Breath as a Metaphor : Ranju Roy

My recent morning walks have been characterised by a beautiful, crisp, cold stillness. The bare trees have been silhouetted against the sky; as my group class students will know - the seasons have got me reflecting on the components of the breath - and even how those components can be a metaphor for life itself.

Krishnamacharya said that the most profound part of the breathing cycle was the pause after the exhalation. From experience, I know that this is special; there is a quietness in the pause which is different from other aspects of the breath. Like spring, the inhalation is about growth, expansion and moving into life. The pause after the inhale is the fulfilment of the inhale - just as the summer is the fulfilment of the spring. In autumn there is a shedding of leaves and fruit, revealing the essence that remains. The exhale too takes us back to the centre; we let go of the breath and yet something remains - something of our structure is revealed. Like the space between incarnations, the pause after the exhale is our "zero point" - it is the completion of one breath and the origin of the next. This reminds me of winter.

I was excited and pleased to read Shunryo Suzuki's book "Not Always So". Suzuki was a practitioner of Zen, and he affirmed some interesting points about the breath. "First practice smoothly exhaling, then inhaling. Calmness of mind is beyond the end of your exhalation. If you exhale smoothly, without even trying to exhale, you are entering into the perfect calmness of your mind". I love that!

In yoga too, we emphasise the importance of the exhale. Suzuki shows how the exhale can be applied to how we are: "Your breathing will gradually vanish. You will gradually vanish, fading into emptiness. Inhaling without effort you naturally come back to yourself with some colour or form. Exhaling, you gradually fade into emptiness - empty, white paper...The important point is your exhalation. Instead of trying to feel yourself as you inhale, fade into emptiness as you exhale."

Rather than trying to inhale, we need to look after how we exhale. Again, Suzuki says: "When we always try to be alive, we have trouble. Rather than trying to be alive or active, if we can calm and die or fade away into emptiness, then naturally we will be alright."  This fits beautifully my understanding of yoga - taking care of the soil out of which something grows is the most important as part - and how we exhale (the soil) will determine how we inhale (the plant). And the pause after the exhale is the resting in our "zero point"; touching our spiritual base if you like.

Yoga, like the breath is non-aspirational. We do not try to breathe in; the exhale creates the conditions for the inhale to arise. In the same way, in our yoga practice we do not need to try to get anywhere; rather, we put in place the supports which will allow us to let go and receive the gifts of yoga as they arise.

Ranju Roy
December 2009