Breathing … Life is inconceivable without it. All living things on earth are forced to carry out the breathing process, with the exception of some of the simplest organisms.
People breathe, animals breathe, plants breathe. We consume prana with air. Prana is the vital energy that permeates all space. Everything is made of prana. You may or may not believe in this concept, but scientific research indirectly confirms this. At the micromolecular level, everything that we see around us consists of emptiness and a beam of light that rotates in a circle. That is, from a beam of energy.
More details about such research can be found in the Soviet scientific television program "Journey to the Nanoworld". So, everything consists of prana, and it is prana that gives life to all living things. Therefore, control over prana is control over your body and your life.
According to the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, the fourth step in yoga is pranayama. The very word "pranayama" consists of two words: "prana" - "vital energy" and "yama" - "control", that is, pranayama is control over energy. During the breathing process, we consume prana, which is contained in the air. Those who have reached such a level that they can consume enough energy from the air for life are called "pranoids" and can do without physical food. Scientific research has not confirmed such phenomena, but from time to time there are people who claim that they can do without food. Pranayama practitioners also acquire other siddhis.
The fact is that during normal breathing we do not assimilate even a quarter of the prana contained in the air, and it is pranayama - control over prana - that allows us to learn to absorb more energy and, as a result, to live more efficiently. There are 72,000 nadi energy channels in the human body. And any problems on a physical, mental or spiritual level are clogging of some of these channels. The practice of pranayama allows you to clear the channels, and thereby eliminate almost any problem.
Important! The practice of pranayama requires a vegetarian diet, otherwise the poisons from the intestines will actively spread throughout the body, and the physical body will be destroyed, and certain problems will arise at the level of consciousness. Before practicing pranayama, it is recommended to cleanse the intestines according to the Shank Prakshalan method so that during intensive breathing practices there are no various side effects: nausea, dizziness, etc., which can cause the poisons contained in the intestines.
Types and types of breathing
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We are all accustomed to breathing in a certain way, but oddly enough, the types and types of breathing are very diverse. There are four of them:
- Abdominal breathing. Such breathing is carried out due to the movement of the diaphragm and the wall of the abdominal cavity. During inhalation, the diaphragm tenses and straightens downward. The diaphragm squeezes the abdominal cavity and intestines, and the outer wall of the abdominal cavity is pushed forward. In the process of such breathing, the chest expands, and the lowest parts of the lungs are filled with air. The problem for most people is that most often they do not use the lower parts of the lungs in the process of breathing, and stagnant air and mucus accumulates there. And this has an extremely negative effect on our body. In the case of abdominal breathing, there is effective ventilation of the lower part of the lungs, which allows sufficient oxygen supply to the intestines and other organs of the abdominal cavity. This breathing option is optimal,as with the least muscular effort the maximum amount of air gets into the lungs and this amount is evenly distributed, filling even the most distant parts of the lungs. Also, with this type of breathing, there is a constant massage of the abdominal organs, which prevents congestion in the intestines.
- Average breathing. With this type of breathing, intensive ventilation of the lower parts of the lungs no longer occurs. Due to the more intense contraction of the muscles, the chest expands and the lungs are filled with oxygen, then, due to the relaxation of the muscles of the chest, the ribs are compressed, and exhalation occurs. With this type of breathing, the muscles perform more intense work than with abdominal breathing.
- Upper breathing is the most energy-consuming type of breathing, in which the muscles perform the most intense work, while the amount of air entering the lungs is minimal. The muscles, tensing, lift the shoulders and collarbones and, thus, inhalation occurs. However, due to the fact that this movement practically does not expand the chest and, as a result, does not increase its volume, the amount of inhaled air is minimal and insufficient for the full functioning of the body.
- Yogi breath or full yogi breath. This type of breathing should be separately noted, since it is the most harmonious, since it combines all three types of breathing at once and allows you to fill the lungs with air to the maximum and, as a result, to provide the maximum supply of oxygen to the body on the physical plane, and on the spiritual and mental plane to provide peace mind and a more adequate perception of reality.
How breathing works
So how does breathing work? In our ribcage there are two elastic, strong bags that can take any shape; they can either shrink, pushing all the air out, or be completely filled with air. Inexperienced divers at first make one mistake - they tend to fill their lungs with oxygen as much as possible and, thus, cannot dive deeply - the air contained in the lungs pushes them out. However, if you exhale strongly before immersion in water, then the person will go to the bottom without any effort, this indicates that with muscle effort you can almost completely compress the lungs, squeezing all the air out of them.
