DEVELOPING AWARENESS OF
BREATH
HOW TO DEVELOP CONTROL OVER THE PRANIC LEVEL OF ONE'S BEING SEEMS DEEPLY MYSTERIOUS OR OCCULT TO US IN THE WEST. TURNING TO THE INSIGHTS OF THE EAST, WE FIND THIS IS NOT ACTUALLY. SO ACCORDING TO THE YOGIS, THE PRINCIPLES OF PRANA ARE SIMPLE AND SCIENTIFIC. TRAINING IN THE SCIENCE OF BREATH IS TIME-CONSUMING ONLY BECAUSE OUR CULTURE AND HABITS HAVE LED US AWAY FROM A FINE-TUNED LEVEL OF SELF-AWARENESS. HOWEVER, AWARENESS OF THE BREATH CAN EASILY BECOME A CONSTANT PART OF THE WAY WE FUNCTION, ACT, FEEL, AND THINK.
CONSIDER YOUR LEFT LEG. ORDINARILY, OF COURSE, YOU ARE NOT PARTICULARLY WORRIED ABOUT YOUR LEFT LEG. AT TEH MOMENT YOU ARE PROBABLY NOT THINKING, "OH WHERE SHALL I PUT THIS LEG NEXT? OR MY GOSH, WHEN I GET UP AM I GOING TO BE ABLE TO REMEMBER HOW TO MOVE IT? WHEN YOU WALK YOU GENERALLY DON'T HAVE TO STOP AND THINK, "NOW, THE LEFT COMES AFTER THE RIGHT, THE RIGHT COMES NEXT, AND THEN THE LEFT AGAIN, AND I SHOULD REMEMBER TO LIFT THE TOES SO THE WON'T DRAG ON THE GROUND". YOU RARELY THINK ABOUT WHERE EXACTLY YOUR LEFT LEG IS, AND YET YOU DON'T WORRY THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISPLACED IT. IN A WAY IT REALLY IS AMAZING THAT YOU CAN SIT THERE READING THIS BOOK, INTERACT WITH THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU, LISTEN FOR THE TELEPHONE, AND STILL KEEP UP WITH THAT LEG.
THIS IS POSSIBLE BECAUSE FOR YEARS AND YEARS YOU'VE BEEN USING YOUR LEGS. AT FIRST, YOU MAY RECALL, IT WASN'T SO EASY. IT TOOK SEVERAL YEARS FOR US TO GET IT RIGHT. WE STARTED TRYING TO PUT THE LEG, OR AT LEAST AT FOOT, INTO OUR MOUTH AND MAKING INTERESTING DISCOVERIES ALONG THE WAY, WE COULD WIGGLE OUR TOES AND FEEL A SHARP PAIN IF WE BIT INTO THEM. AFTER A GREAT DEAL OF TRAIL ERROR, HOWEVER, WE LEARNED TO WALK, AND BEFORE TOO LONG, WE DIDN'T EVEN NEED TO THINK ABOUT IT.
IT MIGHT BE HELPFUL TO LOOK AT THE BREATH IN THE SAME WAY. IT'S A SYSTEM WE'VE GOT RUNNING ON AUTOMATIC NOW, JUST LIKE WALKING. YET THE BREATH IS ALSO SOMETHING OF WHICH WE CAN BE CONSTANTLY AWARE. YOGIS WHO ARE MASTERS OF SVARODAYA, THE SCIENCE OF BREATH, CLAIM TO BE AWARE OF EVERY BREATH THEY TAKE.
WE COME NOW TO THE MOST CRUCIAL POINT OF ALL, THE KEY TO YOGA SCIENCE. BREATHING IS THE ONLY PHYSIOLOGICAL PROCESS THAT CAN BE EITHER VOLUNTARY OR INVOLUNTARY. INDIVIDUALS CAN BREATHE CONSCIOUSLY, MAKING THE BREATH DO WHATEVER THEY WISH, OR THEY CAN IGNORE IT, AND THE BODY SIMPLY BREATHES ON ITS OWN. THE BODY CAN'T OPERATE WITHOUT BREATH, SO IF CONSCIOUS PART OF THE MIND REFLEXIVELY BEGINS TO FUNCTION AND STARTS BREATHING FOR US. IN THIS CASE, BREATHING FALLS BACK UNDER THE CONTROL OF PRIMITIVE FALLS BACK UNDER THE CONTROL OF PRIMITIVE PARTS OF THE BRAIN, AN UNCONSCIOUS REALM OF THE MIND WHERE EMOTIONS, THOUGHTS, AND FEELINGS, OF WHICH WE MAY HAVE LITTLE OR NO AWARENESS, BECOME INVOLVED AND CAN WREAK WITH HAVOC WITH THE RHTHMS OF OUR BREATH. THE BREATH MAY BECOME HAPHAZARD AND IRREGULAR WHEN LOSE CONSCIOUS CONTROL OF IT.
