Practical Meditation: Caught in a Mood - Breathing to Break Negativity
There
a few Breathing Techniques that are very simple to use and yet very powerful for
restoring balance and vitality when disrupted by Negativity.
Why
can we use our breathing to restore balance?
Because it is breath that connects body, emotions and mind. Therefore if
we can regulate our physical breathing we also influence the state of our
emotions and mind.
If
we are caught in a negative mood our breathing becomes reflective of the mood –
it becomes erratic, rapid, or out of balance. Lack of balance in our breathing,
while not creating negativity, makes us susceptible to its influence and can even
maintain it. So, to help break a bad mood or negative ‘mental-emotional habit’ a
breathing practice is probably the easiest way to do it.
Poor
Mental-Emotional habits, like poor eating habits rob us of our balance,
vitality, perspective and the happiness inherent within our heart, any of the following
breathing techniques, if practiced regularly, can restore balance and harmony
to our lives.
I
recommend trying them all and choose the ones you like best to practice. They all
have slightly different effects.
This
technique will send away any stress or mood but only if you will let
it go.
Through the nose, take as deep an inhalation
as you can, hold the breath for a second to build up pressure and then exhale, letting
go with a big sigh. The sigh is optional
but it does help in letting go. Then do it again and again until the stress or
mood is broken.
Visualization: As you inhale feel your
stress or mood being solidified, coalesced and pulled together in to a
mental/emotional ball, then when you make the big exhalation just let go of
that ball of stress.
Balanced Breathing
This
simple regulation of the breathing will balance the tendency to over-react.
Become aware of your breath, let flow in
and out through the nose and simply make the inhalation and exhalation of the
same duration - so for example inhale 4 counts and exhale 4 counts.
With this practice you take control of your
breathing and bring it into balance. Maintain that balance in your breathing
for as long as you can - don’t let it go out of balance. The longer the count,
the more relaxed you become, but don’t force it, as you start to relax you will
find that that the count will naturally become longer, which is fine as long as
the inhalation and exhalation are still the same count.
Alternate Breathing (Pranayama)
The alternating pattern of this breath practice is:
Begin with a nice big exhalation, then…
Close right nostril
- Inhale through the left nostril,
Close both
nostrils - Hold the breath,
Keep left
nostril closed - Exhale through right
nostril;
Keeping left
nostril closed - Inhale through the right
nostril,
Close both
nostrils - Hold the breath,
Keep right
nostril closed - Exhale through the left
nostril
Then breathe
in through both nostrils,
Hold
the Breath,
Breathe
out through both nostrils.
Repeat this
breathing pattern 3 – 5 times;
Use a ratio of 1:1:1, for example always inhale 5 counts, hold 5 counts and exhale 5 counts; or inhale 7 counts, hold 7 counts, exhale 7 counts.
To make it easier to breathe through only one
nostril it is helpful to use your fingers to press against and close the
nostril you are not breathing through. When holding the breath simply pinch both
nostrils closed.
Optional Visualization: Feel the breath as a flow
of energy moving up and down the left, right and middle of the spine – it flows
from the base of the spine to the bridge of the nose as you inhale, as you exhale
it flows down from the bridge of the nose to the base of the spine. When you hold
the breath you can close your eyes and turn your eyeballs upward toward your
forehead and curl your tongue up against the roof of your mouth.
Counting Breath
Sit
in a chair or on the floor with your spine straight. Relax your body and then
relax your breathing, feel as though your breathing is relaxing more and more
with each breath.
Now
simply become aware of your breathing as it flows gently in and out, in and
out. Feel the breath as it gently touches
the nose, calmly flowing in and out. Feel your stomach or chest gently rising
and falling as you relax more deeply into the rhythm of your breathing, letting
your breath rock you gently in its flow. It’s almost like you are not even
breathing, you are just relaxed and your breath is part of an eternal flow and rhythm
of life flowing in and out. Now simply count
each inhalation and exhalation, don’t change anything, just continue to be
aware of the gentle flow of your breathing until the count reaches 10. Then if you like, start the count over until
you drift off.
Breathing up the
Spine
This
technique will raise you up and out of any mood.
Breathe in through the mouth and feel the
inhalation starting from the base of the spine, feel it flowing up the spine to
the forehead. Hold the breath at the forehead for as long as is comfortable and
then exhale out the nose, feeling the breath flowing down and out the heart
center or center of the chest.
Breathing up the
Spine with a positive emotion
This
is an extension of the above breathing technique.
Through the mouth, Breath
up from base of the spine to the very top of the head (crown chakra), Hold the
breath at the crown chakra and feel Divine Peace, then exhale through the nose
and feel yourself being filled with Peace. You can also do this with the
feelings of Love and/or Light.
Elemental Breaths
with optional visualizations
This is the most
complete and healing breath practice I know. It is composed of 5 breathing
patterns that tap upon the healing resources of Mother Nature’s Elements:
Earth, Water, Fire and Air.
1.
Earth
Breath – The Breath of Regeneration
Inhale
through the Nose – Exhale through the Nose
As you inhale through the nose, feel as though you are
inhaling the regenerating, vitality of Mother Earth – feel this healing energy
fill you whole body. As you exhale out the Nose, Imagine breathing out all your
used-up, depleted energy or vitality into Mother Earth and know that Mother
Earth receives this depleted energy and recycles it.
2.
Water
Breath – The Breath of Life
Inhale through the Nose –
Exhale through the Mouth
As you inhale through the nose, feel that you are immersed
in an Ocean of fresh, Spring like vitality and you are inhaling this vitality,
feeling it flowing through your body and aura like cool, pure stream of life
force. Then as you exhale you feel this flow intensify, carrying away all
depleted vitality and energy, all pain, all impurities from your body.
Visualization: Imagine your body and aura as a lake and
feel as though a fresh spring of this infinite energy were replenishing the
lake. Visualize the color of this energy as the ‘Green of Spring’.
As you Exhale Out the Mouth, imagine a darker shade of
green energy, like an exhaust stream of used-up, depleted energy being exhaled
out the base of the body and into the Earth beneath you.
3.
Fire
Breath - The Breath of Light
Inhale through the Mouth –
Exhale through the Nose
As you inhale through the Mouth, imagine and feel as
though you are inhaling a stream of light like the sun through the solar plexus,
this light spreads out and fills every organ, cell and molecule of your whole
body with light. Then as you Exhale out the Nose, imagine this light radiating
out through all the pours of your skin and filling your aura, emotions, and mind
with light – you become radiant.
4.
Air
Breath – The Breath of Freedom
Inhale through the Mouth –
Exhale through the Mouth
As you Inhale through the Mouth, feel you are drawing into
your consciousness a very refined life force from as far out in the cosmos as
you can imagine, draw the energy into your aura thinking of the vastness of
space, the Stars or Milky-Way galaxy as you gently inhale this Cosmic Life
Force. As you Exhale out the Mouth, imagine your whole aura and consciousness expanding
into the heavens. You have no substance,
you are as light and free as the air, there is no heaviness – you are
completely free of all denseness.
5.
Ether Breath - Simply take one breath of each of the above
