Miracles of breath
Modern inorganic living leads to an unnatural way of life. It is mechanical, strenuous and stressful. Getting your breath to work for you begins with reinventing your life by feeling the inner atmosphere of your organism and presenting yourself to the exterior atmosphere.
We open up to the healing energies within us and outside of us. It is a way of cleansing ourselves of toxins generated through our metabolic process and the regenerating energy of nature around us. It is a gentle balance to be kept in our consciousness. It is this awareness that directs our breathing — discovering each part of our self during the filling and the emptying of our lungs. The clarity of this awareness makes you realise the relationship with your muscles, emotions and your thoughts. The clarity of the breathing pattern and functioning of the organs involved in the movement of the air through the respiratory system re-establishes the equilibrium.
The diaphragm is the most powerful muscle that moves down with inhalation and massages the stomach, intestines, kidneys, liver and pancreas.
The rationale of this psychological connect and equation is that breathing is not only “the body in the world” but “the world in the body”.
The mind evolved in the art of breathing sense into itself the myriad dimensions of nature — woods, deserts, oceans, rivers, mountains etc. Each of these has a direct counterpart in our organs. The dramatic changes in atmosphere such as wind, rain, storm, snow and the varying temperatures have a direct impact on our emotions.
A sage knows the whole world without leaving the house. Without looking out of his window, he sees the ways to heaven.
This simple phenomenon we are created to live with is lost to us in today’s life. We are trapped in desires and duties and become deaf to the sound within. It is therefore necessary to relearn and be mindful of our breath and its miracles.
By perceiving our breath as it comes and goes we discover an opening into our own unconscious life and bring about a conscious expansion into the whole of ourselves.
Mindful breathing teaches us to live a holistic life, to do things with a sense of continuity and rhythm warding off the lows.
Each day is an idea or the continuation of an idea. And idea is energy. How to nurture this energy into an idea has been the effort of man since the beginning of time. And those who have been able to distil the exterior influences and work from within themselves have been able to transfer an idea into energy and vice versa and create art in the process.
Muzaffar Ali is a filmmaker and painter.
He is the executive director and secretary of the Rumi Foundation.
He can be contacted at www.rumifoundation.in
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