The Forgotten Art of Breathing

“If the mind is the king of senses, the master of the mind is breath.”

Breathing is life and practising breathing exercises is a miraculous way of controlling the mind. Breathing exercises are a very powerful way of meditation in order to calm the mind and the nervous system but unfortunately, it is taken for granted.

Breathing does not have to be forceful or deep, however, it does not mean shallow breathing at all. It should be comfortably deep, avoiding any strain on the lungs, chest, facial muscles and skull. Inhalation and exhalation should be at their comfortably lowest speed level. There must not be any jerks while inhaling or exhaling. It must be a very smooth flow of breath. In this way each cell and muscle of the body get oxygenated thoroughly which is the life force. It rejuvenates the body and one feels alert and active. Vincent Cronin in his book Napoleon (1995) mentions a very interesting fact about Napoleon regarding his sheer vitality and alertness. He says that Napoleon had exceptionally large-sized lungs which gave him the advantage of inhaling a great amount of oxygen at one time and this made him super active. For this very reason, according to Cronin, Napoleon could manage with as little as 3-4 hours of sleep in a day. The reason is that his long and extended inhalation and exhalation gave him enough life force and oxygen to cleanse his bloodstream thoroughly. That was the secret behind his very active life and exceptional stamina which enabled him to plan his battles better than others. This is just one example of the benefits of taking in large quantities of oxygen for gaining extraordinary energy.

Inhalation should be gradual and controlled, and then the breath should be retained in the lungs for a comfortably long time without any strain. Similarly, during exhalation, once again, the release of breath should be gradual and controlled.  It allows human cells to absorb as much energy as they can to rejuvenate the body and to remove toxins from the bloodstream to make anyone feel lighter. How very simple is this process but in our stressful lives we have forgotten the true art of breathing.

Posture is equally important to get the maximum out of breathing exercises. By sitting upright with a straight back, like Buddha, all obstructions in the flow of breath are removed and full benefits of a wonderful journey start to flow into one’s life.

During the exercise, the mind should focus on breathing only i.e. it should see the breath coming in and going out like a flowing stream. Being motionless during breathing exercises creates the bliss of internal silence. This will focus the mind, create meditative effect and a person will feel fresh after the exercise.

If only we could spare 15 minutes, or at least 5 minutes, a day to do breathing exercises, we can achieve great mental and physical benefits. During breathing exercises, the brain is quieter; the nervous system is at peace and functions effectively. Compassion, kindness, politeness and calmness are some of the outcomes of being focused.

Meditation and its Wonders

Although meditation is a wide term, yet in simple words it is a technique to train the mind to concentrate on a specific object, sound, breath or thought. Once the mind learns how to meditate, it can block out all other thoughts except the one which is focused on at will. This stage comes slowly but once achieved, it is the most powerful state of the mind resulting in wonderful benefits in day to day life like target achieving, relaxation, internal happiness, contentment and inner peace.

Human mind resembles a convex lens when it is focused; and a concave lens when it is not. In a focused state, it can pump an enormous amount of energy into a thought creating reality out of a mere idea exactly like a convex mirror which diverts sunrays passing through it to a focal point, strong enough to burn any inflammable thing. However, the energy level of the scattered sunrays, passing through a concave lens, is next to nothing. And the same is true for scattered thoughts. It is simply beyond imagination how powerful effect focused thoughts can create. For example, if someone attempts to write an essay, a book, or find out a solution to a seemingly impossible problem, he could do the required task powerfully, effectively and quickly with a focused mind in the absence of all distractions and mental chatter. Meditation can be extremely useful for students in their studies. It is an equally powerful tool for others to achieve success and goals quickly. A focused mind takes an exceptionally short amount to time on any task undertaken.

Apart from getting things done quickly and effectively, the meditative state of the mind is also anti-stress, anti-tension, anti-anxiety, anti-depression and anti-ageing. Meditation is the best antidote for all psychological disorders of our troubled times. It is a well-known fact that various external factors of this materialistic life bring human mind under an immense amount of stress, which is, then, transmitted to our senses. In this way, our senses get out of our control and start reeking of inner destruction. Now the question is:

How to control our disturbed senses for attaining the inner tranquillity? 

The truth is, we do not have to control our senses; we have to control the king of our senses i.e. the mind.  In a meditative state the mind is peaceful, relaxed and clear without any tension. In this state of the mind human senses are also at peace and fully relaxed which amounts to the absence of stress, tension and anxiety. What else can we ask for?

Mediation is not a hard nut to crack. Anyone can spend 15-30 minutes every day on regular basis to achieve a meditative state of the mind. It is the consistency that demands permanence. When an attempt is made to control the mind, it will rebel and resist because it does not like the idea of being controlled. As soon as the focus is laid on an image, idea, sound, or breath (i.e. inhalation and exhalation), the mind will set off on its imaginative flights. These are the signs of initial success because the mind starts realising that attempts are being made to control it, therefore reacts. First two or three weeks would be difficult but after that, the mind will lay down its arms and start calming down, focusing. This is the time when the true flavours of meditation can be enjoyed. Once this level is achieved, hours in meditation will pass like minutes and shackles of time and space will literally be escaped. Life will change both externally and internally. The mind will start flying at enviable altitudes, like never known before in one’s life. A person at this point will be happy without any apparent reason, peaceful from inside. Stress, tension will be the names of some foreign unseen ghosts. The mind will be free by any definition.