This is the first of a two-part piece on Breath. The second part can be found here.
Moored to the breath, the mind is stilled of its modifications. In our classes, we let the breath take the reins rather than the complexity of the posture. Harbinger of stillness and comfort, the breath is the only 'prop' used by us.
Breathe In the Present
Our breath is an amazing mechanism. It satisfies our search, thirst, and longing (abhipsa) for the self. Usually, the see-sawing mind keeps us in its grip. At such times the self can be uncovered by taking a deep breath in the present moment. Furthermore, using the drishti or gaze with breath unequivocally anchors us to the present.
A Practice To Stay in the Present
When we let the breath and gaze converge at the tip of the nose or upwards at the center of the forehead, it is called nasikagara drishti (nose-tip gazing) and bhrumadhya drishti (eyebrow-center gazing). Practicing the two, we can navigate through a galaxy of emotions, thoughts, and fears. Our immediate touch points, they enduringly keep us in the here and now.
Moored to the Mind
Unanchored to our breath, our lives belong to our minds. It decides for us when we are going to be happy or miserable, depressed or creative. Stress, happiness, and calm are ephemeral, as they emanate from the modifications of the mind. To find the 'Sea of Mirth' (Yogananda’s description of bliss), we need to first be moored to our breaths. When the oscillations of the mind swing us like a pendulum, up and down and sideways, breath is our steadfast anchor.
The Five Modifications of the Human Mind
Correct understanding and false understanding is a divide cued by the mind. Imagination, a tool to discover new truths is instead used by the mind to keep us whirling in half-truths. Memory, a vast personal library, is conserved by the mind as conditioning.
Sleep, the last of the modifications, and the one we are most permeable to, is turned into a time of enslavement by the mind. The posse of ill-effects, less energy, health and brain impairment, etc. keep us running behind the eight-hour target of right sleep. But who knows the real nature or realm of sleep? Who has ever pierced it, other than the realised ones? Sleep, as they found, is a time of rest, renewal, and resonance with our inner selves.
This self may be that equanimous entity that all of us are searching for.
Moored to the Breath
At the beginning, the shift from the mind to the self is almost undetectable. It is so subtle that it can go unnoticed. A daily practice of yoga helps to keep us anchored. It reminds us of our present, and our mind dissolves in the state of flow it creates.
I find it very uplifting to sit with my eyes closed, with a single-pointed awareness of the drishtis. Even ten minutes dedicated to ourselves everyday before we sleep and after waking up, can start the process of unfolding.
A mesmeric one.
