Breath, our fragile lives depend upon it, it’s ability to oxygenate the blood to feed the cells that pump the heart and fuel the mind. Take it away and within minutes we’re dead unless you’re David Blaine pulling a 27 minute underwater world record, you’re simply dead. Boom, bang, gone. You’re heart stops pumping, your brain crashes and your organs shut down. Breathing is such a natural part of our being and existing that we often take it for granted. It’s only when it becomes obstructed do we realize how absolutely dependant on good breathing we are to feel confident, energized, alive and alert.
I believe focused breathing is our best tool when managing stress. It’s one of the first things I learned in therapeutic yoga and it stuck with me, because it works. Not just any breathing but a long slow inhale through the nose and especially a long slow exhale through the nose, count eight seconds in and eight seconds out for a minute and the benefits instantaneously kick in. What the breath is doing the mind does, it’s a cyclical feed back loop that can not be broken. It’s increased rhythm is tantamount when we’re in danger, if our breathing didn’t increase our hearts wouldn’t pump faster to give us the option to fight or flee danger. Also, as much as we can learn how controlling it can benefit our quality of life, so too can we by learning to listen to what it has to tell us. It speaks to us about the state of our emotions and what our instincts, intuition or hearts might be sensing that our minds can not perceive.
Synchronize your Breath with the above gif to feel the benefits
The only problem with using focused breathing as a tool to keep our minds decluttered and manage everyday stress is the simple fact that we’re constantly undermining it’s value and don’t make it a continuous self-care practice. We breath any which way and don’t understand that the moment we focus in on it our hearts begin to open and our nervous systems respond.
One of the most valuable things offered through yoga practice is the various pranayama exercises incorporated. Simply synchronizing your breath with the movements and postures during a session is the core foundation for a good practice to align mind-body-spirit. If you’re doing this you’ll feel the benefits immediately after. What I love about focusing on breathing before all else in my sessions is the emotional resilience it helps us build and the quality of restoration it offers the mind and body.
Breathing connects us to the subtle sensations within, hidden emotions, it exposes us to unhealthy mental chatter and the state of our hearts. Once we’ve connected it works preventatively and offers us a general assessment of our overall health. We become more attuned with bodily sensations that show us where we are out of alignment, or soon to become out of alignment if we don’t course correct and modify our behaviour through mental or physical diet. On top of this, connecting to our breath helps us connect to our spiritual nature, leading us towards a more meditative way of living. Harmonizing brain waves that enhance creativity and intuition, clarity and reason, eliminating confusion and apathy.
Some pranayama exercises help to balance the left and right hemispheres of the brain while others increase energy levels through rapid fire techniques such as Kapalabhati. Depending on the type of yoga you are practicing you will find various types of breathing techniques used to enhance the flow of energy, life force or prana moving through the body, benefiting the body’s physiological functions and relaxing the nervous system.
If you wish to delve deeper into the mysteries that focused breathing can offer attend a Holotropic breathworkshop. Similar to the Sanskrit definition of yoga: to unite, Holotropic’s greek roots refer to wholeness. Holotropic breathwork done properly usually produces altered state of consciousness. The first time I experienced a Holotropic breathworkshop I had an out of body experience. To this day no other consciousness expanding exercises I have tried created such an other worldly effect, and I’ve tried many different medicines and techniques along my journey.
During my session it was the first time I was visually and auditorily introduced to my spirit guides. Many of the things I saw during the 45 minutes of being under the spell of an increased amount of oxygen (prana) in my blood only showed their significance years later as life unraveled. On a physical level there’s a certain release of cellular trauma that can take place. Practitioners around the world offer this breathing technique to people suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome or chronic anxiety with a high success rate.
Last week I attended a 5 day breathworkshop that offered another kind of technique rooted in Kriya yoga called Ekadasi. It’s a technique that assists a person to connect the conscious and subconscious realms of the mind as well as provoking short glimpses beyond the veil. It’s an extreme practice that should only be done with an experienced practitioner and requires courage to make it through the entire five days because of it’s intensity. Similar to Holotropic breathwork, Ekadasi brings you in and beyond the conscious mind, the difference is that it also brings you closer towards death than any other breathing practice I’m aware of. It’s not designed to put your life at risk but it can be dangerous if not done properly. Where as Holotropic breathwork allows you to discover your higher aspects, Ekadasi brings you beyond these higher aspects and allows you to see into the void for short periods at a time so you may look back on yourself with greater clarity.
This technique allows one to dance with death safely to discover that the mysteries of life are all contained within life itself. Our consciousness is intrinsically interwoven into our everyday experience of reality, one that we can only perceive a fraction of through our bodily sensations and mental filters. Within the miraculous sacred temple of our existence all exists. If you practice this breathing technique be prepared to laugh hysterically, cry dramatically and be humbled to your core. The mental and emotional clarity that it provides is a wake up call and its most beneficial offering. Highly recommended for anyone looking to explore the mysteries, heal emotionally, grow and allow more of the miracle of life to emerge through increased body, mind and spiritual awareness.
For information on future sessions contact Genevieve Couillard here.
Blasting Love
Image Sources
Cover
Breath Synchronization
Alternate Nostril Breathing
Glimpse beyond the veil