Breath Challenge: Week #1 Review

Breath Challenge: Week #1 Review

Here are some of the themes and techniques we discussed & practiced in classes during the first week of this challenge….

Thanks for your interest, queries, and thoughts during this first week of the Breath Challenge. We primarily did short practicums in classes and then discussed some of the theory and philosophy thereafter. Here are some of the highlights:

• Meditation can be hard, and harnessing the mind can be difficult, but we all can breathe. And just by closely monitoring our respirations we can gain control of the mind and prepare ourselves for a deeper meditation experience.
• The unique aspect about the breath is that it is the linking point between the physical and mental bodies. Although essentially a physical process, our breath is uniquely linked with the mind. The slower we breathe, the calmer the mind becomes.
• The physical process of breathing is a tool to harness the ever-elusive, invisible mind. In turn, the mind controls the entire glandular and hormonal systems and serves as the launching pad to the spiritual realm. So the breath has a very key role to play in renewing ourselves, in all realms.
• One of the simplest ways to begin any breath work is to simply slow down the exhalation, ultimately aiming for the exhalation to be twice or three times the duration of the inhalation.
• Another key element is to insert a spacer in between the inhalation and exhalation. This period of pause, or retention of breath, is known as kumbhak in Sanskrit. Try and reside within that state of kumbhak for a short or moderate duration. This can help in cultivating a greater sense of contentment and peace.

And no doubt there we many more things we discussed so the above is a general review.

Looking forward to embarking on week #2 with all of you!!

Photo Credit: Laura Kramer of Bohemian Studios

Note: Laura’s plan is to use the above image as source material for a painting…

…stay tuned!!