Breathing in Spirit

It ranks among the great imponderables: Is there something deeper at the core of our being, something intrinsic and organic? Something even greater than our consciousness? What animates us into life as a newborn, and what leaves us at our death? How did we arrive at consciousness in this vast universe and where does it go when we die? How is it that, as humans, we can think about thinking, and actually act on our thoughts, performing our own little acts of creation?

Breathing’s reach most definitely extends into the spirit. Regardless of your faith or belief, there can be a profound spiritual aspect, or at least appreciation for, the fact that we are free-thinking, willful animated beings. The breath has been documented so often and so profoundly throughout man’s recorded history, and in so many deeply revered religious and spiritual texts. We humans hold the ability to be thoughtful, sentient, aware, insightful, curious, sensitive, creative. We can experience great, though often extremely personal, moments of clarity and focus, with the profound ability to dream and make those dreams reality.

Even if you are at the very of beginning of understanding the benefits your breath holds, chances are good that you have experienced some meditations or contemplations about you, the natural world, the universe, and your place in all of it. You may have acquired a new or renewed sense of the complexity of the human body, with its ability to continually rebuild and sustain itself; or the power of the mind and its ability to control physical function; or the heart and emotions, which dictate our state of being.

At the core, we hope you learn the value of mindful breathing as a way to bind all of these components together, and that its use not only creates simple “present” moments, the absolute here and now, but also powerful little pockets of dynamic opportunity and potential.

Beyond What We Can Seen
It’s imponderable to the point of madness, or nearly so, but it’s human nature to reach beyond what we can immediately see. Conscious breathing extends into the realm of our innate nature. Whether you’re a practicing Catholic or Methodist; devout Muslim or an Orthodox Jew; or a questioning agnostic, humanist, or atheist, at some point you will encounter some aspect of the human spirit, a glimmer of that which is not of our body. Just know that the breath, amazingly enough, is intrinsic to many of the world’s most venerable and revered religions, spiritual teachings, wisdoms and disciplines, and is well documented throughout man’s recorded history of these spiritual explorations.

We could easily devote several thousand pages to this study, but for our purposes here, it’s impractical. We trust that if your curiosity is sufficiently piqued, you’ll take it upon yourself to explore more of the world’s great religions and other sage teachings.

We can, however, show you how pervasive breath awareness is in this spiritual context, and its power in exploring a deeper, more spiritual you. We are absolutely ecumenical in our approach to religious and spiritual teachings. There is no absolute right or wrong way. To each his or her own path, we always say. But there is great fascination and a deeper understanding to behold when one stops and appreciates the simple fact that breathing carries significant weight in all of these doctrines and disciplines.

The concept espoused in the biblical words “. . . the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being” is not unique to the Bible. The breath plays an important role in nearly every spiritual tradition. As Deepak Chopra told us, “Every tradition in the world says that if you are aware of the breath and its power for mind and body, you’ll recognize that the breath is the force of the spirit as well. The word ‘inspiration’ means to inspire and when we’re inspired with the touch of spirit we also make the best use of our breath.”

Several languages use the same word for “breath” and “spirit”: pneuma in Greek, ruach in Hebrew, in Tibet it is called sugs, and prana in Sanskrit, for example. Many different traditions and languages share the perception of the nature of God or “God experiences” with a breathlike feeling. In Chinese, it is called chi, ki by the Japanese, ruh by the Sufi saints, and spiritus, the Latin word from which the English word spirit is derived. It shares the same meaning in all of these languages and diverse cultures. It is the breath of life. Many cultures and contemporary writings describe the experience of the divine as a “mysterious wind.”

Coincidence?

Mindful breaths return us to the present moment. In each breath, there is no regret or longing for yesterday, or conste
ation over how we’ll do tomorrow. It is here, it is now, and it is rife with potential.

As Sufi master Hidayat Inayat Khan said, “Breath is the most important power regulating the course of our lives; or in other words, breath is life itself. Therefore, those who ignore the mysteries of breath are regrettably deprived of the basic knowledge of life, from a scientific point of view as well as from the angle of spiritual insight. Either one has control over the breath, in which case one acquires a humble hold over the unknown, or one is unfortunately led by the uncontrolled power of one’s own life-giving breath.”