Fundamental to yoga and meditation practice, breath control (pranayama) is one of the first things I teach in class. Aside from its rejuvenating and re-energizing effects on the body, breathing consciously helps you to make room in your mind and remain calm and focused no matter what is happening around you. This chapter describes the physical and psychological benefits of pranayama and introduces you to breathing exercises that will connect you to your strong inner self – the power within.
‘Breath is not just vital for life – it is also the bridge between our body, our mind and our spirit.’
YOGI ASHOKANANDA
According to yogic tradition, the navel centre around our belly button is the source of our creation, but once we are born into the world our breath is the most fundamental part of our physical existence. Although we cannot normally see our breath, and most of the time we are not even aware of it, the functioning of our entire body and our mind depend on it.
Our breath can help us to understand the invisible, powerful force at work throughout the universe. Breath is something we share in common with every living being on earth, despite our different circumstances, different diets, different beliefs, different skin colours, different cultures, different countries, different occupations, different ethics, different paths of spirituality and so on. Whether we are rich or poor, cruel or compassionate, materialistic or spiritual, the breath is food for our spirit and we can use it to create a sense of love, peace and harmony in ourselves and among others.
Breath is not just vital for life, it is also the bridge between our body and our mind and our spirit, between matter and form and non-matter and the formless. Breath is our constant companion and is common to all living things. Yet in spite of the essential and familiar nature of our breath, few of us pay attention to our respiration unless there is a problem with it.
Learning to breathe properly, thereby boosting oxygen intake and maximizing the elimination of waste products, is one of the most powerful ways to re-energize the body, the mind and the emotions. Through the body and the mind, breath also feeds the spirit and we can use it to create a sense of love, peace and harmony within ourselves and between ourselves and other people.
Many of the imbalances that occur in our mind and body are affected and directed by our breath. It is also the case that our breath is affected by our mind, body functions, diet, posture, physical activity and environment. The breath is like a barometer, indicating our inner state, including our reactions to external events and surroundings: when we are in a tense situation we hold our breath; when we are grief stricken or panicked we hyperventilate; when we are relaxed and resting, our breath flows freely. The ability to connect the mind and body with the breath and breathe naturally and evenly through any situation helps to maintain a sense of calm and equilibrium in our life.
A yogi practising breath control in Tree pose, from the medieval Chidambaram temple, Tamil Nadu.
I believe that the breath has great symbolic meaning: the inability to inhale fully represents a psychological or emotional obstruction and being unable to exhale fully and with ease means that it is hard to ‘let go’.
Any introduction to yoga, meditation or spirituality should begin with an awareness of the breath. This is the basic building block – as essential to yogic practice as it is to life, because the practice is there to reflect and support our life.
LEVEL: ORANGE
Many people spend an entire lifetime without being conscious of their breath or realizing that it is their body and mind’s best friend. The following practice introduces you to your breath and calms the nervous system as well as the muscles of the face and eyes. If done for an extended period, it can lead to a very deep state of meditation and clarity of mind. It is especially good if you are very busy or suffer from stress or knee-jerk responses to events, helping you to re-engage with yourself and your environment.
1 Sit comfortably on the floor or on a chair. Close your eyes and breathe gently so you do not strain your sinuses and there is no engagement of your facial muscles as you inhale and exhale.
2 Bring your awareness to your whole body, ignoring what is happening around you or whether someone is looking at you or not.
3 Keeping your mouth closed, focus on your inhalation and exhalation and notice your breath as it moves in and out of your nose. Bring your mind’s eye into your nostrils, feeling the touch of the breath on your nostril walls. As you inhale, embrace the sensation of your breath’s cooling touch and freshness. As you exhale, feel your breath’s warm touch inside your nostrils. Breathe comfortably for the length of your inhalation and exhalation, travelling with your breath from your nostrils to the root of your nose and back. Do not try to replicate the experience of an earlier breath or hold the memory for the next one.
4 Keep taking full breaths but slow down the speed at which you inhale and exhale, letting air enter your lungs gradually. Synchronize the speed of your breath with the awareness of your nostrils. Continue for 20 minutes.
