results. Relaxation or letting go is also an important factor. Complete and total stillness is imperative and a reason why the state is difficult to achieve and maintain unless in a reclined position.</p>
<p class="content_text">I will now return to the initial thought.....if Coherent Breathing<span class="tm">(tm)</span> results in deep meditation, my definition of which is the state "suksma-gati", then what does it say of meditation itself? I will answer this question with this summary. Coherent Breathing<span class="tm">(tm)</span> results in autonomic nervous system balance. Achieving and maintaining fine autonomic balance <em>requires</em> concentration on the breath - breathing must be properly timed, smooth, fine, balanced, and continuous (without pause). When other requisite conditions including relaxation, body position, and stillness are present, over a period of minutes, fine autonomic balance yields a deep meditative state, ergo suksma-gati.</p>
<p class="content_text">In <span class="content_underlined">Zen and the Mind</span>, in which Tomio Hirai documents his ground breaking investigation into the physiology of Zen meditation, the importance of slowing the breathing during is made clear. "In meditation, as time passes and the breathing rate decelerates, abdominal breathing comes to predominate over thoracic breathing. Although investigations performed on twelve priests showed that not all of them reached a low level of four or five breaths per minute and that the more experienced the priest, the slower his breathing rate, all of the men tested breathed much slower during meditation than before it."</p>
<p class="content_text">Describing the breathing pattern of a single Zen priest, "Before meditation, the rate is a normal seventeen or eighteen breaths a minute. At the beginning of meditation the rate decreases rapidly to remain about four or five breaths per minute throughout meditation. At the end of meditation the rate increases to twenty or twenty-two breaths a minute but decreases to normal (seventeen or eighteen breaths per minute) before long." (I have attempted, so far unsuccessfully, to find the copyright owner for <span class="content_underlined">Zen and the Mind</span>. Does anyone know what became of Japan Publications?)</p>
<p class="content_text"> </p>
<p class="content_text">References:</p>
<p class="content_text">1. John D. And Catherine T. MacArthur Research Network on Socioeconomic Status and Health (http://www.macses.ucsf.edu/research/Allostatic/notebook/muscle.html#Top), Summary prepared by Ulf Lundberg, Department of Psychology, Stockholm University for the Allostatic Load notebook. Last revised September, 2003.</p>
<p class="content_text">2. B.K.S. Iyengar,<span class="titles"> Light on Yoga,</span> 1976. </p>
<p class="content_text">3. Todd, Mabel E., <span class="content_underlined">The Thinking Body</span>, Princeton Book Company, 1937.</p>
<p class="content_text">4. Yogi Ramacharaka, <span class="content_underlined">The Science of Breath</span>, The Yogi Publications Society, 1904.</p>
<p class="content_text">5. Hirai, Tomio, M.D., <span class="content_underlined">Zen And The Mind - Scientific Approach to Zen Practice</span>, Japan Publications, 1978.</p>
<p class="content_text">6. Hughes, John, <span class="content_underlined">Self Realization in Kashmir Shaivism - The Oral Teachings of Swami Lakshmanjoo</span>, SUNY Press, 1995.</p>
<p class="content_text">7. Swami Lakshmanjoo, edited Hughes, John, <span class="content_underlined">Kashmir Shaivism - The Secret Supreme</span>, Kashmir Shaivism Fellowship, 2000.</p>
<p class="content_text">8. Swami Satyananda Saraswati, <span class="content_underlined">Meditations from the Tantras</span>, Bihar School of Yoga, 1974. </p>
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