Why is deep breathing applied in the practice of Non-conceptual Meditation?
The benefits of applying deep breathing in the spiritual quest were documented 1500 years ago in the yoga aphorisms of Patanjali, a renowned Indian sage and author of the Yoga Sutras. Sounding much like a therapist, Patanjali taught: “Sickness, mental laziness, doubt, lack of enthusiasm, sloth, craving for sense-pleasure, false perception, despair caused by failure to concentrate and unsteadiness in concentration: these distractions are the obstacles to knowledge. . . . These distractions are accompanied by grief, despondency, trembling of the body and irregular breathing. . . . They can be removed by the practice of concentrating upon a single truth. . . . Undisturbed calmness . . . is attained by cultivating friendliness toward the happy, compassion for the unhappy, delight in the virtuous, and indifference toward the wicked. . . . The mind may also be calmed by expulsion and retention of the breath”. ( Isherwood, C. and Prabhavananda, Swami. (1953). How to know God: the yoga aphorisms of Patanjali.)
Note how in these yoga aphorisms mental instability, and lack of concentration, are seen to be correlating factors in physical sickness, depression, and impulsiveness. The prescribed treatment is to focus on a single truth, cultivate compassion and practice breath control.
Deep breathing, as taught Non-conceptual Meditation, is an adaptation of the Misogi Breathing Technique. The intent is to reduce agitation, foster concentration, promote health and allow for the meditative placement of attention. Deep breathing, though distinct from the meditative placement of attention, supports the regulation and normalization of all psychophysical processes.
This external breathing, characterized by the activities of the lungs acquiring oxygen and discharging carbon dioxide, is paralleled with internal breathing, as every cell of our body breathes, acquiring fresh oxygen and discharging carbon dioxide into the bloodstream. The body-mind complex enriched by oxygen is then in the most favorable condition to de-center (suspend personalizing.)
Probably the most important fact to understand about breathing of any kind is that “you”—the conceptualized self— does not do it. The conceptualized self is not what is actually living and breathing. The conceptual self is a provisional representation of the actual. That which lives is indivisible nature. The single breath, requiring uncountable interactions within the biosphere, is fully beyond the scope of the conceptualized self. Deep breathing, as taught in Non- conceptual Meditation, courts non-conceptual awareness that reveals the pervasive presence of indivisible nature. Deep breathing is at core “essential nature,” as are all actualities. No one possesses anything in the pervasive equity of seamless existence. Entering the meditative placement of attention helps to clear this up. The breath is.
Cesar
Recommendation: Take a look at Mindful Exposure to the Large Breath to see the technique:
Here's a link: http://nonconceptualmeditation.org/anxiety_treatment_breath.php
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