LEVEL: GREEN
In Vedic terms the lungs represent the seat of the soul. By not using their full capacity, you restrict the amount of prana you can take in. In psychological terms this means you are not fully engaging your soul or spirit. You are literally not living life to the full! This simple exercise allows you to take a complete breath, ensuring that every part of your lungs is filled with air. Breathing fully also makes you aware of your diaphragm, helps to regulate your breath, and restores rhythm to your breathing, to your mind and to the cyclical functions of your body. When the diaphragm is tense, it constricts blood flow and tightens the muscles around it, including internal and external muscles in the back, around the lungs and especially the heart muscle. With regular practice you will gradually increase your lung capacity and feel the many benefits of breathing deeply. This exercise, which calms the nervous system and the mind, is especially good if you are stressed.
1 Sit comfortably on the floor or on a chair, keeping your spine erect and your eyes and mouth closed. Take your mind’s eye to your navel centre, your belly button. Gently move your attention to your mid-chest and then to your upper chest. Just become aware of these areas of your chest, the centre of your breathing.
2 Inhale for a count of nine on one inhalation, but separate this into three parts: for a count of three inhale into the navel; then inhale for a count of three filling the lower part of your lungs; and finish with a count of three into the upper lungs and chest, filling your lungs with air right to the top near your clavicle (collar bone).
3 As soon as you have completed your inhalation, begin exhaling for a count of nine on one exhalation: first empty the top of your chest for a count of three; then the bottom of your lungs for a count of three; and finally, when you reach the navel, exhale the last of the air for a count of three.
4 Repeat this pattern for 15 minutes and notice how it induces a sense of openness, ease and release.
Yogic breathing exercises are known as ‘pranayama’, which means ‘control of the prana’ (see opposite). The yogic and Vedic traditions describe the practice of regulating the breath in a highly systematic way. When breathing exercises are expertly taught and practised in a traditional, holistic way, the effects are life-enhancing on every level. However, there are now many hybrids of spiritual practice, which in my view have to be approached with caution. Traditionally, techniques were taught by teachers who had many years of experience, so that despite focusing on one area, such as the breath, the rest of the body and mind would also benefit and remain balanced. I have seen many people become unbalanced physically and psychologically because the practices they are undertaking are not fully integrative. This also includes people not making adjustments in their daily habits, yet still expecting authentic results.
When I was living with my teacher, Masta Baba, back in India, at first I did not know what pranayama was. I thought that it was just the breath moving in and out, until we sat down and practised. I was literally able to see the transparency of the breath … the particles in it. I practised slowing my breath almost to the point where I felt I was not breathing at all. He made me repeat the process for many days. One day, while I was in a state of deep relaxation, all of a sudden he shouted loudly. I was shocked and gasped for breath. He told me that I had to learn to remain in the same breathing pattern no matter what. During the ensuing weeks, he would find ways to disturb me (he always knew when to catch me out!). As I continued to practise I became more and more aware of the subtlety of the mind and its connection to the breath. My mind could be so relaxed, yet the minute it was disturbed my breath reacted. My teacher explained that I must always stay with my relaxed breath, to become the breath. Eventually I discovered the power of the breath over the mind – the mind’s reaction to the breath. Breath is the key to being relaxed in body and mind.
THE POWER OF PRANA
In the yogic and Vedic traditions, the breath is viewed as carrying the life force known as prana into each person’s body and is considered to be the physical manifestation of this vital energy. As we breathe, prana is the inhalation and apana is the exhalation, and the time between the two is called samana. Prana is the link between the astral body and the physical body, and when prana ceases to flow, the astral body separates from the physical body, otherwise known as death.
If the flow of prana is strong, your body and brain will function well and you will be full of vitality. Your body’s ability to regenerate itself will also be a lot stronger, which in turn will slow down the ageing process and any adverse effects of the environment on your body and mind.
If the flow of prana is weak, you will feel depressed, fatigued and uninspired. Anyone suffering from depression needs to be physically active (for example through yoga or brisk walking) and practise pranayama to get the energy moving. In such cases, simply sitting still in meditation without engaging in an active pranayama exercise is ineffective because insufficient prana will be activated.
