How to Integrate Body With Breath?
Ram S. Ramanathan MCC
Systemic, Sustainable, and Spiritual Self Development Coach Author: Coaching the Spirit & Re-creating Your Future Books & Programs
?
This is achieved by relaxed effort and focused attention on the infinite? ||47||
?
?
?
?
?
?
领英推荐
?
?
Breath is an energy. Sensing, being aware of and managing the breath leads one to wellness and increased life span. This is what Patanjali says in Yoga about how to breathe.
We learnt from Patanjali about Yama and Niyama, dharma and karma as I perceive them in a behavioural sense, as the first two rungs and limbs of Ashtanga Yoga, Patanjali speaks of the body and breath, as Asana and Pranayama.
Yoga is a holistic science. To achieve holistic wellness one needs wellness of mind, senses, body and behaviour. In Yama and Niyama, the right behaviour leading to wellness is addressed. In Asana and Pranayama, right body postures and breath are addressed. In Pratyahara, the fifth limb and to some extent in the sixth Dharana right senses are addressed. Right Mind is addressed in Dharana as well as the seventh limb of Dhyana, meditation. These are the 8 noble paths leading to the union of mind and body with the energy Self.
Patanjali says that Asana should be firm, stable and comfortable. He doesn’t talk about any specific postures or sitting on a grass mat. Other commentators have written about these. Those who have moved from the beginner stage to a more advanced stage, especially adults, would recall how painful the Yoga postures can be to reach and sustain. However, over some time, the muscles and the mind get accustomed to the stretches and compression, and we become comfortable. That’s when Yoga starts. That’s when you can move to still the mind.
Once we are comfortable with the posture, one conducive to meditation, usually for most a sitting posture cross-legged which may take a while to be comfortable with, Patanjali says to focus on the infinite. What does this mean? In one sense, if you’re comfortable and stable, albeit after some effort, relax and let go of your body awareness. I generally focus on my heart area and visualise I am expanding into the infinite. One then disengages from worldly realities. The duality of self and the Self, I and the world around me, recede as I visualise an expansion beyond the space I am in, even this earth, the solar system and the universe. One can blend into a vast expanse far beyond oneself. This takes some practice.
We, then look at our breath. First, become aware of the breath. Notice how it falls on the upper lip, where, how fast, at what temperature and how it feels on the skin. Gradually, make the inhalation deeper. Let the breath intake fill the stomach area below the navel. Hold your breath as long as you are comfortable. Then, very slowly exhale through the nose. Take twice or more as long as the inhalation. Then, hold the inhaled breath for as long as you’re comfortable.
Initially, for a short while, you can mentally count slowly. One can with practice inhale for about 8 slow counts or seconds, hold for 3, exhale for 16, and hold for 3, in a cycle of 2 breaths in a minute. Holding the breath serves a purpose. In Vignyana Bhairava Tantra Devi asks Shiva, her right half, where to find him. Shiva says, ‘in between the breaths’. When we hold our breath, like Obelisk perhaps, all thoughts cease. It’s a space of No Mind, the Void. When the mind ceases to function, what emerges is energy. That is the fourth dimension Patanjali speaks about as the veil dropping and the true Self emerging. The duality of our energy Self as a separate entity from our mindbody material casing disappears with the knowledge of our energy nature.
In Yoga, all Asana are integrated with the breath and all breathing is through the nose, never through the mouth.
Going back to Asana, below is a list from Vyasa, the most renowned commentator on Yoga Sutra. There are many more added in the later work Hatha Yoga Pradipika, which covers more elaborately body and breath awareness through asana, pranayama, mudra, bandha etc.
·?????? Padmasana, cross-legged lotus posture, the traditional meditative asana
·?????? Virasana?with one foot in contact with the ground, and the other over the partially inclined knee.
·?????? Bhadrasana?with the soles of both feet joined together below the groin and both hands with interlaced fingers over them.
·?????? Svastika?with left foot is placed downward inclined between the right thigh and leg, and the right foot is placed in a similar position between the left thigh and leg.
·?????? Dandasana with thighs, legs and feet stretched straight along the ground with the ankles joined together while sitting, but the toes kept apart.
·?????? Samasamsthana?with the feet so placed that the heels and fore-parts of both are joined together with the feet a little bent.
Body and breath awareness lead to turning the senses inwards in Pratyahara. One of the reasons to close one’s eyes in meditation is because the visual sense for many people is 80% of all sensory perceptions. Meditating on body and breath awareness, eyes closed, in a silent space, alone deprives the senses of feed, which is what the word Pratyahara means.
Cessation of sensory perception is followed by focused attention with one or each of the senses as Dharana. This is followed by focused attention on one thought as Dhyana. Disengaging from this one thought leads to the final Yoga state of Samadhi. The process of Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi is known as Samyama, the subtlest and most crucial part of Yoga. All earlier practices of behaviour as Yama and Niyama, body and breath control as Asana and Pranayama, followed by cessation of sensory perception Pratyahara are necessary prerequisites to Samyama.
Reflection
Asana and Pranayama are integrated. In Yoga, these ought to be taught together. One cannot exist without the other. When we stretch or compress there is a breath pattern that aligns with it. Every pose in Surya Namaskara, the ultimate vinyasa krama or energy flow in Asana is accompanied by inhalation and exhalation. If a Yoga teacher does not integrate Asana and Pranayama you might suffer. It’s simple. There is no life without breath. There is no movement without the regulation of breath. When body and breath align, one can move away from external senses. Practising focused attention on one sense as Dharana and one thought as Dhyana leads to disengagement Samadhi.
Practice breath awareness seated in sukhasana, cross-legged posture, inhaling deep, holding, exhaling slowly and holding. Visualise the energy of the universe being inhaled and spread through the body as you hold, expanding infinitely into the multiverse in exhalation, becoming one with the universal energy as you hold.
Ram is a co-founder and mentor at Coacharya.? Ram's focus is the integration of Eastern wisdom with modern science, spiritually, systemically and sustainably. Visit Coacharya.
Those of you who are coaches and aspire to greatness may like to consider joining Cindy and me on an advanced individual and team credential program for ICF PCC ACTC, EMCC SP Team and BCC starting April 30 at 6 PM IST for 3 hours over 14 weeks. Details Here and Here.
?
?