Day 34

Remember, Patanjali is offering ways for us to get rid of the obstacles or blocks to the mind, so he is describing ways to keep a peaceful mind.

The other ways to develop a peaceful mind, that have been previously mentioned are; concentrating on a single object (the highest form of concentration being fixing the mind on God through the recitation of OM) and cultivating attitudes of friendliness, compassion, delight, and dispassion.

Now we add to the list working with the breath. Later in the text working with the breath is called “pranayama.” In later text (later than Patanjali), text from Tantra and Hatha, working with the breath is called kumbhaka. 

Kevala kumbhaka is the spontaneous retention of the breath. Yogic philosophy links the breath and the mind together, claiming that if the mind is calm the breath is calm and if the breath is calm the mind is calm.

Prana here refers to “life force energy” that we can most easily experience through our breath. Some commentators say that Patanjali meant retaining the breath outside the body. Who knows? He doesn’t elaborate.

Other pranayama terms:

recaka-exhalation

puraka-inhalation

kumbhaka-retention

Pranayama is intended to be practiced with concentration, if not the mind can become more disturbed. This is why pranayama is intended for a higher level practitioner. There is a  certain level of discipline and purity required before having a beneficial experience in pranayama. 

I am not saying that working with the breath is not valuable without first developing one’s concentration. We can all agree that the mind and the breath are intimately related. We also know through our own experience that the breath is related to the nervous system, and through science, we know that the brain is a part of the nervous system. 

Working with the breath helps to calm our nervous system. Our bodies become light and our minds become steady. Commentaries on this sutra suggest you should keep the chest still and use the abdominals to control the breath. The spontaneous retention of the breath is also largely discussed. When the breath is suspended, so is the mind. The spontaneous suspension of the mind is considered to be the most desired experience. 

From a western position working with the breath can help to introduce more oxygen into the blood, lowering or stabilizing blood pressure. It can help the nervous system switch from a stress mode (fight or flight) to a relaxed mode, which can reduce stress and anxiety that can cause disruptions in the bodies natural process. I found the following article, and I included a paragraph below. It is very informative if you are interested in the benefits of pranayama from a western science perspective.

The Science of Breathing

“Slow pranayama breathing techniques show the most practical and physiological benefit, yet the underlying mechanism how they work is not fully elucidated in the research (Jerath et al., 2006). However, Jerath and colleagues hypothesize that “the voluntary, slow deep breathing functionally resets the autonomic nervous system through stretch-induced inhibitory signals and hyperpolarization (slowing electrical action potentials) currents…which synchronizes neural elements in the heart, lungs, limbic system and cortex.” As well, investigations have demonstrated that slow breathing pranayama breathing techniques activate the parasympathetic (inhibitory) nervous system, thus slowing certain physiological processes down that may be functioning too fast or conflicting with the homeostasis of the cells (Jerath et al., 2006).”