Lately, I have been re-reading Kahlil Gibran’s poetic novel ‘The Prophet’. It is a series of poetic essays about various facets of life, delivered by the departing prophet Almustafa to the beloved people of the city of Orphalese. He has lived amongst them, but aloof, as an enigmatic benevolent presence, and now upon his departure they want final words from him, posing questions about love, pleasure, desire, good and evil, and receiving his answers. The prose is beautiful, each word shining with love and light.

One line stayed with me, and moved me, especially: “You are the Way, and the Wayfarer.” Sometimes, a line in a book seems like exactly what you were waiting to hear, or give words to an inarticulate knowledge that has been coalescing in your heart and now have a definition. That’s what these words have become to me, and I think of them in relation to the journey of Yoga.

When we practice Yoga, we are the Way, and the Wayfarer. The traveler, as well as the journey travelled. Yoga means, in Sanskrit, means ‘to yoke’, as in connecting two objects, like a beast of burden yoked to a plow. The goal of Yoga is to yoke the inner self, the Atman, to the divine prescence, Brahman. The bridge between the Atman and Brahman is built of several awakenings, defined in various ways in the traditional literature of Yoga and by many modern practitioners, as well. We all experience these phenomena in our own way. Although works like the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Yoga Sutras, and the work of modern Yogis serve as guides, our own experience is our most valuable guide, and our journey to peace within is always going to be an experience unique to us. We know that what we are experiencing is true when we can find universal elements in common with others, even if our exact circumstances differ. We ‘yoke’ our individual lives to a timeless canon, spanning the ages, of other seekers and discoveries, to those who have come before us, and those on the same path as us, now.

In the practice of Yoga, no matter what that word means to us or how we practice, we are consciously trying to reach our goal, peace, by yoking together opposing experiences into one experience. Mindfulness of our surroundings is yoked to pratyahara, withdrawing our senses and turning inwards; breathing in a natural rhythm is yoked to breath control; the relaxation of savasana with the vinyasa krama of asanas that brought us there, and, if mantras are used, breath with voice, and even the silence after our chant fades holds an answer for our soul’s questions. We are the people of Orphalese, and the Prophet who answers their most burning questions.

Our bodies, and how we use them in our practice, are our vehicles to the destination we seek to reach. We are the Way, the laboratory of inquiry, and the Wayfarer, the alchemist staring into the alembic as all the elements combine.

During life’s difficult moments, we look for help and comfort and it can be difficult to find. When we’re children, we might run for adults to protect us or intervene, but as adults, it feels like we are on our own. Help is either not available, or we fear that asking for it will discredit us somehow. Conflicts with others, stressful moments in a professional setting, physical illness or discomfort or emotional despair present us with challenges that are not easy to solve. The breath can be a refuge to us, a source of calm and renewed strength, in such trying moments.

The discipline of Yoga is characterized as a wheel comprised of eight spokes, different facets of the experience. One of these spokes on the wheel is Pranayama, breath work. Prana- means ‘breath’ or ‘life energy’, and Yama means, roughly, ‘a devotion’. Through breath control, the Yogi seeks to relax the mind, tone the respiratory system, and nourish the muscles and organs of the body with an ideal amount of oxygen. This results in a more alert mind and energetic body. Much of the mental fogginess, that taxes us into anxiety and aggression when confronted with the stressors of life, that we experience can be attributed to faulty breathing. Shallow chest breathing, a habit of hurried adult life, leads to an inadequate supply of oxygen to the brain, which does inhibit its ability to think quickly, remain calm, solve problems, or think creatively. A Pranayama practice can revitalize the body, warming the muscles, toning the lungs, clearing toxins from the channels of the respiratory system, and calming the mind by providing support to the central nervous system.

