All successful living beings must learn balance — a midpoint between containment and permeability, space and boundaries, rigidity and plasticity. In yoga, this practice of balance is readily accessed through focusing on the breath. By balancing our breath in our practice and in life, we can find stability in our body, mind and spirit.
To balance ourselves between sthira (that which is durable, firm, hard, solid) and sukha (gentle, mild, the space that allows function) a great metaphor for the breath is to consider a colander. The holes in a colander are wide enough to let liquid through, but not the pasta or vegetables that we are rinsing or draining. Taking this metaphor into life, we must continually adapt the size of the holes in our personal colander with the situation we are dealing with and our own status in body, mind and spirit. The breath can help us understand in a very concrete way what we take in, what we release and what we retain and how long we retain it.
An exercise with the breath that can help us understand maintaining balance is Dirgha Pranayama or Three-Part Breath. To begin, inhale into your low belly. After a slight pause, keep inhaling into the chest, expanding the ribs to the side. After another slight pause, keep inhaling the breath all the way into the throat and collarbone area. Then smoothly and slowly exhale all of the air out. When you consciously alter the breath this way, you can definitely feel the fullness of the chest after inhaling for this extended period of time. The pressure of the lungs on the internal organs comes to the forefront, and then as you exhale there is a relief and a relaxation that occurs as you expel carbon dioxide. The breath is the most immediate and direct way we have to access an understanding of balance.
“Three-part deep breathing is the foundation of all the yogic breathing techniques,” Swami Karunananda, says. “Studies have shown that you can take in and give out seven times as much air–that means seven times as much oxygen, seven times as much prana–in a three-part deep breath than in a shallow breath.” Breath practice a very concrete and accessible way to understand what yoga is trying to do for you – help you feel and be aware of the pushing and pulling, the ups and the downs. One of my favorite analogies is that your mat is like a surfboard for life — you learn when you can hang ten and when you need to bail out and start over.
Another interesting exercise is to start noticing your breath when you are in states of emotional distress. When you are frustrated, angry, upset or irritable, take a moment to notice what your breath is doing. Most likely it is out of balance, too. In these states, often our respirations are shallow and in the chest. When we are fully relaxed, we can breathe more easily and completely with full diaphragmatic breathing (belly breathing). If you want to see a true pro at belly breathing, take notice of an infant or small child. They are great belly breathers! Once you’ve become aware of your heightened states, take a minute to smooth out your breath and see if your mood evens out as well. See if when you exhale, you can let go of whatever was affecting your emotional balance. This can be a great practice to help you feel more balanced and a master of your own emotions.
The breath is an important key to unlocking the mind from old habits and patterns, to open the door to a quieter and more tranquil mind. Breath practice can help bring awareness to places in the body, mind and spirit to reduce your suffering and increase happiness. Take a moment (or a few moments) each day to notice your breath – what is it doing? Why am I breathing this way? You might just find a treasure trove of answers behind the veil of the breath.
The author, Anna Ferguson, is a yoga teacher, artist, photographer and writer. She teaches weekly classes at Asheville Yoga Center and other studios in Asheville, NC. Find out more about her at ushasyoga.com.
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