In this page, I try to impart how to do one particular form of spiritual exercise that I have found useful. I can't predict how it might work for you, however. Many such methods fail for some people; some could even have a negative effect. In general, I advise stopping an exercise right away if it leads to discomfort ("If it feels bad, don't do it"). And if nothing useful seems to be starting to happen after a reasonable time (people I have learned from have suggested allowing six weeks), maybe another technique would be better for you.
Your body has its physical abilities, which you can use in movement, sitting, chanting and the like. It has its mental abilities, such as visualization and the making of sounds silently within yourself. It has its chemistry, which is modified in both healthful and spiritually useful ways by various activities (your lactic acid blood content may go down, your oxygen and carbon dioxide levels may change, and so on).
It has its rhythms. You would likely pay attention to your digestive cycle in doing many kinds of exercise preferably on an empty stomach. Your diurnal rhythm is important to the normal practice of doing any standard exercise twice a day; and it's a good idea to remember that rhythm and not do any energizing exercise shortly before the time when you will want to go to sleep. You have your heartbeat, but I advise leaving to certain yoga adepts any direct fooling around with that rhythm; it's safer to let any beneficial side effects of your exercises on your blood pressure and in reducing your pulse rate just happen by themselves.
And you have your breath. This is unique, the one rhythm you have which easily slips in and out of your consciousness and control. This rhythm you can readily and usually safely modify, reducing its frequency -- possibly all the way to zero -- or increasing its depth. There are a few caveats. A few people suffer anxiety or even panic on paying too much attention to their breathing, and they should simply avoid doing so. There are medical conditions relevant to breathing, on which I am unqualified to offer any comment other than that you should consult your doctor if you have a breathing irregularity and intend to do spiritual breathing exercises. You could endanger yourself by hyperventilating or holding your breath to excess and thus passing out, which can be very bad while driving, walking or even standing. But, provided you don't endanger yourself physically, your body will tend to take charge and restart your breathing even if you are unwise enough in your spiritual practice that you lose consciousness. Breathing "fails safe."
There is a wide spectrum of spiritual uses of your breath. I'm going to describe just a few of them (and there are also pages you could link to on chanting and your interior rainbow, which both make use of your breathing). And there are many breathing exercises which seem (to me, at least) to have more the character of physical exercises, improving your breathing and health but yielding only indirect spiritual benefits; this includes various Yoga exercises I'm not going to describe below, but which you might want to investigate.
Before I go on, let me make a few general remarks,
to avoid repetition.
Be gentle starting an exercise, first adopting a
suitable position, preferably seated with your head,
neck and spine relatively straight and vertical,
and in any case with your chest and abdomen as
comfortable, as unconstricted, as unhampered, and
as free to expand and contract as possible.
Be gentle ending, without abruptness and with some
quiet time before resuming your normal activities.
And be gentle with your difficulties,
as you forget your intention to do just the one thing
which is the exercise,
as you are overtaken by irrelevant trains of thought,
and as you suffer various other forms of distraction.
These exercises are all best done with the eyes closed.
Counting your breaths
Slowing your breathing
Pranayama (a Hatha Yoga exercise)
Do nothing but notice your breathing and its qualities.
For this exercise, don't try to do anything
to your breathing.
Its frequency, your respiration rate, is something to
notice, not something to change, slow or analyze.
If it's abdominal, fine, but don't spend time during
this exercise changing from breathing in by expanding
your chest to using your diaphragm to breathe,
so to speak, into your abdomen.
And it's depth is just there; don't try to deepen it
during this exercise.
This exercise is fairly difficult for some,
due to its simplicity.
It's related to contemplation (which has its
own page);
here the object of contemplation is your breath,
rather than an image or object.
Return to list
to select another breathing exercise.
This exercise is one of the commonest of spiritual
breathing exercises.
Having settled into a relaxed breathing rhythm,
begin to count your breaths.
Don't count aloud; do so mentally.
Don't try to control the speed of your breathing.
Just wait after each inhalation, each breath in,
until the exhalation, the breath out, begins,
and think "one;" then, on the next exhalation,
"two;" and again, on the next exhalation, "three;"
and so on.
It's usual to start over again at "one" after
counting up to some number.
