Breath

Harmonize mind. Harmonize breath and breath awareness. Harmonize clarity. Harmonize vitality and strength. Harmonize emotions and spirit. Merge into the flow that is life.

The breath is like a river flowing serenely through the body, both in its gross level as breath taken in and as its subtle level as pervasive life energy known as chi or prana. The world is composed of these subtle energies as its matrix. The energy is the womb of potential out of which we manifest as vehicles of living awareness and to which we return to merge into the formless. The awareness of energy is the fabric of life. More subtle than ether or space, it can be likened to light. In the system of Samkhya from which the philosophy of yoga and Ayurveda arose, this awareness is called Mahat, until it is differentiated through the vehicle of space and time into ahamkhara, or individual awareness which has its unique perspective and can fall into the illusion of separation. The Fall from Grace, as it were. When we speak of the soul or Jivatman, we are referring to the individualized spark of the All as a point of reference. Each point or soul is on a journey of returning to the awareness of Union with the creator and source of love. A Union which has been there all along.

 As Kabir says,

“The fish is in the water and is thirsty. Every time I hear that, It makes me laugh.”

We are the fish thirsty in the water and the water is the very soul from which we experience the world and seek our fulfillment. The maya (illusion) is mistaking the reflection of the source to be the source itself. We must turn around. We must look within and surrender.

Vedic sciences such as yoga offer us a myriad of methods or actions which can help us reorient to the inner world, which involves allowing the mind to become more subtle in its awareness. Only the subtle can perceive the subtle and the energy of life is the most subtle and also the most powerful.

Life Flow Integrated Therapies guides us to experiencing the life flowing within and to allow it to guide us in intelligence, joy, fulfillment, health and vitality.

The important shift that has to occur before the journey of Self Knowledge can begin is the recognition that one is longing for something that has not be attained through the outer world. This can be quite momentous.

To begin our journey we engage the faculty of awareness to the movement of the breath while simultaneously lengthening and smoothing out the breath.

Then we place the body in a variety of simple shapes and find the freest flow of breath within that shape.

From that shift we practice creating more freedom in the breath and more space and receptivity of breath in the body.

Whatever the mind pays attention to, it takes on the nature of. As the breath flows more freely, the mind does as well. The two merge into each other as two rivers joining to become one.

This is the most important practice and once mastered to a level wherein one can easily tap into the experience of merging into the river, every activity becomes yoga.

 Every dimension of the physical level from the densest which is earth, through, water, fire, air and ether is composed of the subtlest life force carried in the subtle phase of the breath. From within the flow of the breath and mind, one can perceive this truth. The outcome is bliss.

 We can perceive the subtle energy through other avenues. These avenues are the senses. The senses are the tools through which the individualized mind (manas) interfaces with the outer world. And yet, there are also more sensitive, inner workings of the senses, which when directed inward, also help us be aware of the Divinity of the life force manifesting as our sensory experiences.

 If you could envision your being as light wave frequencies and these frequencies had color, these colors would vibrate along the spectrum of the rainbow. Each color represents a dimension of your being and wellness. Each dimension and color has a corresponding sensory experience in the mind. Red, the slowest of the frequencies is the faculty of smell and the experiences associated with small. The color orange is taste and the enjoyment of taste. The color yellow is the faculty of seeing and the digestion of experiences. The color green is the experience of touch and all that implies. The color of sky blue is hearing and the experiencing world through sound. Indigo is deeper knowing and intuition and violet and gold as the highest frequencies are total oneness and fusion of the highest expression of all dimensions which are in truth only one. We experience them as multiple because of the way we sue our minds.

Yoga, through relaxed focus on the breath or inner light and vibration, trains the mind to open and soften and see more clearly through a broader perspective that doesn’t judge or categorize. Eventually the essence of all things is known and is experienced as our natural self.