Breathwork - a union of cosmic forces.

Today is equinox, the auspicious event of autumn where night and day are equally long. Although devalued in our amnesia for natures holy-days, this would traditionally have been a time for ceremony. To pause and honour that in the dance between the dark and light, day and night. But, this would not have been a day to praise only the day and night as such. For as rituals often have it, the object worshipped would typically be a symbol for something more fundamental. On this day, recognition would flow towards the fact that life - at any level, happens as a play of opposites. The ancients called this YinYang. Shivashakti. FatherskyMotherEarth. MasculineFeminine. The + and the - .

In the body, this polarity is first and foremost expressed as our breath. The two opposing forces are the inhale and the exhale. When we breathe in, muscles contract, heart rate increases and our sympathetic nervous system is activated. With the exhale, opposite movements happen. The heart rate slows down and the parasympathetic nervous system - the “rest and digest” function, is activated. Because it is the breath that brings life - spirit - into the body, it is this pulse that maintains our vitality. Because of it, all of the functions of our body-mind system are maintained. When we can see the breath not just as a physical function, but as the means for how the universal law is made functional in us, we can begin to understand the significance of conscious breath practice. This is the awake-full participation in the most fundamental steps of the cosmic dance. 

In my experience, few breathing practices put this to the test as cleverly as the one popularly called “Breathwork”. In this practice the inhale and exhale are invited to take on their genuine nature as representatives of the cosmic polarity. The inhale is activated into its will-full, strong, masculine nature. Muscles contract to pull air into the body. Yang energy is pulsated throughout the system. The exhale, on the other hand, is invited for a full surrender. On the out-breath, muscles simply relax and air is pushed out of the body, which sinks heavy towards the floor as yin energy ripples through the organism. Now the tables are set for the introduction of the genius of this practice: to remove that little pause that separates the two parts of the breath.

What happens next is highly individual, and will be left open to experience for those with appetite a transformational meal. But, what I can say, after having led hundreds of people through this practice, is that the word “healing” definitely applies here. Because this is exactly what happens when we unify the opposites of breathing - we make the breath whole. And because the breath is the governor of our body and minds, the “wholing” effect floods into system. The in-breath fills the lungs, and turns without pause to become a soft exhale. Air pours out of the body, and just as the out-breath reaches its completion, it swings to form another inhale. What used to be a in-and-out-breath now takes on a circular quality. And with our conscious awareness tracking the spiralling of life force we invite a rare, but fundamental function of life force. A forgotten loop hole in our incarnational predicament. This is the mystical union of opposites - the divine marriage. The snake biting its own tail. The everyday action of breathing has become a ground for the courtship ritual of cosmic forces.

So on this equinox day, experiment taking three whole breaths with no pauses between inhale and exhale. Let the balanced day and night inspire us to remove any artificial gaps we have set up between the opposites of our life. To let the pendelum swing as it was designed to do between any extremities, and center ourselves as the eye of the storm.