Breathing is a
natural and necessary event of every moment.
Air is abundant and never-ceasing on our planet.
And yet, go ahead and take that deep breath that just occurred to
your body, and think about the last time prior to this one when you did.
Stress, trauma, depression, and just plain bad habits that have
been handed down from generation to generation all help to build
patterns for how we breathe. Try
this little exercise for the rest of today.
Notice your breath as often as you can comfortably throughout the
day. Just let your awareness
settle on your breathing pattern and observe it as an unbiased outsider.
Count the number of times you actually see yourself taking a deep
breath in a day's time. Yawning
doesn't really count, since that's your body's way of taking extreme
measures to get you some oxygen. Most
people are surprised to see how seldom they actually take a good, long
deep breath.
In the body, oxygen is synonymous with health.
Where there is oxygen, there is wellbeing, abundant life force,
and the pink of health. And
there is vibrant longevity. Cancer cells, viruses,
parasites, and pathogenic bacteria all need an anaerobic (or low oxygen)
environment to flourish. Ironic,
isn't it, that such a powerful medicine is free for the asking to every
single creature on the planet. And
yet most modern humans neglect it all day long.
One of the reasons that exercise is so beneficial is that it
forces you to breathe more. Sex
has a similar benefit. And
the little exercise we just tried that simply brought our awareness to
our breath has the same effect. And
of course, many of the eastern traditions such as yoga, tai chi, chi
gong, etc. also focus attention on the breath.
Any and all of these techniques are powerful longevity
strategies.
On an emotional level, breathing, and the relaxation and opening of the
heart center that must go with it, can be a very freeing practice.
When I first became aware of my own breath, I could barely manage
to take a deep breath; the muscles in my diaphragm and chest were simply
too tight or out of practice or unfamiliar with the concept to comply.
It hurt to breathe deeply. When
I started practicing yoga, I couldn't follow the breathing instructions.
I couldn't get enough oxygen to keep from panicking when I
limited my in and out breaths to my nose.
As I practiced breathing over time, the breath work in yoga often
brought me to tears, delicious tears of release.
At first I was disturbed and needed to know what I was crying
about. Over time, I came to
accept gratefully the release of whatever needed releasing and to let
myself enjoy the improved sense of wellbeing that came after the
release.
Spiritually, breath represents the life force.
Accepting it into our bodies and our lives is another way
of accepting life. With
consciousness, each in-breath we take can fill us with gratitude and
awareness of the universal creative power in all things; the essence that
is shared. And
each out-breath can be an opportunity to let go those things in our
lives that need to be released; an opportunity to honor the cycles of
life-the eternal birth-death-birth cycle that is central in all things, down to our very cells. The
cells of our bodies are designed to be continually engaged in the cycle
of birth-death-birth each and every day.
This process of ongoing death and renewal is what ensures us a
long life in our physical home.
