The Art of Breathing

Wisdom Teachings
The Journey Inside

Air continuously streams in and out of our bodies. As long as we are alive, we breathe – without being conscious of it. Breathing is an occurrence, like the beating of the heart, the circulation of the blood, or the chemistry of the liver. These occurrences take place as opposed to our actions. Mainly, we think about actions, because we constantly do think or talk or are otherwise occupied with the senses and the body. Breathing opens a doorway to the more subtle areas of our existence.

As man progresses into the Aquarian Age, which relates to air and space, teaching about breathing will gain greater importance. This teaching of the Ageless Wisdom has nothing to do with dogma or religions, but rather contains knowledge about functional principles that do not depend on language, ethnicity, or religion. These principles work in us and all creation equally. The teaching describes the various aspects of the work with breathing and provides us with a technique to work with the principles in order to free us from matter and to help us transcend.

By doing these breathing exercises, we observe the movement of our breathing for a certain time. If we do this for five to ten minutes, we will experience something very particular. There is nothing to understand in this, but after one week, after one or two months, we will have the taste of something that others do not have. We will notice that when we speak, it is our voice that speaks, and we will start to listen to it. We will develop an inner stability and a detached attitude toward the outer world. Conscious, rhythmical breathing supplies the etheric body with energy and strengthens our physical health.

People have a high opinion about physical exercises as a means to maintain well-being. They jog and do other exercises, yet they fall ill despite the purest diet and the most healthy habits. Physical exercises do not compare to a continual working with breathing, because subtle effects are much more powerful than physical ones. Those who regularly work with breathing fall ill very rarely and benefit from surpassing health and strength.

By doing breathing exercises, the body adopts a particular rhythm that enables us to reach the soul through the personality. When we focus on breathing, we give attention to an effect of the soul; thus, we come continually closer to her. It is not the physical form that breathes, but the soul. She is in ongoing rhythmical meditation. Her pulsation maintains respiration and the life of the form. The soul’s pulsation continues even after the death of the body. Hence, we continue our conscious living when we connect with this pulsation.

Pulsation is the subtle aspect of breathing, and the subtle aspect of air is called Prana. The element of air builds a bridge between the detached and the oceanic consciousness. Inhaling brings the divine man and also the life principle in form of oxygen to us. Exhaling forces out of us carbon dioxide, which stops the flow of life. Deep breathing oxygenates the blood, calls more subtle matter into the body, and forces gross matter out of it. We should ensure that our speech is good, our mouth clean, and the passage from the nostrils to the lungs is free.

Prana is transmitted to living beings by the sun center through air. Man mainly absorbs it through the sacral center and a center between the shoulders. If these centers are exposed to sun and air during the hours of dawn and dust, we can receive much life energy.

When doing the exercises, we should breathe slowly, softly, deep, and evenly. When the breathing is not soft enough, the subtle fire in the air can cause ulcers on the bridge of the nose and in the throat. Also, we should not breathe through the mouth. Only people who are not healthy breathe through the mouth. The tongue should rest against the palatal, without touching the teeth, and the teeth should not touch. This enables a relaxed state. We can also close the mouth that way for the rest of the day. In a person whose tongue tends to rest on the lower jaw, we can see excessive animal tendencies. In an advanced person, who aligns with the subtler energies, the natural position of the tongue is a resting at the palatal.

The exercise for conscious breathing is a process of equalization between the inner and outer man and is different from Pranayama. Oftentimes, breathing exercises are falsely called Pranayama exercises. Pranayama, however, is regulated Prana and the result of the exercises with breathing. There are five Prana pulsations, and when all five aspects are regulated so that a synthesis is the result, this is called Pranayama.

The one Prana, which enters the body, divides into five Pranas. The first Prana principle is called Prana. It functions in us as inhalation and supplies the body with oxygen. It operates in the area between the Ajna center and the heart center. The second principle is called Apana, exhalation. It operates from the solar plexus to the tips of the toes. When it is well regulated, the lower body is healthy. The third principle, Samana, keeps the balance between Prana and Apana. It operates in the area between solar plexus and heart. To achieve this balance is one of the main goals of the breathing exercise. The fourth Prana, Udhana, belongs to the spiritual part of man and reaches from the tip of the nose to the crown of the head. When this Prana is activated, the brain functions extraordinarily well. The fifth principle, Vyana, flows through the entire body’s meridians, which run through the nervous system. It is the fulfilling life force that streams through everything.

When all five pulsations are active, the energies rise to the brow center and we experience the etheric existence: we notice that we exist in a body of golden light, even when the body of flesh and blood dies.

When doing exercises, we should sit comfortably and focus our attention on breathing. The first step is to observe inhaling and exhaling for a while – without holding our breath or pausing. The mind stops to generate too many thoughts, except for the thoughts that relate to breathing. This leads us to the neutralization of in/exhalation where we experience the resonance of the pulsation in the cave of the heart, e.g. at the tip of the midriff. When this resonance is felt from the hear to the throat center, we can move on to the second step: to stop inhaling without stopping to exhale. However, we should not be in a hurry to turn to advanced stages as long as the first step is not experienced distinctively. Later, when the resonance progresses upward, we can begin to work with the stopping of exhalation. This will push the pulsation even further upward to achieve the touching of the soul.

While inhaling and exhaling, we should travel through all centers, from the bridge of the nose to the base center. It is a traveling observation, but not a permanent concentration. The idea behind this is that we become conscious of the existence of the subtle tissues of the body. This way, we can experience them, which enables their power to work through us.

When breathing, we should observe how the inhalation changes into exhalation at a certain point and vice versa. We should try to be focused at each point, but not to cling on to either one.

As soon as we can exercise this with ease, we forget the process itself and enter into the inner worlds. When we listen to inhalation carefully, we can hear the sound SO; with exhalation, we hear HAM. SO-HAM means SAHA-AHAM, “This, I am.” It is the double-sound of the pulsation. To listen to this double-sound of the pulsating principle is called the meditation of the soul. This is the basic work. If we do it regularly for several years, Prana becomes regulated and we enter into our center.

Sources used: K.P. Kumar: On Healing / Hercules / notes from seminars. The World Teacher Trust - Dhanishta, Visakhapatnam, India.