By JACCI GRUNINGER, MS, C-IAYT
Los Alamos
As I write this, I am recovering from a nasty cough that has left me finding it difficult to breathe. It’s funny isn’t it how we don’t think about our breath until we are having a hard time breathing. Of course, as a yoga therapist and Thai Massage Therapist, I think about my breath on a regular basis. Not breathing well, very much gets in my way of doing my work. That all being said, writing about Pranamaya Kosha seems like the perfect place to ponder the breath.
Pranamaya Kosha though is not just about our breath, it’s about our life force or vital energy body. The breath sheath or energy body is bigger than our physical body. When we feel energized, lethargic, restless, dull, sleepy or calm we are feeling in our breath sheath or vital energy body.
We’ll discuss the breath, but when you consider this vital energy body, consider how you respond when you encounter a difficult or angry person versus a happy and pleasant person or what it feels like to be caught in the rain or casually walking on a wooded path. These situations all emit different energies that we may or may not perceive. In yoga, meditation, breathwork and asana (posture) practice all enhance or tone our vital energy body. The practices help us tune in to what is happening around and within us.
Now let’s focus on our actual breath because without it we won’t have a vital energy body at all. Most of us breathe all day long without being aware that we are breathing. As I mentioned above, it’s not until we have a cold or other respiratory illness that we pay attention to the breath at all. The energy, or Prana, that travels with our breath is what fuels us and feeds our body. We can control the breath (pranayama) and use it purposefully to calm our energy or raise our energy.
Many traditions of yoga don’t practice breathwork or they only allow you to practice certain forms of breathing when you have reached a higher level of practice. One of the many aspects I appreciate about the Kripalu and Pranakriya styles of yoga I teach is the importance of Pranayama (breathwork). The breath is an incredibly powerful tool that can change our body, mind and spirit. The breath is always with us, and we can connect with it at any time.
Take a moment right now to connect with your own breath. Sit tall, relax your jaw and shoulders and notice your breath coming in and out of the body. Is it shallow? Deep? Quiet? Loud? Where do you feel it the most? Now, invite your breath to lengthen or slow down. What do you notice?
When we are relaxed our breath is usually calm and quiet. When we experience stress or tension, our breath is often short and shallow. The breath can let us know about the quality of our wellbeing and because we can consciously control the breath, we can control the quality of our being by changing how we breathe.
One way to explore the breath is not to just think of or watch yourself breathing but imagine that you are “being breathed”. Imagine, like a fish with gills, that your whole body is breathing in and out. Relax into this feeling. Say to yourself, “I am being breathed”, “I am breathing through my skin.” As you do this you might find tension releasing from your body, you sit taller and feel more relaxed.
When we control our breath or tune in to our breath, we realize the potential we have for creating our own sense of wellbeing no matter what is happening in our world.
The Koshas are like nesting dolls. Courtesy photo
Jacci Gruninger is a Certified Yoga Therapist, Thai Yoga Massage Therapist, Focusing Coach and Facilitated Stretch Practitioner. She regularly helps clients manage the ups and downs of life with yoga, meditation, breathwork, focusing, stretching and bodywork. Her Wellness Center is at 190 Central Park Square #212. For her in person and online teaching schedule and information on her other services, visit her website at www.highmountainwellbeing.com.