Pranayama is one of my favourite facets of Yoga. I love teaching it to others, in a quick and casual way, because it is easy and effective in situations when someone is anxious or overwhelmed. It’s also lesser known to the general public, I have found, than the feats of balance and contortions of asana, the Yogic postures. I like surprising people who think they could never do Yoga because they are not athletic, sporty, flexible, or ‘in shape’-doing Yoga is, to their surprise, as easy as breathing. I turn to Pranayama for mental clarity, but also to clear my sinus passages of congestion during one of my frequent bouts with acute sinusitis. It is mentally and physically beneficial.

There are different techniques of Yogic breath control. Pranayama is one way to warm the body to get the muscles loose and flexible in preparation for asana practice. An asana sequence, such as a sun salutation, whose purpose is to warm the body, may begin with Ujjayi Pranayama, performed either seated or standing. Ujjayi Pranayama translates as the Victorious Breath, but it is commonly known as the Ocean Breath. This is due to the ocean-like sound that the breath makes when performing it. It is a warming and calming breathing technique that can be done in a variety of settings: during a lunch break at work, during a car ride, if you are a passenger, in the morning, before bed, during any idle moment, or in the midst of a difficult moment. Some spontaneously hyperventilate, taking rapidly paced, brief, and shallow breaths when they are emotionally overwhelmed, which only leads to an increased heart rate and dizziness, which in turn causes lack of focus. Or, instead they hold the breath altogether during the duration of the difficult scene, hence the expression ‘bated breath’. Like a sprinter who pushes their body past a healthy pace of inhalation and expiration during a race, then recoups by gulping air at the finish line, this sends the body into oxygen debt-the breathlessness of voluntarily inhibiting one’s breathing.

Ujjayi Pranayama is the healthy counteraction to these actions. Rather than shallow breaths, one breathes fully and deeply, into the abdomen rather than the chest.

1. Find a comfortable position. You can take Sukhasana, Seated Pose with your legs crossed in front of you, bottom on the floor, posture relaxed but straight to facilitate easy breathing, neck relaxed and eyes looking ahead, hands resting on your knees, palms open or in a mudra of your choice. However, you could also stand in Tadasana, Mountain Pose, or sit in a chair that supports your back for ideal posture.
2. Once you are comfortable, close your eyes, and set an intention. Why are you practicing? As a practitioner of Reiki, I often take the beginning of my Pranayama to say the Reiki credo, and this becomes the intention and mantra of my practice for that time. You might have a motivation or mantra you would like to say to yourself, mentally, at this time.
3. Begin taking deep, easy, breaths, letting the air flow deep into your abdomen like the waters of a waterfall falling to the pool beneath. You will feel as if the air is flowing like a river, taking a natural course to the center of your body. Abdominal breathing nourishes your body more fully with oxygen than breathing shallowly into the chest.
4. Continue to breathe deeply, and listen to the rhythm and flow of your breath. Ujjayi is referred to as the Ocean Breath for the sound of this rhythm and flow, which resembles the building and crashing of waves. Tune into this sound, and also expand your perception to the warmth that is building in your body.
5. Perform the Ocean Breath for up to five minutes. When you are ready to come out, you may practice a sequence of asanas, meditate, begin your day, or go to bed, revitalized by the resource of your breath.

Breathing exercises are a bridge that can transport you gently to the beginning of your day, your Yoga asana practice, meditation, or deep relaxation.

 

Happy National Relaxation Day! Relaxation can seem unattainable, something that we don’t have time for. We sleep, we wake, but can go hours, days, weeks or longer without feeling truly relaxed. It seems like most of life is conducted in a state between relying on adrenaline and crashing into fatigue. However, relaxation is possible if we take steps towards it. Anything in life can be ours’ if we pursue it with intention, and take steps to realize it.

I was lucky-my one day off this week happened to fall on National Relaxation Day. My sister left early for work, my mother snuggled up in her room with nature sounds, a recording of pouring rain drifting out of her open door, and I put on some favourite music and worked on this sequence. The first time I performed it, it was just with supine relaxation poses, and I felt a flood of memories and emotions rise to the surface. When our body finally comes to rest, that can happen. Adding standing poses and breathwork opened my shoulders and spine and warmed my body, relieving the tension of work and life so that when I reached the resting portion of my sequence, I was ready to surrender to it.

