Alternative Approach To Increasing CO2 Levels For People Who Might Be Struggling To Do So

[lampofred]

Increasing CO2 by bag-breathing usually helps several of my issues instantly (headaches, muscle soreness, feeling over-stimulated), but the benefits disappear mere moments after I stop actively trying to restrain my breath. I was reading a lot about yoga and pranayama since Ayurveda is probably the only medical system that also places high importance on CO2 levels, and what struck me as interesting was the fact that yoga states brain activity is directly correlated to breathing rate. Pranayama uses this fact to say that by controlling the breath, one can control the mind, but it made me wonder if the reverse was also true... by controlling the mind, can you control the breath? At least in my case, the answer is yes...

I have an issue with overthinking, and I noticed that whenever my thoughts were most rapid, my breathing was also the most rapid. I realized that reduced breathing/bag-breathing while not shutting off my mind was the equivalent of pressing the brakes and the gas on a car at the same time. However, whenever I make myself stop thinking (pretend that I am sedated and rock-like as if I were asleep while being awake), I not only start to become more aware of the present moment but also begin to breathe drastically less.

Just thought that might be able to help someone trying to increase CO2 levels.

 

[vulture]

I've shared various sessions of Zazen with several monks and another apprentices. It's not about controlling thougths, you are supposed to sit straight, put your tongue in a specific position, hands in a specific position (mudra) exhale slow and inhale at will, in order to keep the body in this position and with this breathing pattern, you must keep your attention to it, you are NOT supposed to do anything about thougths of any kind, it's not your problem neither your goal to control, repress, indulge or doing anything related to them, just keeping attention on breathing and posture.

They usually are about 0.5 m to 1 m away from each other, in a close room, that might increase CO2 also. It's normal to experience body heat incease, even there are lots of experiences of monks or students feeling heat on winter while on Zazen.

Another interesting way I've tried to increase CO2: sleeping with other people while keeping windows closed, I guess more CO2 will accumulate in the room gradually.

 

[TripleOG]

Try a CO2 dry bath? Just need a container big enough for you to fit in and seal.

Co2 Bath

Cheap And Easy Way To Do A Dry CO2 Bath