TAKE A DEEP BREATH

FINDING PEACE OF MIND DURING WARTIME

Israel is at war – a war that she must win. It is not just a war in Gaza and the northern border of Israel.? It is a battle for every Jew in the entire world. The terror attack by Hamas on October 7th has unleashed a wave of antisemitism with a force not seen since World War II.?? If one reads the news and watches videos of support for “Palestinian Rights”, it is easy to? become afraid and/or angry about what is going on.? If you see the pictures of the hostages held in Gaza, it is understandable to be overcome with grief and concern for the families of those hostages.? What is a way to cope with the tragedy that has happened? What is the way to deal with the feelings of grief, sadness, fear, and anger that this war has aroused in us?? A way that I have found useful is called breathwork.?

Breathwork is a close relative of mindfulness.? The basic practice of mindfulness is to be mindful of one’s breath: the inhale and the exhale.? When you notice that your mind has wandered, either to the past: memories of images or conversations or news reports or to the future: worries about what could happen either collectively or personally, then the practice is to return your attention to your breath.? The third distraction is judgment.? When you find yourself judging other people, situations, or even yourself as either good or bad, right or wrong, wanted or rejected, then the practice is to notice that and return your attention to your breath.? This is a basic mindfulness practice.? If practiced for a significant length of time daily, for example for 20 minutes, the speed of the brainwaves slows down to what is called the alpha state where the brain is working at between 8 = 15 hertz.? When this happens the activity in the amygdala, the place in the brain where we worry and stress, becomes less.? Dopamine and serotonin are released in the brain and we feel calmer and happier.?

Breathwork takes this idea and amplifies it.? The practice involves deepening the breath and increasing the pace of the breathing.? When a person is under stress, his or her breathing is short, shallow, and centered in the chest.? When you consciously breathe into the belly using the diaphragm to expand the capacity of the lungs, then the body returns to a calm, relaxed state.? Some of the benefits of slow, conscious breathing are:

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·??????? Lowered blood pressure and heart rate

·??????? Reduced levels of stress hormones in the blood

·??????? Reduced lactic acid build-up in the muscle tissue

·??????? Balanced levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood

·??????? Improved immune system functioning

·??????? Increased physical energy

·??????? Increased feeling of calm and wellbeing

Mindfulness and breathwork have been practiced in the east, India, China, and Southeast Asia for centuries.? And these practices have emigrated to the West.? They are now popular as practices that lead to greater health and well-being, detached from their origins in Hinduism and Buddhism.? A question is asked: Are there Jewish sources for mindfulness practices in the Torah? Was something like this practiced by the ancient prophets and sages of Israel?

The first source is in the Chumash itself.? In Beraishit 2, 7, “And G-d blew into his nostril the soul of life and man became a living soul”.? The other creations during the seven days of creation were created by speech. ?Man’s body was created by G-d’s speech but his soul was given by the breath.? So when we breathe in we resonate with that moment of creation.? As we exhale we let go of life.? A baby takes his first breath when he emerges from his mother’s womb and a person exhales his last breath when he or she expires.?

The Rambam in Hilchot Tefila (Chapter 4, Halacha 15 and 16), states that one must have kavana-intention, before one prays and if he doesn’t, he shouldn’t pray.? How does one develop this intention which he calls kavanat halev? The Rambam suggests that he sit for some time and clear his mind of all mundane thoughts before standing up to pray.? This sitting could be interpreted as a mindfulness practice.?

Rav Issamar Shwartz, in his book “Know Your Soul”, mentions that the word chaim and the word chalal share the same gematria, or numerical value, 68.? Chalal means space.? When G-d created the world, he hid Himself and made, so to speak, an empty space – ??? ???? where He could create the universe.? That space is the source of our life so when we can touch that space, we feel alive.? And we can do that by slowing down our breathing and coming into the present moment.? Our conscious mind will resist, but if we are persistent, we will be able to touch that empty space.

In the sefer Tomer Devorah, by Rav Moshe Cordevero, one of the early kabbalists, writes that man is created in the image of G-d (hatzelem elokim).??? G-d’s nose is called the chotem and when G-d so to speak, breathes He does so thru His nose and by so doing brings life to the nine sephirot below keter.? Another name for the nose and the one that we use is af.? When G-d is angry it is called charon af and when He is patient it is called erech apaim, one of the 13 attributes of mercy.? G-d breathed into man ‘nishmat chaim’ the breath of life, so when we breathe we are tapping into that divine source of our lives.? When we are angry, our breath becomes short and shallow.? And when we want to calm down and be patient, we can mirror this higher Divine image and breathe slowly and deeply, erech apaim.? Then instead of anger and judgement, we can have patience and compassion for others.?

Breathwork activates the pineal gland believed to be the key to accessing the unconscious mind and releasing emotions related to trauma. It is also said to be our gateway to the soul and conscious contact with G-d. For these reasons it is valuable to cultivate this practice.

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