Relaxation can seem elusive, something we wish for or try to achieve, but its also something that we resist. What will happen to the things on our mind without us there, awake, alert, and supposedly problem solving? The very anxiety and rumination that causes our tension seems to be keeping life afloat. This is a fallacy. Quite the opposite is true. The more tired and tense we are, it is more difficult to focus, to have self-control in difficult situations, or think creatively. Letting it all go for a little while and creating an opportunity to rest gives us all the energy we need to get back to life, and give it our best.

Here are step by step instructions to perform the sequence, and a video should be coming soon:

1. Stand in Tadasana, Standing pose. Your feet should be hip’s distance apart. Face forward and look straight ahead, your neck relaxed as you gaze over your nose. Relax your knees and pelvic girdle. Your spine should be straight but relaxed, giving the lungs room and freedom to move in the thoracic cage. Establish a rhythm of deep, even, and easy bell breaths through your nostrils with your mouths closed.
2. Raise your arms over your head, shoulders relaxed, in Upward Salute.

 

3. Let your arms float down to shoulder length, like outstretched wings. Turn your head to look down directly over one shoulder. Don’t force it, or stretch past the force of comfort. Your chin should rest on your shoulder as you fold at the hinge of your hips, abdomen over your thighs as you exhale. Your arms come forward, in front of your chest, hands positioned as if holding an invisible ball. Raise the invisible ball over your head. Repeat this, the Heaven and Earth salutation, looking over the opposite shoulder. If you wish, you can repeat this, alternating shoulders, focusing on your inhale and exhale as you bend forward and come up, in a mandala-a flowing series of repetitive movements. When you are satisfied with its effects, continue on to the rest of the sequence.

 

4. Return to Standing Pose. On an exhale, hinge at your hips to fold forward, fingertips reaching towards the floor. They don’t have to reach the floor-don’t extend your spine any further than it feels comfortable to bend. You’ll develop more mobility as you practice over time, but allow your spine to lengthen a little, gently, with each second of your exhale.
5. On your inhale, slightly round your spine, roll your shoulders back, and engage your lower abdominal muscles to roll your body up, palms resting on your thighs slightly below your knees. Straighten your spine ( don’t force it! Natural line!), your chest and belly over your knees. This is Half Forward bend. Think of the shape of a mailbox for this asana.

 

6. Come to seated pose, Sukhasana. If this is not possible for you, sit comfortably in a chair. Breathe through your nostrils, taking deep and easy belly breaths. Tune into the sound of your inhales and exhales, which should resemble the wheeling waves of the ocean, rolling in and crashing, building and rushing towards the shore, crashing and regrouping perpetually. This is Ujjayi pranayama, the Ocean Breath or Victorious Breath. It should warm the body, and have a calming effect.

 

7. Come to Constructive Resting Bridge pose. Lie on the floor, your knees bent and your feet resting on the floor. Continue breathing deeply into your lower belly, tuning into the rhythm of your breath.

 

8. Extend your legs onto the floor, and your arms over your head, as in upward salute, shoulders at ease. This is Pond Pose. Your stomach should be at ease here, moving up and down with the waves of your breath, the center of the valley of your body.

 

9. The final pose is Savasana, Relaxation pose. Continuing to breathe deeply and gently, lying on the floor or move to a bed or couch. Rest your arms at your sides and legs parted. If you are on the floor, use blankets or pillows to support your body if you feel you need to. Rest in the rhythm of your breath, and feel each part of your body relax gradually. If you choose, you can imagine a warm white light traveling from your head to feet slowly, relaxing each part of your body as it travels.

Take as much time as you need in Savasana. When you feel your body returning to wakefulness, roll over on your right side and come up to seated pose. You can take Ujjayi pranayama, or meditate here.