The Sacred Gift Of Being Breathed
Take a moment, pause. Soften your skin, relax your jaw. Breathe in deep, and out long. Breath from your belly to your collar bones with each inhale, and soften any tension in your body as you exhale. Delight in the connection between your breath and your nervous system/your mental well-being.
Pranayama (the yoga science of breathing) is generally thought of as the control over the breath. By consciously changing the length, depth, force, and frequency of the breath, we are able to very effectively influence the autonomic nervous system. Thus, we then can influence control over physical processes like our digestion, our circulatory system, our heartbeat, and our mental state.
“But, if we think of the breath as a manifestation of the universal life force, we would be silly to believe we have “control” over this. For example, if you try to kill yourself by holding your breath, you will eventually pass out, and your breathing will start automatically. We are not ultimately “in control” here.“* So this translates our understanding of pranayama into something much sweeter than controlling the breath.
Samantha Fox is a yoga and fitness instructor on the Garden Island of Kauai in Hawaii. She is a Certified Anusara Yoga Instructor and holds a Diploma in Ayurveda Sciences. Samantha has been practicing yoga for over 17 years and began teaching in 2002. » Find out more about Samantha Fox.
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