Moving Inward- The Journey to Meditation

by Rolf Sovik

  Breathing in Yoga

  Yogis have learned to work with the breath in many ways. Strenuous postures, or those that require holding the body in awkward positions, clearly reveal the calming effect of relaxed breathing. When we encounter such challenging postures, we either adapt to them if the breathing is relaxed or struggle against them by altering the breath. In other words, relaxed breathing has an influence throughout the entire asana practice and plays an enormous role in its effectiveness.

  In yoga breathing exercises, or pranayama practices, the breath is used to cleanse, calm, and strengthen the nervous system, and thus increase vitality. What is more, adepts in yoga have demonstrated abilities that go far beyond the normal capacity for controlling the breath, yet they do not claim to be superhuman. They simply state that the full potential of breath control is much vaster than is normally experienced and cannot be understood without patient practice.

  The breath is also a key focal point in relaxation exercises as well as meditation. However, because relaxation is usually practiced lying down (either on the back or on the stomach), while meditation is practiced in a sitting position, the breathing pattern differs in each posture. So we must thoroughly understand the principles of relaxed breathing in order to master these essential practices.

  Breathing can also strengthen the mind’s powers of concentration. At first, relaxation and meditation techniques use the breath as a tool for centering attention. Later, when breathing has become effortless, relaxed, and smooth, the mind is freed from all distractions and can turn inward toward deeper levels of awareness.

  Relaxed Breathing

  The primary muscle of breathing, the diaphragm, lies just below the lungs. It rests, dome-shaped, over the abdominal organs, with attachments at the base of the breastbone, the lower ribs, and the spine. Its dome is both the floor of the chamber containing the lungs and heart, and the ceiling of the abdominal cavity. When muscle fibers located around the periphery of the diaphragm contract, the dome of the muscle is drawn down, expanding the lungs.

  the diaphragm

  Most people routinely assume that the most visible signs of breathing will appear in the upper half of the rib cage. That, after all, is the location of the lungs. But nature has conceived things differently. When breathing is relaxed, it shows itself most visibly in the lower half of the rib cage and abdomen. As you are about to see, the action of the diaphragm explains this.

  In addition to stretching the lungs, contraction of the diaphragm puts pressure on the abdominal organs from above. To accommodate this pressure and make room for the expansion of the lungs, the lower half of the torso must be reshaped. It is this reshaping process—accomplished with the help of the body’s remarkable pliancy—that is the most visible sign of breathing.

  A simple version of diaphragmatic breathing is accomplished in shavasana (corpse pose). In this posture, the navel region rises with each inhalation and falls with each exhalation. To experience this, try the following exercise:

  corpse pose

  • Lie on your back on a flat, carpeted surface. Support your head and neck with a thin cushion.

  • Bring your awareness to your breath and feel the continuous flow of exhalations and inhalations.

  • Soften the abdomen and let it rise as you inhale and fall as you exhale. There is no need to pause between breaths; just let each breath flow naturally into the next. Soon the movement of the abdomen will feel relaxed and relatively effortless.

  • Soften the rib cage, and it will become almost completely motionless (of course, if you breathe more deeply, you can get the rib cage moving, but this takes effort and misses the point of the exercise).

  • Next, explore the respiratory movements further by raising your arms to the carpet over your head. This will accentuate the rise and fall of the abdomen.

  • Finally, return your arms to your sides and observe your breathing for a number of minutes, allowing your body to relax.

  Sitting Up to Breathe

  easy sitting pose

  When you sit erect, movements of breathing will no longer feel the same as when you were lying on your back. Breathing is still diaphragmatic, but the vertical axis of the body changes the effect of the diaphragm’s action on the lower torso. You can easily feel this yourself: • Sit erect in any seated pose (sitting on a flat-seated chair will do fine).

  • Rest your hands in your lap. Close your eyes and turn your attention to the flow of exhalations and inhalations.

  • Soften the abdomen and sides of the rib cage. Let the muscles of the back support your posture with only modest muscle tone.

  • Now notice how, if you let it, your breathing results in a quiet expansion of the sides of the rib cage. The front wall of the abdomen also expands, but the movement is much less than it was in shavasana. You may be surprised at the difference.

  • Continue observing the breath until its pace and depth feel absolutely comfortable and relaxed (your breathing will be a little faster and will feel higher in the torso than it does lying down). As you observe each inhalation and exhalation, let your mind relax.

  As we will see more clearly in the next chapter, the rib cage becomes active when breathing in sitting postures, and this can be felt at the sides of the lower ribs. Nonetheless, it is possible to breathe with the same relaxed effort as before.

  What Next?

  An acrobatic ability to manipulate your breath is not the goal of meditation. Yet the effects of good breathing do need to be brought to awareness and examined. That’s what this chapter has really been about. By identifying elements of good breathing and allowing the breath to flow without tension, you can learn to breathe effortlessly. When this is accomplished, the doors to optimal health and meditation are opened.

