Breathe Your Way to Balance & Vitality
Your breath is vital to your existence, that goes without saying. However, what is less often considered is that it also is one of the most powerful tools you have for modulating your inner mental and emotional experiences.
According to Yogic and Ayurvedic philosophy, this is because your breath is the most direct way to cultivate Prana, your “vital force” or “life energy”. It’s responsible for life and consciousness. This animating force sustains and enlivens all living beings. It flows within you, connecting your body, mind, and spirit and the world around you.
The flow of your life and the the flow of your breath are inextricably linked. Think about a time when something abruptly startled you. Did you gasp for air? Imagine when life came at you faster and harder than you could process. Did you have a hard time catching your breath or even hyperventilate? In these ways, external forces override and influence our natural rhythms of respiration, emotions, and in turn a myriad of other bodily systems.
However, what if you could manipulate your breathing to influence, adjust, or choose the impact and quality of your experiences? This is exactly what the ancients in India wondered, tested, and perfected through the discipline known as Pranayama. This core yogic concept means “control of life force energy.” There are many forms of pranayama that elicit various responses from increasing heat and vigor to calming and cooling. The basic premise for all is that through implementing precise breathing techniques your can regulate the flow of your energy, blockages, and restore overall balance. This impact and feeling, while subtle, manifest physically, as well.
Scientific studies have shown that these intentional breathing practices reduce stress, improve respiratory functioning, improve digestion, improve cardiovascular health, enhance cognitive capacity, reduce anxiety and depression, increase high quality sleep, reduce oxidative cellular stress, increase longevity, and increase the body’s antioxidant capacity, and support healthy immune responses.
While we could delve further for days into analyzing and explaining this ancient healing technology, the best way to understand it is through direct experience. So I’ll leave you with one of my favorite and simplest pranayama techniques that helps calm me down, brings me back to equilibrium: balanced breath (sama vritti in Sanskrit).
Find a comfortable seat.
Close your eyes and turn your focus inwards.
Notice how you’re feeling or what’s coming up for you.
Take a big, deep breath and release it to begin.
Now, through your nose, inhale into your belly for a count of 4.
Hold your breath for a count of 1.
Exhale though your nose for a count of 4.
Hold for a count of 1.
Repeat 4-7 for a set period of time you have given yourself or until you feel more calm, centered, connected, less edgy - whatever you’re seeking to change. Notice your physical and emotional sensations. Tune into your mind. Sit with your shifted state of being.
Remember that it’s yours to use anytime, anyplace, as much as you need.