The Seeker: Mindfulness Living – Chapter 2: Breathing Your Life with Dr. Buathon Thienarrom
Breath is the sign of vitality of living organism, as you breaths in allow the body to bringing the fresh air into the body and exhale to releasing the used air (carbon dioxide) out of the body. The quality of breathing depends on chest cavity and your inner strength thus craving for the air.
Let us imagine the body as balloon, inhale will expand or opening the chest and the rest of body and then exhale, this breathing process help generate the internal exercise within the body, releasing the tension out of the body as with inhale bring fresh air of oxygen into the body generate the dynamic movement through muscle expansion thus simulating body energy and vibration.
According to research studies has mentioned that to attain the longevity, we shall slow down our breath to six times per minute, as this state will allow the to balance by not consume to much energy on the metabolic rate, slow down brain wave frequencies and maintain better focus and enhance your will power.
In some indigenous wisdom as mentioned at this state the body able to stabilize their basic elements of earth, water, fire and air, to elaborate this further, earth is refer to bone, muscle and flesh in the body, and water refer circulation system, fire refer to digestive heat and air refer breathing and wind throughout the body creating a space, and once we are able to slow down the breath, the basic element especially air and fire are not too active thus harmony water and earth element.
How can we attain this state of practice?
Please let me explain to you on the deeper level that breathing brings oxygen to our physical body system and oxygenated the blood to supply as a fuel to the whole body and once the body do not received sufficient oxygen or not able to exchange the carbon dioxide out the body, then the body seem like a fruit that starts rotten, that why the process of physical breathing of inhale and exhale is very good to activate the whole physical internal movement, once the balloon has expand to whole capacity, it means that the whole body can take a new fresh positive energy of oxygen to all the cells in the body, similarly like plants been water for the whole garden, at the same time allow the plants to rid off unnecessary dust as well as our body allow the oxygen to exchange its space of used air or carbon dioxide.
For further deep understanding, how much carbon dioxide, it depends on our physical and mental activities, as our mental or our mind keep spinning, of course, the body will turn out as huge amount of used products as well thus make us speed up the breathing rhythm to ensure sufficiency of oxygen. And you can observe the pattern of breathing as “ shallow breathing” as you foresee that once the body is quite tight due to not enough circulation of oxygen, with inhale the body can keep their flexibility like the balloon expand and allow the fresh air to re-gain their better flow to the body.
Breathing is a way to maintain your physical, energy, mental and spiritual well-being.
On a physical approach, breathing helps maintain physical structure, with conscious breathing and observe the changes of internal body movement as filling in the air into the body, hold it for a while to the air flow is opening the tight muscle and exhale allow the muscle to relax, and unnecessary air out of the body thus allow the fresh air to exchange with used air throughout the body. Through conscious breathing you can feel that the body generates heat and allow the skin pores to releasing internal heat or damp heat out of the body.
On the energy level: as mentioned above through physical observation that the body generated heat and releasing it out, and once the heat has been released the body start to cool down as you can observe by rhythm of breathing thus from the beginning, we all start with fast pace of breathing and once the heat been cool down our breathing is slow down as well, and the body is cool down, and experience calm and peace, that how it transform our energy as vibration, thus allows the mental for solid focus as the bothering subjects or objects are no longer influence the vibration or energy filed, and once the body and mind familiar itself with solid concentration thus help the deeper understanding of the thought that influence the drive us on daily life and journey, and the life journey become a spiritual well-being that guiding each individual to nature of the mind, rather foresee as expectation of its own mind.
We shall practice the basic of breathing that continue from chapter one by focus on breathing in count 1-4 hold it 1-4 and exhale 1-4 to help balances the inhale and exhale, the an experience practice you can count from 1-8 but I would rather guide you through small steps at the time. And once you complete it you can practice to circulate your orbit breathing as below:
Orbit breathing: breathe in the air and circulate up to the crown and let it flow along the body until exhale. Repeat it 10 times, highly recommended for evening practice.
You can observe your sensation on each breathing, and please be mindful that each individual may have different experience from others, depends on their body and mind condition. I would advise you to repeat the breathing for 3 sets of 10 breath and observe the gradually changes after a set of 10 breath for 3 sets or 30 times of breath.
