News from The Culture Lab: The Song of the Breath

On 23rd March we had a 90-minute zoom session for the Indian summer fest, CINS, and Arkaya teams. We introduced them to the Artist as Healer project and had the experience a healing session sitting on chairs.

“Karma” was also there. She is the star of the short film I am going to make on multisensory healing. We had artists and doctors attend where Dr. Arun introduced the need for integrative thinking in modern medicine and Sirish gave his artistic perspective.
I facilitated a session so those present could experience this integration of the right and left and brain and all layers of one’s being.

When we receive the Yogic knowledge of the different dimensions we exist in we cannot but celebrate the artistry inherent in the human being. We also learn that we, like artists, can sculpt our lives into better health and harmony.
Yoga in the Western world is reduced to exercise. Sanskrit names are substituted with trite English names that do not capture the poetry or essence of the practice. And suffering a practice and pushing oneself is more the norm than savoring the senses and pacing oneself. Yoga and classical Tantra require that we understand and embody these paradigm shifts to move to the rhythm of our being. The approach and attitudes are very different from exercise. Else we are merely practicing exercises that looks like yoga postures and do not derive their deep benefits.

A simple practice for all

Sit comfortably in a seated position on a chair or a mat. Be aware of ‘sthiram” and ‘sukham’ in the body. Sthiram is stability and firmness, Sukham is ease. Asana is about constantly tapping into these two polarities and helping them dance in dynamic stillness.
Sit rooted, tall and relaxed, and savor your body, scanning the body from the tips of the toes to the top of the head. Listen to the body and its sensations. Listen to your inner child through sensations. They have been habitually ignored and is yearning to communicate with you. Listen to your breath. If the mind wanders, remind it that there is nothing more important in the next couple of minutes than to reparent this inner child into love and wholeness.

Sohum – Soul song

As we continue to be aware of the body and breath we start to listen to the song of the breath. The song of the breath is Sa aham or Soham. Soham means I am the origin, I am essence. The din of the to-do list or the cacophony of modern life usually keeps us from listening to this song
This soul song gives us great responsibility and great freedom. As we stay connected to this inner song we remember our origins devoid of the masks or mantles of conditioning. This song dehypnotizes us from the fugue we are trapped in.

The rishis or sages whom I like to refer to as the  ancient researchers came upon this after years or lifetimes of listening to the subtle. So if we are not able to listen to the song of the breath chant “So” on the in breath and “hum” on the outbreath to the count of 6. Practice this 9 times and find freedom from limitation. We will see we are not just filling out lives but truly fulfilled as we do the sohum pranayama. Pranayama is the conscious expansion of prana where breathing is one of the ways to expand this life force. The breath is intimately connected to our emotional states. When we are angry, upset or stressed, the breath is short. As we consciously breathe deeply we are enabling the parasympathetic nervous system which is the rest ,digest , repair and heal response as opposed to the fight, flight, freeze, fawn response which modern life puts us in. There is a huge repertoire of pranayama in the yogic system for healing. Starting off with something as simple as the sohum pranayama is a good start.

For those who want to learn more I am offering a free invitation to the Arkaya community classes and Satsangh that happens every Saturday from 9 am to 11 am on zoom. Please see the coupon code to register here.