Breathing is the key to the benign integration of kundalini. It's hard to breath sometimes perhaps due to hyper or hypo-activity in the vagus nerve, especially during heart expansion periods. Also histamine release during panic prompts nitric oxide to plump up the air passages making breathing laborious. The breathing difficulty always arose at the same time as the panic states for me. But rather than find it a source of "pathology" I interpreted it as Spirit forcing me out of the house to go for very long fast walks. One walk I encountered a form a fish breathing in which I kind of breathed in and out at the same time. God knows how I accomplished that, I can't remember.

When you get the tightness in the chest you might try to put a heavy weight on your diaphragm area and breath into it, and also a hot water bottle...to try and shift the chemistry. Also the Primal Release Pose in the Kundalini Skills section relaxes both the psoas and the diaphragm at the same time, this might be just what you need, it is truly remarkable as is CMR. But the most natural solution for me was walking and breathing "in nature," preferably around some flowing water.

As kundalini passes through the diaphragm muscle in the transmutation phase (in the major cycle), one can feel the tension between the former contraction and the relaxation that has begun in the connective tissue of the diaphragm. This change strikes at the core of one's being and every breath during this ordeal is a reminder of "love or death," surrender or decay. I felt it as a host of heavy black bats hanging from my diaphragm for several days; and I got through it by walking long distances while deep breathing and chanting "love or death."

In the initial stages of an awakening you might find yourself fall into an "attack" of spontaneous breath of fire; that is rapid panting breath for half an hour or so. While during the peak kundalini moving through the diaphragm usually is associated with a panic attack. This is no doubt a period in which the sympathetic nervous system becomes dominant, considering it determines breathing rate and oxygen consumption. The sympathetic activation forces a faster breathing rate but the histamine release reduces the free intake of air.

These breathing-panic events occur during each metamorphic cycle of the peak years. Then once substantiation has progressed this breathing angst disappears and breathing deepens with the relaxation and sensitization of the diaphragm muscle. Breathing thereafter feeds the Self and not the ego and thus tends to stabilize the evolutionary changes. Then movement of kundalini through the diaphragm creates profound joy and a bubbly, tingly laughing effect. Usually in association with kundalini moving through the digestive system around the months of September-November.

Activity can be modulated in the brain hemispheres by breathing through the opposite nostril. If you want to increase left-brain function close the right nostril, or to increase right-brain function close the left nostril. Specifically for the lungs you could try Alpha Lipoic, L-carnitine, Essential Fatty Acids, N-Acetyl-Cysteine (NAC). Use the leaves, flowers and seeds of borage and you will find it to be a Godsend for normalizing and calming. Make teas of borage, chamomile, elderflower, lemon balm, marshmallow, mullein and peppermint. Eat bioflavinoid rich foods...spinach, berries, elderberries, red peppers...think max color.

Loosening the Grip
The Primal Release Pose and the Cardio-Muscular Release technique will help take contraction out of the diaphragm and rewire the vagus nerve/medulla area. Besides these any emotional release work would help, and breathing techniques such as Holotropic breathing.
Also you could try what I call “flying,” which is to lie on your back on a bolster about 8" thick put under the back of the chest—put your arms out and relax your breathing into the pose.
A consistent practice of singing, toning, chanting, mantra, humming and growling will help to loosen the diaphragm—and detoxify the brain as well. Running and other aerobic exercise will give you more lung volume and give the diaphragm mechanism more energy to relax itself with. Books with exercises and treatments in them include Allan Saltzman's two wonderful books The Healing Way and The Belly and Its Power. Mantak Chia's Chi nei Tsang: Internal Organs Chi Massage. You might also try the new book Primal Healing by Dr. Arthur Janov.

Our vegetative and social faculties are tied together through the old and new vagus nerves. So retraining the vagus needs to incorporate a form of social-therapy and what is social-therapy if not loving-relationship. Because it is obvious from the healing results of health relationship, we can assume that "intimacy" with others retrains the vagus. Thus some sort of social/relationship training that helps us to form loving bonds with others will reform our social wiring and relax the breathing mechanism. Because us apes tend to get more stressed out over relationships than anything, learning how to relate in a healthy manner is fundamental to good health and longevity. Also keeping adequately hydrated will relax the diaphragm because then the diaphragm is not trying to conserve loss of water from the lungs.

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