Having awareness of the breath as an indicator of the functioning of your body and mind means that you can manipulate and nurture your breath to reverse or alleviate any symptoms that it is expressing.
Prana comes from the universe and its source is infinite. Pranayama enables you to control the supply of prana and influence its direction and flow in your body, bringing purification to your subtle energy system and giving you power and the ability to constantly recoup that power. Some people are more successful and influential in life than others due to the power of this prana. Every day, they unconsciously manipulate the same force that a yogi has learned to use consciously by command of his will. If you can learn to use your prana knowingly, you will never fear losing whatever you are creating. This is because you will know that your creations are controlled from a stable, powerful place within yourself, and therefore can never be lost. You become fearless because you have mastery over the manifestation of power in the universe. This is referred to as ‘yogamaya’, the manifestation of God’s energy or creative energy, or ‘kriya shakti’, the power behind every action.
The breath moves in space both inside and outside the body. Everything manifests in space, and space exists in everything. There is space within each inhalation and exhalation, space between each word, space between each cell, space between each molecule. Space is relaxation. Space (ether) is the biggest of the five elements in the body. Space is always required in life (for example, personal and living space, space in relationships). If we could all expand the space within ourselves, the world would be a more peaceful, more loving place.
People are usually drawn to practise meditation because they are feeling stressed or burnt out and are overwhelmed by the thoughts that jostle for space in their mind. Thoughts, however, are not the problem. It is natural for the mind to think, so we should not try to stop this process. What we do need to do is create more space in the mind and in the body, for the mind lives in the body and the body lives in the mind.
Breathing techniques and meditations allow you to experience your own inner space and to align this with the space outside you, thereby minimizing confusion and conflict within your thoughts, decision-making and personality.
THE BREATH CYCLE
We tend to think of breath as inhalation and exhalation, whereas in actual fact breath is a complete cycle joined by two invisible loops or gaps (inner breath retention and outer breath retention). The in-breath and out-breath are therefore not separate but part of one complete cycle. A practice of conscious breath retention, which is used in several of the exercises in this book, helps to balance the body’s carbon levels and develops strength in the diaphragm.
LEVEL: ORANGE
Yawning
Yawning is something we all do naturally. In yogic philosophy yawning releases prana that has stopped flowing and become trapped in the body. Yawning vocally and fully is great when you need a quick boost of energy and is something you can do (almost!) anytime and anywhere.
1 Inhale deeply through the nose and open your mouth wide, allowing your jaw to release.
2 Exhale and stretch your arms up and out to the sides, making a vocal sound as you do. Keep yawning, inducing the yawn even if at first there isn’t naturally one there.
LEVEL: YELLOW
The purpose of this practice is to create more space within your body and release the obstructions that prevent you from breathing fully. You are making your mind aware of your inner space and allowing your lungs to experience inhalation and exhalation to their maximum capacity without exertion. You are also giving your mind the chance to connect and embrace the sense of oneness in your body without discrimination. As you induce a state of deeper rest through this process, you may find that your mind begins to wander. Just remain detached from whatever thoughts occur, without denying or holding onto them. Instead, only observe them and focus on the breathing practice. This exercise is good if you feel lethargic or heavy in mind and body, or if you have a tendency to overeat; you want to nourish yourself internally with breath as opposed to food.
1 Sit or lie in a comfortable position but don’t use a pillow unless you really need it. If necessary, cover your body with a light blanket for warmth. Keep your heels together and allow your feet to flop outward from the heels. Relax your shoulders and your upper back. Let your palms face upward – this will help to loosen your upper back and open your heart chakra. Your arms should be at a minimum at 45 degrees from your armpits, so they are not too close to your body.
2 Squeeze your fists really tightly and release them. Now squeeze and tense your whole body, lifting your legs and your head and shoulders off the floor. Release. Repeat this three to five times.
3 As you inhale, imagine that your whole body – from your toes to your head, including your tummy, chest, ribcage and abdomen – are filled with small lungs. Divert your energy, your breath and the attention of your mind into these imaginary lungs in your body. As you inhale, your breath fills the imaginary lungs of the lower abdomen and travels all around your body, filling up one lung after another until the end of the inhalation reaches the top of the imaginary lungs in your shoulders and upper back, throat and face.
