Breathe Your Way to Freedom
I have many students who wonder why, after years of regular practice, their hamstrings are not any looser, or their back bends are not any deeper. These are the students who have yet to discover the power of deep slow breathing. They may know about it, but consciously applying the principles of deep breathing on and off the mat is what brings big change. You see, it is through deep breathing that we unravel the subconscious neural networks (thought patterns) that cause certain areas of our body to habitually contract. More on that later. Because it requires changing deeply ingrained patterns, it can be very challenging to build a strong breathing practice. Conquering this challenge begins with motivation. This article offers motivation through deeper understanding of the power of the breath. We will look at the basic physiology that makes deep breathing so healing and offer some simple breathing practices to try out.
Chiropractors adjust our skeleton, moving it back into optimal alignment. Ah, that feels so good. But if we really want to heal ourselves thoroughly, we ask, "What pulled me out of alignment in the first place?" The answer is muscles. Muscles move bones and if some muscles groups are over-tight and other too weak or too flexible, the bones will be moved against their natural design and we experience a diminishing of power and often pain. So then we go to yoga to stretch our tight places and strengthen our weak places, but we can't seem to get certain muscles to cooperate. Why? Well, just as muscles move bones, the mind (or nervous system) moves muscles. Now the mind has many layers and of course the most superficial layer is getting the message through to our muscles as we move through our yoga practice, but what about the deeper subconscious layers?
Have you ever been lying down thinking you were relaxing then suddenly realized your jaw is clenched or your hands are rigid or your butt is tightened? I think we've all had that experience when someone rubs our shoulders and we say, "Wow, I didn't know I was tense until you touched me." This is the subconscious mind sending secret messages to your muscles and sabotaging your efforts to free your body. So, this is where yoga really begins. This is where we use the breath to unite the conscious and subconscious mind so they are not sending mixed messages and as a result, we get great freedom in the body.
Breath is a subconscious function. It happens whether or not we are paying attention. in a sense we are being breathed by the intelligent life force within us. When we begin to breath with awareness our conscious mind takes over this subconscious activity and takes us to a deeper level of inner awareness. The nervous system is soothed and that hidden highway of subconscious nerve signals gets very quiet. Just think of how relaxed you feel when you stop and take a few deep slow sighing breaths. You get the picture.
Because we live in an over-stimulated world with all the noise, movement, packed schedules and daily pressures, we tend to operate in the fight or flight state. This is the body's natural stress response, but it is not meant to be used all day everyday as it is for most of us. When we operate in fight or flight, our muscles contract (in readiness to flee or fight), our breath gets short and shallow and our mind is hyper alert. One study showed that westerners breath at 30% capacity. Think of the oxygen your cells are missing. That oxygen is what will rejuvenate your cells more than any nutrient or supplement. There's motivation for learning to breathe deeply.
When we are in the stress response everyday for a long period of time, the body thinks it is our natural state. In a sense we get 'locked' into the stress response. From this locked place, moving into a state of pure relaxation where our breath is slow and deep feels very strange and often impossible. That is why we need to practice. Even though deep breathing and relaxation are our natural states, we must practice them consciously in order to get back to them from our current state of hyper tension.
More on physiology. Red Blood cells love oxygen. When they have loads of it, they are full and plump and slippery. They can slide through our bodies zipping speedily along carrying oxygen everywhere we need it. However, when red blood cells are not getting the oxygen they need, they deflate and their surface is jagged and sticky. They get sluggish and oxygen cannot get to our brain and muscles quickly. We feel yucky. Well, if you consider that muscle fibers are full of red blood cells you can probably see how important deep breath is as we endeavor to strengthen and extend our muscles.
This is my message: Teach yourself to breathe deeply and I promise you, your body, mind and emotions will change for the better.
Now, a deeper look at the power of breath. In yoga we focus on freeing the inner winds. The inner winds are what the Chinese call Chi, Christians call holy spirit, pagans call Gaia, Native Americans call Great Spirit or Father Sky. Whatever name you choose, spirit is moving through us and we feel great when spirit flows free and strong in our bodies and minds and our vibrancy is diminished when the flow is blocked. Deep breathing awakens the inner winds. Every ancient spiritual practice speaks of the breath in connection to God. We can think of the breath as the invisible presence of God. It animates us and connects us to all of life. The Hawaiian greeting 'Aloha' was originally pronounced "Elo ha". ‘Elo’ is the root word for God, ‘Ha’ is the word for breath. The greeting was a reminder that we all share the breath of God.
When we breathe deeply and consciously we awaken our inner winds. We ground spirit more fully in our bodies and we experience a brightness of mind, a balance of emotion, and an ease of body. But don't take my word for it. Try it out. Not just for one day. Commit to a week of deep conscious breathing. Here are some fun ideas for developing breath awareness.
Whenever you are in a car, as you take your seat, make the ride a time for conscious breathing. Don't turn on the stereo or get on your cell phone; at least for the first ten minutes of your ride. Be quiet and focus on breathing as slowly as you can, listening to the sound and sensation of your inhales and exhales. Notice how the mind wants to abandon the focus and just wander off. By not allowing this you are building strong powers of focus and oxygenating your blood. Remember, the more your practice conscious deep breathing, the deeper your natural breath will become.
Breath Retention is a great way to develop deeper natural breath. Again, this can be practiced anywhere that you have some stillness. If you are waiting anywhere, in line or at a doctor’s office, sit quietly and turn your attention inside. Breathe in to the count of four, hold the breath in for a count of four, exhale evenly for a count of four, hold the breath out for a count of four and repeat. Let this 'game' be enough to hold you attention until you are called back into action. Notice the difference it makes in your body, mind and emotions.
One final note: when you get really good at controlling your breath, try this powerful practice. As you inhale bring to mind an image of you as you'd like to be in the world; some aspect of your dream life. Without doubting or judging it, let it get bright and clear as you inhale. As you exhale, send the image out to the universe as a request. Do that everyday a few times a day (just for giggles) and see how your life changes. This is called breathing the breath of life into your thoughts. It is more powerful than you can imagine. It is what got me from Stressed Software Engineer in Silicon Valley to Happy Farmer and Yoga Teacher on Maui.
Jennifer Lynn, Maui Hawaii
Yoga Classes, Yoga Teacher Trainings, Yoga Alliance School
www.YogawithJenniferLynn.com
Copyright 2007 © Yoga with Jennifer Lynn
