Moving Inward- The Journey to Meditation

by Rolf Sovik

  Hearing. First, choose a quiet place and a quiet time for meditation. Since there are no lids to close off the openings to the ear canal, sounds cannot be shut out. And while it is true that the immobility of the meditation posture does not lend itself to chasing after sounds, it does not fully protect us from hearing them, either.

  One simple strategy in the early stages of meditation is to use ambient sounds as a focus. If you attend to passing sounds as they present themselves, they will gradually merge into a continuous stream. During the process, let go of any preference for one sound over another, and don’t focus on the meaning you ascribe to a particular sound (“Oh, that dog seems upset!”). Soon you will have distanced yourself from the flow of sound entering your ears.

  After a time, replace your focus on sounds with a focus on the sensations of your body. Become aware of the presence of your body and continue the process of fine-tuning your posture. The sensations of being in a sitting meditation pose will lead you inward, and within a short time your attention to outer sounds will have dissolved.

  Beyond the Senses

  As you can see, these ten strategies for quieting the senses are simple ones. But, like closing one’s eyes when falling asleep, they are natural and effective. The next time you sit, briefly review each of them as you settle into your pose. Then, from time to time, observe one or another of them as you continue the process of centering your attention.

  Your sitting posture will unfold over time. Regardless of which posture you choose for practice, refining it is a matter of becoming more sensitive to the forces that create stability and comfort. A perfectly stable posture focuses the body in the same way that an object of concentration focuses the mind. Physical energies quiet; the posture is held effortlessly; and disturbances that arise in the body no longer distract the mind.

  Gradually, like ripples calming down on the surface of a pond, agitations of sitting are resolved and the sitting posture itself becomes still. This is the purpose of your posture—to support you and enable you to transcend your body’s solid outer form. Soon sensations of breathing will begin to permeate your mind and attention will shift to more subtle dimensions of the self.

  The Root Lock

  It is called mula bandha, the destroyer of decay.

  —Gheranda Samhita

  Mula bandha, the root lock, is a practice often found tucked into the back pages of yoga manuals, yet it is deserving of more attention than that. It has an unexpectedly wide range of health benefits. It is a component of many yoga asanas and virtually a prerequisite for pranayama practice. And, as we have seen, it plays a role in withdrawing the senses as well.

  The Sanskrit word mula refers to the root of a plant or tree. As in English, the word can also mean a “footing or foundation,” or the origin of a thing (the root of a problem). In yoga, the term is primarily used to indicate the base of the human torso, the perineum, where it is associated with the muladhara chakra, the lowest of the energy centers along the spine.

  The word bandha also has a variety of meanings, some not entirely in accord with one another. It can be translated as “a fetter, restraint, or lock.” In this sense, a bandha is described as a means for obstructing a flow of energy. But it can also be translated as “a bond, a connection.” As we will see, these meanings are complementary. Mula bandha both restrains activity at the base of the pelvis and facilitates the rechanneling of energy inward.

  The Role of Mula Bandha

  In the late 1940s a UCLA physician named Dr. Arnold Kegel developed a series of exercises meant to reduce the number of surgeries among women who had developed bladder incontinence following childbirth. These exercises focused on building muscle strength in the pelvic floor. Over the past half century, Kegel-style exercises have been adapted (for men and women) in the treatment of other disorders, including sexual dysfunction, prolapsed pelvic organs, and bowel incontinence. They are also used as part of a system of preventive health care to reduce problems of the pelvic floor associated with aging.

  The practice of mula bandha, which is similar to Kegel-style exercises but predates them by perhaps two or three thousand years, has similar health benefits as well. The traditional list includes improvements in the menstrual cycle, lowered respiration rate, a reduction in heart rate and blood pressure, a soothing of sympathetic nervous system arousal, improved digestion, and improvements in urogenital, bladder, and sexual functioning.

  Svatmarama, the fourteenth-century author of the authoritative Hatha Yoga Pradipika (Light on Hatha Yoga), writes: “There is no doubt that by practicing mula bandha . . . total perfection is attained.” Certainly he did not mean that the relatively minor muscle contractions of mula bandha alone would produce enlightenment. But his claim has a rationale. It links mula bandha practice to a central theme in yoga philosophy—the idea that yoga practices such as this one are intended not only to buoy up pelvic organs but to uplift the human spirit. Just as a well-fitting pair of new shoes can brighten one’s attitude from the feet up, so a firm foundation at the base of the spine has a transformative effect on body and mind.