4 As you exhale, starting with the upper imaginary lungs, empty the lungs one by one all the way down, in reverse order to the inhalation. Do this as slowly and as gently as possible without any force or aggression. Practise for around 20 minutes.
5 When you have finished, relax and observe your whole body as one big lung. Feel the space inside your body all the way from your head down to your feet and fingertips. Fill your body with your mind, with your awareness; fill your body with the experience of expansion and let it go.
The Upanishads beautifully describe the interwoven physical and spiritual benefits that yogic breathing can bring. There is no separation between body and soul when physical health and balance allow full access to the spirit. This is already recognized by healthcare professionals who recommend general relaxation classes that focus on breathing patterns to help people suffering with stress, insomnia and other psycho-physiological conditions. Every yoga or meditation class should be focused around the breath.
Physiologically, when we begin to breathe properly, we simultaneously strengthen and release our diaphragm and learn to make use of our full lung capacity. Most people who are running around feeling stressed, and even those who do a lot of cardiovascular work, use only a portion of their lungs. This means that their respiratory system is not working at its best. The respiratory system fulfils two life-giving functions: to transport oxygen to every cell in the body (without which the cells would die in a few minutes) and to expel gaseous waste products, such as carbon dioxide. When you breathe fully you maximize the chances of cell rejuvenation and the elimination of impurities, and this is bound to result in a more youthful appearance and even a slowing down of the ageing process.
In addition to supplying oxygen to your body, respiration affects your consciousness, awareness and attention, which in turn are linked to mood. Breathing well can also help digestion; on the other hand, when someone is tense and stressed, the tension held in the diaphragm through constricted breathing compresses the stomach and hinders the digestive process.
Another advantage of breathing correctly is that when you inhale through your nose rather than your mouth, the air is humidified and warmed to body temperature in your nasal passages and your nasal hairs filter any impurities before the air enters your lungs.
LEVEL: YELLOW
The basic form of ujayi, which I teach here, is a simple technique. This ancient practice is described in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika and is commonly used in physical yoga asanas because it develops a strong heart, improves stamina, regulates blood pressure, helps with control of the diaphragm and facilitates deep cleansing. It is also excellent for asthmatics as it opens up the bronchi. ‘Ujayi’ means ‘victorious’ or ‘elevation’, relating to the elevation of your thoughts, your psychic ability and your heart chakra. Ujayi breathing is a nourishing, spiritual experience that burns away the darkness of your heart and clears your throat of all the unspoken emotions that affect your subconscious mind. Do this exercise to give you a more positive, lighter perception of your life.
1 Sitting comfortably on the floor or on a chair, with your eyes closed, fold your tongue backward or, if you find this difficult, press it into the roof of your mouth. (This opens the back of your throat and has a positive effect on the thymus and hence the immune system.) Inhale for a count of one, and exhale for a count of two. Regulate your inhalation and exhalation with the support of your diaphragm.
2 As you inhale with a gentle snoring sound, feel your breath touching the back of your throat.
3 With each inhalation experience in your mind the sound of ‘AUMMMMMMM’ (see page 109) so that your inhalation expands inside your ribcage. Try to maintain the consistency, rhythm and speed of your inhalation.
4 When you exhale, prolong the exhalation and mentally make the sound of ‘MMMMM’ to guide your breath.
5 Practise this exercise starting with three segments of 5 minutes and gradually build up until you are able to do a full 15 minutes without a break.
6 After practising ujayi breathing, maintain your awareness on the openness of your heart chakra, your back and the rhythm of your breath. Relax your throat muscles and breathe normally.
You can use your breath to bring prana to every part of your brain and thereby improve your mental balance and stability. Breathing techniques can assist with concentration, memory, learning ability and being able to see tasks through from start to finish. Balancing the right and left sides of your brain aligns your thinking and creative skills. Breathing practices can even open up areas of your brain that were previously unused. Stimulating such areas of the brain helps to create a feeling of psychological balance, as well as awakening insight and bringing awareness of the ability and potential of your mind.
