Currently, I am exploring a series of completion with pancha bhutas (5 elements – earth, water, fire, air & space) in human body and so many fascinating insights were revealed to me from the space of completion. I am also helping a client to re-pattern her shallow breathing; this gave me the inspiration to share the science with my readers.
One of the health problems that humanity is suffering is shallow breathing or a restrictive breathing pattern. This is due to factors like wrong body postures in a sedentary lifestyle, a restless mind, resistance to change and emotional traumas. While everyone knows the importance of having the freedom of the breath but many don’t know how to correct their distorted breathing pattern.
A few basic truths we need to understand:-
- Breath is the bridge between you and Existence. Our ability to breathe freely connects us with our most basic life process and therefore with our self. Breath is the most readily available and renewable energy source. Liberated breathing is considered synonymous with a liberated flow of prana through out the body.
- Breathing is the first developmental pattern. Breathing is the first pattern, which lays the foundation for all the other succeeding developmental patterns. In fact, breathing is the template for all other movement patterns and states of consciousness, distortion at this fundamental level affects all other physical, physiological and psychological processes.
- Inner chatters disturbed breathing process. Our breathing is natural and effortless when we are relaxed. The moment thinking starts, this natural process is disturbed. Whenever we become pre-occupied by the inner chatters or thoughts of worries, anger or any negative emotion, our breathing is pushed to an unconscious involuntary process. Habituated restricted breathing goes hand-in-hand with a habituated process of perception whereby one is in constant state of twisting and resisting “reality” as it presents itself. When the mind is too active, we breathe only from upper lobes of lungs. This takes away the efficiency of the breathing as we are only breathing the air not the prana (life energy). Hence, the ability to absorb prana from space is reduced resulting in low energy.
- Connection with essential breath builds trust. To get back to the essential effortless breathing is about changing the basic relationship with your self. As you learn to perceive without manipulation, gradually you build trust in the process of letting things be as they are. You JUST BE. You will experience your wholeness NOW because your essential breath engages the entire body at all levels and at all systems
- Prana removes body pains. Body pains are nothing but a lack of energy in that particular part of our body. When we infuse prana (life energy) using long slow breathing, the body pain just disappears and a feeling of lightness in the body is experienced.
To re-pattern someone with shallow breathing pattern, here are a few principles I use:-
- First thing is to develop a perceptual baseline of their breathing process through self inquiry.
- Help them to identify the breath-holding patterns that interfere with the free expression of their breath such as unconscious fears, wrong cognition of body image, social pressures and stressful lifestyle.
- Teach them how to complete with the past memories or hangovers that triggered the breath-holding patterns and release them from their cognition
- Strengthen and reinforce the natural flow and intelligence of the breath. In all movements and moments, always give the breath primacy i.e. let the freedom of the breath be the primary concern in the movements every moment.
- Create situations for them to develop awareness by touching their body, by sensing and feeling the freedom of their internal organs like diaphragms as well as restrictive movement patterns.
- Expand and refine the quality of the breath by first regulating their breath, then work on elongating their breath, next is relaxing into gaps of breaths and finally breathing without thinking.
Dear friends, you don’t have to continue to suffer with shallow breathing pattern which denies you from connecting to the most basic life process. Just decide that you will be integrated with your breath and seek help if you need. Namaste. 🙂