Breath and Heart
Zen meditation (zazen) is described as a practice of alignment: aligning the body (sitting with in a stable posture with an erect spine), aligning the breath (natural inhalations and extended exhalations) and aligning the mind (quieting the mind by dropping random thoughts).
This investigation began with a project to compare breathing and heart rate for subjects in meditation or reading.
Other experiments were devised to address other questions that arose.
Questions:
How do breathing rates compare during meditation vs. our regular breathing throughout the day?
How can we characterize the inhalations and exhalations of zazen?
Is there a relationship between patterns of breathing and heartbeats?
Do experienced meditators show different breathing patterns than novices?
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