Conscious breathing : The role of breath in spiritual practice with meditation

“Your breathing should flow gracefully, like a river, like a water snake crossing the water, and not like a chain of rugged mountains or the gallop of a horse. To master our breath is to be in control of our bodies and minds”
– Thich Naht Hahn 

“Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is,
But neither arrest nor movement. And do not call it fixity,
Where past and future are gathered. Neither movement from nor towards,
Neither ascent nor decline. Except for the point, the still point,
There would be no dance, and there is only the dance’’

Extract from TS Elliot’s poem – The still point of the turning world.

For me the still point of the turning world is the transition time between breathing in – inspiration and breathing out – expiration. Within the subtle change from in-breath to out-breath in meditation practice, notice the pause. This point of time, as TS Elliot’s poem suggests, is not fixity but the result of the dynamic ebb and flow of your breath. The pause is not doing anything except being noticed/reflecting your inner being and you not doing anything except for noticing ‘breath breathing itself.’

Just becoming AWARE of your breath and saying silently to yourself ‘I am breathing IN – I am breathing OUT’ calms the body and mind and is called a concentration meditation. Set an alarm for the time you intend to finish with 1 or 2 minutes to start, building up to 10 minutes.

I found the practice of silent meditation challenging during a 10-day silent Goenka retreat, whether in concentration form or vipassana (insight meditation). In Vipassana meditation, you find a phrase, an inquiry or a memory and drop it into the deep pool of stillness of the pond. You may notice the ripples spreading outwards from the centre until the pool is still again. Return to noticing the breath practice of noticing your breath meditation. Notice what arrives in the movement as the ripples move through the deep silence!

Inside us, there’s a breathing rhythm that brings about calm and reduces the I or the Ego of personality rather than the true Essence of your doing and being who you meant to be.

Breath behaviour changes state. A fast upper chest style rhythm can deliberately bring you to action or reaction and is called being in sympathetic rather than parasympathetic dominance. The diaphragm cannot now function fully, and many people go on over-breathing, resulting in low carbon dioxide levels. The low End-tidal carbon dioxide is shown in real-time by using the Better Physiology CapnotrainerGO. More information can be obtained on this via myself dbeales126@gmail.com or at www.betterphysiology.com. The educational applications of using capnography are run periodically in the UK. For instance poor exam performance despite good knowledge or unexplained physical and emotional symptoms are often accompanied by over breathing. Disturbed buffering in the body after excessive exercise with over-breathing can result in poor performance. You can read more about buffering here.

Low carbon dioxide (ET CO2) levels occur particularly if the individual is affected by unresolved trauma. Many find that this YouTube video showing how to notice and practice the experience of different breathing styles is important. Finding the felt sense of diaphragmatic movement, using the diaphragm effortlessly is essential.

Research has shown convincingly that the upper chest becomes dominant in a panic attack. Associate Professor Alicia Meuret confirmed in her research that about 2 hours before a panic attack there is a significant drop in C02 – associated with the breathing behaviour – but not in the clients’ awareness read more here. Meuret has shown consistent improvement with anxiety by giving clients handheld capnometers and teaching the client how to obtain an optimal breathing style. My preference is the very portable Better Physiology Capnotrainer of which the GO is the latest model to demonstrate carbon dioxide levels and change these responses. A detailed user manual can be obtained from Better Physiology authored by Dr Peter Litchfield Ph.D.

Many people who have been traumatised by accidents, and abuse in childhood, whether emotional or physical, revert to learned dysfunctional breath habits, when encountering similar breath responses in the present. This can be shown convincingly when carbon dioxide levels are tracked in real-time on a training capnometer. When encountering similar changes to this over-breathing style accompanied by breathing the term denoting reduced carbon dioxide levels.

Carbon dioxide, at the end-tidal still-point of the breathing cycle, goes down quickly – (over breathing- hyperventilation, or hypocapnia are all terms that result in fallen/falling carbon dioxide levels).

When in hypocapnia the effect is widespread within the whole body, particularly for small blood vessels – capillaries and arterioles lined with smooth muscle. The effect increases peripheral resistance and induces hypertension. As a result, more blood supply to the muscles for fight or flee is provided by filling large blood vessels that allow escape from the fearful trigger. This is caused by the fall in CO2 as it goes down narrowing the millions of small blood vessels in the skin and large organs of the body. The changes of End tidal CO2 can be measured accurately with the ‘Capnotrainer Go’ available now from Better Physiology. The other main effect is to reduce blood supply to the brain. For each 1 mm reduction, from a normal level of 35 to 40 mm of Mercury, we lose 1% of available oxygen.  (Bohr Effect.)

We can deliberately slow the breath rate to the optimal of 6 breaths per minute and induce calm and good thinking. If in addition, we slow the out breath by using pursed lips or ujjayi to slow the out breath as we breath out. And with the ratio of a silent count of 4 breathing in 6 breathing out we further induce calm. The effectiveness’s and the CO2 levels in the body and breath go up. Professor Daniel Siegel and his team are showomg that a breathing style with shorter inbreath and a longer outbreath accompanied by a sigh over 5 minutes changes mind/body reactions of anxiety into wellbeing and calm. Read more here.

Breathing behaviour is central to understanding and lowering anxiety.

It is no accident that the Psalms was sung in harmony at 6 breaths per minutes. 14^th century church services induced a state of calm and focus of attention on spirituality. This was discovered not by scientific testing, in these ancient times, but by the pure experience of listening quietly.

Science can now measure the calming effects of changing the breath deliberately and consciously for the benefit of the individual and respond well to disturbing challenges and life events.

 Put AWARE into the response

• Activating events triggers unwanted emotions and reactions.
• Watch yourself engage your diaphragm.
• Arousal level reduce. Your body uses the body scan relaxation method of your choice. We all need to stay calm and do no more harm to our often-mismanaged planet.
• Respiration slows.
• Enjoy Breathing well with flexibility which brings us back to the quotes from Buddhist monk THICH NAHT HAHN and Poet TS ELIOT.

Except for the point, the still point, there would be no dance, and there is only the dance.

Together in loving our neighbour as ourselves, meditation, calm thinking, and for some becoming vegetarian set the scene for spiritual awakening.

Are you up for the challenge of LOOKING MORE CLOSELY INTO YOUR OWN BREATHING PATTERNS?