Five Aspects of Breath

1. Depth

Be conscious with every breath, especially of the inhalation. The air fills the lungs, and through the lungs it passes into the blood stream, thence by the motion of circulation regulated by the heart it reaches every cell of the body. It resurrects every part of your being, and you die and are reborn with each breath. Feel life giving the vitality of the breath as it flows into your extremities, fingertips, palms, soles and scalp. Fill yourself with the environment. Feel sustained and resuscitated by that which is outside of your self, filling the self like a vortex in the sea.

2. Length

Be conscious of the reverse: focus on the exhalation and the breath emptying into the environment, releasing that which is old, worn, used. become transparent and empty in every cell. Feel the relaxation of release, the ability to let go completely. No forethought of future, no concern of consequence, release the grip on life. Let the breath fill the environment, let it be digested by nature, by the plants and trees. Exhale so that your lungs are truly emptied.

3. Volume or Capacity

Be aware of the capacity for breath in your body, of the extent of expansion of your abdomen and chest. Let your breast open and your heart soften. Obstructions dissolve.

4. Centre

Recognize that every breath we draw, consciously or unconsciously reaches a central point. Resolve to draw the breath down into the abdomen beneath the navel into the nafs centre. Allow the emergence of empty space, capacity, where there once was tension. Life of breath clears obstruction, simply by the conscious act of breathing with full presence.

5. Rhythm

Without regulating your breath, be aware of your breath. The simple act of consciousness brings your breath into its natural rhythm. Experience it, know it, recognize it as your own, through the feeling in your body. Experience the rhythm of inhaling and exhaling and the echo of pulsation from the heart and throughout the rest of your body.

Rest in the expanding, harmonizing of awareness that your breath carries you into for some minutes.