One of the easiest ways to improve both your mental and physical health is cultivating the practice of mindful breathing, also called breath awareness. This practice can be incorporated in our daily life to create a sanctuary within us. For centuries now, individuals from every culture have been drawn to the practice of breath awareness. In India, breath awareness is practiced through the yogic system and call it ‘pranayama’. ‘Prana-’ means life force, or you can say ‘chi’, ‘qi’ in Chinese, ‘ki’ in Japanese or ‘pneuma’ by the Greeks, and ‘holy spirit’ in the Bible. Similarly, there is the practice of watchfulness by early Christian teachers. There is a universal energy that flows in currents in and around the body.
By practicing breath awareness, we can calm our racing thoughts in our mind and become more mindfully in the present moment. By concentrating or putting attention on our breath, we are able to settle our thoughts. The best part of breath awareness is that it can be practiced anytime. For example, you can watch your breath while washing the dishes, taking a shower, or walking in nature.
Our emotions affect the way we breathe and our breath affects our emotions. Our breath is faster when feeling anxious or angry, but slower and deeper when you feel calm and peaceful. The next time you feel anxious, try taking a few deep slow conscious breaths and see how you feel. To raise our energies from states of fear, anger, worry, or jealously, we need to raise our ‘prana’ through conscious breathing so that we can experience the feelings of love, peace, and joy.
By breathing deeply, we can heal our bodies and shift our consciousness to higher levels of vibrations. Breath awareness helps us to relax and welcome our most authentic self. We learn to accept our thoughts, feelings, and every aspect of our being without judgment. Breathing awareness can be implemented by practicing various breathing techniques. For example, a breathing technique called “Ujjayi” or Victorious breath. It’s also known as Oceanic breath that can help energize as well as calm our bodies at the same time. There are many benefits to this practice including increased oxygen levels in the body, relieve tension, regulate blood pressure, detoxify the body/ mind, increase energy levels, and feelings of the presence of the mind. Here is a link to the video I made explaining how to practice Ujjayi breath: 2 Minute Guided Meditation with Dhara