The breathing techniques in my meditation practices are especially good for relaxation as they allow the neocortex (the thinking part of the brain, which is responsible for analysing and judging and which tends to prevent us from entering into a meditative state) to ‘switch off’. When the neocortex is dormant, this thinking part of the brain gets to rest and you can tune into the more inspired, even psychic region of the brain that under normal circumstances is hard to activate because of the busy activity of the neocortex. This is the medulla (see opposite). Often the third eye – responsible for our ego, intuition and insight – is also awoken.
When you have completed your practice, the neocortex returns to its normal activity, but the medulla will remain active, helping to counteract any mental busyness or overthinking produced by the neocortex.
LEVEL: GREEN
Stimulating the Medulla
Your breath plays a major role in controlling the flow of prana into your medulla from your spine, thereby giving you a sense of anchorage in life. This gentle exercise shows you how to use your breath safely and effectively to stimulate your medulla and awaken your psychic abilities. It will cleanse your subconscious mind and give you a sense of connection to yourself, helping you to perceive all the different parts of you.
1 Sit comfortably on the floor on a chair. Your back should be upright but retaining the natural curve in your spine. Allow your head to rest effortlessly without tilting up or down (to avoid blocking the medulla). Close your eyes and observe your breath moving in and out of your nose. Notice if one nostril feels more open than the other. Allow your breath to flow freely. Relax the muscles of your face, eyes, throat and neck.
2 Keep your attention gently on your medulla at the base of your skull, and whenever you notice your mind starting to wander, gently bring it back to this point.
3 As you inhale, allow your breath to come into your right and left nostrils and feel it travel up into the right and left frontal lobes of your brain and onward to where they cross in the back half of the brain. Your inhalation stops at the base of your skull. Keep your soft attention here at your medulla, and if your mind still wanders, keep bringing it back to this point.
4 Inhale and exhale into the medulla. You may notice strong images, thoughts or feelings arise. Just observe them and let them go as if you are watching a movie … it’s just a series of images going through your mind. You may also experience feelings in your body. Just be aware of them.
5 Remain with this practice for at least 20 minutes or longer if you can. When you have finished, gently rub your palms together for a few minutes to generate some energy and then place your flat palms over your heart chakra.
6 Now bring your hands over your eyes. When you are ready, open your eyes into the dark space of your palms.
7 Take a few breaths and release your hands down, smoothing the aura around your body as you brush your hands over your torso, from your back to your kidneys and hips, down your arms, and from your thighs to your feet, taking the energy down from your heart chakra to your root chakra.
According to yogic thought, alternate nostril breathing profoundly affects the energetic system. It relaxes the physical nervous system, organs and muscles, encouraging an even distribution of masculine and feminine energy throughout the body and aligning the left and right sides of the brain to create coherence. This allows us to experience transparency – to perceive the source of our existence.
Our nostrils are never open equally at the same time – the flow of breath and the openness of one nostril in relation to the other changes approximately every 75 minutes. This is said to keep the brain at a healthy temperature. If you suffer from agitated, restless mental activity, alternate nostril breathing is one of the best antidotes, as this practice calms an overactive air element (vata, see page 73) in the brain. Steadying the breath enables you to calm the mental hurricane of vata, leading to a more peaceful, restful mind as well as more coherent thinking, better sleep and more assertive decision making.
Detail from a 19th-century Indian miniature showing a yogi practising alternate nostril breathing.
LEVEL: YELLOW
Simple Alternate Nostril Breathing
This simple exercise, described as nadi shodhana (‘purifying the nadis’) pranayama, is often used at the end of a yoga session as it channels the prana activated during physical activity into the brain. Balancing the flow of energy to the left and right sides of the brain brings equilibrium to the mind, promotes positive thinking and optimizes mental clarity.
1 Sit comfortably on the floor or on a chair. Hold your head straight and look directly forward. For this exercise to be effective, it is important that your head is neither up nor down in order not to block the medulla (see page 61). Fold your tongue backward or, if you find this difficult, press your tongue into the roof of your mouth. (This opens the back of your throat and has a positive effect on the thymus.) Close your eyes.