The breathing process is carried out due to the effort of the muscles. With the help of the muscles, the ribs move apart in different directions, the chest expands, and the diaphragm tenses and, squeezing the abdominal organs, enters down. Further, the process of filling with air occurs automatically - air simply fills the vacated space without any effort on the part of a person. Exhalation occurs in the reverse order: the muscles relax, the chest automatically contracts, the relaxed diaphragm returns to its original position - moves upward, and the air under the pressure of the chest and diaphragm leaves the lungs.
The respiratory cycle is complete - the cells are supplied with oxygen, and the body continues its vital activity. And, depending on how correctly the inhalation was taken, the supply of body cells will be full or leave much to be desired. The wider the ribs spread during inhalation and the lower the diaphragm "went", the more complete the inhalation was and the more sufficient the body was filled with oxygen.
Breathing properties
As mentioned above, during breathing, we consume vital energy - prana. The properties of our breath directly affect our life. The deeper our breathing, the more prana we will receive from the air. By stretching our breath and thereby making it deeper, we allow the air to stay in our lungs much longer, and it is at this moment that the process of assimilation of prana takes place. Thus, the longer the air is in the lungs, the more prana we can absorb. This, in turn, ensures a more harmonious, efficient and longer life. Pay attention to how your dog breathes? She takes several dozen breaths per minute and it is quite obvious that the assimilation of prana with such breathing is minimal. Compared to a dog, a person breathes much more slowly, which means that he absorbs prana better.
What is the bottom line? The life span of a dog is several times less than that of a person. And if we compare the breathing of a person, for example, with some species of turtles, then turtles breathe even more slowly and, as a result, live for more than 200 and even 500 years. See a pattern? The quality and frequency of breathing affects life expectancy. And all for the simple reason that with extended and deep breathing, the assimilation of prana is much more efficient, the energy consumption for muscle movements is less, and the efficiency of such breathing is much higher. Imagine a lake from which you need to draw water. You can do this with a mug and run to the lake for half a day to get the right amount. And you can collect water with a bucket and, thus, collect the required amount faster and spending less energy on it. The same thing happens with breathing.
Each of our breaths is like a trip to the lake, which requires certain muscle contractions and the expenditure of energy for these contractions. And it is unreasonable to spend a certain amount of time and energy on a hike to the lake to collect water with a mug. Shallow and fast breathing is just like scooping up water with a mug. Energy is spent on muscle contraction, and the amount of prana we receive is minimal. It is much wiser to take a full and correct inhalation, filling all (including the lower parts of the lungs) with air, and get less energy than spend. However, there are practices in yoga that allow you to go further and assimilate even more prana in one breath.
Kumbhaka - holding the breath. While holding the breath (on inhalation), the maximum possible assimilation of the prana that we breathed in takes place, and, thus, the efficiency of our breathing increases literally at times. Kumbhaka on inhalation allows us to fill our body with energy, as for Kumbhaka on exhalation, it is more difficult to perform and is used to cleanse the physical and energy body. It is Kumbhaka who clears the energy channels of the nadis on the exhale. There are quite advanced pranayama practices in which a delay of 40 minutes is achieved. I wonder what modern medicine thinks about this, which claims that in 4-7 minutes after stopping breathing, a person's brain dies? The resuscitation team stops any manipulations with the patient if he has no breathing for more than 10 minutes.
It is quite obvious that modern medicine, to put it mildly, is far from perfect, and yogis do what is impossible from the point of view of modern science. It is believed that if a person can stretch his breathing in such a way that he inhales in the morning and exhales in the evening, then his life span will exceed a thousand years. And there is no reason not to believe such statements, because by the example of comparing a dog, a person and a turtle, we can see that the duration of life directly depends on the frequency and quality of breathing.
The meaning of breathing
The importance of breathing is difficult to overestimate. Without food, an ordinary person can live for several weeks, without water for several days, and without air, he can hardly last a few minutes. There is an opinion that most of our problems arise from improper diet. And the opinion is most likely correct. But if we proceed from the above proportion, then the degree of importance of respiration is several times higher than the degree of importance of nutrition. Thus, if you adjust the correctness and quality of your breathing, you can solve many problems, both at the level of the body and at the level of consciousness. For example, if a person breathes with the upper breath, which is described above, then it is quite obvious that the process of cleansing the body of carbon dioxide and other waste products of cells does not occur.
And a polluted organism cannot be healthy - this is an axiom. And in this aspect, nutrition, of course, also plays an important role, but even with proper nutrition, but with improper breathing, it is unlikely that it will be possible to achieve absolute health. It is well said in a text like Hatha Yoga Pradipika: "He who breathes half - he lives half." And here we are talking about both life expectancy and its quality. There is even an opinion that each living being has a certain number of breaths for life, and the one who breathes more slowly lives longer. And this is no coincidence. Faster breathing occurs most often during times of stress, which is known to be harmful to health and shorten life. Deep and extended breathing, on the other hand, calms the mind.
