Just Breathe.

As I prepare to hold space for two breathwork workshops in the coming weeks, I've been thinking a lot about the ancient practice of pranayama. 

How did ancient peoples come to discover the practices of breath (prana) restraint (yama)? 

What circumstances did they face that made the practice of breathing feel relevant, and necessary?

We humans are such curious creatures, and we love convenience and creativity. We humans can also avoid discomfort. As the prevalence of AI rises, social media dominates our screens, and on-demand shows reach for our daily attention, it can be hard to remember that our breath holds the key to our presence. We forget that ancient peoples felt the same stress, anxiety, fear, depression, love, joy, grief, and boredom we feel. It can slip our minds that our different emotional states aren't actually a problem, if and when we can be truly present with each of them. 

In some ways, perhaps, ancient peoples felt everything on such a grander scale, with such higher stakes, it made the magic of tuning into the breath that much more palpable? In some ways, many of us (not all) have so much already at our disposal, we drop into overwhelm. Too many options can cause us to shut down and forget just how much freedom we have…

…but that’s a stream of consciousness for another blog post. 

We're so bombarded by external influences, voices, rules, and conditions, we can forget that momentary liberation lives in our own lungs. The Latin root for "breath" is "spiritus", which is the root for the English word spirit. The Sanskrit word is "prana" which also means "life force". And I just learned the Hebrew word is "nephesh" which also means "soul".

How incredible is it that each of these ancient cultures understood the breath to go beyond just lung capacity? 

What is it that they found within breathing that allowed the language to evolve around the unseen, yet deeply felt, connection of breath, body, and spirit?

I can imagine, and I’ll simply speak for myself: 

For me, breathing consciously is about self compassion. It’s about learning and being a student of a practice much older and much wiser than me. It’s takes discipline. Facing my imposter syndrome. Feeling my body. Creating space between stimulus and response. Finding peace, relief, and safety in my emotions. Altering my consciousness. In learning different pranayama techniques, yoga teaches me consistency, simplicity, and feasibility. Because our breath is that which marks our entrance to earth, and our exit, in a way, it is here to show us truth. 

If I try to "muscle through" my life, controlling, directing, managing; I often feel angry, agitated (rajas energy). If I get lackadaisical, apathetic, inconsistent; I feel bored, uninspired (tamas energy). Interestingly, nearly 100% of the time I feel sattvic after practicing breathing. Sattva is Sanskrit word alluding to purity, wholeness, balance. And really, this whole "yoga stuff" (as so many former and employers, exes, and past life folks refer to it - surely I’m not bitter), is about liberating ourselves from suffering. Look, do you know someone who *really, truly, actually* feels "good" all the time? (People on TV and IG don't count).

Breathwork is a conscious practice of both moving with discomfort, and sitting in discomfort. It's also about moving with bliss, and sitting with bliss. Breathwork, like the asana practice, if engaged with sincerely, consistently, and with curiosity, will alter not only our lung capacity and energy levels as it moves our prana; it also (in my experience) begins to alter my relationship with the unseen parts of me. The deeper connection to Self and consciousness. Some might even call it the spirit, the soul, God, Allah, Brahma, or higher being.

To learn more about or sign-up for the workshops, see below:

• Spring into Breathwork, Saturday May 13th @ 2-3:30pm at the Spyre Center

• Breathe + Explore, Saturday May 20th @ 1-2:30pm at Yes, Yoga

Can't make the workshops? I also teach a weekly 45 minute breathwork class. Come catch me there:

• Breathe + Restore, Wednesdays @ 5pm at the Spyre Center