Have you skipped an exam question because you didn’t know the answer only to return it later and somehow the answer has become clear? Even though you moved on, in some back room, your brain continued to work on the puzzling question. Well, when I was around the age of 10 (I’m 55 now!), a question was posed to me that I’ve been gnawing on for the last 45ish years only to find an answer now.
Me and my age 10 best friend were immersed in some kind of existential conversation (as 10 year-olds do) when he posed the question in question. “If God is everywhere, where is he?” Mic drop. Brain freeze. Part of me stuck in 1979.
Already you may be thinking, wait a minute, why are you using the “G” word in a health and wellness blog post. Fair point but, how many health and wellness platforms promote, advertise, or share a vision of health in mind, body, and spirit. Have you ever wondered where the spirit is? To quote my young friend, Kerri, “Where’s God” (or some kind of spiritual substitute).
Jumping around in the gym, writing at my desk, reading books, immersing myself in the outdoors, I have come to an answer. (I’ll have to call Kerri!) God is the breath. No matter what I was doing, the breath / God was present. Call it Life, Universal Energy, Creator, Spirit or anything else, the label doesn’t matter. "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet."(Shakespeare, Romeo & Juliet)
In the words of Swami Rama (made famous for his ability to control automatic functions of the body like temperature, heart rate and brain waves while monitored under scientifically rigorous lab conditions), "our language demonstrates a natural awareness of this connection between the inspiration, expiration, and the vital energy necessary for life. When someone dies and the vital energy departs, we say that person has 'expired' … when someone experiences a surge of creativity; we say that person is 'inspired.'"
"our language demonstrates a natural awareness of this connection between the inspiration, expiration, and the vital energy necessary for life. When someone dies and the vital energy departs, we say that person has 'expired' … when someone experiences a surge of creativity; we say that person is 'inspired.'"
Swama Rama is not the first to recognize a direct connection between breath and spirit. Most ancient languages use the same word for air, wind or breath, as they do for life, vital energy, spirit, or the animating principle of life. Greek has Pneuma, Hebrew Ruach, Chinese Chi, Japanese Ki, Sanskrit Prana, and even the English Spirit is derived from the Latin Spiritus, meaning life or breath.
We come into existence with an inhale. We depart with an exhale. The breath is with us every moment of our lives, unconditionally. Whether we do good things or bad, the next breath is still there. It connects all living things and, many traditions believe, the breath is more than just air but consciousness itself. All body systems require the breath to function. Furthermore, every relaxation, calming and meditation technique relies on breathing to overrule the stress response and connect us with our highest state of cognitive functioning. The breath, ultimately, is the source of our best self.
Whether you agree or disagree doesn’t really matter, the power is in the proof. Put on your lab coat, adjust your goggles and, like a scientist, perform an experiment to investigate the truth. If the breath is one with Spirit, then following the breath should lead you back to Spirit like following one end of a rope leads you to the other.
The nature of the experiment – practice the 365 Method – 3 times a day, 6 cycles of breath per minute, 5 minutes in total, 365 days a year. (One breath cycle consists of inhaling for 5 seconds and exhaling for 5 seconds.) Follow the link to a YouTube video that will keep you on the 5 second pace for inhales and exhales, https://rb.gy/k7dctr
At the very least, the practice will provide greater relaxation. At the most, you’ll discover that you CAN practice spiritual health, deepening your connection and understanding of life, in the same practical kind of way that you train your muscles. Just breathe.