Breathe Deeply, It Changes Your Life
An exploration of the power of the breath to heal your mind, vitalise your body and infuse your whole being with peace. An esoteric and scientific understanding of what happens when we breathe deeply.
Every moment of your life from your first breath to your last, your breath connects you with life, with the rhythms and energies of the world around you and with all living things in this cosmos and those beyond. We share and exchange our breath with all people through space and time, with all the kingdoms of nature, literally exchanging the energies of the stars as we breathe. The breath connects us universally and can open our conscious awareness of our oneness especially in meditation.
Ancient yogic traditions teach us that our manner of breathing determines the length and quality of our life. It is believed that we have a pre-determined finite number of breaths in any lifetime, so choosing to breathe slowly and deeply ensures we live longer and experience life through the calm awareness deep breathing creates.
As we breathe we allow Prana, the life force energy that originates from our sun and beyond to enter our body and flow through the subtle energy pathways that infuse our physical body with life and vitality. When we visualise breathing in more Prana or we spend time in nature that abounds with Prana, this supercharges our health. Every day we breathe we unite with the in breath and out breath of creation connecting with the flow of energy of the cosmos, in unison with our planet and all living things from the smallest cell to Universes beyond ours.
In Sanskrit Prana translates as energy, vitality, spirit.
In the Prashna Upanishad Prana is described as the eternal breath or the essence of life.
The yoga practice of Pranayama involves many techniques that focus on the breath. 'Prana' means life force and 'yama' means to control or restrain. However a deeper understanding of these practices comes when we use instead the term 'ayama' which means to free the breath. When we try to control or restrain as we understand it from a western viewpoint we tend to strangle the benefits of pranayama practice. However to surrender with joy to the technique brings great benefits.
For example you can try 'humming breath' that frees the energy of Vissudhi the throat chakra and connects your throat to your heart centre as a means of expressing your truth with compassion and love. Simply 'hum like a bee in the back of your throat' but do so in a relaxed joyful way, breathing in deeply into your belly and humming the out breath. You will feel positive energy bubble up from your heart to cleanse and open your throat. This is beneficial to anyone with physical throat problems, thyroid problems or neck tension, Regular practice will enable you to express your truth, speak up when you need to for yourself or others and to hear the truth from another as you listen with the ears of your soul. It develops confidence and courage in truthful expression.
I believe the most important pranayama breathing technique we can practice is Deep Yogic or Diaphragmatic breathing.
If you watch the way small babies breathe you will notice that as they breathe in their tummy rises and as they breathe out their tummy falls and the chest and collar bones simply follow this full body movement. This is the way we were designed to breathe and the best technique for optimal health. I will now explore this in more detail.
Most people don’t breathe properly, they chest breathe, so that when they breathe in their chest rises and fills with air and when they breathe out the chest lowers back again. Chest breathing overuses the muscles of the neck and shoulders and can create chronic muscle tension and pain in this area. As the diaphragm muscle is not being used it can become weak and less effective.
This way of breathing is simply a habit that you often learned from about the age of two years old when you copied how your parents breathed as part of a survival mechanism to fit into your family and belong. However most parents of two year olds are quite stressed and this is a pattern of breathing that we adopt when we are stressed and overwhelmed. Unfortunately it actually exacerbates the stress response and therefore the negative effects of stress on our body.
You can if you choose switch back to full diaphragmatic, belly breathing all of the time. It takes about 3 days of focus to change the habitual way you breathe to a more health enhancing pattern. You simply place your hands on your upper belly every time you think of it and breathe into your hands so your belly expands and then as you release the breath your hands return back toward your spine. If you do this regularly and consciously for a few days it becomes your usual unconscious way of breathing and then you can sit back and enjoy how much more energy you have, how calm you feel with a renewed sense of general well-being.
When you breathe into your belly you are breathing with the diaphragm muscle. As you breathe in this muscle contracts and creates more space for the lungs to expand and as you breathe out it relaxes and gently pushes upward to help the lungs fully expel the air. See the diagram above.
When you chest breathe the diaphragm moves upward with the inward breath restricting the lung capacity and moves downward with the out breathe so is unable to aid the full expulsion of air from the lungs. Diaphragmatic breathing is ideal for good health, whereas chest breathing does not give us all of these positive benefits and tends to exacerbate the stress response which is not conducive to optimal health.
Diaphragmatic or Deep Yogic Breathing takes the breath deeper and therefore slows the breath and the rate of breathing and gives the body more time to exchange oxygen for carbon dioxide in the lungs. So each breath is more efficient. It not only slows our rate of breathing but also slows our heartbeat and can lower or stabilise our blood pressure.
The lower half of your lungs is where the tissue is most compacted and where most of the oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange occurs. By breathing deep into the lungs we ensure more oxygen is absorbed and able to travel through the bloodstream to the heart to be pumped around the body to every one of the trillions of cells in your body. It also relaxes tight chest muscles which further increases your lung capacity and oxygenation of all of your cells.
This naturally improves your health, your vitality and especially your energy levels. It is estimated that we take between 17280 and 23040 breathes each day, so even a small increase in the efficiency of each breath equates to a big increase in our oxygen delivery and energy efficiency over the course of a day.
