Practicing pranayama and meditation can improve the quality of our reactions and decisions.
Bhagwad Gita identifies lust, anger, and greed as our primary spiritual adversaries. They routinely torment our minds though disturbances and often change our course of action. Worse, they are pernicious and often go unnoticed in the crucial moments during which we decide our responses or actions.
Pranayama and meditation offer crucial help. Specifically, they slow down the normal rate of a person’s breathing. As a result, the way the mind works changes in a significant way. The mind slows down enough to pause between an event and the person’s reaction to it. Usually, we react or “decide” the course of action in a period spanning around one breath or less. The mind does not pause to think at this time. In other words, we react instinctively to situations that are complex and need careful, deliberate thought. Retaining conscious control over our minds during this decision-moment is thus very important. Pranayama and meditation pivot our minds from an instinctive doer-mindset to an observer-mindset. I call this dynamic the “yogic breathing pause”. This changed decision period can span much longer than earlier. And, it is made possible due to yogic breathing techniques developed through practiced pranayam and meditation. In this paused moment, the mind steps back and takes a more relaxed and deliberate view of not just what is happening outside but also what is happening within it and the psychosomatic changes in the body. It calls out any distortion in its own working, especially the faults like anger, greed, or lust. And importantly, it starts following this “yogic breathing pause” process as a new habit. One is thus able to break the instinctive process of decision-making that we grew up learning.
Focusing on our breathing is not a new idea. The age-old advice to “count to ten” when angry is commonly known. However, this does not work well for most people because the conscious mind is not a dominant voice in instinctive decision making. Instead, the conscious mind is a bystander that is called into service to offer logic to justify what has been already decided or done. This dynamic of instinctive decision-making followed by conscious justification changes for a person who is practiced in pranayam and meditation. For this person, the mind is more likely to pause to analyse the situation and consider options to react rather than swiftly decide upon an action and perform it. The mind is no longer a “one-breath reactor”. It moves into a frame where it does not react immediately and does not see the the absence of a swift reaction as a problem. Interestingly, the world also tends to respect a slower, calmer decision-maker, rather than a quicker one.
The real benefit of a shift to a “yogic breathing pause” is a calmer mind and a happier person. When outside events stop disturbing the mind enough for it to react like a cornered animal, they simply stop disturbing the mind. A person may even end up performing actions that he may otherwise have performed. But, he would not have rushed into them and would not be a disturbed actor. He would be at peace and consequently, happier than he would otherwise be.
More information on pranayam may be obtained from here and here.
Recommended Reading
The Advanced Meditation Exercise (TAME): This meditation technique is an incredibly powerful way to keep the mind peaceful. It is prescribed in Bhagwad Gita, the primary book of Indian spiritual heritage. It derives its power by activating three key things in us: detachment, stillness, and transformation.
Why TAME meditation appears to work better than other techniques: TAME meditation appears to be more effective than other meditation techniques because it activates three essential elements of meditation: detachment, transformation, and stillness. Meditation needs all three.
Use Meditation to counter depression and stress: Modern approaches towards depression and stress are not working as they do not understand the mind that creates them. It’s time to rethink our approach.
