Thursday, July 12, 2012

Life exists in our breath

We live in a world that is constantly moving, where our time is bombarded with so many obligations, distractions, memories, joy, pain, escapes, fantasy that at times we forget to come back to stillness.  Yet, stillness is one of the most natural things for us to be.  The constant marketing tactics of magazines, internet, and corporations, with subtitles of promises and illusions, are all just a distraction from the real title which is YOU.

Ashtanga Yoga

"The sun and moon create time in the form of day 
and night. Sushumna (the central passage along
the spine) is the consumer of time, this is the revealed secret. "

- Hatha Yoga Pradipika 4.17

Many people look to meditation for freedom from these external and internal distractions.  We must accept that any external distraction is one that we internally allowed.  In meditation, we do not need to limit our focus, rather expand our focus to the greater picture that exists in our breath.  Our breath is the most basic function of our daily life.  Have we ever focused on it during yoga asana, while we are preparing a meal, while we are enjoying a beautiful view of nature?  If yes, we understand the bigger picture, and we truly experience time as it is meant to be experienced, we become truly connected.   This experience of becoming one with our breath, allows freedom to take place.  Now we can ask ourselves have we ever become focused on our breath during an argument, during a passionate exchange, during a time in our life when the person we trusted abuses that trust?  This times may be more challenging to focus on our breath, however, if we do we experience the reality of freedom in a magical way. No longer are we limited in our beliefs, no longer do we cling to vicious patterns of behavior, no longer do we feel this awful concept of separateness, instead we become one with our Universe.

"Those who aspire to the state of yoga should seek the Self in inner solitude through meditation" ~ Bhagavad Gita

There will always be moments when we think, analyze, or evaluate an experience or perhaps we just enjoy the natural flow of just being present.  When we allow ourselves to be present, there is no distinct between yesterday and tomorrow, no need to compare, no need to digress, and instead we are one with our reality.  Becoming one with our reality with acceptance is the true essence of meditation.

"I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live" ~ Ezekiel 37:5

In our meditation practice, lets look to become one with our breath.  In Hinduism, breath or prana is life force energy.  For Christians breath is life (Ezekiel 37:5, John 20:22, Genesis 2:7).  If we live our life in a panic state, always short of breath, or holding our breath when stress arises, we are living a limited life.  Despite common views on meditation that we need to clear our mind, instead we need to fill our mind, expand our mind with attention on our breath.

"He breathed on them and said 'receive the Holy Spirit'" ~ John 20:22


Many health care experts like Dr. Oz recommend patients to practice meditation, which is an ancient practice.  Amazing Gurus like Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Baba Ramdev invite yoga aspirants to experience liberation through Yoga Kriyas and Pranayama.  Scientists like Dr. Gerson who realized the power of healing disease through juicing, for the purpose of providing more oxygenation to the body, cells and blood by the use of prana rich food sources.  


"And the Lord formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living soul" ~ Genesis 2:7

Discover the secret to living a full life, free of limitations and take some time to breathe deep. ~ Om Shanti

2 comments:

  1. As a yoga instructor working at Anamaya Yoga and Surfing,I believe breath is the sign of existence of Source Energy.Every time, every second it reminds us that we are a spiritual being.

    Monirul Hoque
    Yoga Instructor
    Costa Rica Yoga Retreats

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for sharing Monirul....I agree....breath is where we have our life force energy and where are spirit flows.
    Namaste ~

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