Refreshing The Spirit

I love etymology, and the other day, while reading through my text book about breathing pattern disorders, I decided to look up the etymology of BREATH. The results were astonishing, the following words are among some of the most intriguing entries that came up:

ATMAN -- from Sanskrit meaning "essence, breath, soul"
ANIMUS -- from Latin meaning "soul, mind, courage, desire"
QI -- from Chinese meaning "air, breath"
SPIRIT -- from Latin espiritus meaning "soul, courage, vigor, breath"

And so it is that quite quickly the history of breath paints a picture of its indivisible nature from our spirit or our souls. QI is often know as "life force," which the breath undoubtedly is, and when your QI flows freely it clears out all blockages throughout your body's energy system, reversing dis-ease states. So perhaps just breathing properly can cure many of the ills of mankind.

This is precisely the idea of pranayama, the ancient indian practice of conscious breathing techniques. When I first started becoming more interested in Yoga I took courses from many different teachers, and I quickly found that the most rewarding classes were the ones which focused more on breathing, or pranayam techniques. The yoga classes I currently attend are more fitness focused, but I still practice pranayam on my own everyday, especially when I find myself becoming flighty or reactive. Breathing consciously helps me maintain a more robust connection with my own true nature, my spirit.

And yet breathing for so many is not a conscious activity, and it can lead to a plethora of uncomfortable symptoms, all manifested as the symptoms of various pathological conditions, yet no disease is present that can be diagnosed by the conventional western physician. This is called a breathing pattern disorder, not a disease but a complex set of behaviors. The symptons range from gastrointestinal difficulties to fainting and lightheadedness, from fear of insanity to muscle tremors and twitching. I myself feared I was going insane for a long time, I attributed it to the abuse of psychedelics and denial of my own desires and my own truth. While these two reasons may have had something to do with my un-ease, it has become abundantly clear to me that above all I was disconnected from my spirit, and could find no way to reconnect amidst my physical, emotional and spiritual upheaval. It turns out all I needed to do was breathe.

So, let us take a look at one more word, and break it down. Respiration. The prefix RE basically means again, and SPIRATION bears a close resemblence to "spirit." And so there you have it. The act of respiration, or breathing, when done consciously, is actually the process of divine self-connection; quite literally the refreshing of one's spirit.