On Breath
There is a funny story found in the Upanishad, one of the most ancient yogic texts, which tells the funny story of an argument between prana (“life force”) and the five senses. They were fighting about which of them was most important to the body. The eyes said, “Without them, people could stumble and be hurt. The ears said , “We can help people hear sweet stories, as well as hear when danger is near, dangers the eyes could not see. Smell argued that one could live without seeing and hearing, so long as they could still smell the richness of the world. They debated for quite some time.
Finally, prana spoke, “Without me, none of you could do anything”. The other senses protested. Prana paused and then began to leave the body, causing the five senses to grow weak. Quickly realizing that they were in danger and prana was right, the five senses apologized and bowed to the all-powerful prana.
Prana is the life force that is carried on the breath.
According to yogic tradition, if you breathe 15 times per minute, you will live to be 75 or 80 years old, but if you breathe only 10 times per minute you will live to 100. The faster you breathe the shorter your life is going to be. In his book Breath, James Nestor notes “most of us see breathing as a passive action, something that we just do: breathe, live; stop breathing, die. But breathing is not binary. It’s not just that we do it that is so important – how we breathe matters most.”
Exploring the connections between breath and movement
This January we are going to work on making our lives a little bit longer as we explore the connection between breath and movement. I will be sharing articles and videos that will keep us focused on the breath as the essence of life.
I don't have to tell you that this is universally a stressful time. There has never been a time that the entire planet was under a common stressor like it is today.
This plays directly into how the body responds to things on a daily basis. Even if we think we are feeling calm there is a part of us that living in what we call the fight or flight response. It’s the part of us that has to show up in a big way when we are in danger or in high stress situations and is governed by the Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) You might have seen those images of an ordinary man able to pick up a car to save his child - it’s our superhuman strength. The SNS is usually working in balance with our Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS) and when needed, it can and will kick in and override PSN giving large amounts of blood to the parts of us that are needed to get the job done.
On the other hand, the switch off functions are carried out by the PNS that presides over our rest and digest operations. It helps our organs process longer tasks like digesting food, repair our bodies, or fight dangerous viruses and bacteria. The PNS allows us to sleep and regenerate and promotes over all wellbeing. It is important to note that when the SNS needs all that extra blood to lift cars and fight enemies it gets it from the PSN. It literally shuts it down in order to keep us safe from danger. Preserving our life is always a top priority. Amazing, isn’t it? It can be, when it is working as it should. Like most things in the body it is a natural function in its elegant design. When we do too many things that disrupt this natural balance, is when we run into trouble.
The way of conscious breathing
Consciousness is one of the ways to take our life and health back, and we can begin to do this with the breath. It might seem too simple an answer for a problem that appears quite daunting and pervasive. The thing is: most good solutions are just that simple. The yogis have known how to regulate these very systems for centuries. James Nestor, author of Breath, explains in an interview:
“There's a reason why in yoga classes they have you do your alternate nostril breathing, and it's called Nadi Shodhana. [...] And there's a zillion different ways to do this. But they all circle around the same theme. And that inhales and exhales through the left nostril are associated with a parasympathetic response. What I mean by that is, it helps to relax you, your blood pressure is going to go down. It cools you, your heart rate is going to go down.”
Robert M. Sapolsky highlights another relevant aspect of breathing
“Whenever you inhale, you turn on the sympathetic nervous system slightly, minutely speeding up your heart. And when you exhale, the parasympathetic half turns on, activating your vagus nerve in order to slow things down. If you have taken a yoga class you have been asked to do just this time and again. When you extend your exhalation you almost immediately feel better, more relaxed. By increasing the length of the exhalation you are turning on the PSN and begin to rest and digest, literally sending an invitation to your body to live instead of fighting. This is the part of the nervous system that we need to be in to heal and revitalize. No healing can go on in the SNS. In fact, prolonged periods of time in this part of the SNS is the reason for many of our current common illnesses. If you want to heal, if you want to live fully, you must access your PNS”.
This month we will take a deep dive into both parts of our life force as we learn how to consciously regulate our system through the brilliance of yoga. We will be linking the breath to movement exploring how the breath is the leading element in sun salutations not the pose. Each pose beautifully couched between and inhale and exhale. Join me for my weekly movement and meditation classes and if you are interested in exploring more specifically the relaxing effects of yogic breathing please consider taking my Breath Course.
To longer, wonderful lives!
Love,
Paula
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