“Supple, breathing gently, you become reborn”

-Lao Tse

“Breathe into me.  Close the language-door and open the love-window”

-Rumi

“The quality of your breathing dictates the quality of your life.”

–Joseph Rain

“…it can be shown that chronic tension in any part of the body’s musculature interferes with the natural respiratory movements”

 -Alexander Lowen

This article intends to be a gentle, introductory stroll through 5 types of breathwork. I offer my personal experience with each, a brief description of the method and some resources for your own study.

• Vipassana
• Pranayama
• Taoist Longevity
• Holotropic/Rebirthing
• Wim Hof Method

 

Enjoy!

 

Vipassana 

“Your breathing should flow gracefully, like a river, like a watersnake crossing the water… To master our breath is to be in control of our bodies and minds.”
-Thich Nhat Hanh

“Observe the reality as it is… not as you wish it to be”
-S.N. Goenka

“Vipassana is fine until it becomes a technique that has many stages and that takes time to develop. That can be okay for people for a while, but then you have to leave the technique behind”
-Eckhart Tolle

Vipassana translates as ‘seeing things as they are’, ‘direct perception’ or, sometimes, ‘sitting bored and defeated in an awkward position, praying for the end’.

I would describe it as a technique for observing reality – beginning with the breath, and moving to the more subtle.

S.N. Goenka is the man most responsible for its proliferation in modern times:

Ten-day guided Vipassana courses are offered around the world, on a pay-by-donation basis. I did my first when I was 20 years old, near Bristol, England.

Certainly, it was extremely challenging… 12 hours sitting meditation per day, total silence, no sexual activity… plus I arrived with no experience of sitting cross-legged, no connection to meditation and an overwhelmingly mental relationship to life.

(It did not bode well that for the first three days I had ‘Sharp Dressed Man’ by ZZ Top on repeat in my head… for hours… and hours… over and over… and not even the whole song… just one or two lines. Harrowing times.)

The instructions were delivered by Goenka via pre-recorded video. He is a most warm-hearted and funny fellow and probably the reason I did not run out of the hall screaming in frustration during my first few days.

The food was great – my first experience of nourishing, whole, vegetarian cooking.

On the morning of day 4, I had a breakthrough. I felt myself deeper – more completely – than ever before. A new mode of self-perception was revealed to me.

I re-entered society on the 10th day. Looking around – trees, birds, traffic; people going about their lives; wind-blown leaves, clouds flooding the sky – I still had no idea who I was or where I was going. But for the first time in my life, I felt grateful to be alive.

Gold: Simple technique, widely taught, potentially very deep and effective

Challenges: 10-day courses can be brutal; extended periods of cross-legged practice can lead to disembodiment

Resources:

A portal for Vipassana Courses is here. If you want to learn the technique – and I invite you to seriously consider it – this is probably the best way. Alternatively, google [your country] + vipassanna. Note that authentic courses will ask only for donation.

Pranayama

“Breathing is the greatest pleasure in life.” 

–Giovanni Papini

“In this very breath that we now take lies the secret that all great teachers try to tell us.” 

-Peter Matthiessen

“The beauty of a lake reflects the beauty around it.  When the mind is still, the beauty of the Self is seen reflected in it.”

-B.K.S. Iyengar

“It is a common belief that we breathe with our lungs alone, but… the work of breathing is done by the whole body… We live in an ocean of air like fish in an atmosphere of water…  If we inhibit our breathing we isolate ourselves from the medium in which we exist. In all Oriental and mystic philosophies, the breath holds the secret to the highest bliss. That is why breathing is the dominant factor in the practice of Yoga.”
-Alexander Lowen

The system of Pranayama (literally: controlling or extending life force) consists of a series of breath-regulation exercises.  Along with Asana (what we know as yoga postures), it constitutes one of the eight limbs of yoga.

My experience with it was informed by the work of B.K.S. Iyengar and his thorough, stark text Light on Pranayama.

I had dabbled with it over the years – some yoga teachers will incorporate snippets into their classes – but it wasn’t until 2013 that I dived fully into this most potent of disciplines.

Now, my pranayama story condensed into Haiku:

Use fire wisely
Burning away illusion
May burn the man too

Long version: I practiced pranayama several hours a day for 3 months, reaping the rewards (spiritual vision, self-knowledge) and the pain (disembodiment, anxiety) for over a year.

Of course, your experience may be different. Hopefully you will pay more heed to Iyengar’s words about taking it slow, finding a real-life teacher etc. Pranayama is an extremely powerful tool, and one I believe that when combined with a physical, grounding practice (such as farming, strength-training or qi gong) can help the practitioner move in their chosen direction quickly.

Alternatively, you may incorporate small amounts of this work – say, alternate nostril breathing – into your existing practice with little danger.

If you want to make serious changes/advances in your connection to spirit and breath, try hanging out with Light on Pranayama. It may work for you, or maybe not. Either way, I advise respect for its potency and suggest it is best used as part of a balanced diet.

Gold: Linear, effective method for opening subtle channels, cultivating energy and connecting to the etheric
Challenges: These ancient practices may be too strong for the unprepared or over-confident; too much air/wind can leave a person unbalanced

Resources:

Light on Pranayama (pdf)
Instructional videos (from the excellent doyogawithme.com)

And that takes us to the end of Part 1.  Questions?

In Part 2, we’ll look at Taoist, Holotropic and Wim Hof-style breathing systems.