The Breath of God: Prana, Chi, and Consciousness

By Alan Davidson 

http://www.ThroughYourBody.com 

© Alan Davidson- All Rights reserved     

HAUYNA PICCHU, Peru, August 1986--Wheezing, with burning legs, I stopped to catch my breath.  The climb was harder than I thought. The steps rising before us, tread by the ancient Indians at least five hundred years ago, were well worn, steep and often tall. Ropes were stretched along this part of the incline to keep tourists from plummeting--almost straight down--to the thin strip of tropical rainforest below.  Three young men hiking their way down from the peak turned the sharp bend ahead of us. I was still huffing-and-puffing as they passed us by. One of the boys muttered something in Spanish as they passed us, the others laughed. I made out gringo, foreigner, but missed their slur. My friend Dr. Wayne, in his kindness, spared me the translation.              

We resumed our hike up the peak. The valley below and the other mountains that surrounded it were lost in dense clouds. It was winter and the rainy season in South America, a happy retreat from Houston’s scorching heat. The mist tickled my lungs while we climbed up and up the spiraling 800-foot incline. The clouds began to rise as the morning sun hit the valley. Eerily picking up speed, wispy clouds streamed past us, as they rose and vaporized into the heat and humidity of the Amazon jungle. Suddenly they opened below us.      

Lime green vegetation shined across the distance on the opposite mountain. Saddled between two peaks, rising a thousand plus feet above the roiling Urumbamba river valley below, lay the jewel of South America: the ancient city of Machu Picchu. The stone temples and terraces created by the Incas were vivid in the distance, as mysterious as they were extraordinary. There was no rope to guard the drop-off on this stretch of the climb. Wayne and I both stood stock still, mesmerized by the view below, me holding the rocky wall of Hauyna Picchu Mountain. Pulling ourselves from the spectacular view we returned to our climb. We reached the top with me breathing like I had just finished running a marathon, as much to do with the altitude as the extra pounds I carried.  

Macchu Picchu with Hauyna Picchu rising above it

Panting like a bellows, I dropped to a boulder. I longed for a cup of coca tea that I’d tasted back in Cuzco, the local remedy for the altitude. The clouds had completely evaporated by now. The sun was shining strong and the air was still cool from the early morning. The tranquility of the mountaintop was awesome; so was the view. Machu Picchu’s spectacular location was revealed. From the crown of Hauyna Picchu I had a circular view of the surrounding mountains: Granite crests with green and snow peaked summits, along with the bends of the river joined to enclose the site  of the old city. Birds soared through the valley. Bromeliads grew sporadically on the sheer cliffs of the opposing mountain walls.

      A rag-tag group of trekkers, young Austrians, Germans, Australians and Americans held a reverent silence as they sunned on the high boulders. The trekkers had camped the night at Aquas Calientas after days hiking along the Inca Trail. Dr Wayne and I chose the three and a half hour train ride. Aquas Calientas, named for the natural hot springs in the valley below, is the village where visitors to Machu Picchu, trekkers and train tourists alike, begin the 1,500 foot climb to the ancient ruins. These trekkers hiked up the eight kilometer road, hairpinned with thirteen zigzag switchbacks, while most tourists from the trains, Dr. Wayne and I included, opted for a precarious shuttle ride up the mountain.  We spent the night in the delightful Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge adjacent to the ruins. The best advantage to staying so close to the ruins was the near privacy of the mornings.  The first train full of tourists arrived from Cuzco about 10:30 AM.  Until then the handful of overnight visitors had the entire complex and the narrow trail up Hauyna Picchu to themselves.     

     I was breathing normally by now and I moved to meditate. Lying on my back with my head tilting off a cliff I visualized. Using one of Shakti Gawain’s meditations I saw my life perfect and happy, bathed in pink light. The work of the climb, the pure air and the awesome quiet gifted me a perfect peace.  My breathing deepened as my mind calmed. Or was it the other way around; my mind calmed as my breathing deepened? Either way I felt great. Climbing Hauyna Picchu was a rich moment; the first time I experienced the power of physical effort, deep-breathing, meditation and transcendent calm; the first time I felt the power of my breath to induce a cosmic experience.

     In every mystical tradition, the breath of the body is revered as the breath of the divine. The Sanskrit word prana and the Chinese word chi both translate as breath and “universal life force.” They are identical. The Kabala, Sufi, Yogic, Taoist, and Christian mystics know the power of breath for inner-healing and entering states of God-Consciousness.   

     In my Five IQ system, breath is a key component to Emotional Intelligence, maturity, and growth. In Tantric philosophy, there are five layers of consciousness in the body, or koshas. Those five “sheaths” move from the densest to the most subtle: bones and muscles, the breath, thought, discernment, and the chakras. Breath, the second envelope of consciousness, is where prana lives and moves.

