Power in Breathing
BREATHE
So, what’s the big deal? All the hype about the breath seems redundant, considering we breathe in and out automatically, every day (thankfully, I might add). In yoga practices, meditation practices, during exercise, or especially for calming down when I want to yell and lash out over an unpleasant situation… a nice deep breath is the ticket.
Take a breath. Go ahead… What was that? Air, yes. Breathe again, this time slowly and deeply… What did you just receive? Life! Without oxygen we cease to live. But is that all there is to our continual, rhythmic inhalation/exhalation process? Breathe another time… notice where you feel expansion in the body. Is it isolated to your upper chest? How fully are you able to expand the chest? Do you feel the diaphragm, abdomen, or back of the rib cage move? Do you ever wonder how much space in the body is available for oxygen, but not utilized? What internal improvements would you see if somehow our cells received more oxygen?
As a young teenager I would jog around the neighborhood. My breath was a way of rhythmically pacing myself, breathing simultaneously with my feet hitting the pavement, left-right-left-right, setting my pace. I was also regulating my inhale for 4 counts, 1-2-3-4, in rhythmic cadence as my feet would run to the same 4 counts. It seemed to carry me along like a song keeping tempo, the sound of my feet to the perfect beat. Little did I know I was utilizing breath regulation.
As a fitness instructor, I repeatedly reminded my class members that their breath was as necessary as proper movement and form. Emphasizing oxygen exchange while exerting oneself was an integral component for stamina and recovery. Not only did I find I could more easily regulate my heart rate, but also how much longer I was able to endure the aerobic activities.
While training as an E.M.T., I would experiment with lowering my blood pressure through the same focus on my breath. Many breathing modalities allow for various controls over functions in the body, like lung tissue stimulation, calming the nervous system, inhibiting pain, and expedite healing, to name a few of the many.
Even while backpacking or hiking, my experience in nature seems to take on more sensory delight with deep consumption of clean mountain air. The colors are more crisp, the boulders, cliffs, crags, and clouds more detailed; the flowers and foliage more fragrant. The experience is more refined with the deep breath of crisp, clean air. One becomes part of the landscape, a member of the animal kingdom, a curious witness to the majesty of nature. Through conscious breathing, one is able to experience a new connection to the natural world.
During one of my first yoga retreats, I experienced nature in a new and vivid way through a form of breathwork unlike anything I’d known. Lying still, breathing deeply through my nose and exhaling through my mouth—slowly at first, then faster for what felt like half an hour—my body began to tingle. Energy seemed to surge through me, radiating out my fingertips. I saw myself standing on a mountaintop, a luminous being surrounded by light, alive with pure vitality.
Later, a new friend handed me The Hindu-Yogi Science of Breath (1903) by Yogi Ramacharaka, “the first authoritative word of the higher yogi philosophy.” Alone in my small cabin, I read about ancient cultures devoted to the physical, mental, and spiritual development of humankind. Page after page, I realized I had long been feeling the magic of breath without understanding its true power. The book awakened a deeper reverence for this simple, sacred act of breathing.
“To breathe is to live, and without breath there is no life… From the first faint breath to the last gasp, it is one long story of continued breathing.” — Yogi Ramacharaka
The Science of Breath teaches that breath shapes not only the body but also the mind and spirit. Incorrect breathing can lead to physical strain and emotional imbalance, while conscious breath cultivates clarity, happiness, and self-mastery. Entire philosophies have been founded on the wisdom of breath.
For over 5,000 years, breathwork has been practiced across cultures for healing, balance, and spiritual awakening. In ancient India, the Upanishads taught breath control as a path to self-mastery and inner peace. Chinese healers developed Qigong—literally “to work with vital energy”—a blend of breath, movement, and meditation for health, martial arts, and spirituality. The Egyptians practiced Sekhem breathwork to connect with higher powers and harmonize the body’s energy, a tradition still alive today.
In the West, pioneers like Dr. Wilhelm Reich, Leonard Orr, and Wim Hof explored breathwork for emotional release, trauma healing, and boosting the body’s natural resilience. Today, it continues to support people with PTSD and anxiety, helping them calm the nervous system and restore balance.
Beyond our need for oxygen, what makes breath so magical? Perhaps it’s Prana—the Sanskrit word for life-force energy. The air we breathe carries not just oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen, but this vital essence. We draw Prana from sunlight, from the food we eat, and from every space we inhabit. It is always present, always offering life.
GIVE IT A TRY!
Now that we have touched on a few of the benefits of the power of the breath, let’s take it into practice with a trial example of “Box Breathing”, I invite you to follow…
First, sit or stand erect. Visualize the straight spine from the tailbone to the crown of the head. Begin with the tongue resting at the roof of the mouth, lips gently closed. Start to breathe in through the nostrils slowly, focusing on the air coming in through the sinuses and into the lungs for the count of four, hold the breath at the top for a count of 4, then allow the breath to gently escape for the same slow count of four, holding the “empty breath” for a count of four. Repeat this for several breaths.
Next, as you feel the nervous system begin to slow down, you may lengthen the breath to 6 counts in and 6 counts out. As you do so, now focus on beginning the breath at the base of the stomach and lower back. As the breath comes in gently, let it fill upward into the ribcage. Allowing the ribs and chest cavity to expand around the sides, into the back as well as the chest. Continue drawing the breath up into the shoulder blades, under the collar bone and the base of the neck. You have just elevated the expansion of your lungs. Then, slowly allow the breath to escape, like a deflating balloon.
Take a few breaths now, envisioning this “full body inflation.” Starting low, moving up through the body, expanding in areas you don’t usually experience filling with air. I think of it as the “Whiskey Barrel Breath.” Imagine the breath like a liquid, and the body as the barrel. Each breath begins expanding each porous stave, or wooden slat, of a whiskey barrel. Evenly and fully, it begins filling with the “Prana,” the oxygen, the life. The barrel expands outward, evenly, becoming fuller and fuller. Maybe allow the breath at the very top of inhalation to linger for a minute, holding the air in as long as it is comfortable, and maybe see if you can sip in just a little more breath, evenly expanding the “barrel”. Then when you’re ready, allow it to escape with the same slow, rhythmic ease. Remember to be mindful and grateful for the richness of life it carries into every cell!
You may actually feel a small pop here, or crackle there, as bones and tissues expand in areas that are normally stagnant, continuing this breathing cycle for 3 - 5 minutes. After some practice, you may want to increase to 10 or even 15 minutes. Always staying mindful of what sensations you feel in the body.
Alright! Nicely done! How do you feel now? Maybe even a little light headed? This is the release of stagnant energy, stagnant carbon and the lightness that comes from oxygen, and may I say ‘Prana’ saturation. This breathing practice can be used to calm your nerves, clear your mind, and bring you back to center. Try it anytime you need to re-focus!
Thank you for joining me in Morning Meds! If you have a moment, please leave me your comments. I appreciate your feedback, after all… We teach each other!
WORKING TOGETHER, LEARNING TOGETHER
