Free your breath, free your mind

“Mind influences body more than vice versa, but the bodily chemicals do exercise a contact influence on the mind.” ​ - Paramahansa Yogananda

Body and Mind are interdependent.

But as I lie in my bed, I forgot about the mind-body connection.  My thoughts were racing, taking me everywhere but being right there lying safely in my comfortable bed. My breath was shallow, almost non-existent. My body was rigid, frozen and contracted. My physical body was reacting to being all locked up in the story of my mind, so filled with worry and fear.

Seeking relief, I remembered . . . to take my own advice, the advice I so often share with many of my clients:  "take some deep, relaxing breaths.” So I did.  I began inhaling long, slow breaths from my nose and then exhaling longer, slower breaths from open, soft lips. I continued breathing this way until I felt my breath becoming smoother, deeper, more natural. I consciously moved my awareness from shallow chest breathing into more deep belly breathing.

As my body softened, I noticed feeling more present, more in touch with my body, with my sensations, with feeling my body in contact with the bed. As I allowed my body to come into the fore, my mind could retreat and let go of its tight hold. At the same time, I felt a surprising urge to begin making small circles with my head and then making larger circles with my upper body. I also began opening and closing my jaw.

These rhythmic circles occurred naturally and led to a series of movements starting with my torso and then moving into my hips, chest, legs, and ankles. I made these circles first from lying with my back flat and then I turned my body onto all fours and circled my hips, neck, shoulders, etc. This instinctive need to un-spiral took on a life of its own.  I had this need to move, to unfold, to unwind, to find freedom.

This natural spiraling process wiped out the thoughts keeping me frozen, stuck, and static. No longer bound by thought, I was newly aware of the sensations in my body. I was no longer living, pushing and controlling, from just my head and neck, breathing shallowly in an unconscious, habitual locked negative pattern.

I could not notice that I was part of the pattern until I began moving. When locked up in thought, I experienced an anxiety spiral that led to extreme tightness in my neck and jaw, creating tension headaches, congestion, and a chronic allergy-like drip and sense of fullness in my left ear and throat. This negative loop lacked energy flow necessary for release.
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“The beginning of freedom is the realization that you are not “the thinker.” The moment you start watching the thinker, a higher level of consciousness becomes activated. You then begin to realize that there is a vast realm of intelligence beyond thought, that thought is only a tiny aspect of that intelligence. You also realize that all the things that truly matter – beauty, love, creativity, joy, inner peace – arise from beyond the mind. You begin to awaken…The moment you realize you are not present, you are present. Whenever you are able to observe your mind, you are no longer trapped in it. Another factor has come in, something that is not of the mind: the witnessing presence.”

With my head so full of thoughts, I had no where to go. I had no flow. I needed to unwind the thoughts in order to see that I was not part of the pattern. With movement, I could observe my thoughts.  I could see the related nature of negative attraction of thought. When I was able to hold the thoughts in awareness and relax into my body, they could pass. But I needed to create space using my breath, to connect my mind with my body, to merge them so the thoughts and pains could flow and discharge. This circular, spiral movement quickly moved the tension out from my body and gave me a sense of clarity and ease. It was as if the negativity rolled right off of me. I was no longer bottlenecked. I could feel a sense of spaciousness.
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Rhythmic movement gave me a sense of ease and flow. As I accepted the moment and relaxed into it, I realized that it was not conditions causing my unease and unhappiness, but instead it was my mind telling me something about the conditions around me. Ultimately, it was up to me to be able to observe my thoughts so not to become swept into the negative spiraling current, completely swallowed up by thoughts. Instead, I had awareness and could notice that I am the creator, the orchestrator, the one who chooses the thought lane in which I wish to travel upon. I could choose: to melt and relax into my Essence so to feel in agreement with mySelf or to tune into the worldly collective negative thought vibration, one that keeps me feeling in disagreement with mySelf.

Relax Using Breath Awareness
Find a posture that feels relaxed and comfortable, then try these five simple steps:

1. Become aware of your breathing. Feel the sensations of cleansing and nourishing that accompany each breath.
2. Relax your abdomen and rib cage so that your breathing flows effortlessly.
3. Weave each breath smoothly into the next, letting the breath flow without jerks or pauses.
4. Continue observing your breathing until you feel your nervous system relax. Maintain the smooth flow of breathing even when distractions disturb your mind.
5. Try working with the mantra Hong Sau (pronounced “Hung-Saw”). Link the sound HONG… to your inhalation and the sound SAU… to your exhalation. Let the breath and mantra flow together in perfect harmony, until your mind rests in the sound of the mantra.

Now your meditation will unfold in the mantra sound (hung…saw…). Bringing hung…saw… to awareness provides the mind with a quiet resting place during meditation. Maintaining just a sliver of awareness on the breath, along with the mantra, will help your meditation unfold.​