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The Breath
After you have established your sitting posture, learning to modulate and control the breath is the next essential step along the inward journey. Our emotions, breath and physiology are directly linked in very profound ways. The yogic texts say that the breath is the bridge between body and mind. The breath is affected by both the body and mind and it affects each reciprocally. When you are surprised or frightened, you gasp and jerk your breath quickly, this in turn corresponds to a physical stress response in the body. When you sit down after a stressful day at work, you sigh in relief as your body relaxes and your mind unwinds. When examining the way the body, breath and mind interact yogis have found that working with the breath is one of the best ways to gain access to the subtle internal workings of the body and mind. In this respect it is like the gateway to the internal world, to walk internally you must first enter through the breath. The breath can also be thought of as a control panel from which you can learn to consciously change your physiology and mind-field, even down to the level of the autonomic nervous system, the part that regulates your heart rate, body temperature and blood pressure. Breathing practices help us take conscious control of our breath, which in turn affects our body and mind. Breathing practices are simple to learn and require few, if any external aids. Breathing practices are added into a meditation practice after you are comfortable sitting and have a basic routine established. There is no need to overcomplicate the process at first and once the body has gotten used to the daily stretching and new postures you will have an easier time feeling the breath and how your body responds to it. Learning how to breathe Some of us have forgotten how to breathe. That may sound funny to most of us because we must breathe in order to live. When I say we have forgotten to breathe, what I mean is we do not use the right muscles to breathe. We are all born knowing how to breathe correctly. If you watch a baby breathe their stomach will expand like a balloon on the inhale and contract on the exhale. Their breath is deep and full. Babies use their diaphragms to breathe and not their chest. Our bodies' natural way of breathing is diaphragmatic and even. When you breathe diaphragmatically it allows the lungs to fill to full capacity. This permits more oxygen to flow to your brain. You will feel calm and energetic. You must remember to keep your head neck and trunk in straight alignment so you are able to breathe properly. You will want to listen to your breath and see if you can find any unbalance in your breath. Unbalances would be jerkiness, noise, shallowness, or an extended pause between inhalation and exhalation. Listen to your breath right now. Take one deep breath through your nose as you inhale, then exhale. What do you hear? If your breath is shallow and rapid you are probably breathing in your chest. Usually an imbalance in breath will occur if there is some distraction mentally. Breathing practices will help you to eliminate any imbalance in your breath which will also balance the mind. Finding your diaphragm As we breathe air in, we use the muscles of our rib cage and especially the major muscle called the Diaphragm to pull air into our lungs. To breathe properly you must know were your diaphragm is and how to control it. Your diaphragm is located just above the tip of the breast bone and creates a wall that separates the abdomen from the upper chest. When we breathe in, the diaphragm contracts or tightens and flattens, allowing air to be sucked into the lungs. As we exhale the diaphragm relaxes to allow the air to come out. So when we breathe out, the muscles are not being used, they are simply relaxing. One way to feel if you are breathing properly is to lay down in crocodile pose. In Crocodile pose you will lie face down with your feet pointed outward. Rest your forehead on your crossed forearms and breathe deeply. When laying in crocodile pose you will be able to feel your stomach pushing on the ground on your inhalation. This is diaphragmatic breathing. Allow yourself to just take slow breaths in and out. You should practice this posture five to ten minutes each day to make diaphragmatic breathing a habit. Once you have learned how to breathe properly lying down, it should come naturally to you sitting in meditation. Another way to teach yourself diaphragmatic breathing is to place one hand on your breast bone and one hand on your navel. Sit with your back and neck straight and allow your feet to rest flat on the floor. Feel the breath inflate your body as you breathe naturally, don't try to manipulate or change anything at first. You are looking to see where your breath is normally with this. Feel for the speed and depth of the breath and pay attention to how much each hand moves. Next try to make the top hand motionless and bring all of the movement via inflation to the abdominal hand. When you have accomplished this you are breathing diaphragmatically. After practicing with this technique for a while you should be able to feel your breath without the need to use your hands. There are many aids to learning diaphragmatic breathing. Other devices are used to help build strength in the diaphragm and abdominal muscles. These can be found in many yoga supply shops.
How to smooth the breath It is important when starting to breathe properly you do not hold your breath in between your inhale and your exhale. If you are holding the breath or pausing between exhalation and inhalation this will upset the breath rhythm. This will create an imbalance in the nervous system and by up setting this rhythm it could be damaging to your heart. If your breath is noisy this means that you are either using too much force to breathe or there is an obstruction in your nasal passages. If your breath is noisy you should use the Neti pot and then try breathing again. Your breath should be as smooth and noiseless as possible. Lay down in corpse pose let the floor hold your weight. Relax your limbs and head to the floor. Place one hand on your abdomen and one hand on your chest. When you breathe in you will feel a slight movement in your abdomen and your chest should not move. To smooth the breath think of the breath going into your feet and coming out of your head. On the inhale you would picture breath going into the toes up through your body and out your head. On the exhale you would think of the air going in through your head and out your toes. This will keep your mind focused on your breath and not your daily activities. Alternate nostril breathing Have you ever had a cold and one side of your nose is stuffed and the other you can breathe fine out of? It is so annoying and then all of the sudden it will switch sides. I often wondered why this is and then I found the answer. Everyone has a dominate nostril just as you have a dominate eye and hand. However unlike your eyes or hands dominance in your nose switches ever ninety minutes to two hours. Hence when you have a cold you can actually feel this happening. To find your dominate nostril you can gently exhale putting your finger in the flow of the breath. The side you feel more air is your dominate nostril. If this is not working for you, you can place a mirror under your noise and exhale. The side that forms a bigger breath pattern is your dominate nostril. Remember that your dominate nostril changes every 90 minutes to two hours so you must check each time before starting a practice. Alternate nostril breathing will help reset your nervous system and will help release tension from the body. How to begin
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