Downward Facing Blog

Expanding the teachings of the movie “The Secret” through the use of “the Happy Breath” and visualizing

A lot of attention has come on to the subject of manifestation through visualization ala the move “The Secret”. The movie is important viewing as a first step for people to realize the role they play in creating the life they want. Yet, at the same time it leaves out some critical details such as karma, time, and personal effort and the roles these play in creating the life you personally want. If you’re not familiar with visualizing yet, it’s essentially that what we think about most of the time goes to create the life we experience. Positive thoughts bring positive results and vice versa. Essentially the process of manifestation goes like this:

1.Know what you don’t want

2.Know what it is you do want

3. Write or phrase the desire in the form of a present-tense statement

4. Visualize it coming to pass, in present tense imagery, while holding a positive expectation that what you want will come to pass

5. Keep an “attitude of gratitude” for what you do have now, which will send out a positive signal into the world thereby attracting more of what you desire.

I hear people saying they “don’t know what they want”. If you don’t’ know what you want is because you feel lost or lacking in courage, then learning to visualize is a great exercise for self confidence.

Many of the things that I have visualized have come to physical reality,  and as a result, my whole reality paradigm started to shift.

It’s not a straight line from thought to creation however. Karma plays a role.  Additionally, to “get something” you must “give something”.  Some level of personal commitment in the name of what it is you want, such as a daily sacrifice of time and energy (like Surya namaskar for example) to generate “Energetic Currency” expedites the process.  When we build energetic currency, we can spend it on what our mind requests… just like hard money. If however, you have no personal energy built up, your thoughts may be weak and may have little impact on the world.

I have had some amazing results myself: the last period of personal discipline and visualization brought me my wife, exactly as I had described my ideal lover to be, just a mere three weeks earlier.

I don’t know where we draw the line between “hard” realities and the soft mental daydreaming interfaces together. How much of what we receive in life is grace and how much is effort? Surely it’s not all kicking back, day dreaming and receiving. At the same time, it’s not all hard work in a hard objective reality where you can directly control the results. As far as I can tell, what visualization does do for sure is: it opens the perception to see when opportunities where we might not have seen them before.

Here’s the way I practice manifesting:

1. Know what it is you do want

2. Phrase the desire in the form of a present-tense statement

3. State what is you are willing to “sacrifice” on the behalf of what it is you want to manifest.Decide some “trade” you will do, like quitting something or adding some discipline to your life for a period of time, for as long as you can to build up the heat and energetic currency.

4. Visualize it coming to pass, in present tense imagery, while practicing the “Vyana Breath”

I used this sequence for a number of things with success. I would say, take on a discipline like daily yoga and pranayama and for that period quit something I’m addicted to (like coffee) and practice this vyana breath and visualization daily.

So what is Vyana breath?

So far I wrote about the downward moving force of Apana, and the upward moving force of Udana. All internal movement of energy flows with the mind; the mind can direct energy internally and across to the other side of the world.

If left without direct manipulation, the mind follows the lines of energy in the body. This means that when a flow is particularly strong, the mind will take on the characteristics of that flow. So the downward moving force can take the mind down and the upward force can take the mind up. However too much of up unseats us, making us feel “ungrounded”, whereas too much of down depresses us.

The inward force and the outward force

Now we can turn the focus on to two complimentary and opposite forces: the outward flow (Vyana) and the inner contracting flow (samana). The outward flow carries energy to the tips of the fingers and toes and acts as the body’s second wind. The inner flow of samana moves in towards the abdomen acting as the force by which we take in, both in terms of impressions, and food.

Vyana is the expanding, outward moving force we operate our arms and legs with, provides a second wind to those doing exercise, and the energy by which our thoughts project into the world. As your awareness of this energy deepens, the more you can use it to send your intentions further and with greater strength. Begin by expanding your energy through to the tips of your fingers and toes, then beyond into the horizon.

The Vyana Breath:

Stand with your legs hip width apart, and as you inhale draw your hands up the center of your chest, up and out until they stretch out to the sides of your shoulders, spread-eagled, like a star and hold your breath while your fingers stretch out… like you are hugging someone very big. Hold your breath, close your eyes and visualize the image of your desire, and pure love for the world, spreading out from the heart, spiraling out in a color of orange beyond your fingers and into the horizon. As you exhale, return the energy back to your heart.

This breath makes a wonderful practice to improve the confidence, and also the physical circulation. See also how quick it can facilitate manifesting!

OM, much love in orange spirals out to you all…

PS: I just got an email from Russia today. We got an invite to go skiing in the Swiss Alps in March. And get paid to do so. Funny because it was something I was using the Vyana breath for manifestation just last week. Pretty fast huh?