I think I should back up a little and post what I believe to be the basic foundations of breathe,..
So here is a copy paste from joeblast that he posted on my forum:
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Breathwork review
http://lonemanpai.co...&scrollTo=13360
Since it was requested 
Breathwork is the first thing and the last thing to work on. It should be the first thing learned, it should be what ends every session.
The process moves from physical exploration to building muscle memory, enhancing timing, attenuating neural signals so as to transform their resonant mode.
Physically speaking, the preliminaries are postural, with focus on both action as well as inaction. As breathwork progresses towards what can be considered longevity breathing, that which is used becomes just about as important as that which is not used. Straight spine allows for smoothest, easiest internal movement; rib cage relaxed since it consumes more energy to move them as opposed to the internals. Longevity breathing is an exercise in efficiency; the deeper one is able to take that, the more thoroughly one will be able to integrate the energies of "active" energetic exercises.
The diaphragm has two logical attachments, front and back, therefore movement needs to be anchored. This is the limitation of simply "expanding the abdomen" on an inhale - without any diaphragm focus, you're not getting deeper than that glass floor. We'll focus on natural abdominal breathing here.
Note the posterior attachment points
This is where the process of inhaling begins, but dont correlate too strongly with where exactly the attachment points are as you execute the protocol. You can imagine moving a ball down the front of the spine, from solar plexus height to begin, ending at the dantien. The front of abdomen and pelvic floor relax on this phase. The exhale is supported by them; the qihai presses inward but not forcefully, the huiyin firms but does not flex. (e.g. it travels the distance, but without the muscular force that would make it a "squeeze.") Another method one can try lying down is to imagine a toy train that drives along the spine as its tracks - drive the train down the tracks, then back it up 
This is the initial 3 part timing to work on. Roll the inhale smoothly into the exhale and vice versa. Before one calms down sufficiently, it can be fruitful to utilize the front of the abdomen a bit more in its role of supporting the exhale - but as the breath becomes more ingrained into muscle memory, the front of the abdomen is utilized less as "the external breathing disappears," which means that the internal motions have become well timed. (I was standing there the other day and a friend said dude it doesnt look like you've breathed in minutes, wth? internal motions, bro!) So basically, in considering the physical distance traveled by each component during the process of breathing, try to make the beginnings, endings, and most energetically potent portions concurrent. This is where the timing game is, since each component has its own nature and physical extent - think of each structure as having its own dyno readout of its power, and just like a car it reaches its max horsepower somewhere near its physical extent of operation....but not quite there! The big difference here is that its not all out power, we have the additional requirement of minimal consumption to consider while we search for that bump in the chart of "max horsepower."
So now that the physical is covered....wait, we're not done - we have the neurological level to consider!
The air is inhaled and exhaled through the nose - but what's in there? The olfactory nerve endings - they detect airflow and signal the brain accordingly. Strong air flow will trigger the brain to tell the heart to pump faster, urge the lungs to expand and contract. So now, we deal with air flow! This is one very important point on the inaction front - use only the desired structures to facilitate the movement of air, and let everything else go, relaxed! This means the lungs, bronchi, trachea, back of the throat, sinuses, even the flaps of your nostrils. Anywhere air touches, do not use to breathe or facilitate the movement of air! People probably arent aware of how much they utilize their nose and sinuses while breathing - basically, by using the sinuses or anywhere air touches to breathe, what you are in effect doing is relaxing the diaphragm's job requirements and buggering incoming air pressure, the net result is that the diaphragm is not used as much and also, importantly, the breath does not go as deep.
I devised an identification exercise for these structures, by pulling air sharply at each individual location where air touches - its a bit odd to pull air only at the maxillary sinuses, for example, but it can be done. Now, from a position of action - derive inaction, and train yourself not to use these structures while you breathe. (Go easy with that or you will be the recipient of a headache - its not something that needs to be done more than once or twice, just to gain some additional familiarity with the structures that air touches.)
Yes - the energetic imprint on the medulla will actually be changed by a concerted effort here! My ex used to tell me she'd know when I was in good practice because she wouldnt ever hear me breathe while sleeping (and usually when my breath was that good, movement in sleep barely existed if at all, either...)
Its going to be weird the first time you think you're not breathing, but...wait...yes, you aaare....and it will probably surprise you out of the blissful state that accompanies it. But keep going, keep the focus up, keep the mechanics up. This is why I encourage people to take the time to spend on breathwork, because the benefits are huge and WILL support your other practices. The energetic peaks one can attain are a function of the depth of stillness one is able to attain.
Where one keeps his attention will also play into it - e.g. there were times I kept my focus at the dantien no matter what, eventually finding myself to feel about 2-3 inches tall, sitting there inside my own gut. Or, utilizing the "turning the light around" technique at the niwan, eventually obliterates all cranial nerve signal, just a light filled void, completely directionless...and at that point I was able to feel though-impulse arise and even get completely overtaken and absorbed by the light-turning, and interestingly enough, observe it happen in real time, completely unperturbed. Rather novel the first few times it happened.
Remember, all of this is an exercise in awareness. Awareness is always maintained. Void and oblivion are not the same thing. If you catch yourself space truckin random thoughts, just return to the breath protocol as soon as you notice it, without so much as a "dammit there I go thinking again" (for that gives energy to the thought stream.) Conditioning yourself to be able to do this WILL result in a calmer, clearer mind - I've been witness to getting to a practice-depth and back out too many times, very many of these things happen with absolute certainty every time - metabolic boosts included
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