Strengthening and soothing the nervous systemThe breath must be enticed or cajoled, like catching a horse in a field, not by chasing after it, but by standing still with an apple in one’s hand.
B. K. S. IYENGAR
The breath is the greatest ally for all living beings, connecting us to life in every moment. The breath is also one of the subtle energy practitioner’s great tools, connecting us to the pulse of energy within ourselves and
In all of the great world traditions, the words for breath and spirit are one and the same. The Latin word spiritus means “breath.” The Greek word pneuma refers to both breath and spirit. And the Hebrew word ruah speaks of spirit and the divine breath that animates all life.
Placing attention on our breathing is like inviting a small miracle. In subtle energy healing, consciously bringing awareness to the in-breath and the out-breath establishes a foundation for all healing to take place—whether that healing is emotional, physical, mental, or spiritual. Following the trail that breath leads us on, we discover where in our physical body and or subtle energy body there is tension, openness, pain, energy, fear, excitement, and countless other sensations, feelings, and thoughts. Without us needing to identify, name, or articulate our experience, the breath can reach us, bypassing the intellect to connect us with the pure experience of what is occurring in body, mind, and spirit. In this way, the breath connects us with the truth of our felt experience.
You can acknowledge the profoundly intimate connection between spirit and breath with each of the breathing techniques in this chapter, which you can effectively use for both yourself and with your clients.
In the traditional Hindu system, prana is the most basic type of energy. The root word of prana is pra, which means “to fill.” Present in all things, prana is essential life force; it is the upward-moving current in the body that fills the entire universe.
As the root of the Hindu energy system, prana is cultivated and utilized in the science of breath known as pranayama. While prana represents the infinite life force, ayama means “to increase, stretch, or control.” Therefore, pranayama is the practice of consciously filling oneself with the breath of life.
In practice, pranayama is a set of breathing exercises designed to bring more oxygen to the brain, activate the subtle energy system, and control the life energy of the body.
The core technique of the ancient yogis, the Circle Breath is the most fundamental of all pranayama practices. Since the 1960s and 1970s in the United States, this form of pranayama has been at the heart of transformational breathwork systems such as Rebirthing (developed by Leonard Orr) and Holotropic Breathwork (developed by Stanislav Grof, MD, and Christina Grof, PhD).
The Circle Breath benefits our subtle energy system in the following ways:
Opening the chakras. Breathing in seven times and out seven times is a potent way to open all of the in-body chakras. This breath can be done whenever needed throughout the day. You can use the short version while performing subtle energy work on yourself or another, using this breath to support healing and encouraging clients to do the same.
Relieving anxiety and moving out of shock and trauma. When you’re addressing high levels of stress, anxiety, or an acute trauma, or when working to resolve an old trauma, the short version of Circle Breathing is extraordinarily helpful. The seven in-breaths and seven out-breaths move, soften, and soothe various energies, emotions, and thought forms with unparalleled elegance.
There are two basic Circle Breath practices: the long and the short. Both versions can be incorporated into any type of meditation practice.
For advanced practice, set aside twenty minutes and find a quiet, comfortable place to relax. Softly close your eyes. Starting slowly, breathe fully into your belly through the nose. Picturing your breathing as a continuous cycle, breathe in for seven seconds, and then breathe out for seven seconds. Do not stop at the top or bottom of your breath.
After about ten minutes, speed up your breathing so you are taking only two seconds to breathe in and two seconds to breathe out. Cycle into a slower breath for the last couple of minutes to readapt your breath to everyday reality. (Some individuals perform the long Circle Breathing for an hour, increasing their breathing tempo at the twenty-minute mark, then spending their last five minutes slowing down their breath.)
The long practice is not always feasible or even necessary. Simply breathing in and out seven times without ceasing—without pausing between the inhale and exhale—can be grounding, centering, and clearing. The key is to do so with awareness.
Derived from the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, this breath control technique, originally known as Anuloma Viloma Pranayama, is an exercise in alternate nostril breathing. It is designed to purify the psychic channels (nadis) through which prana and kundalini energy flow. In this way, this exercise opens, activates, and balances each of the in-body chakras, as well as the out-of-body chakras incorporated in many chakric systems.
