Breath

After decades of practicing yoga, I’m convinced that the single-most-important factor to consider in regards to both physical and mental health, is the awareness of breath. Especially in regards to retaining any semblance of youth. It’s the failing ingredient in almost every other type of physical exercise program, one of the key components to the magic of which yoga is known for.

The breath of God is what gave life to the soul, inspired us to be more than just a mound of dust, a clump of clay, a conglomeration of oily exudations, semen, blood, the fatty substance of the brain, urine, feces, the mucus of the nose, ear-wax, phlegm, tears, the rheum of the eyes, and sweat. The breath of God ensures us that we are immortal beings and not just a body to be born and die. The breath of God is the legal high every hippie has been searching for since his very first joint.

Consider:

Without food, a normal man can survive up to 50 days. Add a little weight to his frame before he stops eating and the time can be stretched out to a couple of months. Without water, two days to a week, maybe longer if you’ve incarnated as an advanced sadhu on the shores of the Ganges. But without the breath… well, try holding your breath and see how long you can keep the body alive. Minutes at the most, but certainly not hours.

In an age so plagued with dire circumstance and anxiety, is it surprising that individuals do everything in their power to keep from taking a long engaging breath? Au contraire. It seems we do everything possible to separate ourselves from reality. We smoke cigarettes to keep the lungs so clogged we don’t have to take in any more breath than we need to stay alive. We live in cities where the air is so polluted your eyes tear three minutes on the street. People hold their breaths when moving into the realm of orgasm. (At least the ones I’ve shared an orgasm with in Germany.) Western yogis even avoid classes that contain any kind of pranayama (breath control) preferring the gymnastic yoga classes that only engage the physical body. When we breathe, we engage only the upper part of the lungs, out breathing so shallow and restricted that most people are on constantly on the verge of hyperventilation. Symptoms: tense feeling, anxiety, dizziness, palpitations in the chest… (Sounds like me in the presence of a very horny looking individual.)

Odd. We have no problem overindulging in eating and drinking. Even over-satisfying our sexual urges is high on our agenda. But conscious, healthful breathing, satisfying the body’s need for oxygen and life energy, is a function we prefer to steer clear of, more now than ever.

For people who say they want to stay on top of the aging process, isn’t odd they spend hours training tending their bodies with the right food, exercise, and fashion, but hardly a minute of full conscious breathing? We spend small fortunes on cosmetic surgeries, Botox parties, and repair cremes, but not a cent on learning how to breathe.  

Again: the ego is not your best friend. It doesn’t want you to engage in healthful breathing because the breath will lead you to absolute peace, a state of being that is so far removed from the ego’s idea of what is good for you as heaven to hell.

Seeing how this article has probably taken more than 20 seconds to read and exceeded the normal reader's attention span,  I will continue at another point in time with a splendid breathing exercise I teach in yoga called, Dirga Pranayama.