Following the previous post, I want to write a little more about breathing.

How long do you think you can survive without eating? If you are in good condition, you can survive up to 6-7 weeks without food intake. How about drinking? Probably up to a week or so. Then, how long can you survive without breathing? Only for about 2-3 minutes. If the supply of oxygen stops for only one minute, it can damage your brain cells seriously. This is what breathing means to us. It is life. As long as you breathe, you are alive. When your breathing stops, you are dead. But we usually take breathing for granted so we don’t pay much attention to it.

Your vital functions such as breathing, heartbeat, body temperature, and blood pressure are regulated by the autonomic nervous system, and all of them reflect and affect your physiological condition. If one of these is different from the rest, which one is that and why? Yes. Your breathing. Why? Because it is intentionally controllable. If you practice hard for your lifetime, you might be able to learn to control your body temperature. But I think it is wiser and more practical to learn to dress appropriately for the weather conditions and to adjust the thermostat on your HVAC system. However, you don’t need to learn to control your breathing. You already know how to do it. You simply need to become aware of your breathing.

Even though you cannot directly control your other vital functions, you can regulate them indirectly by adjusting your breathing. So, your breathing is the master key for all the other vital functions.

There are three elements that determine the quality of your breathing: depth, length, and regularity. Breathing well means breathing deeply, slowly and evenly. This doesn’t mean you have to breathe like this all the time. Depending on the intensity of your physical activity, your breathing may vary. However, still breathing deeply and evenly will be helpful. Sit comfortably and put one hand on your chest and the other one on your abdomen. Breathe as you usually do and feel your breath. Which body part is moving while you’re breathing in and out? How deep is your breathing?

Just by being aware of your breathing, your breathing grows deeper and slows down. As your breathing gets deeper and slower, your mind also calms down; your head gets cooler and your lower abdomen gets warmer. When your head is cool, and your abdomen is warm, your body and mind are functioning optimally, meaning you do things better. You will experience pleasant feelings, have great ideas, wear a gentle smile on your face when you keep your brain cool and your lower abdomen warm.

In the previous post, I talked a little about meditation. It is basically about awareness. We need a distinction here between awareness and the idea of awareness. Awareness is not the idea of awareness or knowing the meaning of awareness or thinking about awareness. You are aware only when you are present in the present moment. What can be the simplest and surest way to determine if you are present in the present moment? Feel your body. Feel your breath. As long as you feel the rhythm of your inhaling and exhaling, you are in the here and now. As soon as you are unaware of your breathing, your attention is somewhere else.

Once in a workshop, I challenged the participants to test their ability to be present in the present moment by counting their breath. It was in an evening session around 8:00 pm. The challenge that I offered was counting 100 breaths. I asked them not to leave the training room until they counted 100 breaths. If they lost their count, they would have to start over. All agreed with excitement and confidence. Guess what happened. Many remained until midnight. You may try. Maybe within 10-20 breaths, you will catch yourself thinking about the news that you saw last night, or the presentation that you need to prepare for the next meeting, or just dozing.

Here’s my suggestion for your personal practice. Count your breath up to ten and repeat. Breathe deeply and comfortably, with your lower abdomen if you can but without forcing yourself. Try to do this for about an hour, and see how it works for you. If you like the experience, you may extend it. In order to count your breath, you need to feel your body, which means your attention has to be in the present moment. The purpose of this practice is to develop a new habit of awareness, being aware of your breathing all the time, no matter what you do and when. Sooner or later, you will realize your breath is more than just an exchange of gases and repetitive movements of your chest and abdomen. When you are deeply aware of your breathing, ask yourself who is really breathing. Is it really you that are breathing or is a breath simply being breathed in and out? Your answer to this question may lead you to one of the most important and striking discoveries in your life. We will revisit this topic later on.

Enjoy your breath,

Steve