Category: Yoga

In the beginning, we did a breathing exercise in which, with relaxation and concentration we filled our lungs and then held the breath for as long as was comfortable, imagining that the restrained breath was like an energy or a light filling the brain with light and fire. We held the breath as long as we could, and then we exhaled, sending that same light and fire into the heart in order to nourish the heart. This breathing practice is called in Sanskrit, ‘pranayama’ , which in one way means, ‘to harness the wind’. But the deeper meaning is ‘to harness the force of life’. Variations of the exercise are common throughout religions, but unfortunately, in the western religions those techniques have been largely forgotten.