EXPERIENCING OUR BODY & BREATHING

Right from our birth, we are strongly conditioned to make use of our body and breathing for various actions and activities.

We have learnt how to sit, stand, walk, run, jump, manipulate things with hands, how to speak, sing, etc.

EXPERIENCING OUR BODY & BREATHING

However, we seldom spend any time to experience our body and breathing and remain in their awareness.

In yoga, there is the doctrine of “Five Bodies” (Sharira) or “Five Sheaths of the Consciousness” (Pancha Koshas).

Awareness of body and breathing constitute two bodies or sheaths.

EXPERIENCING OUR BODY & BREATHING

I want you to “Experience” your natural and spontaneous breathing for some time in a comfortable relaxed body position and then some of you to narrate the nature of your “Experience of Breathing”, if possible.

It will be very useful for you to have a good introduction to the study and practice of “Pranayama”.

EXPERIENCING OUR BODY & BREATHING

Start “Experiencing” your breathing.

What did you “Experience” as Breathing?

Can some of you narrate your “Experiences” in a group situation?

EXPERIENCING OUR BODY & BREATHING

Usually, beginners experience difficulty in experiencing breathing.

They can not differentiate between “Breath” and “Breathing”.

EXPERIENCING OUR BODY & BREATHING

I also passed through the same difficulty.

Therefore, I am asking this question to the participants in my seminar on Breathing and Pranayama.

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Experiencing Breathing Movements

• You are given a sheet of paper with the “Front and Side Views” of the Torso to enter your internal experiential observations. • Those who do not have pens, will work mentally.• We will begin with the “Front View” of the torso.

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Experiencing Trunk (Body) movements related with Normal Breathing.

• Put the palms of your hands on the sides of the trunks at the level of the stomach.

• Continue with natural breathing without any kind of voluntary modification.

• As far as possible, keep your eyes closed while experiencing these movements.

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Experiencing Trunk (Body) movements related with Normal Breathing.

• Most of us will start experiencing movements of the trunk related with breathing.

• Recognize the direction of these movements during Inspiration and Expiration.

• Enter your Internal Experiential Observations in relation to inspiration in the front view of the torso at the level of the stomach.

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Experiencing Trunk (Body) movements related with Normal Breathing.

• Usually, we observe that the stomach wall is moving

“Outwards during Inspiration”, and

“Inwards during Expiration”.

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Experiencing Trunk (Body) movements related with Normal Breathing.

• You will realize that the terms, “Inspiration and Expiration” are related with the movement of air; and NOT with the movement of the body as experienced by you just now. • The body is moving outwards during Inspiration and inwards during expiration.

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Experiencing Trunk (Body) movements related with Normal Breathing.

• Now, put the hands on the sides of the chest wall and repeat the same procedure.

• Most of us will experience body movements related with breathing in these areas also.

• Examine the direction of these movements during Inspiration and Expiration as before. • Enter your findings in the figure.

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Experiencing Trunk (Body) movements related with Normal Breathing.

Now, put the hands on the iliac crests at the pelvic level and repeat the same procedure.

Enter your findings in the figure.

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Experiencing Trunk (Body) movements related with Normal Breathing.

• Most of us will realize that the breathing movements are “not uniform” everywhere.

• There are no movements in certain areas.

• Therefore, try to “Quantify” these movements as +, ++, +++ where present and just ‘X’ where absent.

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Experiencing Trunk (Body) movements related with Normal Breathing.

Now, put the hands on the front and the back sides of the stomach and repeat the same procedure.

Look for the presence or absence of breathing movements on both sides, their directions and quantifications.

Enter your findings in the figure.

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Experiencing Trunk (Body) movements related with Normal Breathing.

Similarly work at the level of the Chest and the Pelvis on the front and the back sides.

Make your observations in respect of the presence and/or absence of the breathing movements in the front and the back sides.

Enter your findings in the figure.30

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Experiencing Breathing Movements without the help of the hands Keep your breathing as natural and spontaneous as possible for you. Experience breathing movements in all the areas where we had used our hands. Make a mental note of your observations. You can also draw the two figures and enter your findings.

Experiencing Breathing Movements without the help of the hands.

Do you feel any difference between the two modes of experiencing breathing movements:

1. With the help of the hands, and 2. Without the help of the hands??

• What is the difference, if any??

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