“Breath is the bridge which connects life to consciousness, which unites your body to your thoughts. Whenever your mind becomes scattered, use your breath as the means to take hold of your mind again.” - Thich Nhat Hahn
One of the first times I practiced yoga in a studio was during the week of Valentine’s Day. At the beginning of my first class, the instructor announced that we would be practicing “heart openers”. Being obsessed with anatomy and physiology, I immediately envisioned an operating room, an opened chest cavity, a surgeon, scalpel, and the chambers of a heart. Although my immediate reaction was “Cool!”, I knew the instructor had something else in mind, as open-heart surgery was not likely to happen on a mat in a yoga studio next to a statue of Buddha and a potted snake plant.
Of course, I quickly learned that the term “heart opener” was yoga-speak for backbends and other poses that target the muscles of the shoulder girdle. I am reluctant to use the term “heart openers'', preferring “shoulder openers” as it is more descriptive and not as squishy. But after many years of practicing these poses, I’ve come to appreciate how they impact the functioning of the heart. Whereas they don’t actually stretch or “open” heart muscle in any way, they do improve the movement and mobility of the shoulder girdle, which has a significant impact on how efficiently the heart functions.
The heart center can be defined on many levels. Physically, it is the central hub at which the respiratory and circulatory systems converge with the heart, where they work together to distribute energy throughout the body. This is the area where blood is refreshed and distributed by the actions of the heart. Symbolically, the heart is the core center of our identity--we point to our heart to emphasize “I” and place our hands over our hearts to show sincerity. In yoga, the heart center is of great importance, as it is here where the mind, heart, and the breath are deeply intertwined. The breath has a subtle but significant impact on the body and the mind, and vice versa. Changes in any one of these areas can occur outside of our awareness, such as how a sudden quickening of our inhalations increases the heart rate, making us feel stressed or anxious. We can quickly regain a sense of calm when the mind purposely slows the breath down by lengthening the exhale. It is here at the heart center, through the strong influence of the breath, that we develop our ability to navigate life with a greater sense of control and ease.
Not only does the breath contain the oxygen that fuels our energy, it is also an ever-present diagnostic tool that measures our physical and emotional wellbeing. The quality and quantity of our inhale and exhale can reveal disease as well as fitness. A year of living with COVID has taught us how rapid, shallow inhalations signal respiratory distress, and we can improve our fitness levels through exercise that purposefully challenges our capacity to inhale and exhale. Even more subtle is the breath’s ability to reveal our emotional state. Awareness of the breath provides a mirror of our relationship to the present moment through the depth and ease of our breathing—think of the quick, shallow breath of fear compared to the comfortable, slow, and full breath associated with contentment and joy.
We are born with the capacity to breathe with what is known as a “natural” breath. In yoga, this natural breath is practiced during Dirga Pranayama, the process of breathing that actively contracts the diaphragm, which then descends into the belly, allowing the lungs to fill completely with air, and an exhale that is initiated when the diaphragm relaxes and pushes up against the bottom of the lungs. The natural breath maximizes the exchange of oxygen which facilitates the heart’s capacity to provide energy. You can watch the rhythm of this natural breathing in newborns when they sleep on their backs. Unfortunately, most of us lose this innate breathing pattern due to several factors, such as stress, movement patterns, and all the numerous poor health habits we pick up on the way to adulthood.
The biggest culprit that changes our capacity for a natural breath is posture, which is constantly assaulted by sedentary lifestyles. A healthy spine is ideally positioned to support the natural breath as it allows for sufficient space and mobility for the contraction of the diaphragm and expansion of the lungs. But we live and work in a virtual world, one which requires slumping in front of a screen for hours as well as using devices that are held below the head, causing us to hunch over as we scroll and type, eroding our posture and ability to breathe. The human body is supremely adaptable and will respond to the demands put upon it. Chronic sitting weakens several key muscle groups that support the proper alignment of the spine, from the small muscles that run along the vertebrae, to the inner thighs that stabilize the hips. As we sit and slouch, our spine compensates and we lose the healthy alignment that supports our natural breath.
On a basic level, yoga helps reestablish the natural breath by bringing awareness to our breathing patterns as we move through poses. Most people are surprised by how often they find themselves holding their breath throughout their practice. But we will never fully reestablish our natural breathing patterns until we acquire length and stability in the spine, and a regular yoga practice helps move us closer to that healthy alignment. By releasing tension in the front of the shoulders, we can slowly work our way back to the breathing patterns that are hardwired but have been altered by our chronic sedentary habits.
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