How to Use the Breath to Move Energy Through the Body

Breathing is a miraculous process that brings energy into the body and transfers that energy to all parts of the body. Carbohydrates are converted into glucose which eventually finds its way into all the cells of the body. When glucose reacts with oxygen, ATP (Adenosine TriPhosphate) is produced. ATP is a molecule of potential energy and does not become kinetic until it lets go of one of its phosphates. When the last phosphate, on the string of three, breaks away, electrons "fly" out of the reaction and gives kinetic energy to the cell. If the cell is a brain cell or a nerve cell, chemicals are released. If the cell is a muscle cell, it contracts. It is electron movement that allows the brain to think and the body to move, but it is the breath that initiates the whole process. Without the breath the entire system of cell respiration would back up like a dammed up stream. The result would be waste products building up killing the cells and the tissues.

Energy

Energy is the movement of electrons and electrons are constantly in motion. Electrons may be holding atoms together, like two atoms of hydrogen (H2) or two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen (H20) and so on, with literally thousands of different molecules possible. Or, electrons may be set free and allowed to do their own thing. Think of a free electron as a bullet traveling through space heading for a target. In the case of a cell, the electron is traveling through the matrix of the cell heading toward a particular molecule or tissue. In the case of muscle cells, the electron hits the target (actin and myosin of the muscle cell) and the muscle contracts. This, of course, is a very simplified version of what happens, and a biochemist would frown at this explanation, but I'm fairly confident that most of us reading this article are not biochemists.

The Mind and the Breath

In order to move energy through the body using the breath, you must have the power of imagination. Imagination comes from the mind and it's the power of the mind that channels energy through the body. You must understand the fact that you are standing on a large ball of energy (the earth). Not only is the earth a ball of energy but it is expelling that energy into the atmosphere in basically two forms of kinetic energy: heat and electromagnetic. Both of these forms of energy are being emitted constantly from the earth and transferred into various objects, both animate or inanimate. By the simple act of standing on earth, energy is passing into your body. However, the energy can linger in your body for some time or it can dissipate quickly out into the atmosphere. With the power of the mind and the breath you can move that energy into any specific areas of the body that you so desire. Here is where imagination comes in - the power of the mind. While standing, take a slow, deep breath in while you imagine energy from the earth moving up your legs and into the area of your hips. Hold the breath for just a few of seconds and then slowly breathe out imagining the energy following your breath from the hips up through your spine and out the crown of your head. Continue doing this exercise for a few minutes.

Shakti and Sushumna

In yoga the term "shakti" means energy and "sushumna" is the astrial tube that runs through your body. As you stand and do the breathing exercise described above, imagine that your body is a hollow tube (sushumna) while the breath and the energy (shakti) are moving through the tube. As you continue to breathe slowly in and out, imagine the diameter of the tube in your body becoming larger and larger. Let your breath flow naturally and allow yourself to relax completely. At this point you may want to lie down. You may begin to notice your breathing getting easier like wind blowing though a tunnel. What is happening is you are becoming more and more relaxed as new energy is replacing old energy (waste). New energy is flowing into your body and waste is flowing out. This is a marvelous feeling.

Move Energy into any Specific Part of Your Body

Move into your favorite twisting yoga pose and hold the pose as you breathe. Once you are comfortable in the pose begin twisting a little further so that you can feel that part of the body that is being affected the most. Focus on that area of the body and allow shakti to flow into it as you breathe in. As you breathe out allow the old energy to flow out. It doesn't matter where the energy flows out; it may be out the top of your head, a shoulder or somewhere else. Just keep new energy flowing into the stretch and old energy out. As you are moving the energy in and out see if you can move into the twist just a little further without feeling pain - just a nice warm stretch. Hold the pose for a few minutes and then slowly release and do the same pose but on the other side. Experiment with this energy moving exercise using other poses to see what effects you get.

Neil Crenshaw, Ph.D.
http://www.pureawareness.info