Meditation and Breath

I hope the blogs on Niyamas were enjoyable and easy to follow. As we progress in yoga, there are a few concepts that need to be understood to attain a thoughtless state of mind. It is important first of all to understand that breathing and thinking are related to each other. The heavier we breathe, agitated our mind is. The way we breathe therefore, impacts our meditation. Sometimes, it is impossible to still the mind as endless thoughts keep coming up on closing the eyes

So the first step towards silencing the mind is to regulate our breathing.

Here we come across two yoga terminologies prana vayu and apana vayu. Prana vayu is the subtle energy motion in our body. It is concentrated in the upward part of the body with brain being its centre as well as the third eye and chest area. Apana vayu is dominant in the lower part of the body with its seat in the root chakra. Apana vayu enables us to eliminate waste from our body as its movement is downward and outward. This vayu is dominant in women as it is required for childbirth and menstruation.

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However, we cannot see any of these vayus as they are in form of subtle motion. In yoga philosophy, it is believed  thoughts are produced by the movement of prana and apana vayu. When the prana vayu is disturbed mind becomes unsteady. There are times when we have a chaotic state of  mind whereas at other times it is calm and peaceful. Similarly, when thinking becomes intense it is called rajasic state, when thinking is passive; it is called tamasic state, which is a lethargic state, but not conducive to spiritual progress. For spiritual upliftment, one needs to reach a satvic state which produces bliss, thoughtlessness and allows concentration in meditation.

In Normal course prana vayu and apana vayu are moving through left (ida) and right (pingala) nostrils. In meditation, the yogi has to endeavor to direct the prana and apana vayu towards the central channel, which runs through the spinal chord. This subtle channel is called Sushumna. When prana and apana vayu move through this central channel, mind becomes still, devoid of thought waves and the satvic state or bliss can be experienced.

The control of this subtle prana can be achieved by regulated or rhythmic physical breathing pattern.  When the breath is regulated then mind becomes calm, energy is burnt slowly, health and youth is achieved and one can live longer. This seems very simple but it takes ongoing practice to reach that state; so the first step would be to learn some basic rhythmic breathing exercises or pranayama. Pranayama recommended at the initial stage is called Anulom-Vilom pranayama: which is breathing through alternate nostrils in the pattern of inhale-exhale at the early stage and inhale-retention-exhale at intermediate to advance stage.

(Caution: people with heart or any other medical condition should not follow this breathing exercise as self help. Please work under strict guidance of remedial yoga therapist so that you do worsen your medical condition.)

 For a normal healthy person:

At first stage: for one month

1.   Sit comfortably with back straight

2.   Put your thumb on the right nostril press the right nostril and exhale through left nostril

3.   Keeping the right nostril pressed, inhale through the left nostril (4counts), press the left nostril with ring and little finger, and exhale (8 counts) the breath from the right nostril removing the thumb.

4.   Now repeat the process with the right nostril, inhale…press the right nostril and exhale through the left nostril removing your ring and little finger

5.   Continue this for atleast 10-15 mintues

In the intermediate stage

Inhale-retention of breath –exhale with alternate nostril.

This is anulom-vilom pranayama and in a few months as breath becomes rhythmic, mind will be able to still down better during meditation. It is recommended to do this rhythmic breathing before starting to meditate.

Once the breathing is regulated, mind will calm down allowing  inward focus during meditation.

Reference:

Hathayoga Pradipika: Yogi Svatmarma (author) commentary  Swami Vishnudevananda, Motilal Banrasidass , 2008.

Yoga of Mind: Silence of Mind 1

Yoga of Mind: Silence of Mind 1: Learn to enjoy the silence of mind 1 We live in challenging times. On one hand human intelligence has enabled us to make huge technolo...

Silence of Mind 1

Learn to enjoy the silence of mind 1

We live in challenging times. On one hand human intelligence has enabled us to make huge technological advancements. The modern life is comfortable compared to the olden days. There is constant endeavour to improve the ways to live the physical existence whereas hardly ever a thought is spared for spiritual development. Often the word spiritual rings wrong bells and it is always associated with religion. However, Spiritual development is our connection with our inner self. It is our ability to establish a rapport with our inner self to contemplate on existential questions such as who am I? Why I am here? Our understanding of our self is limited to our name, title, professional degrees accumulated over the years, social status  in the society etc but no effort is ever made to question why this existence.

We are preoccupied by associating I am Mr.ABC or Ms XYZ, name, social role, and job position but ill concerned that beyond that outer personality there is inner consciousness. We go about our life planning for achievements in terms of income; home etc which is not a bad thing but the reality of our existence is whatever external things we accumulate we will  have to leave them in this world when death knocks our door. Therefore, while planning investments and working towards its achievement, there should be a plan to walk on the path to reach the inner self. It is an investment without cost. There is no need of a broker or expensive schemes. This path to inner world does need not any cash investment, neither mastercard  nor visa card nor interest free terms. It is free; it is open to all without any distinction of religion, race or social status. It is absolutely free and that’s the best part of it.

It is just investment of time from our daily life which take us long way.

Establishing this connection with the inner self at an early age is extremely important as it will lead to a balanced life, success in education, career, relationship and most importantly finances. There is too much attraction to the external world. It is lucrative, it can be felt; it gives a sense of life but only when the focus of mind is taken from outwards to inwards it will make the mind still.

Once this rapport with inner self is established, it yields unbelievable results. To mention a few: peacefulness, better anger management, improvement in food habits, contentment, deep sleep, stress management, reduced consumerism, more connectivity to people around without the need of gadgets. Moreover, it will lead to better health conditions, ability to appreciate simple life, to love and discover nature. Wow isn’t it tempting.

Just a daily practice of 15-20 minutes of sitting in silence is required. This silence is so addictive that none of the mind altering drinks or drugs can give that pleasure and the effect is it enables to function in an uplifted state.

Everyone should meditate. Meditation is not about being a Hindu or a Buddhist. It does not require you to shave your head, wear saffron robes rudraksha beads or marks on the forehead or become vegetarian. Meditation is all about connecting to the higher self. It is just an art of stilling the mind. We can sit still physically but our mind cannot sit still easily. In our modern life we have stress due work, rising cost of living, lack of rest which manifests in health problems such as migraines, indigestions, backaches, knee aches, heart diseases and cancer. We relax physically by sleeping or taking a day off work but de we ever relax our mind or relax internally. Have you tried any tricks to relax your mind?  So meditation is an art to relax internally.

 

Here are a few ways to get this practice started:

You can do this at night time before sleep or early in the morning:

Sitting down comfortably by supporting your back against a wall. Keeping the body loose breathe in gently count up to 4/5/6 counts as you inhale and exhale to double count of 8/10/12 for about 10 minutes.

Closing the eyes, keeping the body relax, let the vision turn inwards. Keep breathing in gently and breathing out gently. While the process of breathing goes on let the attention be focussed on rise and fall of breathe in the abdomen. If thoughts disturb or mind gets into thinking, focus the attention back  on breathe. As the attention begins to focus on the breathe, mind will stop wandering. The very moment attention is focussed on rise and fall of breathe in the abdomen, inner connected is established. Try it for 15-20 minutes at least and gradually increase the time

 

Initially, the focus will be shorter but with perseverance, it will get better. Remember any medication or fitness regime needs regularity to show   results. Mind has to be trained to behave itself. Once a habit of mind is developed it will stop wandering and turn its focus inwards.

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