Take this little test!

Hold your breath as long as you can. What do you notice?

The standard truism is: that we can live 30 days without food, three days without water, and three minutes with out air. Our breath is the very essence of being alive. But we don’t have to pay attention to it because it’s automatic. Our breath is fascinating because it sits right on that pivot point between the voluntary and the involuntary. 

Most of the time we take short shallow breaths, about 28,000 a day. The lungs hold seven pints of air.  Two are needed to keep them inflated.  The average person only inhales/exhales one pint of air with each breath. And as the rib cage gets tighter and tighter through the day we take lighter and lighter breaths through the day. Shallow breathing adds to poor oxygenation, tension and pain in our bodies. It also decreases our sense of pleasure, energy flow and our spiritual development. 

Breathing experts note three conditions that contribute to limited breathing:

• Poor posture, which might include a sagging spine and a stiff or sunken rib case.

• Weak or constricted respiratory muscles, especially the diaphragm, our primary breathing muscle, the tiny muscles between the ribs, and the  rectus abdominis.

• The wear and tear of everyday stress.

    Body work and some simple attention can easily shift the depth our breathing and our ability to shift our conscious awareness. Deep tissue massage frees the stressed and chronically tight muscles of the ribs, chest, and belly. Once freed the ribcage can easily rise and fall allowing more oxygen in and more carbon dioxide out.

The three primary benefits of conscious breathing are:

1.  Body-mind therapy,

2.  Personal development and

3.  Spiritual enlightenment.

     Each one of these approaches may be the primary focus of any given breathwork session, yet all three seem to comprise the full scope our conscious breathing potential.

     There are a number of breathing techniques designed to shift our normal cycles of breathing, and thus our ordinary ways of consciousness, and thinking and being in the world. Just a few of the modern conscious breath systems are Holotropic Breathwork developed by Stan and Christina Grof , Rebirthing developed by Leonard Orr, Integrative Breathwork developed by Jacquelyn Small, and Transformational Breathing, developed by Dr. Judith Kravitz. Not to mention the many styles of breath taught in Yogic, Taoist, Buddhist, Sufi, Kabbalistic, and mediation centers across the world.

Conscious beathing soothes the emotional body, calms the mind, and soars the spirit.

 The Bellows Breath

This yogic breath, one of my favorites, can be used to help stimulate energy when needed. It’s as good as a cup of coffee (or at least a good companion for a cup of coffee).

1. Sit in a comfortable up-right position with your back and spine straight.

2. Notice the sensation of your regular breaths—air moving across your upper lip, air moving through your nose and throat, the rise and fall of your chest, your belly moving as your diaphragm expands and contracts with each breath.

3. Take your deepest possible full inhalation and exhalation.

4. Now, take your deepest possible full inhalation and exhale in a series of short bursts, till the lungs are empty. Without pausing, take another of your deepest possible full inhalation and exhale in a series of short bursts, sounding like a bellows, till the lungs are empty. Do this “round” for a five breaths.

5. Although air is forced both in and out, the emphasis is placed upon the burst or explosion of air. A series of such bursts, each following the other in quick succession without a pause, is called "A Round".

6. Follow each round with the deepest possible inhalation and exhalation and a series of normal breaths before starting your next round.

7. Beginners should limit a round to about five bursts, though the number may be increased to ten, or even more if needed to obtain the desired effect. The desired effects of the Bellows Breath range from deeper-fuller breaths, increased circulation, clearing your nasal passages, shifting your ordinary thought patterns, and eliminating all mental disturbances.

8. Don’t force, or explode the breath to strongly as it can cause injuries to lung tissues. Too many rounds of the Bellows Breath can also cause dizziness. Wisdom and comfort, and not recklessness, should guide your Bellows breathing.

     The Bellows Breath can be used each morning upon awakening or when needed for an energy boost. It can also be helpful for reducing anger, anxiety, depression, fatigue, irritability, muscular tension and stress.

     Meanwhile, back at Hauyna Picchu:  As I rested on the mountain, unbeknownst to me, Dr. Wayne snapped my picture, saying I looked like an offering to the ancient gods (I would not have qualified as a virgin sacrifice, however).  At the end of my meditation I offered my vision wrapped in pink light to the Andes, to Macchu Piccu, and my perfect place in the universe. They received my gift with quiet austerity.  Climbing Hauyna Picchu was a peak moment:  the first time I had experienced the power of physical fitness, the transcendent calm of meditation, and the beauty of deep breathing.

     Experiencing such insight and transcendence is why I love to travel.