Breathing awareness
By Anna Karina Gutierrez

Today we live in a high-strung world, everything is so fast paced we humans barely know we're breathing. Follows, we do not breathe properly. If our breath is shallow, our system does not receive enough oxygen and our bodily functions and the organs that perform them, act less than optimal, thus bringing dis-ease in the body.

Our breath is our life force, our primal source of prana. Prana is “vital energy”. Our primal source of energy does not come from the food we eat but from prana. Once we stop breathing we loose our divine or spiritual connection (physically we die). Through lack of oxygenation we develop feelings of being lost, experiencing life as foggy, anxiety, anger, lack of focus, pain, tiredness, depression, boredom and long goes the list of ailments.

Our breath and our mental state go hand in hand they cannot be apart. In the same way our mind controls the body and tells it what to do, in the same way the breath controls the mind. To create an awareness of our breathing is necessary to be aware of our mind and it's fluctuations. Our thoughts lead to our emotions. That's why we should always observe our thoughts. Ask is this thought making me feel good? Anxious, happy, depressed, loved, unloved, guilty? The more we can experience this “awareness” in our daily lives the more fulfilling peaceful lives we will lead.

When there is no space in the body or mind we have so many thoughts we feel we're going to explode in our minds, our bodies also become like a closet full of clutter.

Through yoga we allow the organs to function properly. In each, yoga pose we not only work the muscle through stretching, but through specific positions (asanas) and proper breathing we massage our internal organs stimulating and optimizing them. We massage our intestines to help in the process of elimination. We detoxify organs by pressurizing the kidneys and liver in the twisting asanas, we correct nerve shallowness through proper breathing. So all our system (digestive, nervous, adrenal, renal, circulatory) is synchronized to work in perfect harmony.

For example; if our adrenal system, in charge of sending out the adequate supply of hormones goes out of balance our moods drastically change. Our metabolism which is regulated by our thyroid gland, also suffers an imbalance resulting in weight gain or weight loss. The major glands in our system (pituitary, pineal, thyroid, parathyroid) must work together in order to bring about balance to create a harmonious flow. When one gland does not produce enough hormones then it's a snowball effect, all the others suffer; inevitably we suffer.

Yoga comes from the verbe to “yoke” or “unite”. When we create this unity of mind and body and soul we experience yoga. When we connect to our breath; states of peace, joy, happiness, bliss, health, healing and holiness take place.

Anna Karina Gutierrez is a certified Yoga Teacher and founder of Retreats Panama. She can be contacted at info@retreatspanama.com