01/02/2018
The 'Double Breathing' process is one of the simplest forms of pranayama (yogic breathing exercises). The quality of our life is determined by the quality of our breath, due to the link between the our breathing pattern and our thinking mind. When we regulate our breathing, the nervous system automatically calms down. Pranayamic breath trains the diaphragm, massages the internal organs, and specifically tones the vagus nerve which translates to a healthy and relaxed body that is at ease in it's environment. This will improve digestion, immune function, boost energy by improving oxygenation of the tissue, but above all: lead to a calm, joyful mind that can easily relax into being.
Although yoga is often associated with stretching and flexibility, we train the breath as primary because the body will not go no further than the breath will allow. In fact, the brain will shut off contact with the body due to the reflex of the spine when we are danger of injury, real or imaginary (perceived). This loss of connection to the body's central command unit, the brain, leaves us feeling disorganized, threatened, and predisposed to thinks like illness, disease, or even 'unapproved' mental fluctuations. What are 'unapproved' mental fluctuations? Thoughts that aren't serving us, but we cannot get to go away. It's okay to feel sad, IF we are choosing to feel sad. It is all part of the human experience!
Yoga is a process and methodology by which we unite the body and mind together in harmony and find that this connects us fully to our environment, to live a more fulfilled life. It will help us manage all of the human conditions that we face, due to its direct affect on the nature of our mind and consciousness. This not spirituality. This is science.
