“We are guaranteed two breaths in life.
Our first and our last.
Every breath in between is a gift ”
Ah, the breath! For most of us, we breathe all day long, with little to no thought about it. When was the last time you sat down and fully, completely felt your inhale and exhale?
Most yoga classes that we attend will offer some sort of breathing component. These breathing practices are called Pranayama- as listed in the Yoga Sutras. Pranayama is a sanskrit word. To translate this word we break it in to two words- Prana and Yama. Prana translates to energy and Yama to tuning. In essence, when we do these breathing practices, we are tuning our energy towards nature or a greater intelligence.
When we are born, it is said that we are allotted a certain quantity of Prana or energy. How we live our life will either add too or take away this precious energy. If we live our lives according to the eight limbs of yoga- we will maintain a higher quality of prana. The eight limbs teach us to live a balanced life- a life that is built to support not only our health and well being- but also a life lived in connection with the world around us.
If you are new to the eight limbs of yoga, I have wrote a few other Musings that discuss other aspects of this topic. They are
This Prana energy is moved through the Nadis, which is our energy circulatory system. Our breath is what facilitates the movement of prana though the nadis. Breath is also a strong generator of Prana. If you have practiced yoga, you may have noticed at the end of your practice you feel rejuvenated, revitalized, and relaxed. This is because we have most likely improved the quality of our breathing pattern- increasing our prana. Then we have moved the body through asana (while breathing deeply), which removes blockages with in the nadis. This allows Prana to flow more freely and we feel good because of it.
“The mind is the king of the senses, but the breath is king of the mind.”
When we are living in a stressed state, our breath will be short and shallow. When the breathe is this way, our prana is depleted. This can leave us feeling tired, run down and even more stressed. To build prana, as mentioned before, we can use breathing techniques. As well as a balanced yoga practice, whole foods, rest, meditation and healthy connection with ourselves and others.
I invite you to take the next few minutes to breathe with full awareness. Find a comfortable place to rest, maybe place your hands on the belly and breathe. Start by just feeling the breath at the tip of the nose. What do you feel? Are you breathing through both nostrils or more through one than the other? Then follow the breath up through the nose and just feel the breath travelling up and down the nose. Then follow it down to the chest and then the belly. Make sure to finish this pranayama practice with a moment of observation. Maybe following the breath for a few minutes creates a little shift in the mind, body and/or spirit?
Until next time,
Sandra