The Art of Breathing

Last Tuesday, Paramhamsa Prajnanananda addressed our Club on ‘Kriya Yoga — the Path to Soul Culture’. Introducing him, Rtn Burjor Poonawala said, “I thought yoga required total abstinance from all the worldly pleasures and was for those who planned to live at least a hundred years. I realised how wrong I was when I heard Swamiji on Kriya yoga”.

Born in a small village in Orissa, Swamiji was raised in a profoundly spiritual family. While pursuing a Master’s degree in Economics and working on his doctoral dissertation, he often traveled to the Himalayas to be in the company of holy people, searching for a spiritual guide. He worked as a Professor of Economics at Ravenshaw College while living at the ashram of his guru Paramhamsa Hariharananda, who initiated him into the path of Kriya Yoga, and later ordained him as a sanyasi. Three years later, on his 39th birthday, he was given the title of Paramhamsa, the highest title reserved for monks.

Paramahamsaji now is a living example of how to fulfill one’s infinite potential. In addition to running the main ashrams in Balighai, Cuttack, Vienna, Austria, and Miami, USA. he spreads spiritual knowledge and the ancient science of Kriya Yoga by holding seminars and retreats all over the world.

“I bow to God, I bow to all, I perceive the presence of God within all. I want to share a few thought and ideas,” began Swamiji. “We have hands, the hand is the symbol of activity. We continue to work from the time we get up in the morning until the time we go to sleep.

“In each hand, we have five fingers. The first three fingers symbolise the three states that we pass through: laziness, busyness and calmness. In laziness, there is disinterest and inertia, and an unwillingness to do anything. Busyness causes activity but also stress, unhappiness, worries, tension, fears and anxieties. The middle finger — the tallest — speaks of calmness.

“Can we be calm, peaceful and active in our daily life, experiencing better health, better mind, intellectual growth, inner peace and love? How to achieve this, to take care of this finger. And this first finger is the most troublesome — the finger of ego, the finger that points accusingly towards others without reflecting about ones own actions. My friends, when I point that finger towards you telling you that you are bad, I forget that three other fingers point towards me, telling me that I am worse. If I tell you that you are good, then I am better. That is why the bible says, ‘Judge not, that you are not judged.

“This ego however has its uses. When we write, we use the finger of ego. Ego should be dealt with intelligence, like any other instrument. Otherwise it creates trouble in our individual life, in our family, in society and wherever we live. How to lead a good life by bringing harmony in the three states of laziness, busyness and calmness? How to deal with ego? When ego comes down and unites with love, then life is beautiful. Perfect living is a combination of health and harmony of the body, mind and spirit.

“All of us have some idea about yoga. Yoga is a special gift to mankind. Practising yoga and living the life of a yogi can allieviate poverty.

There are many misconceptions about the nature of yoga. Do you think that yoga is to put the head down and leg up? Do you think that yoga is to twist the body into postures of animals like the cobra or the lion? Do you want to be a lion or cobra? No, we want to be human beings.

“Yoga is a philosophy, a science, an art of living, an understanding of every movement in every breath. When I look at all of you, there is union. Yoga is union. We have all come here to be united. When I look at you, there is the union of eyes. When I speak to you, the words entering your mind cause the union of ideas. When you hug your friend or a child hugs its mother, it is yoga. To bring that love through this union is the beautiful art of living. We should bring this understanding into our lives.

“What is the proof that we are all alive? You will say: we breathe. When breath stops, we say that the person is dead. Breath is the symbol of life, for plants, insects, animals and humans.

“How do you breathe? Is your breath full of calmness and peace, or is it full of anger? Once, when I took a rickshaw to the railway station, I asked the rickshaw puller about the weather, and he replied that it was too hot. ‘Everybody is breathing out hot air’, he theorized. ‘Everybody is emotional, and angry, they do not have peace. They are breathing out so much hot air that the world’s temperature is going up!’

“He did not know anything about science or about global warming. It was a rickshaw puller’s philosophy. But let us think, are we not becoming angry in our home? When I become angry, do I not increase the temperature in my home? This anger is a contagious disease.

“We all breathe from the day we are born till the day we die. Have you ever thought that breath is your life? If you always breathe in the wrong way, your life will be neither healthy, nor peaceful, nor strong.

“When one is angry, what is the nature of breath? One breathes fast, and the heart pumps rapidly. When one is at peace, the breath is slow and the heart beats steadily.

“Have you ever thought about how we breathe? A doctor might say that we breathe because of our lungs and heart. But a dead person, although he has lungs and heart, does not breathe. Then the doctor might argue that there is a chemical reaction going on in the brain, which continues to give energy and impetus to the heart and lungs. Then we ask the doctor whether he can find out what this chemical reaction is so that we can breathe longer.

