THE RIDE OF A LIFETIME

Many of my students and clients project an image of me that I rather like – one where I spend my days sitting on lush mountain tops with legs contorted around my head, enjoying peaceful states of blissful meditation while contemplating life's deepest and most meaningful questions, "Who am I?" and "Why are we here?".

While I like to believe there is a small grain of truth in all projections, including this one, I have to admit that a large portion of my day consist of running around (sans the leg wrapping, constant state of bliss and complete concentration). I bounce between my new office, Mission’s Integrative Health Department and Cancer Center, numerous classes in the area and various clients' homes. Like many successful women in Asheville, daily “running” has the potential to make me feel like a headless chicken and a more that a little frazzled.

Luckily, long ago I was gifted a trusted set of wheels that makes this activity a bit more spacious. No, it’s not Sylvie - my reliable, albeit boring Toyota Sedan. No, my ride is much more subtle and close-at-hand.

This ride has three wheels - the wheel of the moon, the wheel of the sun, and most importantly the wheel of the breath - and it’s a set of wheels we all share.

The wheel of the breath is the one I am most apt to call upon when I’m rushing around my day.  It is a vehicle that has been present forever, from the moment we are born to the moment we die. We come out of our mama’s womb, get a smack on the back and draw that first life-sustaining sip. It continues to circle around and around every single moment of our lives, sometimes like a hot-rod, fast with excitement and anticipation, sometimes like a cruiser, slow with awe and wonder. Then one day, hopefully in the far-off distant future, we sputter out the final exhale with no inhale on the other side - off to the next adventure.

The wheel of the breath is my closest companion and dearest beloved. Working with it skillfully has saved my life more than once – in the midst of a terrible break up, on really “bad” days when I’m confused and am not sure where to turn, when I have to speak my truth even though my voice is shaking, and even at those times when the excitement is killing me. Focusing on the evenness of my breath always has the ability to return me to a state of balance.

It is also my most powerful anchor to life. We can go as long as 40 days without food, three days without water, but only two minutes without a breath.

The Upanishads, a group of ancient texts, has a brilliant story I like to tell in classes (hopefully I'm getting it right). It’s about the senses, which in this case included the mind and the breath. The senses start fighting, as they do. This time it’s over which one is the most important. After heated discussions that go on for way too long, they decide to solve the argument by each leaving the body for a year. At the end of several years, so the story goes, they would know which one was king (or queen as the case may be). One by one they take their turns, and while there are certain challenges with each absence, including blindness, deafness, and coma, the body still lives. Finally, the breath takes its turn and within minutes the other senses begin to fade away. “Wait” they call out in unison. “Come back! You are indeed the ruler of us all.”

We cannot live without the breath, and the practice of shaping it for greater ease is an ancient practice. The Yoga Sutras, a 2000 years old text, states, “The mind can be made stable and tranquil by regulating the breath” (Sutra 1.34).

Most of the time the breath is unconscious. We breathe in and out without being aware of it. If we’re stressed, the breath will become shallow and rapid. If we’re relaxed, the breath becomes slow and long. If the mind is quiet, the breath is quiet. If the mind is agitated, the breath is agitated. The breath reflects the mind

Yet, luckily, we can take conscious control of this vehicle of breath.  Instead of the breath simply reflecting the mind, it can shape it. This is a profoundly simple and powerful piece of knowledge, and by employing it skillfully; we become the conscious drivers of our own experience. With this knowledge, on our headless chicken days, we can shift our experience to start one that feels a bit more like an expansive, hawk-flying day. 

As a wellness coach and yoga therapist, the first thing I teach clients and students is the “natural breath”, which is the tool to create this smooth, spacious ride. The "natural breath" (excerpts from Yoga Basics published by the Himalayan Institute) includes :

1.    Breathing in and out of the nostrils. This warms and moistens the air, which creates less stress on the body and therefore calms the mind.

2.    Breathing from the diaphragm. The lungs, unlike the heart, are not made of muscle fibers and for this reason they can’t breathe by themselves. We must, in fact, breathe the lungs. The choice of muscles we use and our ability to use them skillfully makes all of the difference. Using the diaphragm – the dome-shaped muscle lying below the lungs and above the organs – instead of the intercostal or thoracic muscles will create a deeper sense of ease in body and mind. When breathing from the diaphragm the lowest ribs will move in and out in all directions and the low, mid and upper belly will expands and gently fall. 

3.    Breath that is smooth. Often there are little jerks and catches in the breath that reflect tensions held largely outside our awareness. As we relax the body and simply watch the breath, these jerks and catches - as well as some of the tensions - will naturally melt away. Don’t worry about any that may remain, over time they too will begin to disappear.

4.    Breath that is even. To create stability in the mind, the inhale needs to be equal in length to the exhale. For example, if you inhale a slow, steady count of four, then you can shape the exhale to be the same, slow, steady count of four. In this way, you release the same amount that you receive.

5.    Breath that is without pause. Often, we unconsciously hold the breath, either at the top of the inhale or the bottom of the exhale. Both of these create stress on the system and can contribute to a sense of constriction in the mind and emotions. Ideally, our inhale melts into our exhale and our exhale melts into our inhale.

(An important side note for those of you who have taken a yoga class! Some teachers, as well as some parts of yoga therapy, will stress holding or suspending the breath at certain points. While this kind of conscious shaping and breath control can cultivate different energetic effects – for example relaxing or invigorating depending on where the hold is inserted – they must be employed only after developing the "natural breath" and with great awareness of an individual’s specific needs.)

 

Visualizing this smooth, even, steady, unbroken breath, it will begin to look and feel a lot like an oblong circle. The inhale comes up one side of the oval, transitions smoothly into the exhale, which moves down the other side of the oval, until it transitions smoothly into the next inhale. The breath becomes a wheel, and its character (though strangely oval) creates a smoother, more expansive ride.

We are all born with a natural breath, so why would we need to learn it? Simple. Over time postural habits, stress, emotional responses, birth and life traumas, regular dietary habits, cultural conditioning and much more will conspire to resist the natural breath in our own unique and awkward way. Part of yoga therapy is to find exactly where a client’s breath is tense, and then develop the skills to unwind it and breathe more effortlessly.

The breath is a powerful vehicle and everyone has it. So, when my mind and emotions are running away with me, when the list of to-do seems too big to be done, when the running around seems just a little too hectic, or the fight with a loved one won’t quite fall into its proper place, it is the “natural breath” that I turn to over and over again. When all else fails, I “let the inhale equal the exhale and pray for grace”.

It has been said that we only get so many breaths in a lifetime. Perhaps this is akin to a vehicle getting only so many miles. Or maybe it comes from observing nature - a hummingbird breathes up to 40 times a second and lives to the age of five, a tortoise take a very, very, slow, long breath and can live up to 190 years. Regardless of the number of breaths, I endeavor for all of them - both yours and mine - to be free and full. I hope to skillfully and authentically ride this ride, as literally, the ride of my life.