THE IMPORTANT OF BREATH

 

                              THE BREATHING PATTERN

                       THE IMPORTANCE OF THE BREATH CAN BE APPRECIATED BY OBSERVING SOME OF THE MIND'S PROPERTIES, FOR THE MIND TENDS TO FILTER MANY EVENTS OUT OF CONSCIOUS AWARENESS IN ORDER TO AVOID A CONFUSING BARRAGE OF SENSATIONS. THIS ALLOWS IT TO FOCUS ON THE MORE SIGNIFICANT CHANGES. IN OTHER WORDS, A NEW PATTERN OF THOUGHT OR A NEW ACTIVITY INITIALLY ATTRACTS MUCH CONSCIOUS ATTENTION, BUT WITH FREQUENT REPETITION IT BECOMES UNCONSCIOUS AND HABITUAL. FOR EXAMPLE, WALKING IS EFFORTLESS FOR AN ADULT, IT REQUIRES LITTLE OR NO CONSCIOUS ATTENTION ALTHOUGH THE CONSCIOUS MIND CAN EASILY INTERVENE IF NECESSARY. HOWEVER, THE PROCESS OF INTEGRATING THE MOVEMENTS OF WALKING INTO THE MIND TOOK YEARS OF TRIAL AND ERROR BEFORE IT BECAME HABITUAL AND COULD BE RELEGATED TO THE UNCONSCIOUS.

                   THE INTERNAL ORGANS (FOR EXAMPLE, THE HEART, KIDNEY, LIVER) RESPOND IN A SIMILAR MANNER. BIOFEEDBACK RESEARCH HAS SHOWN THAT SOME OF THE PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES OF THESE ORGANS, PREVIOUSLY LABELED INVOLUNTARY, CAN BE CONSCIOUSLY CONTROLLED WITH TRAINING, ALTHOUGH MUCH PRACTICE USUALLY REQUIRED TO BECOME PROFICIENT IN CONSCIOUSLY CONTROLLINGV THESE ORGANS.

                    BREATHING IS UNIQUEAS A PHYSIOLOGICAL FUNCTION BECAUSE FEEDBACK SIGNALS FROM THE LUNGS AND FROM OXYGEN AND CARBONDIOXIDE IN THE BLOOD OFFSET THE RATE AND DEPTH OF VOLUNTARY MUSCLES. FOR EXAMPLE, DEPENDING UPON ONE'S PROFICIENCY IN DEALING WITH THE BREATH, THE RATE AND DEPTH OF BREATHING CAN BE ALTERED, BUT INVOLUNTARY REFLEX ACTIVITY LIMITS THE DEGREE TO WHICH THIS CAN OCCUR. THESE REFLEXES ACT AS SAFEGUARDS, AND ARE ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT BECAUSE THE NEED TO BREATHE IS FUNDAMENTAL. THIS IN PART REFLECTS THE KEY ROLE PLAYED BY OXYGEN IN METABOLISM, FOR WITHOUT OXYGEN THE BODY CANNOT BURN FOOD AND GENERATE ENERGY.

               MODERN SCIENCE HAS COME TO UNDERSTAND MANY OF THE PRINCIPLES INVOLVED IN THE PHYSICAL ASPECT OF BREATHING, FROM THE MUSCLES AND ORGANS WHICH TRANSPORT OXYGEN INTO AND THROUGHOUT THE BODY, DOWN TO THE MOLECULAR REACTIONS OF METABOLISM. HOWEVER, THE PURELY INTELLECTUAL APPEAL OF THESE COMPLEX PHYSIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS HAS LIMITED THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY'S CONCEPT OF THE BREATH TO THE PHYSICAL LEVEL ONLY, EVEN THOUGH THE MOST CASUAL REFLECTION INDICATES THAT THE SIGNIFICANCE OF BREATH EXTENDS BEYOND ITS PURELY METABOLIC FUNCTIONS. FOR EXAMPLE, OUR PERSONAL EXPERIENCE SUGGESTS THAT THERE IS RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EMOTIONS AND THE BREATH, FOR INTENSE EMOTIONAL STATES APPEAR TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH CHANGES IN BREATHING. THE SOB OF GRIEF AND THE TREMBLING BREATH OF ANGER ARE COMMON EXAMPLES. IN ADDITION, PHYSICAL STIMULI SUCH AS PAIN AND EXERCISE CAN ACT TO CHANGE BOTH THE BREATH AND THE EMOTIONAL STATE.

