A New Experiment to Try
by Win Wenger, Ph.D.

Photo courtesy of Elan Sun Star
The Calm-Breathing Patterns,
as taught in Winsights No.
28 and No. 29, and/or in
current workshops, are profoundly useful as:
- a blissful meditation and rest
break;
- a relief and stress-release
break;
- a perceptual and thought
clarifier;
- a physical restorative, and
facilitator/accelerator of physical healing;
- a main tool in a potential major
therapy for emotional, mental and/or physical distress;
- a problem-solving technique; and
- New! "Breathing meditation" —
introduced below.
Before we describe the new #7 use, just
a brief word further about Use #6 ....
In #6 is the only instance in which
one is encouraged to use the chosen breathing pattern—usually
"Noise-Removal Breathing"—to drowse off, or at least to plunge so
deeply into the effects of the pattern as to drift away from one's
surroundings and circumstance. Use #6 is a speeded-up, five- or
ten-minute version of the ancient, tried-and-true method of orienting
on a problem, going to sleep with the intention of waking up with the
solution to it, and then on the very first instant of waking starting
to write or record everything that comes to mind, finding therein the
breakthrough idea which becomes that answer.
In Project Renaissance's version of
#6, have notepad and pen at the ready, or an audio recorder or flash
driver ready to start recording at the easy push of a button, or
keyboard and word-processor on and ready to receive. — Or have a live
partner to Freenote/Windtunnel to without concern as to what might
emerge. Usually, once you start the flow, within a minute or so the hot
new breakthrough ideas will begin to fall into place.
Use the same procedure, of course, by
your bedside for when you wake from normal sleep. I do much of my best
work in the hour before waking, and the flow of writing or discourse
immediately after waking brings that work into focus. This is a great
tool for living a wonderfully creative and exhilarating life!
Now to Use #7:
This goes beyond problem-solving,
inasmuch as, like Image-Streaming without a prior question or problem,
it allows more and deeper ranges of your brain and mind to participate
and to link up with consciousness than would be the case with focused
solving of specified problems. (But solve a specified problem anyway by
such process, at least once a week, so that the practical benefits will
give you the excuse to continue your self-development!)
This procedure begins with the first
use above, of the chosen breathing pattern — usually Noise-Removal
Breathing — as a blissful meditation.
- Have live partner, or recording
device, lined up and ready to go.
- Give your full attention to
working the effects of that breathing. Like a Buddhist meditation in
which one notices when one's thoughts or perceptions veer away from the
focus of the meditation, silently acknowledges that within oneself, and
then goes back to the focus of the meditation.
- Each time your thoughts and
perceptions veer away to anything other than the direct effects and
processes of the chosen breathing pattern, not only "acknowledge" that
but make a mental note as to what that was. Then go right back to the
focus of this breathing "meditation" — as many times as it takes until
you reach a sense of completion. (If you go longer than 25 minutes in a
Calm-Breathing session, within an hour get in a few minutes of light
physical exercise.)
- The very instant you are coming
out of that breathing meditation, start describing or writing aloud all
the things you noticed and made mental note of during that breathing
meditation. Flow from there and see what comes.
What if you nodded off and don't
remember anything that you made mental note of? Then do either of the
following:
- Treat this as in Use #6 above,
only no question or problem has been specified. Just let flow and see
what comes. OR (especially if this is done with a live partner or in a
group):
- Go back to the apparent last
thing you DO remember and describe that, then try to work your way
forward. Or work your way forward another way, by exploring the
possible meanings of what that last item of recall has for you, as
possible predictors of where your train of thought might have gone to
as you went deeper and nodded off. What are all the possible meanings
that last particular thought, perception, image or sensation could hold
for you?
Special Note for Live Listener:
What a wonderful chance this is for
you to practice your skills as a Socratic listener! — and in a role
much more active than under the one-way bombardment of our Windtunnel
procedure. Keep in mind Project Renaissance's suggestion of pursuing
the minimum intervention that gets the job done, but this is your
chance to actively draw out your partner on his or her deeper and
subtler awarenesses and have your partner bring them to full
consciousness. Do your best here, and afterwards in small buzzgroups we
will process on two main issues —
- What were the questions you used
to draw your partner out, and which seemed to be the most effective for
that purpose?
- After all that — what are some
other questions which might also effectively serve the purpose?
I think you will want to keep notes from
what your buzzgroup answers, and what other such buzzgroups may answer.
Summary of main anticipated
benefits from this
7th use of Calm-Breathing Patterns:
- Discovery of deeper and
farther-ranging insights from inner awareness than would ordinarily be
tapped even in problem-solving mode.
- Connecting up wider and deeper
regions of the brain with where one is conscious from than would
ordinarily be tapped even in problem-solving mode.
- The physically and mentally
restorative effects which normally accompany use of the Calm-Breathing
Patterns.
- For live partners, a unique
opportunity to practice and develop Socratic skills.
This 7th use of Calm-Breathing Patterns
is new as of July 2007. Your "beta testing" of it, and reporting back
to Breathing
Meditation Experiment, would help develop the data and would be
wondrously welcome. With your permission, it might put your name and
contact data in the next books to be written which include it. Thank
you.
Further reading: (Links will
open in new window.)
Comments to:
Win Wenger
You may copy this
brief —in whole but not in part,
including its copyright — for use with others whom you care about.
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