Breath
In the Zohar, breath is referred to as the kiss between heaven and earth. Breath is the uniting of body and soul, the physical and the spiritual. Neshama/
is the Hebrew word for soul. Add a yud/
, the divine spark, to neshama and the soul comes to life with the word for breath, neshima/
.
The breaths presented here enhance the practices that follow but they can also be practiced on their own. Energy practices are greatly enhanced by adding conscious breathing so feel free to use another conscious breathing method if you find it is more effective to do so.
- Adam Breath
When Elohim, the God-force of creation, breathed into Adam, this first being came to life. The last thing we do when we exit our physical bodies is return this breath to God. Adam breath is calming. With it you experience the “big picture” by connecting every place the breath travels, within and without, to the goodness and love of life-sustaining God-force.
How: Imagine your inhale is the exhale of God.
Imagine your exhale is the inhale of God.
- Optional: With your hand(s), trace the infinity sign of this connection with the center at your heart.
- The Breath of Light
The Hebrew word for air is avir/
/spelled aleph 
/ vav 
/ yud / resh 
. Air/avir contains our life force. When we breathe, much as life-sustaining oxygen molecules separate from air, we can imagine that the yud(s)/ as divine sparks, separate from the avir/ .Air = divine spark(s) + light
What remains of avir is the word aur/
, light. We can radiate this light with every breath. We also channel divine sparks of yuds throughout our bodies. How: Consciously inhale avir/
. Follow the breath as it travels to the lungs/heart area. Imagine the avir separating there into aur/ and divine sparks of yuds/ 
. Shine your light with the exhaled breath. Send the divine sparks wherever they are needed in your own body or possibly through the hands for healing. (Remember that yad, spelled the same as the letter yud, is the Hebrew word for “hand.”) - Aleph Breath/The Breath of Love
Imagine yourself as an aleph/
, with its components:
Yud/Vav/Yud 
upper /crown—heaven(K”BH)
= 
–heart (Vav=connector)
lower /feet—earth (Shechina)
is a divine Name symbolizing the balance of heaven and earth, K”BH and Shechina. The /vav of the lies at the heart. The heart, as vav, connects the two yuds/
. It is where heaven and earth, K”BH and Shechina meet. The exhale and inhale of the breath can be represented by an infinity sign. The center of the infinity sign is the vav at the heart, the wellspring of love.
- Inhale the gifts of the heavens through the crown. Filter them through the love in your heart, vav. With your exhaled breath offer these gifts to the earth.
- Reverse your breathing pattern, receiving from earth, feeling the breath in the heart, releasing to heaven.
Image 31—Earth Divine Feminine Shechina
The Breath of Love
When you have practiced receiving from heaven and earth separately, try to inhale from heaven and earth at the same time. Exhale through the heart, which opens more and more with each breath.
You are embodying both the
and its gematria, 26.When heaven and earth connect in the heart, the 26 of the
becomes 2 x 13.gematria 13 = ahava/
/love.The arms and hands connect directly to the energy of the heart. As you exhale, send a current of ahava from the heart out each hand. Send this love anywhere that needs healing. The Breath of Love helps to amplify the effects of many of the practices that follow.
- Creating balance: Alternate nostril breathing with the Name
Alternate nostril breathing has been practiced by yogis for thousands of years. It helps to connect the right and left hemispheres of the brain, balancing the masculine analytic side with feminine intuitive side. The results are extremely calming even after just a few rounds.
The Name YHVH/
reflects spiritual masculine/feminine balance. Visualizing the letters of the Name as you breathe adds a dimension to this pranayama (breath practice) that links body and soul.
Image 33—Alternate Nostril Breathing with YHVH
|
|
|
Image 34 and Image 35—How Steps 1 and 2
How: (1.) The index and middle finger of the right hand rest on the third eye, at the sphera of Da’at, between the eyebrows. (Da’at is the sefirotic link between masculine and feminine, and the right and left hemispheres.) Close off the left nostril with the ring finger of that hand.
(2.) Inhale through the right nostril visualizing the letter yud/.
(3.) Close off the right nostril with the thumb.
(4.) Exhale through the left nostril visualizing the letter hei/
. It is helpful that the letter hei makes the same sound as the exhaled breath—hhhhhh.
(5.) Inhale through the left nostril visualizing the letter vav/.
(6.) Close off the left nostril with the ring finger.
(7.) Exhale through the right nostril visualizing the letter hei/
. Again the hhh sound of the exhale reinforces the visualization.
This is one round of breathing. Increase your capacity slowly. This pranayama is an excellent preparation for prayer or any spiritual practice.
Many years ago, as I was practicing alternate nostril breathing while visualizing the Name, I saw the letters flowing in infinity patterns and realized I was seeing the wings of a dragonfly. It may also help you to see the letters flowing this way:
