The Breath Is the King of the Mind

For years, I have studied, read, discussed, taught, philosophized, debated, investigated, hung out with, and uncovered the myriad ways that our thoughts guide our emotions. No doubt, they do. All of the great thinkers and writers (at least those into such self-bettering things) agree on this idea; many a book has been devoted to this theory.

 

I'm in. I get it. I agree.

 

And yet...

 

Something has been niggling at me. Could there be more to it? Because spending time on my yoga mat, as I've always done a fair amount of, and hanging out with anxiety, as I've been prone to do over the years, both hint at something deeper. Something grander. Something a bit more cosmic or spiritual re: our emotions.

 

This hunch of mine is brand-new, I haven't worked it all out yet. But my intuition sings when I ponder it: what if breath and movement could create emotions?

 

...because, there's nothing like cross-pollinating some hardcore, ancient yoga philosophy with some of the most widely agreed upon self-helpery wisdom available...

 

But really.

What if: Our breath is an index of our mind...

What if: Movement maps the inner layer of emotion...

What if: Our breath is a signature for our thoughts...

What if: Blockages emotionally manifest externally as we move physically...

 

Because I don't think the human body is capable of feeling white-hot anger while breathing slowly and deeply. I don't think heartbreak leads to wide open backbends. I can't believe I didn't see this now-evident connection sooner.

 

Humans are thinking machines. It's truly remarkable how thought can creep in...even when our focus seems completely saturated. The mind is relentless in its pursuit of thinking. But because we've evolved into such efficient thought-producers, a lot of our thinking falls into the white noise of daily life. Stuff for our subconscious to play with. Fodder for our nightly dreams.

 

And that is why I think this revelation is so beautiful: we have another avenue into our emotional lives. Thought work is a powerful pathway into our inner and deeper selves. And, quite the opposite of taking anything away from that...I believe breath and movement add a further dimension to this type of work. Everything that was in 2D just popped alive and out of the page; all the black and white pictures just got painted in technicolor.

 

Things. Just. Got. Better.