  Breathing with Confidence

  Prana is the vehicle for the mind;

  where the prana takes it, the mind goes.

  —Yoga Vasishtha

  Few people observe breathing with any regularity and, as a result, ordinary awareness of it is limited. If you were to ask yourself, “Do I breathe diaphragmatically?” you might not be able to answer the question with any confidence. This situation can be changed. You can breathe with more confidence and in the process use the breath as a support in meditation.

  This chapter will examine the anatomy of respiration more closely so that you can sharpen your self-observation skills. Then you can apply your knowledge to improve both your awareness and the quality of your breathing. To begin, take a look at the most obvious respiratory feature of all—the nose.

  Breathing Through the Nose

  Although it is possible to breathe through either the nose or the mouth, nasal breathing is the better choice. The nose is meant for breathing. Filtered, warmed, cleaned, moistened, and tested for noxious smells, air passing inward through the nose is strikingly transformed by its brief sojourn there.

  The nose, sinuses, and nasal pharynx are lined with highly sensitive tissue containing two special cell types: goblet and ciliated cells. Goblet cells secrete mucus. Ciliated cells contain tiny hairlike filaments that beat rhythmically to move the mucus from the nose into the throat, where it can be swallowed (or spit out).

  the nose and throat

  the mucus membrane

  From the yogic point of view, mucus can be either a healthy secretion or an unpleasant excretion. A healthy blanket of mucus traps airborne particles carried into the nose—including microbes that can cause disease. A healthy mucus lining also lubricates the nose and moistens the air, which otherwise would be extremely drying.

  Three shelflike structures of bone and tissue (conchae) extend into the space within the nose. The air whirls by them, increasing its contact with the mucus lining and improving the senses of smell and taste. In addition, the conchae alternately swell and shrink in size, which changes the balance of air flowing through the two nostrils.

  Breathing through the nose also slows and deepens the breath. As a result, it fills the lungs mor
e effectively from top to bottom. The exchange of gases in the lungs is improved and breathing feels more satisfying.

  Mouth breathing bypasses all these important functions of the nose and should therefore be done only at times of peak effort, when the body’s need for oxygen requires a rapid exchange of air. Otherwise, breathing in and out through the nose is by far the best choice.

  The Rib Cage

  Once nasal breathing is established, attention can be shifted once again to the action of the diaphragm. As we have already seen, the diaphragm is the primary muscle of breathing, and when it is functioning normally it accounts for about 75 percent of the volume of each inhalation. (The rest is produced by muscles in the chest wall and the neck.) Unfortunately, bad breathing habits abound, and often the diaphragm’s functioning is restricted or partially supplanted by other muscles.

  There are a number of techniques for restoring full function of the diaphragm. A brief review of the structure of the rib cage is a good place to start. After this review, anatomical images can be translated into personal experience.

  the ribs and sternal angle

  The rib cage has twelve pairs of ribs, each rib joined in the back to the spine. In the front, the upper seven pairs are attached directly to the breastbone. The next three are linked to the cartilage of the seventh rib. The bottom two pairs of ribs float free. The ends of these two bury themselves into the muscles of the abdominal wall and can be felt at your sides, just above the hip bones.

  Even though the rib cage can be moved by various sets of muscles, its bony structure gives it a certain rigidity. As we have seen, when we are lying on our back in the corpse pose, the rib cage is quiet and the abdomen rises and falls with minimal involvement of the rib cage. When we are in an upright posture (sitting or standing), the ribs become active, and two primary movements of the rib cage are possible.

  During routine, moderate breathing in an upright position, the front of the rib cage is relatively quiet and movement is most noticeable in the sides. Each rib swings out and slightly up, pivoting at its attachments in the front and rear. This has been called the “bucket handle” action of the ribs. The ribs do not lift forward so much as they expand to the sides.

  the bucket handle movement

  expansion of the rib cage

  When a very deep breath is required, the sternum can be pulled forward and raised by intercostals muscles in the chest (muscles lying between the ribs) and by accessory muscles in the neck and shoulders. This results in a movement something like that of an old-fashioned pump handle (although, of course, the amount of the movement is much less). Joints near the top of the sternum make this possible.

  pump handle movement

  To feel this movement, open your mouth and take a few deep, sighing breaths. You will experience your upper chest rising and falling. This is useful whenever there is a need for rapid, deep inhalations—for example, following intense exercise. But thoracic breathing (also called chest breathing) and clavicular breathing (using the neck and shoulder muscles) are the body’s response to emergencies: they are intended to provide sudden bursts of energy, but they are not meant for normal, everyday use. When either of these styles of breathing becomes habitual, emotional tension is increased, and this leads to feelings of anxiety as well as unnecessary stress.

