Inside Yoga 73 (5/4/13)
How can freedom and control work together? It seems to be a contradiction, but if we are to free ourselves of negative mind states through meditation and yoga we need to exercise a level of control in what we do.
For example, our breath is so important in so many ways. Primarily, it keeps us alive – and this is definitely useful – but unfortunately, we do take it for granted; most of the time we are not aware of our breath and what it is doing.
We can develop bad habits, for example, a short breath which dips into the top of our lungs but rarely does more. A rapid breath that is not only short in length but erratic. None of these ways of breathing are healthy –not just in terms of physical health but also emotional and psychological.
Those who suffer from stress can develop these shortened and erratic ways of breathing, which only adds to the problems for the individual. Yet, a lot of people who do not regard themselves as being in a state of stress also have a shortened and unhealthy rhythm of breathing.
The key to all of this is awareness: most of us are not aware of how we breathe. We have spent most of lives unconsciously breathing. True: that is what breath is meant to do for us – because while asleep we usually do not become asphyxiated. It is not a mechanism we need to instruct for it to work, but it is something that would improve its efficiency if we brought more awareness and control to it.
When I begin teaching someone the mixture of yoga exercises and breathing, they often find the breathing more difficult to master than the physical actions of getting into a yoga posture.
Hence the contradiction: if we want to feel more at ease with ourselves, to feel healthier and free of negative states of mind, we need to be control of our breathing. We need to exercise more control to be free!
When I first started learning yoga, I read that pranayama – yoga’s breathing and meditation exercises – means “control of prana”. Simple really, control our breath and control the flow of prana and ultimately increase the flow of prana (in other words: no prana=no life).
Taking control of our breath makes a big difference not only to the way we practice yoga, but it helps in our daily living. For example, if we keep our breath steady we will find it easier to cope and handle the day to day tasks.
Or when it gets really tough, the breathing is our anchor and our refuge to turn to. For example, the expression someone might use when under pressure: “give me a moment to get my breath back…” reveals our instinctive reactions know the breath is important.
In terms of a tip for a yoga and meditation practice: as often as possible remind yourself by saying to yourself “remember the breath”. And while practising, unless performing a specific pranayama where we are counting and controlling the breath in a certain way, it is important to extend our breath to a comfortable and longer than usual breath.
One of the simplest and useful techniques is to extend the exhalation so that it is twice the inhalation. This helps to bring the mind to a quieter place and at the same time bring energy and vitality to the body.
It is quite simple really: it is about remembering to be present and conscious of what we do that makes a difference.