A teacher in an Eastern tradition might suggest
counting up to ten,
which can be surprisingly difficult to do
without losing the principle of "do just one thing"
and distracting yourself by thinking about how
high you've got so far and whether it's time yet
to start at one again.
And I've read Western suggestions of counting up
to only four,
which is easier.
My own choices are three or six,
depending on what feels comfortable to you
as an individual.
As I wrote this, I slipped briefly into breath
counting, and find that my relaxed breathing
takes about forty-five seconds for six breaths,
which I think is plenty long enough for me
between cycles of counting.
Four and five have unfortunate connotations for
people from some cultures,
and that can be another unwelcome distraction.
I'm not into pushing superstitions into the
discussion,
but then I'm not into pushing people in any
direction at all in spiritual matters,
including away from any traditional beliefs
which concern them.
Another form of breath counting is to start at
one and just keep going.
Assuming that you can go high enough to do this
through your whole exercise period without becoming
lost in remembering what number comes next,
or in admiring your ability to count that
slowly to a high number, you could try it.
But, based on my own repeated experience,
I venture to suggest that the result might be
not to benefit you spiritually but to put you
to sleep.
Return to list
to select another breathing exercise.
Wait until you are thoroughly relaxed,
so that you won't become short of breath if you
slow your respiration rate.
Your guiding principle as you get into this exercise
should be never to push yourself far enough to
feel any physical distress.
This is not a competition, with yourself or anyone
else.
Think, "one, two, three, four, five, six, seven,
eight."
Don't try to count slow, or fast, just with regularity.
About five seconds for the eight numbers is
comfortable for me;
you may prefer to go at a somewhat different speed.
Now do this counting over and over along with your
breathing, as follows:
breathe in to an eight count;
hold your breath in to an eight count;
breathe out to an eight count;
begin again by breathing in to an eight count;
and so on.
If this controlled breathing is too slow for comfort,
count a bit faster or reduce to a number lower than
eight.
After you've been doing this for a while,
you might want to try a longer count.
Again, this isn't a matter of competitiveness,
it's a matter of finding your own maximum level
so as to get the most out of the exercise.
An Eastern adept might suggest a target of
thirty-two,
which involves not only great physical relaxation
but also really slow breathing.
But don't, while doing this exercise, think about
targets.
In fact, don't think at all if you can avoid it.
Just breathe in ("one, two, three, ..., whatever"),
suspend that breath ("one, two, ..."),
breathe out ("one, two, ..."), and repeat.
Return to list
to select another breathing exercise.
Traditionally, pranayama is done in a yogi's seated posture.
If you're familiar with such a pose, use it;
you could also try a posture from Zen,
or just sit comfortably in a chair or, for that matter,
in bed.
Before you close your eyes,
take your dominant hand (I'm right-handed, so I use that
hand), and place the end of your thumb against the ends
of your two middle fingers held parallel.
Extend your little and index fingers straight.
Now do this with your nose between the thumb and
the two middle fingers,
and relax your grip so that your nostrils are
not held shut.
Experiment with moving your hand slightly to the left and
to the right so that one nostril at a time
is gently held shut,
either by the thumb or by the two fingers.
With your hand to the left, the right nostril is closed
and the left nostril is open.
As you unhurriedly move your hand to the right, both
nostrils are briefly open, then the left nostril is
closed and the right nostril is open.
Get used to doing this before you go on to involve
your breathing.
Your other hand should just rest comfortably in your lap,
with the palm up.
Now close your eyes, let your breathing slow to
a comfortable relaxed pace, and put your hand in
the position you've been practising.
With your right nostril closed, breathe out, then in.
Move your hand so the left nostril is closed.
Breathe out, then in.
Move your hand back so your right nostril is closed.
Breathe out, then in.
Continue, for the duration of your exercise period.
This is actually a triple exercise
("combination of ingredients" activities are good
for some people who find themselves better able to
stay with what they're doing if it engages more of
their attention).
You are in a pose.
You are making a gesture, a mudra,
with your hand.
And, at the center of the exercise,
you are controlling your breathing.
Return to list
to select another breathing exercise.
Return to "Spiritual Exercises" page
to select another kind of exercise.
© 2007 Anthony Buckland,
anthonybuckland@telus.net
last modified: May 12, 2007
Paying attention to your breathing
Counting your breaths
Slowing your breathing
Pranayama, a Hatha Yoga exercise
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