Article: Breathing for Life

Breathing for Life
A healing, empowering meditation

Our breath is our life.

This meditation involves concentrating on the breath, in a particular way. We breathe all the time, but usually don't pay attention. By taking charge of breathing, we can take charge of our thoughts, emotions, choices.

It's easy to do. You can do it any time, anywhere, for one breath or for an hour. It will energize you, calm you, clear your mind, fill you with confidence. A good meditation for those who seek to align themselves with the deity of love and justice and peace.

Step I- power breathing

You need to know a bit of anatomy. When you breathe through your nose, most of the air goes, of course, down the back of your throat into the larynx and thence to the lungs. A bit of the oxygen, however, can travel along the olfactory nerves (smell nerves) through the cribriform plate (a piece of bone full of tiny holes through which the smell nerves pass to reach the brain), directly to the frontal lobe of the brain. This oxygen feeds the brain cells directly, not even traveling through the blood stream.

When you take a breath that goes to the top of your nasal passage - you'll feel the coolness near the bridge of your nose- you are sending oxygen to the frontal lobe of your brain. This is the master lobe, which plans, initiates, monitors your actions. You are feeding the higher functions of your brain with oxygen, fanning the flames, as it were.

A Seneca friend tells me his people call it "power breathing".

This is why incense is used as an aid to prayer and meditation.

This is why creativity is also called "in-spiration"- breathing in.

Step 2- Attitude of gratitude

The word "spirit" means breath. Our breath is our life.

We did not make ourselves. There is an intelligence, a Creator, which set off the Big Bang, and made the laws of gravity and e=mc2, and started life, and made the laws of evolution, and us. The Creator also makes consciousness.

Another word for God is Great Spirit, Great Breath; or Holy Spirit, Holy Breath. Our breath is our life. Life is a gift from the Creator of all beings, all life. We should be thankful.

As we power breathe, if we take the oxygen into our frontal lobes with an attitude of gratitude to the Giver of life, we put ourselves in a frame of mind to receive in-spiration.

Enjoy the fresh air sweeping the cobwebs from your brain.

Marvel that it's so simple to do, so direct.

Thank the Sender of this pleasure.

No matter how depressed you are, or how vile your circumstances, be thankful for the gift of life.

Step 3- Activating the control center.

The center of control in the brain is the pineal gland, which the yogis call the Third Eye. Send the oxygen of your breath to this gland.

"The Pineal Gland is about the size of a pea, and is in the exact center of the brain, in a tiny cave behind and above the pituitary gland which lies a little behind the root of the nose. It is located directly behind the eyes, attached to the third ventricle.

The true function of this mysterious gland has long been contemplated by philosophers and Spiritual Adepts. Ancient Greeks believed the pineal gland to be our connection to the Realms of Thought.

Rene Descartes called it the Seat of the Soul, believing it is unique in the anatomy of the human brain in being a structure not duplicated on the right and left sides. This observation is not true, however; under a microscope one finds the pineal gland is divided into two fine hemispheres.

This gland is activated by Light, and it controls the various biorhythms of the body. It works in harmony with the hypothalamus gland which directs the body's thirst, hunger, sexual desire and the biological clock that determines our aging process."
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As you direct your breath to the third eye, thank the Giver of life, the Creator, for providing you with intelligence, for sharing intelligence with you, for giving your individual self a control center to guide your life, and a means to stimulate it with your breath. Thank Spirit, as you send oxygen to you pineal gland.

As you align your control center with the Creator, you will feel peace and harmony with all beings, with all of creation. You will gain confidence, knowing that a divine intelligence is guiding you, through your breathing.

Step 4- Breathing out

After breathing in, and stimulating the pineal gland with your breath, you are ready to breathe out. In breathing out, we are expelling waste products and toxins from our bodies. These tend to accumulate in the deeper parts of our lungs, so in order to really get rid of them, we have to fully empty the lungs.

This is done by squeezing the abdominal muscles, as hard as possible, in order to move the diaphragm up as high as possible. Try to touch your belly button to your spine. Good for the abs, too.

With normal, fairly shallow breathing, we neither stimulate our brain or get rid of all the CO2 and other byproducts of our metabolism. The expiration part of power breathing cleans our lungs thoroughly, so we are ready to take in plenty of fresh air.

Step 5 - Listening to the breath

Power breathing makes a sound, two sounds actually- breathe in, breathe out. Listen to the sound your breathing makes. This will focus your attention and turn off the chatter of your mind. You will Be Here Now, present in the here and now. You are a living, breathing animal, a living breathing human being, and the sound of your breath is one of many sounds you can hear. Listen, listen, to your life.

The swamis say: prayer = you talk, God listens. Meditation = God talks, you listen. Listen to the God within you as you listen to your breath. Listen to the sustainer of life, your breath.

New and higher thoughts will replace your everyday worries. You will be filled with wisdom, and understanding. You will gain clarity about right and wrong, and renewed motivation and energy for action. You will be eager to do Creator's work, which, these days, is bringing our planet back into alignment, so that life can continue.

The Creator tells us to choose life, so breathe.

Step 6- inner verbalization

The two sounds of the breath make the actual name of God- Yah- Weh, Al- lah, Brah-man, Budd-ha, in whatever language or culture you choose. By hearing the name of God as you breathe, you are creating a mantra with your breathing. This replaces your thoughts with a deeper awareness of the Creator.

By verbalizing, you are activating the parietal lobe of the brain, the speech/hearing/writing part of your brain, and the benefit of power breathing is spreading throughout your consciousness. Your verbal thoughts are becoming aligned with the Creator.

Step 7- Self-awareness

Yah-weh in Hebrew means "I am who I am" or "I am who I will be". It is the name of the deity within, the part of ourselves that is in touch with the universal Self, the connector or yoke (yoga) between the ego and the Big I AM.

The sounds of the breath make the name of Yah-weh, our human potential, our ability to grow and change, to become like "potter's clay" to allow ourselves to purified, perfected.

Listen to the name of the Creator, of your higher self, as you breathe in and out, as you activate your third eye, as you rid your body of impurities. Realize who you really are. Align yourself with the God of love, justice, peace and harmony. You will be filled with spiritual power.

Now that you are empowered, let's save the planet!

In the name of the Prince of Peace,

Carol Wolman, MD
Board Certified in Psychiatry
AKA Shri Kamala Devi