  Yoga students sometimes equate any movement of the rib cage with “stressful” breathing and artificially restrict all its movements. This is not helpful. The basic idea to remember is that, in sitting or standing postures, everyday breathing naturally expands the rib cage to the sides. You can feel this by placing your hands alongside your ribs, as illustrated below. Notice that the hands are turned on edge so that the webbing of the thumb and forefinger touches the side of the rib cage just below the level of the base of the sternum. Once you have your hands correctly placed, breathe normally and you will feel the rib cage expand to the sides.

  rib expansion hand position

  Crocodile Breathing

  Relaxed diaphragmatic breathing is not always as easy to achieve as it might seem. If you are accustomed to using chest muscles for breathing, for example, or if it feels odd to expand the abdomen or rib cage as you inhale, or if you become nervous watching your breath and consequently lose your inner focus, then you will want to practice breathing in the crocodile pose. In fact, all of us can benefit from practice in this pose. It is the key posture for fostering diaphragmatic breathing.

  There are several versions of the crocodile, each helpful and each designed to accommodate different body types and levels of flexibility. You may turn your feet in, with legs resting relatively close together, or turn them out, separating the legs until the inner thighs rest comfortably on the floor. Rest your forehead on your folded forearms, elevating the upper chest slightly off the floor. If your shoulders or arms are uncomfortable, you may prop your upper body with cushions or a blanket (drape your chin over the cushion). You may also widen the elbows and partially open the forearms, allowing the hands to separate. In all cases, the abdomen rests on the floor.

  crocodile pose

  As you rest in the pose, relax your breathing and begin to observe the movements of your body. There are three main observation points: the abdomen, sides of the rib cage, and the lower back. Practice the following exercise to bring each of them to awareness.

  • First, feel the ceaseless movement of your breath as it flows out and in. The breath will find its own pace, and even if you believe the speed to be too fast or too slow, you don’t need to control it. Simply let your body breathe.

  • Now bring your awareness to your abdomen and feel how it presses against the floor as you inhale and recedes (although remaining in contact with the floor) as you exhale. Relax the muscles in your belly, and let these movements of the abdomen become deep and soothing.

  • Now shift your attention to the sides of the rib cage.You’ll find that the lower ribs expand laterally with inhalation and contract with exhalation. This is the movement we have just discussed—the bucket-handle action of the rib cage. The rib cage expands as the diaphragm contracts, and the ribs return inward as the diaphragm relaxes.

  • Finally, shift your attention to your lower back. Notice that as you inhale, the back rises and as you exhale, the back falls. Soften your back muscles and allow the breath to flow without resistance. This is a particularly relaxing sensation, and you may find that it helps relieve lower back tension that is otherwise difficult to release.

  • To deepen the breath even further, you might wish to try the following experiment. At the end of the exhalation, breathe out a little more than usual by continuing to press the abdomen toward the spine. Then, as you slowly inhale, soften the muscles of the lower back and abdomen, and let the back rise and expand. You may feel as if the lower back is being stretched by the deep inhalation. Repeat the extra exhalation and the expanded inhalation for three to five breaths, until you become accustomed to the feeling of the deep inhalation. Then return to your normal exhalation—but continue to let the lower back expand as you inhale. Your breath will feel slower and deeper.

  • Remain resting in the crocodile pose for a total of seven to ten minutes. Feel the breath around the entire periphery of your midsection—front, sides, and back. Your breathing will become extremely relaxed. When you are refreshed, come out of the posture slowly, creating a smooth transition back to normal breathing.

  Observing the Exhalation

  During the practice of breathing exercises, it is likely that you will give more attention to sensations associated with inhalation than those with exhalation. This is quite natural, but it leads us to ask, when the muscles of inhalation have completed their work, what makes the air flow out of the lungs? The answer requires careful self-observation.

  Sit erect once more and return to the feeling of relaxed breathing. You will notice that the exhalation naturally follows the end of the inhalation and is relatively passive. There are no muscles in the lungs to make air flow out, yet the lu
ngs seem to contract spontaneously. Why?

  The answer to this puzzle lies in the natural elasticity of the lungs. After they have been stretched, they want to return to their original shape. They do so on their own, with very little additional muscular effort. For just this reason, when you sink into an easy chair at the end of a tiring day, you let go of the tensions you have accumulated in your muscles and exhale.

  Contraction of abdominal muscles forces air out of the lungs.

  Forceful Exhalations

  Before leaving the subject of exhalation, we should note the difference between passive exhalations and forceful ones. If you are inflating a balloon, clearing a bug from your throat, or playing a flute, exhalation becomes dramatically more active. These exhalations result from forceful contractions of abdominal muscles. As the abdominal muscles are contracted, they press against the abdominal organs. The organs, in turn, are squeezed upward against the diaphragm, pushing it against the base of the lungs. As this chain reaction continues, the lungs are compressed and the breath is forcibly expelled.