THE SAME THING, OF COURSE, CAN HAPPEN WITH YOU LEFT LEG. SOMETIMES PEOPLE DEVELOP PROBLEMS WITH THEIR FEET BECAUSE OF THE WAY THEY USE, OR RATHER MISUSE, THEM. IF YOU NEGLECT YOUR LEFT FOOT, THEN INSTEAD OF SENSING, "OH, THERE'S TOO MUCH PRESSURE ON THE LATERAL INSOLE". AND MAKING AN ADJUSTMENT, YOU SIMPLY GO ON WALKING AS USUAL. EVENTUALLY THE FOOT BECOMES TWISTED AND DISTORTED. THEN YOU PAY A PODIATRIST A HEFTY FEE TO SHOW YOU SOME FOR EXERCISE, SLOWLY BRINGING THE FOOT BACK INTO YOUR AWARENESS SO IT CAN BEGIN TO FUNCTION PROPERLY AND HEAL.
THE SAME THING HAPPENS WITH THE BREATH. IT CAN EITHER BE ALLOWED TO RUN HAPHAZARDLY AND CREATE HAVOC IN THE BODY AND MIND, OR IT CAN BECOME A PART OF YOUR CONSTANT AWARENESSS AND BE HARMONIOUSLY COORDINATED. AND ONCE THE BREATH IS INTEGRATED INTO YOUR AWARENESS, YOU'LL WONDER HOW YOU EVER GOT ALONG BEFORE.
PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN INJUIRED AND HAVEN'T WALKED FOR SOME TIME MAY DEVELOP THE HABIT OF IGNORING THE LOWER HAFL OF THEIR BODY. THEY LIVE FROM THE WAIST UP. WHAT'S ABOVE THE WAIST IS ALIVE WHEREAS WHAT'S BELOW IS DEAD WEIGHT. AS THESE PEOPLE RECOVER THE FUNCTIONING OF THE INJUIRED HALF, THEY GO THROUGH AN ELABORATE PROCESS OF LEARNING HOW TO USE THEIR LEGS AGAIN. THEY HAVE EXTEND THEIR AWARENSS BACK DOWN INTO THEIR LEGS, WHICH REQUIRES HARD WORK BECAUSE THEY HAD MENTALLY DISAVOWED THAT PART OF THEMSELVES, IGNORING IT, CUTTING IT OFF.
AND HERE IS THE PROBLEM WE BEGIN TO CONFRONT WHEN WE LEARN ABOUT BREATHING. WE MUST BRING BACK INTO OUR AWARENESS A WHOLE AREA OF OURSELVES THAT WE'VE CUT OFF, GRADUALLY REINTEGRATING IT OUT CONSCIOUSNESS. THE MORE WE MAKE IT PART OF OUR CONSTANT AWARENSS, THE MORE IT BECOMES A VITAL DIMENSION OF OURSELVES.
AT THAT POINT THE TEACHINGS OF PRANAYAMA (BREATH CONTROL) BEGIN TO MAKE SENSE. THROUGH CONSTANT AWARENESS AND EXPERIENCE WE DISCOVER FOR OURSELVES WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE BREATHE SWITCHES FROM THE RIGHT TO THE LEFT NOSTRIL, THERE IS A SHIFT OF PHYSICAL AND MENTAL TONE. FOR EXAMPLE, HAVING LUNCH TODAY WITH THE LEFT NOSTRIL OPEN IS FOLLOWED BY THE REALIZATION THAT THE FOOD DIDN'T SIT AS WELL AS USUAL. THE SCRIPTURES SAY WE SHOULD EAT ONLY WHEN THE RIGHT NOSTRIL IS OPEN. BECAUSE THE EMOTIONS ARE CLOSELY RELATED TO THE BREATH, BY ALTERING OUR RESPIRATORY RHYTHM WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO SHIFT EMOTIONAL GEARS. THIS IS SOMETHING WE CAN TRY OUT, EXPERIMENT WITH FROM MOMENT TO MOMENT. IN THIS WAY THE SCIENCE OF BREATH CEASES TO BE MERE THEORY AND BECOMES PART OF PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE, VASTLY ENRICHING OUR SELF-KNOLEDGE.
THIS AWARENESS COMES GRADUALLY. THE STAGE FOR THIS SELF-EXPLORATION IS SET BY UNDERSTANDING THE MECHANICS OF PRANA AND BY THE REGULAR PRACTICE OF BREATH AWARNESS AND BREATHING EXERCISES. THE RESULT IS AN AWAKENING OF A WHOLE PART OF OURSELVES THAT WE DIDN'T KNOW WAS THERE BEFORE, A COMPLETELY NEW ASPECT OF OUR BEING TO WHICH OUR EYES HAD BEEN CLOSED. SVARODAY, THE SCIENCE OF BREATH, OPENS OUR INNER AWARENSS TO THE VERY ENERGY THAT GIVES US LIFE AND SHAPES OUR BEING.