“The simple explanation is that we breathe because there is life in the body and there is life because we breathe. The presence of life is what we call the soul, the aatma and because of this, we are alive. Because of this soul we are breathing, we are active. Without the soul, the body is useless. The simple meaning of yoga is to worship this union of the body and the soul through the breath. It is also to worship the union not only within oneself, but with everybody else who is breathing. It is to breathe without anger, and in a loving and peaceful way.

“Now I will talk about kriya. ‘Kri’ means activity and ‘ya’ means love and divinity. If we do everything with love, calmness and divinity, it is kriya. We can work with love, peace and divinity, if our body is healthy and the mind is peaceful, strong and intelligent. But how can we keep it so? Humans are a species that can stand straight and walk straight. Other animals have their spine parallel to the ground. Animals who incline their spine like a monkey or a dog are more intelligent.

“So take care of your spine, keep it a little more flexible and straight. Unfortunately, in the modern times, our chairs, sofas, cars and even beds, in the name of comfort and luxury, damage our spine. Computers too damage our spine. But if we do not take care of our spine, we will not only suffer back pain and neck pain, but also, suffer damage to the network of nerves coming from the brain and passing through the spine — sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves. If the spine is damaged anywhere, our entire nervous system is damaged, and our entire life is miserable. To take care of the spine, keep it straight and flexible and change the way you breathe. Kriya Yoga is a system of meditation which helps to keep the spine healthy and breathe properly, so that your life continues to be beautiful.

“Do you know that the brain weighs less than 3% of the body weight? Yet the brain needs the maximum amount of oxygen, 20- 25% of the total that that we breathe. Do you know that the way we breathe is unscientific and unhealthy? Blood is the carrier of oxygen and if more oxygen is not provided to the brain through the blood, it goes somewhere else. When I stand, the maximum amount of blood flows to my feet, so there is less blood flow to the head. When I eat, more blood flows to my stomach and less to the brain, which is why, after taking food, we feel a bit tired.

“Similarly, if one is angry, more blood comes to the face and hands and less to the brain. If you breathe properly, your brain will be active, enabling you to work better and more intelligently without feeling tired. Tiredness is a sign of lack of oxygen.

“During normal activities, we breathe 15 times a minute on average, or one breath per four seconds. In India, due to extreme pollution and decreasing pysical activities, our breath has become shallow. It is alarming to know that most people in their old age, suffer from bronchitis, asthma and related diseases.”

The Swamiji demonstrated his ability to draw an extraordinarily long breath that took nearly a minute. “While I took one breath with one inhalation and one exhalation, you would have taken 12. So it’s as though you spent Rs 12, while I spent only Re 1,” he argued. “Make your breath a bit deeper and feel the change, the calmness and peace,” he urged the Rotarians.

Q & A

Rtn Sitaram Shah: What is the ideal length of breathing? What are the effects of long breathing or pranayamic exercises— of which there are many varieties — on our breathing system?

P. Prajnanananda: Many teachers teach pranayam, but I did not speak of it. We are human beings and we should breathe through the nose. Although pranayamic exercises involving mouth breathing eradicate or prevent some diseases, it is generally healthy and natural to breathe through the nose. But when you breathe, do it consciously, slow and deep.

Rtn Kamal Bulchandani: You said that when we eat, most of the blood goes to the stomach rather than to the brain and you start feeling drowsy. Can you tell us how to avoid that problem?

P. Prajnanananda: Any digestive disorder is normally due to overeating. If we are suffering from any kind of stomach disorder, then you may need to avoid food for some time. Drink plenty of water but not immediately after a meal, as it dilutes the enzymes contained in the saliva and other gastric juices, leading to improper digestion. The best thing to do when you get up in the morning is to drink two glasses of water on an empty stomach. Drink more throughout the day and before food, drink a glass to prevent overeating during the meal. Then after half an hour, drink some water. Most digestive problems will be eliminated.

Rtn Shyamnivas Somani: Our body is made up of five elements namely, fire, air, earth water and space. Is it possible to increase or decrease these elements when you are unwell and cure yourself? Also, is it bad to shake hands? Is it desirable to replace the practice with namaste?

P. Prajnanananda: This body is made up of these five elements and the body depends upon these five elements in a proper balance to remain healthy and in harmony. This can be achieved only by prayer, meditation, exercise and proper food.

The five fingers represent five elements, the five spinal energy centres or chakras. So, while I would not say that it is bad to shake hands, I hold that to fold the hands in a namaste is yoga. In our culture, we bow to God and to our elders while kneeling down with folded hands, and this is good for health. Yoga is very much part of Indian culture.