Is Deep Breathing Enough?
Is deep breathing enough?
This is a question I've been contemplating and recently discussed with a colleague, yogi and friend.
With the external pressures of seeing, hearing and knowing so much, too much, the accelerated pace of modern society (something I've been talking about for 20 years, and considering I'm still relatively young, I think I could confidently say it has been building for much longer), the constant push to be faster, busier and better, and now, we humans trying to keep up with and even meet the pace of artificial intelligence, it feels obvious what this is doing to us internally.
Don't get me wrong. Deep breathing is important. Learning to breathe consciously, using the breath to bring the mind back to presence and redirecting the outward flow of the senses inward are life skills we benefit from cultivating.They are important stepping stones, and ones we need to continue teaching ourselves and future generations.
However, I've come to realize that, at the crux of this era of fragmentation, a few mindful breaths don't always seem sufficient to restore the swinging pendulum. They can offer a temporary pause, but the deeper patterns often remain, and thus they resurface again and again.
And, if I want to be really honest, when I've been in deep crisis, deep breathing alone did not save me. It was stepping stone, one that I already had in place, but it did not provide lasting restoration and rehabilitation on its own. It was not enough to create the deep change I needed.
And when I look at the world around me. When I connect with the students who come to me seeking support, change and, at times, relief from a place of desperation, deep breathing alone has not sufficed.It's easy to return to the same patterns when the next life experience arrives.
So what does it take to create a more lasting sense of restoration and equilibrium?This is where the depth of traditional Yoga becomes especially relevant.Within the yogic tradition, we work not only with the physical body, but also with the subtle body (prāṇa, nāḍīs, cakras, mind!!!). These dimensions of our being are interconnected. In fact, the quality of the subtle body informs our physical experience of health and well-being.
Though, breath is a doorway into this deeper work, it is not usually the entire process.
When our Yoga directly engages the subtle body (remember, that is systems like prāṇa, nāḍīs, cakras, mind!) we are able to work more deeply on the patterns within, moving beyond a temporary feeling of balance or calm to initiate more lasting change from the inside out.
This is really Yoga as an Upāya , a means or method and in this context a remedy. It speaks to the greater intention behind all my classes.
In my online classes, we're able to work with this process more intently through a progressive approach, allowing us to build and enhance the cultivation.
You'll notice that I always incorporate mantra in my classes in some way or another. Why? Mantra is a way of working directly with the subtle body (if you know how to use it) and it deeply influences the subconscious mind.Which is a key to dismantling our repetitive patterns and restoring the nourishment that is our inherent nature.My next online series begins this week: You can join live or via recording.
Cultivating Śrī: The Cushion in a Polarized World
5 week Live Online + Recorded Hatha Yoga Flow, mantra and sacred sound.
When: Wednesdays October 28 to November 25Time: 9:00–10:00 am MST.Join live on Zoom or practise with the recordings.
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