Breathing & Meditation

“Meditation puts us in touch with what holds the world together at its core.” (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)

We are in a time when we have everything and yet we are still searching. In search of connection to ourselves and in search of connection to our fellow human beings. We have enough distractions on the outside, hustle and bustle, noise, stress, consumption, which prevents us from looking inward and recognizing what is essential.

• • When was the last time you enjoyed silence?

• • When was the last time you thought about nothing?

• • When was the last time you took time for yourself?

• • When was the last time you consciously chose trust over fear and worry?

• • When was the last time you felt connected to yourself and connected to the people around you?

“Peace begins with each of us taking care of our body and mind every day.” (Thich Nhat Hanh)

With asanas, you begin yoga class by preparing your body and mind for meditation. If your body comes to rest during or after the practice, your breathing can join the rhythm and also come to rest. When your body and breathing are in harmony, calm and steady, your mind can begin to relax and your thought carousel will subside, the stormy sea will begin to make fewer waves and you can look deep down or inside to discover the treasure in the depths of the sea, your being.

Asanas – Breathing/Pranayama – Meditation, one follows the other

This is also how Patanjali described it in the 8-limbed path, which gives us a guide on how to experience samadhi, enlightenment.

“Yoga is the stilling of the movements in the mind.” (Patanjali)

To quiet the mind, there are passive and active meditation techniques.

Here, a distinction is made between whether the body and/or the mind are active or passive. Physical active meditations run while walking or chanting. Yoga and meditations by Osho are among them. Physically passive meditations happen while lying down or sitting. Mentally active is a meditation when, for example, you create an image in your mind, repeat an affirmation or a mantra. Mentally passive meditation, on the other hand, is when your mind rests on a meditation object or within itself. The best way to find out which type of meditation suits you best is to try it out.

Breathing/Pranayama

3-3-3

You can survive 3 weeks without eating. You can survive 3 days without drinking. You can survive 3 minutes without breathing.

Ask yourself: Which “3” do I pay the most attention to?

“As you breathe, so you live.” (Andreas Tenzer)

• • When you are tired, do you drink a coffee or do you breathe?

• • When your nose is stuffed up, do you use nasal spray or breathe?

• • When you are stressed, do you start eating or do you breathe?

• • When you have a headache, do you take a pill or breathe?

• • When you are listless, do you stay that way or do you breathe?

• • If you have high blood pressure, do you go to the doctor or do you breathe?

• • When you are cold, do you freeze or breathe?

• • When you’re hot, do you sweat or breathe?

• • When you can’t sleep, do you take a sleeping pill or do you breathe?

Your breathing is an underestimated miracle, an instrument that wants to be played by you through certain breathing techniques. This way you can release energy blockages in your body and mind. Pranayama is the conscious control of your breath, the guidance of your life energy, your prana. So wrote Gheranda Samhita in the 17th century in the yoga scriptures:

“Pranayama gives you the power to fly.
Pranayama makes you healthy.
It makes the mind still and powerful,
and you experience bliss.
It is true who practices pranayama,
becomes a happy person.”