Power of Breath

Control your breathing, control your life

Today morning as I went for my run (a recently adopted form of exercise for me), I realized that I was having a bad day! I was just not able to run my standard 30 minutes that I have managed to reach in the last few weeks. While I was not feeling overly tired or low on energy, I could not breathe. I had to take regular pauses to catch my breath.

I have been a yoga practitioner for more than ten years, and I manage to do a 100+ Surya Namaskar on a good day or a bad day, without flinching! Years of practice has set my rhythm of breathing for Surya namaskar. I don’t have to put any effort into my breathing while doing Surya Namaskar or any of the other yoga postures/asanas because of this conditioning, and that pumps up my body to perform. I eventually stop, not because I am short of breath but because my body gets tired and can’t go on anymore. I figured I need to build the same conditioning or rhythm of breathing for running.

This also set me thinking about how everyone is aware that breathing is Life, but how very few of us are aware that quality of breathing also defines the quality of life!!

Quality of breathing at any point is our sensor to what emotions we are feeling. Have you noticed how your breathing changes when you are anxious or sad? Any person suffering from depression or a major physical ailment will tell you how breathing can be very heavy and laborious. Any sportsperson will tell you that breathing is an important element that finally makes success possible. As we go through the various emotions during the day, our breathing rhythm changes accordingly.

As per Yoga, while breathing in, besides oxygen, we also take in Prana, which means life force/vital energy. It is the energy of pure consciousness, which is the creative force that sustains the entire universe. It is the quantum field that gives life to all matter. Shouldn’t we then be more aware and more conscious of how we breathe and how we can enhance and leverage this life force to create positive energy for us?

I remember going to my first public speaking assignment. I could hear my heart beating louder than the din of the auditorium where I was to present! My breathing was shallow; I realized I was holding my breath. I consciously focused on taking deep, slow breaths in and out. In a couple of minutes, I felt calmer. As I went up towards the stage, I continued to breathe. I focused only on my breath going into my stomach, filling my body with vigour and confidence and imagined all the anxiety and stress from my body receding with each exhalation.

Another area where I have seen the power of conscious breathing is handling pain. I remember telling my daughter when she was just seven to take deep breaths and focus on breathing while she gets an injection. Even today, when she gets an injection or when she is in pain, she does not wince, not because she is trying to be brave but because it genuinely doesn’t pain.

What is happening here?

Breathing is deeply connected to our Prana or life energy. If we go through a negative emotion and get entangled in the emotion, it affects our Prana, which in turn affects our breathing. Thankfully, Newton has taught us that ‘Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.’ I will extrapolate the action to emotion and remind us that just as the negative emotion affects our Prana and breathing, the opposite is also true. Our breathing affects our Prana and hence our emotions. When we are in a negative emotional state, focusing on breathing and bringing it back to the normal pattern makes us feel better.

Focusing on breathing puts us in deep connection with our inner being, which is the source of Prana, the life force that supports us and this entire universe. Being in touch with this vital energy moves us closer to our core, our real identity. It severs our connection with our false ego, which gets entangled in emotions and makes us anxious or sad or fearful or insecure.

This is the reason all mindfulness exercises, meditation, yoga, focus on breath to anchor us completely in the moment, in the Now, in our core identity, which is the universal consciousness. This is the only way to master your emotions/mind and start responding to life rather than reacting to life situations.

That said, I would like to end this article by saying that breathing is the most ignored, taken for granted blessing that we have all been endowed with. Just like we exercise to keep our body fit, we learn and study to keep our intellect sharp; it is important to do breathing exercises like Pranayam to keep our breathing balanced and in control.

Breathing is our control point for managing life situations and also a pathway to our inner self. It has the power to change our material life for the better by giving us more control over our mind/emotions; making us more equanimous.

It is also the path towards a more spiritual and enlightened life; as we learn to master our breath, we get closer to our core identity, which is the Universal Consciousness.