                    ONCE THESE OBSERVATIONS ARE STUDIED, A WHOLE SERIES OF QUESTIONS ARISES, WHAT IS THE NATURE OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE EMOTIONS AND THE BODY AND BREATH? WHAT IS THE UNDERLYING VEHICLE? DOES THE BREATH INTERACT WITH OTHER REALMS OF THE MIND? CAN EMOTIONAL AND PHYSICAL STATES BE ALTERED BY CHANGING THE BREATHING PATTERNS?

                      THESE ARE SOME OF THE QUESTIONS WHICH SCIENCE OF BREATH ADDRESSES. EACH CHAPTER DEVELOPS ONE ASPECT OF THE CENTRAL THESIS THAT THE BREATH IS THE LINK BETWEEN THE BODY AND MIND, AND THE AUTHORS WEAVE TOGETHER THE DIVERSE SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES OF THE WEST AND THE RICH EXPERIENTIAL INSIGHTS OF THE EAST INTO A THOROUGH AND BALANCED EXPOSITION. AFTER THE BASIC TENETS OF THE BOOK ARE OUTLINED IN THE FIRST CHAPTER, DR.ALAN HYMES PRESENTS THE PHYSIOLOGY AND ANATOMY OF THE LOWER RESPIRATORY TRACT FROM AN UNUSUAL PERSPECTIVE, AND EXAMINES THE PHYSIOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF VARIOUS BREATHING HABITS. A DISCUSSION OF THE NOSE (AN OFT-MALIGNED BUT RARELY UNDERSTOOD ORGAN) AND THE UPPER RESPIRATORY TRACT FOLLOWS IN A CHAPTER BY DR.RUDOLPH BALLENTINE. HERE, THIS PORTAL IS EXAMINED IN TERMS OF THE PREPARATORY FUNCTIONS IT EXERTS UPON THE INCOMING AIRSTEAM AND THE COMPLEX PATTERN OF NERVOUS ACTIVITY AND ENERGY FLOW WHICH THIS EVOKES. IN THE FINAL CHAPTER, SWAMI RAMA DESCRIBES THE VEHICLES FOR THE BODY/MIND INTERFACE: PRANA, ACCORDING TO THE ANCIENT YOGIC TEXTS, PRANA IS THE MOST SUBTLE UNIT OF ENERGY. SWAMI RAMA DISCUSSESS ITS ORGANIZATION INTO A PRANIC SHEATH, OR ENERGY FIELD, WHICH UNDERLIES THE PHYSICAL STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONING OF THE BODY AND WHICH IS POTENTIALLY UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE MIND.

                    THE GOAL OF SCIENCE OF BREATH IS TO PRESENT THEORETICAL KNOWLEDGE REGARDING THE BREATH IN SUCH A WAY THAT IT CAN BE APPLIED AS A TOOL FOR PERSONAL GROWTH. TO THIS END, A SERIES OF PRACTICAL EXERCISE AND TECHNIQUES FOR SYSTEMATICALLY WORKING WITH THE BREATH AND CONTROLLING THE FLOW OF PRANA IS DESCRIBED IN DETAIL. THESE SERVE TO EXPAND BREATH AWARENESS, FOR A WE OBSERVE THE WAY IN WHICH WE USE OUR BREATH, VARIOUS MORE BENEFICIAL ONES. JUST AS A CHILD OVERCOMES HIS CLUMSINESS BY BECOMING AWARE OF HIS BODY AND LEARNING TO WALK, SO DOES BREATH AWARENSS GRADUALLY BRING BREATHING UNDER GREATER CONSCIOUS CONTROL.

                     AS THE BREATH IS THE LINK BETWEEN THE BODY AND MIND, IT CAN INTERVENE IN THE ACTIVITIES OF EITHER LEVEL. WITH INCREASED AWARENSS AND CONTROL OF THE SUBTLE ASPECTS OF BREATHING, THESE INTERVENTIONS CAN AFFECT DEEP PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL CHANGES. SCIENCE OF BREATH, THEN, OPENS UP NEW AVENUES OF BEING TO THE CONSCIOUS MIND,  PROVIDING A POWERFUL TOOL IN THE PURSUIT OF TRULY HOLISTIC HEALTH AND PERSONAL GROWTH.