Breath & Pranayama
Breath is a vital life force. It is the first function initiated when we are born and the last to cease when we die. Breath is essential to our life and well being. It is in essence another form of food. How many of us know how to breath right, to get the maximum benefit? Do you breath from your abdomen or are you a shallow, irregular breather? Do you make windy noises or gasping sounds? How should we be breathing anyhow? Well, look at any new born baby or natural tribes in Australia or the Amazon. What do they have in common? Of course, they have a relaxed and protruding abdomen which reflects their breathing from the "diaphragm" or as the Buddhists would say, from the "Hara" center!
When you inhale, does your abdomen/diaphragm relax and distend to allow the air in? When you exhale, does your abdomen or diaphragm contract, like a bellows, forcing the air out? Ideally, our breathing should be regular, calm and from the diaphragm; inhalation and exhalation should be of equal duration.
Well, if that's the way we are supposed to breath, why don't we naturally do it? Because, our society has conditioned us otherwise. We have been conditioned to suck in the gut, causing us to breath from the upper part of our chests as opposed to the diaphragm. Further, our breathing habits are influenced by the condition of our mind and stress levels. For example, an emotional or depressed person would tend to have irregular, shallow breathing without noise while a highly anxious person would have gasping, irregular breathing with noise. If you don't think your breathing properly, just lie belly down for a while, taking in slow, deep breaths. Pay attention to how it feels in your diaphragm. This is how you should be breathing. There are also a lot of breathing exercises to help improve our breathing. The more we breath in, the
greater the oxygenation of the blood and the release of carbon dioxide and other toxins. Also our internal pranic pressure becomes balanced with external pressure. That's why many practice Pranayama. Well, what's "Pranayama"?
Prana" means "breath"; "Yama" means to "pause". Pranayama is the study and practice of the control of different aspects of breath
(inhalation, exhalation, and suspension). The onus is put on suspension, otherwise you are merely practicing breathing. There are four types of suspension: 1) the lungs are filled; 2) the lungs are empty (this is least preferred and deemed dangerous); 3) the lungs stop someplace in between, usually of their own accord (as experienced in deep meditation); and 4) the lungs stop after many rounds of inhalation and exhalation (as experienced in Rebirthing breathing).
How proficient you are at Pranayama depends on how long you can suspend the breath. 5 1/2 minutes qualifies you as an "adept". At 11 minutes your senses become suspended. At 13 1/2 minutes you enter the state of "Samadhi". At 1 1/2 hours you levitate. And at 2 3/4 hours you go beyond time and space to a super-conscious state (second level of Samadhi). How long can you suspend your breath?
Pranayama also has a physiology. The left nasal passage is the "Ida"; the right nasal passage is the "Pingala". The central channel running parallel to the spine is the "Sushuma" which connects the "Chakra" system. Chakras are subtle energy centers, approximately 7, that correlate to the following areas of our body: the roots/base of the spine; the intestines, the solar plexus, heart, throat, point in the center of the forehead between the eyebrows, and the crown of the head. Further discussion on the Chakra will be reserved for another article.
Getting back to Pranayama, there are many benefits derived from its practice: it helps to control the mind and nervous system; it oxygenates the blood; eliminates waste; introduces pressure into the body and maintains a balance between the inner and outer body pressure leading to greater strength and willpower; helps control obsessive thinking. Try holding your breath indefinitely and see how many thoughts enter your mind after a while.
Lastly, Pranayama is used as a spiritual practice which promotes the release of Kundalini energy. Kundalini is creative, feminine energy (shakti) resting in a static state at the base/root of the spine. When the Kundalini is released, it passes through the Sushuma, unblocking the Chakras, ascending to the Crown Chakra where it merges with Purusha or masculine energy, bringing about a state of Samadhi, where knowledge of the universal life force and the purpose of life is attained.
How does this work? The practice of Pranayama (breath suspension) stimulates the vagus nerve fibers and the vagal center in the medulla obligata which slows down the vital organs (heart and lungs), allowing the kundalini to rise.
For smokers and those who reside in secondary smoke or other air pollutants, this is indeed motivation to stop smoking, find fresh, clean air, and start breathing exercises and the practice of Pranayama. Good Luck!
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Words to Meditate On
"Thou art the Power behind and the value within all things. Finding thee first, I shall find everything else in thee. "
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