2 Close whichever nostril feels the least open (you can check by exhaling). If this is your right nostril, close it with your right thumb. Apply gentle pressure on the nostril, pushing down, not across to close it. Inhale slowly through your left nostril, without straining, for as long as feels comfortable. (If you are closing your left nostril, use your right ring and middle fingers together, instead of your thumb, and inhale through your right nostril.)
3 Exhale, very, very slowly through the same nostril. You are aware of what is going on in your mind but you are observing it without trying to change or stop anything – instead you are simply allowing. You are the meditation and you feel limitless, extremely focused and very content. Your breath is the reason for this – it too is limitless, consistent and content. Repeat 12 times. Your inhalation should be the same length as your exhalation.
4 After 12 breaths, ending with an exhalation, close both nostrils at the same time and pause without breathing for the same length of time it takes for one inhalation and exhalation.
5 Now close the other nostril. Inhale through your right nostril (or the left, depending on which nostril you closed initially), exhaling very slowly. Repeat 12 times.
6 After 12 breaths, ending with an exhalation, close both nostrils at the same time and pause without breathing for one complete breath (one inhalation and exhalation).
7 Now breathe through both nostrils (keeping the same regulation) for 12 breaths breathing through both nostrils at the same time.
8 When you have completed the rounds, relax your hand in your lap. Keeping your eyes closed for a few moments, notice how your right and left nostrils feel now and see if you feel a new clarity and sharpness in your mind.
LEVEL: BLUE
Advanced Alternate Nostril Breathing
Once you are familiar with the basic technique, you can practise this more advanced nostril breathing exercise, in which the exhalation is twice as long as the inhalation. The ratio of your inhalation, exhalation and retention is 1:1:2:1. In other words, if you inhale for a count of four, you hold your breath in for a count of four, exhale for a count of eight, then pause without breathing for a count of four. You can increase the length of each segment after several months of practice, starting with a count of five for the inhalation, then six, increasing to a maximum of 16. Make sure you do not increase the lengths too early – even if one round initially feels easy, doing 12 rounds is a lot harder.
Advanced nostril breathing has a stronger effect than regular alternate nostril breathing, which is why you should do it only after having practised other exercises. It wakes up the right and left sides of the brain and stimulates the nervous system, bringing balance to mind and body.
Make sure you remain undisturbed throughout this practice. Dedicate the time to you, your healing and the experience of what is happening – from the physical to the mindful to the energetic.
1 Sit comfortably on the floor or on a chair, without twisting, arching your back or slouching. Close your eyes. Close whichever nostril is the least open, using either your right thumb for your right nostril or your right ring and middle finger together for your left nostril.
2 If your open nostril is the left nostril, exhale fully through that nostril then inhale for a count of four connecting the inhalation to a path that travels to the right side of your brain. (If the open nostril is the right nostril, connect the inhalation to a path that travels to the left side of your brain.)
3 Hold your breath inside for a count of four, connecting your awareness of holding your breath to both sides of your brain.
4 Now shift your awareness to the other side of your brain. If you have previously closed your right nostril, now close the left nostril using your right ring and middle finger together and exhale from the left side of your brain through your right nostril for a count of eight. (Or exhale from the right side of your brain through your left nostril if you started the exercise breathing through your right nostril.)
5 Pause without breathing and bring your awareness to the outside in front of your nostrils for a count of four.
6 Inhale for a count of four through your right nostril toward the left side of your brain. (Or inhale through your left nostril toward the right side of the brain.)
7 Hold your breath for a count of four at the top of your brain.
8 Shift your awareness to your right brain, close your right nostril and exhale through your left nostril for a count of eight. (Or shift your awareness to your left brain, close your left nostril and exhale through your right nostril.)
9 Pause without breathing and bring your awareness to the outside in front of your nostrils for a count of four.
10 Now you have finished one round. Do 12 identical rounds, making sure that with each round you remain relaxed and aware and the ratio of inhalation, exhalation and retention does not change.
11 After the final round, remain with the top of your brain and feel the connection to your whole body. Meditate with openness, clarity and transparency on your brain and the space inside your head.