Coaching practices for I've Heard of This Breathing in the Pain Practice but it Stays a Vague Idea in My Head I Want it to Actually Become Something I Can Feel a Real Heaviness Coming in and a Real Coolness Going Out Not Just Words I'm Thinking
Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For I've Heard of This Breathing in the Pain Practice but it Stays a Vague Idea in My Head I Want it to Actually Become Something I Can Feel a Real Heaviness Coming in and a Real Coolness Going Out Not Just Words I'm Thinking, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.
Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?
- I’ve heard of this breathing-in-the-pain practice but it stays a vague idea in my head
- My whole instinct is to push pain away and grab at anything that feels good, and I’m tired of how walled-off that makes me
- I’ve been fighting and trying to push away my own pain and it only tightens its grip
- The needle’s about to go in, or the cold water’s about to hit, and I can feel myself already clenching and holding my breath against it
- I want that buzzing, tingly, weirdly-calm-after rush from the rapid breathing and the long hold, but I’ve seen enough warnings to be genuinely uneasy
Practices that may help
- Work with the classical two-breath texture
Breathe in something hot, dark, and heavy; breathe out something cool, bright, and spacious.
Tonglen: The Tibetan Practice of Taking and Sending - Tonglen: sending and taking
Breathe in suffering (yours and others’); breathe out relief and well-being.
Lojong: Tibetan Mind Training - Practice tonglen for your own suffering first
Use your own current pain as the object before extending the practice to others.
Tonglen: The Tibetan Practice of Taking and Sending - Sigh through brief physical discomfort
Use the physiological sigh to drop autonomic reactivity during mild physical discomfort or medical procedures.
The Physiological Sigh, Made Practical - The Wim Hof breathing technique
Rounds of deep cyclic breathing followed by a breath retention on the exhale.
The Wim Hof Method, Honestly Assessed - Prepare for tonglen with a brief equanimity grounding
Entering tonglen from a grounded, spacious state makes the practice sustainable rather than destabilising.
Tonglen: The Tibetan Practice of Taking and Sending - Connecting phrases to felt warmth
Anchor the practice in the body’s felt sense of warmth, not just the words.
Loving-Kindness (Metta) Meditation - Humming, chanting, and vocal toning
Hum, chant, or tone on a long exhale to engage the vagus via the throat and lengthened breath.
Vagal Tone, Honestly Explained - Connected circular breathing — the core technique
Breathe continuously without pauses between inhale and exhale, faster than normal.
Holotropic Breathwork, Made Practical - Allow facilitator bodywork during intense physical activation
Targeted physical contact by a trained sitter helps discharge trapped body tension that the breath activates.
Holotropic Breathwork, Made Practical
Related concerns
- Breathing In Own Suffering
Breathe in suffering (yours and others’); breathe out relief and well-being.
Tonglen: sending and taking
- Breathing In Suffering Meditation
Breathe in something hot, dark, and heavy; breathe out something cool, bright, and spacious.
Work with the classical two-breath texture
- Breathing Through Pain
Breathe in something hot, dark, and heavy; breathe out something cool, bright, and spacious.
- How To Breathe During Pain
Use the physiological sigh to drop autonomic reactivity during mild physical discomfort or medical procedures.
Sigh through brief physical discomfort
- When Tonglen Tonglen Preparation Warmup
Entering tonglen from a grounded, spacious state makes the practice sustainable rather than destabilising.
Prepare for tonglen with a brief equanimity grounding
- Brief Tonglen Daily Life
A single in-breath of someone’s pain and an out-breath of goodwill is a complete act of tonglen.
Use flash tonglen in the moment of encountering suffering
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