Many people chronically mouth breath rather than breathing through their nose, even when the nose is not blocked. Again this is a habit. Mouth breathing tends to dry the mucous membranes and gives less protection from the 20 billion particles that we are exposed to every day, many of which are potential pathogens. When we breathe through the nose it acts as a filter to capture bacteria, dust, and microbes, while warming and increasing the humidity of the air so that the breath flows easily. The increased resistance to the air stream helps to slow the exhalation rate and optimise our oxygen uptake, increasing it by as much as 10-20%. This enhances your energy levels and your health through the increased oxygenation of all of our tissues.
However one of the most profound benefits of deep belly breathing is its benefits for your mind through the link between your breath and your thoughts.
Have you noticed when you are stressed, anxious or fearful you tend to chest breathe with quick shallow breaths. An anxiety or panic attack occurs when this pattern of breathing becomes exacerbated and is triggered by certain reactive thoughts. This signals the onset of the stress response. As your breathing quickens notice how your thoughts race and become more negative in nature. An initial thought gets exaggerated out of all proportion. If this is a chronic regular pattern in your life it creates a downward spiral that leaves your body and mind exhausted, depleted and vulnerable to dis-ease.
If you chose in the moment of recognising this pattern to breathe deeply into your belly several things will happen that will enable you to return to a calm, centred positive frame of mind without the negative physical manifestations of the stress response.
Did you know that when we imagine breathing in silky, smooth pure air we find that our thoughts naturally become more self-affirming and positive.
When you breathe deeply you activate the Vagus nerve, the major nerve of the parasympathetic nervous system that governs the relaxation, repair and growth processes in your body. This is counter to the sympathetic nervous system induced in stress, that is designed to activate your body to fight, flee or freeze when your actual survival is threatened or your thoughts suggest so.
The Vagus nerve relaxes your physical body and releases a hormone called oxytocin, named the bonding love hormone that opens your heart and encourages feelings of belonging, connection, peace and calm. With regular stimulation through relaxation or meditation practices we develop vagal tone which gives us a beautiful resilience to stress and the challenges of life. We simply become less reactive and more contemplative.
As you breathe deeply into your belly you will notice that your thoughts calm down with more space between them. This magic space between the thoughts is where you have the opportunity to become aware of pearls of intuitive wisdom that arise from your Higher Self or Soul. These are often perfect solutions and always just exactly what you need to step back from the threatening situation in your mind and understand greater truths about what is going on. Often great insight arises when we create this space in our mind. We may realise the original thought that triggered our stress response wasn't even ours or true or no longer serves us in any way. In this way deep breathing relaxes both the mind and body and brings them into alignment with our true essential nature and we learn to live life calmly moment by moment as a soul rather than a struggling reactive personality.
Deep breathing induces this state of calm, peaceful connection. We experience this in moments of awe when we witness a beautiful sunset that literally takes our breath away.
This is perfect for dropping into deep states in meditation in which we can access higher planes of consciousness. In Buddhist meditation practice following the breath enables detachment and observation of the thoughts that habitually run through your mind. The practice is to return to the breath every time (with loving kindness and no criticism) you notice that your mind has become distracted. This develops great focus and concentration and the capacity to take back control of your thoughts.
As the silent witness you realise that you are not your usual habitual thoughts, but you are that which is able to observe your thoughts. This restores great power in your mind as you come to see that you have a choice as to which thoughts you encourage and give attention, like the flowers blooming in your minds garden, and which you allow to wither and die through lack of attention. Through a regular practice of meditation your higher mind attuned to your Soul's higher purpose becomes the leading light and director in your mind. Your mind becomes calm most of the time and you can use it as an instrument with which to think and ponder original thoughts, where you direct those thoughts and you are no longer at the mercy of the thoughts that used to simply run your mind. Intuitive guidance and thoughts of great realisation and insight become regular occurrences.
When we breathe fully and deeply we envelope our heart with beautiful life force energy and this naturally opens our heart to more love, compassion and understanding. It brings the mind into the healing energy of the heart and the two come into a profound coherence that we experience as calm, centred strength.
Extensive studies by the Heartmath Institute in America have found that when we breathe deeply, centre in our heart and focus our awareness on gratitude, compassion and care for others our heart and mind come into this powerful coherence after just four minutes that has benefits for our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual health. They found that the resulting increase in heart rate variance in people who practice heart coherence protects us. We develop great resilience to the negative effects of stress and become less reactive to events in the external world. They also found the electromagnetic field that emanates from our heart when attuned to the frequencies of positive emotional states like gratitude, joy, love and compassion sends powerful healing and health energies to every cell in our body. This vibration reaches to the level of our DNA, switching on DNA conducive to good health and switching off that which is not. The converse is true however if we choose to remain in a state of stress, fear, agitation, overwhelm, engulfed by negative emotions.
Gratitude comes from an open heart and is one of the attributes of the higher Buddhic nature of our Soul. Studies have shown that thoughts and feelings of gratitude can lower stress hormones, reduce inflammation, enhance immunity, and improve areas of the brain related to empathy and emotional processing.
So in essence to cultivate joy, feel calm, detach from negative thoughts, enjoy vibrant health and embrace our essential nature all we need to do is breathe deeply and give thanks for every breath.
Namaste
Teresa
For more information about meditation including guided meditations with a focus on the Breath https://www.teresa4yoga.co.uk/meditation
Teresa teaching Tadasana the mountain posture with Deep Yogic Breathing
To practice a yoga posture that naturally develops deep yogic breathing you can purchase my ebook 'The Magic of Makarasana the Yoga Posture that will Transform your Life' Search on amazon, smashwords, googlebooks, applebooks or go to https://www.teresa4yoga.co.uk