Running through the spinal column is the sushumna nadi, the central master channel. Running alongside and intertwining the spine are the ida nadi (the channel of feminine, passive, cooling, mental energy) and pingala nadi (the channel of masculine, active, hot, physical energy). As the flow through these channels is harmonized, as it is with this exercise, prana and kundalini activate and balance each of the seven chakras.
As this practice activates prana and kundalini energy and awakens the chakras, it has a far-reaching, positive impact on the body, mind, and spirit. Some of the benefits include:
Strengthening and soothing the nervous system
Improving respiratory system function
Purifying and oxygenating the blood
Calming the mind, increasing inner peace and tranquility
Cultivating meditative states of consciousness
Creating balance, harmony, and rhythm in the entire body mind system
Preparing the system for more advanced pranayama practices
1.Sit upright in a comfortable position. If you can, sit cross-legged (sukhasana). Gently close your eyes.
2.Lift your spine upwards, elongating or lengthening your neck. To align the spine with the back of your head, bring your chin back and slightly downward.
3.Fold the index finger and middle finger of the right hand into the palm, so that only the thumb, ring finger, and pinky are extended.
4.Bring your attention to your breathing and take five slow, deep breaths though your nose.
5.With your right thumb, gently close the right nostril and breathe in slowly and completely through the left nostril, counting from one to four in your mind.
6.Gently close the left nostril with your right ring finger and pinky and release the right nostril. Counting from one to four, breathe out through the right nostril.
7.Next, breathe in through the right nostril, keeping the left nostril closed with your right ring finger and pinky. Again, count from one to four.
8.Finally, close the right nostril with your thumb and breathe out through the left nostril only, counting silently from one to four.
Note: As with any practice, do this exercise only for as long as you are comfortable. Start slowly and build up at your own pace. If one nostril is blocked, temporarily refrain from doing this exercise.
A breathing method developed by Japanese chi expert Kozo Nishino is proving to raise the levels of chi as well as inhibit the growth of cancer cells, among other benefits.1
The practice is simple: you relax, stretch, and twist or rotate any part of your body while standing, taking a series of slow, deep breaths at the rate of one cycle of breath per one to two minutes. To achieve this breathing pattern, start by reducing your breathing to twelve to sixteen breaths per minute and then to six breaths per minute. But never push yourself beyond your capacity or to the point of dizziness.
If you want to use this practice with a client, both you and the client stand across from each other, facing one another, and extend your hands. Allow your hands to touch your client’s hands, right hand to right hand, left hand to left hand, palm to palm. Breathing slowly, take turns sending chi to each other several times through your hands.
You can use this practice to actually help the chi move more fully through a client’s body. Know that in Nishino’s practice, the chi grows so strong that a practitioner can actually push a client over. You don’t want to push your chi that hard in a client session.
The Oneida Tribe, one of the Native American nations of North America (also known as the People of the Standing Stone), offer a simple breathing exercise that is immensely powerful in its ability to renew, rebalance, and regenerate the body and mind with vital earth energy. Using this exercise allows you to
release and recycle toxic energies, whether physical, mental, or emotional;
discharge electromagnetic frequencies (EMFs) picked up from computers, cell phones, and other everyday electronic devices; and
reconnect with the natural world.
To perform this breathing technique, plant your feet firmly on the ground. Take a slow, deep breath in through the nose, allowing all tension and stress to roll down the length of your body, out through your feet, and deep into Mother Earth. Note that your in-breath presses your problems downward, the breath doing the work for you. Release all of your concerns, worries, fear, or pain to the Great Mother, resting assured that she is happy to relieve you of any burdens and recycle the energies in beneficial ways.
Now open your mouth, and while you exhale, imagine pulling fresh, nourishing energy from Mother Earth up through the bottom of your feet, seeing it move all the way up through your body and out the top of your head. Allow this vital earth energy to cleanse and refresh you on every level.
Do this exercise in a round of four breaths—four in-breaths through the nose and four out-breaths through the mouth. For maximum benefit, you can use this technique throughout the day.