Breath of Life

I started my yoga practice in 1971 when I was twenty-one years old. Although healthy overall, I had suffered from both allergies and asthma since childhood, and assumed it was something I would just have to deal with for the rest of my life. One of the new things I learned from my yoga instructors, however, was a series of breathing exercises called pranayama (life force).

Gary, 25 years old, in scorpion pose

After a year of regular practice, I noticed dramatic results from my breathing program. Not only was I calmer and more focused, but my seasonal allergies had decreased and I no longer experienced asthmatic episodes. Now, forty years later, I am a perfectly healthy 61 year-old with an abundance of energy. I wake before six each morning and, except for meditation and meal breaks, run non-stop until almost 11 o'clock. Others sometimes have trouble keeping up with me, a fact to which my thirty-two year old assistant will gladly attest.

A human being can live without food for many weeks, and we can survive days without water. Without oxygen, however, a person can live for only a few minutes. This simple comparison illustrates why breathing is so important - to breathe is to live.

I have taught numerous eight week courses on ‘Yogic Breathing Exercises,' and I invariably chuckle when people ask me why they need to pay for a course on breathing; “I’ve been breathing since I was born. Why do I need this?"

The answer may surprise you.

The lungs can hold up to 12 pints (about 6 liters) of air. And although some of that is residual air that is not exhaled, do you have any idea what the average inhalation may be? The average person inhales and exhales one to two pints of air with each breath. That’s right, a mere 10% of the amount of oxygen necessary to promote the proper reproduction of cells and maintain the health of the body.

Furthermore, too little oxygen means a higher concentration of carbon dioxide in the blood stream, causing the blood to be acidic. The medical doctors with whom I've worked have informed me that almost all diseases are caused from a sustained imbalance in the degree of acidity/alkalinity in the blood. Without enough oxygen in the blood, stress and fatigue break down a person’s immune system. Given that our society values work and productivity over relaxation and balance, it's no wonder that we have so many people who are experiencing physical and emotional problems.

Acidic blood also triggers the "fight or flight" reaction in the brain. This condition causes the adrenal glands to splash adrenalin into the blood stream, causing our bodies to react as if we were under attack. Remember how it feels when someone cuts you off on the freeway? While purely speculative, a constant state of adrenal agitation leads me to question if this might be one of the many contributing factors in the amount of violence we read and hear about every day.

Conversely, when you train yourself to take deeper breaths and longer exhalations (yogic breathing), the oxygen levels in the blood increases, creating more alkalinity in our bodies. This activates a center in the brain that produce the relaxation response. This center is in the brain's frontal lobe, an area that controls decision-making. In order to make appropriate decisions in our life this center has to activated. Stress unfortunately deactivates this center! I think we all know at least one person who continues to make bad choices (each time expecting different results) in their life. Check out their shallow breaths!

The breathing techniques found in yoga can literally change your life. One need only imagine what a different society we would live in if only we taught our children how to handle stress by employing a few simple breathing exercises rather than harmful activities like drinking, smoking, and turning to bad food choices for comfort. Too much carbon dioxide is poisonous to the human body, and I find it an apt, but a sad metaphor that our planet is now experiencing the same problem- excessive carbon dioxide emissions continue to contribute to global warming. Yoga encourages us to decrease our carbon footprint, only this one is inside our physical body!

Yogic breathing trains an individual to increase oxygen levels by using more of our lungs' capacity. Our nervous system strengthens, our digestion improves, and the cells in our body repair and reproduce themselves correctly. More oxygen means more energy. This permits us to experience life in a more relaxed, dynamic and productive manner. After teaching more than 60,000 yoga, breathing and meditation classes I have observed that clients who include a regular breathing program in their daily routine soon discover that their body is healthier, their mind is clearer, and they are much better at coping with the challenges and stresses of daily life.

There is one important point to make concerning the Breath of Life. With only a few exceptions, yogic breathing relies on the use of the nose. Mouth breathing weakens the immune system, one of the reasons for this is because it fails to stimulate the five cranial nerves located on the ceiling of the nasal cavity. These nerve centers are essential to our appreciation of the subtle, invisible pleasures offered by life. The most well-known, of course, is the olfactory nerve, which gives us the sense of smell. Just imagine the last time you smelled something you liked. Whether it was a rose, the scent of a fresh-cooked meal, or the full breaths you take upon reaching the beach, you inhaled deeply, allowing your brain to fully appreciate the smell. When it came to designing the human body, Mother Nature did an amazing job.

Breathing through the nose also regulates our emotions, the science of yoga teaches that every smell has a corresponding emotion. You can see these in how the nose responds to different situations. When we are angry the nostrils flare, when in your lovers arms both nostrils open widely, in deep meditation the slightest stuffy nose disappears, and when we cry our nostrils become clogged. Using the techniques that have been passed down for thousands of years, we are able to keep out bodies and minds in balance by paying attention to the cues from our body. Thus allowing us to expertly navigate through the emotional landscape of our life.

Try this simple Three Part Breathing technique:

1. Take a slow deep breath (using your nose of course) as you puff out your abdomen, then expanding your rib cage, and finally feel the air reaching up to your shoulders.

2. Exhale very slowly in the opposite direction: shoulders, rib cage and end by pulling your tummy in.

3. Repeat this for three to five minutes.

If you begin to feel light headed it means the oxygen levels are increasing and the carbon dioxide levels are decreasing. Over time your body will recognize this as normal. Practice this yoga breathing exercise twice a day for a week and notice the results.

I often joke with my students about how wonderful it would be if our parents had received an owner’s manual as soon as we were born. And there, on the first page, in bold letters, would read:

This manual contains all the information necessary to allow your child to remain healthy and emotionally balanced for their entire life. Therefore, please read and memorize chapter one entitled: Breath of Life!

Gary, 61 years old, in king dancer's pose