Such a wonderful breathing practice as Apanasati Hinayana is built on this principle. Its essence is to gradually stretch your breath and at the same time calm your mind. This practice, with the aim of calming the mind, was given to his disciples by Buddha Shakyamuni. And, as you know, a calm mind is capable of more adequate thinking, adequate perception of reality and, as a result, healthier life in all respects. Therefore, the importance of correct breathing in our life is difficult to overestimate. And to some extent, you can even say that monitoring your breathing is more important than nutrition. However, the issue of a healthy lifestyle should be approached comprehensively. And the work of our thinking, the quality of consciousness and the health of the body will equally depend on breathing, as well as on nutrition.
Respiration development. Breathing exercises
So, the breathing process is incredibly important for adequate physical and spiritual evolution. How to approach the issue of breathing development? First of all, you should master the technique of abdominal breathing. For mastering this breathing, pranayama such as Kapalabhati is better suited - rapid exhalation of air from the lungs by pressing the lower part of the lungs with the abdominal muscles, followed by relaxation of these muscles, resulting in a passive inhalation. It should be noted that inhalation is deliberately made into the lower part of the lungs with the tension of the diaphragm.
Next, you should sharply contract the abdominal muscles, and, as it were, push the air out of the lower part of the lungs. As you master, you should increase the frequency and speed of movements. Initially, you can keep your hand on your stomach to monitor if you are breathing correctly. The navel should move towards the spine and back. During breathing, only the stomach should move, the rest of the body should remain motionless. Make sure that there is no movement of the shoulders and chest. This pranayama allows you to ventilate the lower parts of the lungs, massage the abdominal organs, and also supply the body with a sufficient amount of oxygen. This pranayama refers to shatkarmas - purification practices.
Kapalabhati purifies us on three levels: the body level, the energy level and the consciousness level. On the energy plane, it allows you to raise energy from the second chakra higher. Kapalabhati is good at eliminating deep fears and all kinds of addictions, which are the negative manifestations of the second chakra. During the execution, one should concentrate on the eyebrows, where, in fact, the movement of energy in this pranayama is directed. Over time, the process of abdominal breathing will become natural and unconscious, and you can practice it not only on the rug, but also in your daily life.
Next, you should master the technique of middle breathing. It will be much easier with this, since most of us use it in our daily life. If in the previous practice we carried out breathing with the stomach, then in this type of breathing, on the contrary, the stomach should remain motionless. To do this, tense the abdominal muscles and leave them static. Next, expand your chest and inhale slowly. When you feel that you have reached the limit, begin the process of compressing the chest and exhale the air.
The next breathing type to be mastered is upper breathing. In this case, neither the stomach nor the chest should be involved, this is important. Breathing occurs exclusively due to the movement of the collarbones and shoulders. During inhalation, the shoulders should be raised, and during exhalation, lower. To control the correct execution, you can put one hand on your stomach, and the other on your chest, to track the absence of their movement.
Now that you have mastered all three types of breathing, you should proceed to the main stage. The breath of yogis is a combination of all three types of breath. In the process of inhalation, you should, as if starting from the bottom up, fill your lungs with oxygen. At the first stage, we tighten the diaphragm and direct the air to the lower part of the lungs, that is, we take an abdominal inhalation, then, without interruption, we continue to fill the middle part of the lungs with air - we expand the chest. After you feel that the chest is expanded to the limit, you should raise your shoulders and breathe air into the upper parts of the lungs.
Continue inhaling until you feel the lungs are full of air. When there is no more opportunity to inhale, begin to exhale in the reverse order. First, relax your shoulders and lower them down, then begin to squeeze your chest, and in the last step, relax your diaphragm and push out the rest of the air with your abdominal muscles. Try to squeeze the abdominal muscles as much as possible towards the spine. When you feel that it is no longer possible to exhale, hold your breath for a couple of seconds and you can start a new cycle. You should not be fanatical about the question of mastering yoga breathing - you can start with 5-10 cycles and increase the amount over time.
As you master, you will learn to breathe the correct yoga breathing in everyday life. After mastering this practice on the rug, try to gradually introduce it into your life. For example, while walking, breathe full yogic breath. And gradually your breathing will stretch and become deeper and more calm. This is the initial practice of working with your breath and prana control. Over time, you can move on to more advanced practices: pranayama with breath holding, which allow you to absorb much more prana and clear energy channels.
Controlling your breathing and improving its quality will allow you to absorb the maximum amount of prana from the air and live more efficiently. Also, calm and deep breathing is a kind of meditation that can be practiced almost anytime, anywhere. And thus, over time, the mind will calm down. So, having mastered the basic exercises for the development of breathing, you can achieve the harmonious development of both body and mind.
Author: Slava Wind