As the legend goes, a little over 2,500 years ago, a man named Siddhartha Gautama sat under a Bodhi tree and declared “I will not move until I have become enlightened.”
After years of meditation, he could sit with incredible focus, patience, and surrender but never prepared him to sit for 49 days! But such was his dedication and commitment, that’s what he did.
At the end of his time, he discovered that the entire field of mind and matter consists of tiny subatomic particles that move in a wave-like motion. He went to tell his disciples that before he could click a finger or blink an eye, each one of these subatomic particles moves trillions and trillions of times.
He declared they move so fast, in fact, that they give life the illusion of being stationary.
Emotions such as joy and peace are known to slow them down, even harmonise and soothe them, while anger and jealousy are known to speed them up and disrupt them.
The power of the breath is that it does both, and Siddartha Gautama knew it.
That’s why he used his breath to trace the trillions and trillions of subatomic particles over his top lip and into his nostrils. He then followed them down into his nasal cavity, throat, and lungs and observed how they brought everything alive inside his body.
He did this so masterfully and meticulously that he came to understand the entire field of mind and matter. Upon his return, he was referred to as Gautama the Buddha – the enlightened one – thereafter.
Interestingly, thousands of years later in 1952, a scientist by the name of Donald. A Glaser discovered the same phenomenon but through a bubble chamber. It was named The Bubble Chamber because of the way bubbles arise and pass away in much the same way subatomic particles do.
This bubble chamber went on to record that each subatomic particle moves over a thousand billion times a second in much the same way the Buddha did. Their methods may have been different, but they reached the same conclusion: life is in a constant flux or flow, always changing, never still. This relates as much to the breath as it does to the cells within our bodies, mountain ranges, oceans, and forests alike.
The Buddha’s genius was that he used his breath to explore the mind to liberate himself. He then compassionately taught his method to thousands of people across Northern India until he died at 80 years old.
His technique now lives on through S.N. Goenka’s transmission of Vipassana meditation and it can be found in many centres around the world.
It’s not for the faint-hearted but I would definitely recommend it.
“As soon as any impurity, any defilement arises in the mind, the breath becomes abnormal; one starts breathing a little rapidly, a little heavily. When the defilement passes away, the breath again becomes soft. Thus, breath can help to explore the reality not only of the body but also of the mind” - S.N.Goenka
Breathing Exercise
Anapana means observation of natural, normal respiration; as it comes in and as it goes out.
For the week ahead, I invite you to try this subtle yet presencing exercise.
How to practice:
Either with your eyes open or eyes closed, begin breathing through your nose
Begin to notice the quality of your breath - fast or slow, deep or shallow, with ease or with tension, etc…
Without judging or trying to change it, just observe its natural flow
If your mind begins to wander, come back to your breath and start again
I find intervals of 5 minutes spread throughout the day do wonders for me, especially if I’m working on a task. But this is your breath so find your way :)
Have a beautiful week!