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| Breathe |
Breathing is what it's all about. It can help if we think of breath, not as a noun, but as the verb:
to breathe. Without the oscillation that is the tantamount feature of the process, there is no
process. Life itself is not a thing, but an event.
When you sit and hold your breath, you are still breathing. You are merely holding it in or out
for a longer than usual spell.
Some yogis and some Buddhist monks have held their breath for long periods of time. There are
rumors about various mystics who have suspended their breathing for hours or days, surviving
being buried alive, and so on. I read a suggestion that perhaps these fellows were only breathing
very, very slowly. I don't know.
Breathing exercise, as its name suggests, is not natural breathing. Like doing push-ups or
chin-ups, running, swimming or walking laps, lifting weights or practicing martial arts, it involves
an effort to do more, to push one's capacity beyond whatever are its boundaries.
How to breathe is important. It involves three changes in the body: expansion of the abdomen,
chest expansion and raising the shoulders. During Pranayama, we focus on each of those areas,
beginning the breath by relaxing the abdominal muscles allowing an inflow of air. As air is
entering the lungs we expand our chest. When the lungs are close to full we raise our shoulders a
little to allow in as much air as we can.
While exhaling, we relax our shoulders and chests, and we add to the natural outward pressure by
contracting our abdominal muscles so as to drive out every last bit of air.
In The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga by Swami Vishnu-devananda (Paperback - April 18,
1995), he suggests that we find a personal instructor if we wish to get deep into Pranayama, and I
am passing that advice along to you. I claim no competence in the instruction of Yogic Breath
Control.
I do know that we have to breathe, and that breathing can be a distraction. Professor Wood says
that Patanjali does not recommend the prolonged and complex breathing rituals of Hatha Yoga.
Certainly, Pranayama is one of the 8 limbs of Raja Yoga. In Aphorism II, 49 & 50, he
acknowledges that, once a steady and pleasurable seat is obtained, the next steps deal with
breathing. "The condition of the breath as outgoing, incoming or standing still, is regulated as to
place, time and number, and becomes lengthy and fine." However, he goes on to say, in II, 51,
"A fourth (condition arises) which casts aside the business of external and internal (breathing)."
Alan Watts, in his discussions of Zen meditation and breathing, speaks of this same
transcendence. He suggests watching the inflow and the outflow, not trying to do this or that,
until we eventually lose track of the breath altogether.
In the sequence of Asanas that begins with the Sun Salutation, attention is paid to the ins and
outs of breathing. In all positions that require arching backward, such as the Cobra, the student
inhales. While bending forward in an asana such as the Plow, he exhales. Positions such as the
Headstand or the Shoulder stand that require one to maintain the pose for some time can be
measured by counting complete breaths.
Following each asana, the student is advised to spend a short spell in a comfortable pose, relaxing
prior to the next exercise. This time can also be passed by counting four breaths. When one has
gone through the entire cycle, from Sun Salutation to Corpse posture, he will have breathed in
and out with conscious attention hundreds of times. This explains much about how Hatha Yoga
predisposes one to meditate.
Breathing has been a challenge for me since early childhood. I was born into a family with a
history of asthma on each side. Both of my grandfathers finished their lives as virtual invalids
due to the inability to breathe well. Parents, siblings and cousins have endured various levels of
the same misery.
I myself have been hospitalized more than once for this infirmity. Yet, during good times I am a
long-distance hiker, a mountain climber, a body surfer, a swimmer and a student of Hatha Yoga.
I honestly feel that, had I not pursued the discipline of Yoga, my lifetime of breathing would have
been shorter and more tortured. I count every breath a blessing.
When I am not distracted by inhalation and exhalation, I am free to concentrate. Continued
practice of Hatha Yoga will lead to this freedom.
to breathe. Without the oscillation that is the tantamount feature of the process, there is no
process. Life itself is not a thing, but an event.
When you sit and hold your breath, you are still breathing. You are merely holding it in or out
for a longer than usual spell.
Some yogis and some Buddhist monks have held their breath for long periods of time. There are
rumors about various mystics who have suspended their breathing for hours or days, surviving
being buried alive, and so on. I read a suggestion that perhaps these fellows were only breathing
very, very slowly. I don't know.
Breathing exercise, as its name suggests, is not natural breathing. Like doing push-ups or
chin-ups, running, swimming or walking laps, lifting weights or practicing martial arts, it involves
an effort to do more, to push one's capacity beyond whatever are its boundaries.
How to breathe is important. It involves three changes in the body: expansion of the abdomen,
chest expansion and raising the shoulders. During Pranayama, we focus on each of those areas,
beginning the breath by relaxing the abdominal muscles allowing an inflow of air. As air is
entering the lungs we expand our chest. When the lungs are close to full we raise our shoulders a
little to allow in as much air as we can.
While exhaling, we relax our shoulders and chests, and we add to the natural outward pressure by
contracting our abdominal muscles so as to drive out every last bit of air.
In The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga by Swami Vishnu-devananda (Paperback - April 18,
1995), he suggests that we find a personal instructor if we wish to get deep into Pranayama, and I
am passing that advice along to you. I claim no competence in the instruction of Yogic Breath
Control.
I do know that we have to breathe, and that breathing can be a distraction. Professor Wood says
that Patanjali does not recommend the prolonged and complex breathing rituals of Hatha Yoga.
Certainly, Pranayama is one of the 8 limbs of Raja Yoga. In Aphorism II, 49 & 50, he
acknowledges that, once a steady and pleasurable seat is obtained, the next steps deal with
breathing. "The condition of the breath as outgoing, incoming or standing still, is regulated as to
place, time and number, and becomes lengthy and fine." However, he goes on to say, in II, 51,
"A fourth (condition arises) which casts aside the business of external and internal (breathing)."
Alan Watts, in his discussions of Zen meditation and breathing, speaks of this same
transcendence. He suggests watching the inflow and the outflow, not trying to do this or that,
until we eventually lose track of the breath altogether.
In the sequence of Asanas that begins with the Sun Salutation, attention is paid to the ins and
outs of breathing. In all positions that require arching backward, such as the Cobra, the student
inhales. While bending forward in an asana such as the Plow, he exhales. Positions such as the
Headstand or the Shoulder stand that require one to maintain the pose for some time can be
measured by counting complete breaths.
Following each asana, the student is advised to spend a short spell in a comfortable pose, relaxing
prior to the next exercise. This time can also be passed by counting four breaths. When one has
gone through the entire cycle, from Sun Salutation to Corpse posture, he will have breathed in
and out with conscious attention hundreds of times. This explains much about how Hatha Yoga
predisposes one to meditate.
Breathing has been a challenge for me since early childhood. I was born into a family with a
history of asthma on each side. Both of my grandfathers finished their lives as virtual invalids
due to the inability to breathe well. Parents, siblings and cousins have endured various levels of
the same misery.
I myself have been hospitalized more than once for this infirmity. Yet, during good times I am a
long-distance hiker, a mountain climber, a body surfer, a swimmer and a student of Hatha Yoga.
I honestly feel that, had I not pursued the discipline of Yoga, my lifetime of breathing would have
been shorter and more tortured. I count every breath a blessing.
When I am not distracted by inhalation and exhalation, I am free to concentrate. Continued
practice of Hatha Yoga will lead to this freedom.
- Prana: breath
Pranayama: control of the breath
| Yoga for Carnivores by Jay Dyck |