Working with the breath

[Vestige]

Thank you, omcasey!  I have been interested in the power of breath for a while... Would you consider the video you made to be a lesson in pranayama?  Would it be suitable for "beginners" and "trained" students alike?

https://www.llresearch.org/channeling/2021/0512
The breathing which you experience in the incarnate state is a primary linkage between body, mind and, done appropriately, the spirit complex as well. There are a great many methods for using the breath to achieve altered states of consciousness. These methods involve retention of various levels and intensities. They involve changing the frequency of respiration, the depth of respiration, the pathway of travel for that which you call air, through the nostrils, through the mouth, and these can be combined again with changes to hand gestures, bodily positions and facial structure or shall we say musculature within the face, the throat.

These on the surface may seem but mechanical details to the one exploring consciousness. It is easy to dismiss the processes of the body. But we assure the seeker that this particular discipline is not contained within or limited to the body complex completely. One's experience of consciousness is tied intimately to the breath. We give this instrument simple example of some psychological states that may change the breathing—from the quickened, shortened breath of anxiety, to the relaxed and rhythmic and deep breath of relaxation. This instrument is aware of that third-density teacher known as Ramana Maharshi who described the mind as the rider and the breath as the horse, and that by learning in a disciplined way to direct and control the horse, one can gain control, as it were, of the mind itself.

For to drill down further into this linkage between mind and body through the breath, one is well to look at the attention. For the breath is a primary anchor of the attention and a means to collect the attention into that which you call concentration. Much of your experience is one of non-concentration, or concentration experienced only for a particular task or purpose or in pursuit of a particular thought complex. The common experience of those in your density is to have their attention dispersed from waking to sleep upon countless concerns. This great multiplicity of the fragmented attention greatly obscures the experience of silence and stillness within the self.

And if the mind/body/spirit complex entity is not consciously in touch with that silence and stillness, then they are not consciously in touch with their being. Instead, their attention is located and captivated by the doing, the outer world and the endless play of the mind. This leads to identification with the mind, the formation and fortification of the illusory individual self, and the forgetting of the being.

So it is that by practicing breath control one can collect this attention and learn to reduce the dispersal of this primary conduit in the effort to bring it to a single point, that the mind and all of its activity and all of its considerable power may come to rest upon one point. And with the mind so entrained upon this one focus, then the mind becomes as the still unmoving, unrippled waters, which reflects perfectly the spacious sky above. In this reflection, one sees, as it were, the being and its infinite depth and stillness. And in this seeing, one realizes that one is not one's thoughts, one is not one's mind, and thus do the gateways to the greater work open for the seeker.

But this, as with so many things in and beyond your illusion, is a discipline. For most this requires, as with any discipline, continued practice, persistent practice. One must learn not simply to manipulate the breath as one pulls levers on a machine, but to deepen one's presence, one's intimacy, an embrace of the self, even one's acceptance of the self—for in this discipline, one will encounter not merely bodily sensations and respiratory patterns, but one will encounter one's own mental patterns as well. And all the history, all the intricacy, all the blockages and balances associated therein, one will be consciously taking steps upon the journey of realizing the self. And one will find that this practice can become a very central mechanism for engaging that journey, for moving beyond the surface levels of the daily experience, and into the deeper waters that tend to remain hidden without the focused attention.

And we would conclude our reply by suggesting to the seeker that which this instrument has explored and that being that discipline and science known to your peoples as pranayama. For many of your peoples have made profitable study in this area and have much fruit to share to the interested spiritual seeker.

https://www.llresearch.org/channeling/2019/0209 
Indeed, breath is life and life is breath, for each is a basic portion of the One Infinite Creator. Contained within your breath is the essence of life, for as the body is energized by the prana, or intelligent energy of the One Creator, the breath is the expression of that intelligent energy in the mundane world so that the mind, the body, and the spirit, my have its beingness as an entity within the third-density illusion.

The breath that you inhale and exhale on a daily basis is a living portion of the One Creator that gives life to you and moves life through you, for the breath contains the vitality of all beingness that is created by the One Creator in the infinite creation. Thus, as you breathe, you inculcate or infuse your entire being, from your body, your mind and your spirit with the vitality which is of the One Creator. Thusly, as you breath more and more deeply, perhaps holding that breath at the exhale and the inhale, until you feel a natural release to again enter into the rhythm of the intake and [[exhalation]] of the breath, you may begin to feel an activation of the indigo and violet ray energy centers so that as you begin to participate in the rhythm of the breathing and the holding of the breath and the releasing of the breath, you are allowing the life-giving forces within the breath to infuse or imbue your body with energy that is intelligent and which invigorates each cell of your body to be able to do its work more and more efficiently, thus allowing the body itself to become more enlivened and to partake in the vitality of the One Creator more fully as you rhythmically inhale, hold the breath, exhale, hold the breath, and so forth.

This type of breathing is also enhanced by the focusing of the inner eye upon the brow chakra so that the magical nature of the indigo ray energy center may be able to help you create what you would call changes in your own consciousness, so that you become more and more aware of the One in each portion of your experience as you carry with you a more and more vital expression of that One within your mind, within your body, and within your spirit. Thusly, so imbued with life, you are able to perceive more clearly that which is the One Creator about you in every form and feature of the third-density illusion.