Mindful breath
Mindful Breath: Why it matters and why you may want to start!
By Christine LaMonica, M.S., ERYT-500, CSCS
You may have heard of mindful breathing or even the term mindfulness, but what is it and why should you care? Mindful breathing is an aspect of the more general mindfulness. Mindful breathing is, like it sounds, being mindful, or aware, of the breath. We’re breathing all the time without thinking about it so it may seem odd to intentionally pay attention to it if you’re not exercising or doing physical yoga, but mindfulness of the breath can be a powerful tool as we navigate life.
The breath is an essential part of the yoga practice, so I think it’s safe to say the ancient yogis understood the importance of the breath even if they didn’t have the scientific studies to back them up like we do now. Many of the breath practices in yoga involve manipulating or changing the breath in some way, and while these methods are very effective, no breath manipulation is needed to get the stress relieving, mind focusing, calming effects of mindful breathing.
Mindful breathing is very simple, but not easy to maintain. Begin by bringing your attention to the breath. Allowing the breath to flow naturally, see if you can pay attention to every part of the breath, from the beginning of the inhale to the end of the exhale. Practice feeling the physical sensations, hearing the sounds of the breath, noticing the shifting sensations and sounds as the breath flows in and out. As you attempt this, you may notice that the mind will almost immediately move away from the breath and to your thoughts. So here it is, the heart of the practice: staying with the breath and then noticing when you’re not. Noticing the endless distractions of the mind and returning to the breath… this is the work and it also provides the biggest gift of this practice – moksha.
Moksha is liberation! Freedom from the burden of the endless train of thoughts. They are the source of our suffering and too often taken for truth simply because they dared to enter our consciousness and be known. We’re so quickly captured by our thoughts, but we don’t have to be. Mindful breathing allows us to take a break from our thoughts, to get out of the stream of fantasies and assumptions and to tune into what is real, what is right here and right now, and when we do that, we start to make some space for ourselves apart from our thoughts. We start to realize that we do have the option to step back from our thoughts, to start to see them for what they are – tools, not truths. This space is where we find relief from stress and anxiety, where we can take a deep breath and realize that we are fine, we’re good and everything is exactly as it should be. Everything is unfolding just so. It’s only the mind who thinks things are a problem. Once we are able to make this space for ourselves simply by dropping into the breath, we can relieve our daily stresses, anxiety and even the physical pain that may arise during the day. You don’t even have to be good at it! Start right where you are. Your mind will wander, it’s OK. The practice is really to notice! And then return. Even if it feels like a total failure, it isn’t. You’ve begun a practice that is going to bring such amazing benefit to your life and all you have to do is breathe.