  Muscles and Structures of the Pelvis

  Formed like a bowl, the pelvis consists of three fused bones—the ilium, the ischium, and the pubis. The pelvis is open at the bottom (the pelvic outlet), and within this opening is an area of the body called the perineum. Its base is the skin and fascia at the root of the torso. Its roof is the pelvic diaphragm (often called the pelvic floor), a sheet of muscles and fascia that supports the pelvic organs like a hammock hung from front to back.

  the pelvis

  Viewed from above, the perineum is shaped like a diamond. The coccyx (the base of the spine) lies at the rear of the diamond, while the pubic symphysis (the joint between the two pubic bones) lies at its front. The left and right corners of the diamond are the two sit bones, the ischial tuberosities.

  the perineum

  Muscle contractions at the base of the torso can be focused at the front, the center, or the rear of this region: at the genitals, the perineal body, or the anus. Different yoga practices are used to improve the muscle tone of each area. Mula bandha is primarily associated with the center of the perineum, although practice begins with the general contraction of all three areas.

  Anatomical differences between men and women result in somewhat different descriptions of practice. In men, the central focus of contractions is the perineal body—located in the area between the anus and genitals. For women, the contraction of mula bandha is said to be felt at the area surrounding the base of the cervix.

  Practice

  To gain a sense of the feeling of contracting the muscles of the perineum and pelvic floor, try this experiment. Sit erect and close your eyes. Inhale, then tightly close your throat and attempt to force air out of the lungs but without letting any escape. As you continue, you’ll feel the pelvic muscles contract and lift up to counter the pressure in your chest. This is the feeling of the muscle contractions in the perineum and pelvic floor.

  To begin the first stage of practice, sit erect in a cross-legged, seated pose. Close your eyes, rest your body, and relax your breath, feeling the deep movement of breathing at your sides and in the upper abdomen. Keep the breath steady and smooth, without pausing.

  Now coordinate muscle contractions with the breath. With a relaxed exhalation (smooth and easy), contract the pelvic muscles—front, middle, and back—drawing them in and up. Contract slowly, and when the breath is complete, inhale and slowly release the contractions. Time each contraction so that it coincides with the breath. Focus on the pelvic muscles, and do not inadvertently tense your buttocks, thighs, lower abdomen, or respiratory muscles. Soon the contractions will become smooth and strong.

  An alternative practice is to contract on the inhalation and relax as you exhale. Notice the difference in feeling between the two exercises. Repeat either exercise twenty times at a sitting (once or twice in a day) and continue for one week or longer.

  In the second stage
of practice, sustain a single contraction of the pelvic muscles over a number of breaths. Exhaling, contract the pelvic muscles and hold the contraction. Continue to breathe, focusing your attention on each of the three major areas in turn: the anus, the perineal body or cervix, and the urogenital area. Tighten each area a little more as you focus on it, feeling the sensations there. Then, on an inhalation, release the entire contraction slowly and relax. With practice you will be able to hold the contractions for a minute or longer, and discriminate each region of the perineum from the others. Practice three to six times at a sitting, and continue for one week or longer.

  Finally, duplicate the first two stages of practice just as before, this time focusing your attention only on the center of the perineum. Hold the contraction there with only minimal involvement of the anal and urogenital areas. This is a more refined version of mula bandha, and it will take some time to accomplish it. There is no hurry, and it is better to prolong the practice rather than rush it. Once a gentle contraction can be maintained here for some time (three to five minutes) without affecting the breath, you will be able to employ it during pranayama exercises and meditation.

  Diaphragmatic Breathing

  Diaphragmatic Breathing

  As the breath ebbs and flows, its influence on inner life is constantly shifting as well. Deep, relaxed breathing promotes feelings of health and well-being. Agitated breathing causes emotional as well as physical discomfort. And breathing affects us in other ways that we may hardly suspect.

  The story of relaxed breathing and its role in meditation is told in the first two chapters of this section. “Elements of Good Breathing” uncovers essential details about the respiratory process—keys to understanding the importance of breathing. “Breathing with Confidence” looks at how relaxed breathing supports the meditative process and explores the differences between breathing in reclining postures and breathing while sitting erect.

  The shape and function of the primary muscle of breathing, the respiratory diaphragm, is frequently misunderstood. An enjoyable way to learn more about the diaphragm is to draw it. “Drawing the Diaphragm” walks you through the steps. Once you have engaged in the process of drawing the diaphragm, its role in meditation will be much easier to comprehend.

  The final chapter in this section, “Six Methods for Training the Breath,” will help you put concepts into practice. Diaphragmatic breathing develops gradually, as a process of replacing less productive habits of breathing with more effective ones. The six practices found in this chapter will anchor the habit of diaphragmatic breathing and give you confidence in your breathing style.

  Elements of Breathing

  I pay homage to you, O Breath,

  for the whole universe pays homage to you..

  —Atharva Veda

  In order to make sense of the yogic science of breath, it is necessary to understand one rather remarkable fact: the lungs cannot breathe. By themselves, they are immobile. They are connected to the air around the body by a series of descending ducts, but the lungs have no ability to move air through these passageways. They are guests at a banquet that is served to them by assistants—the muscles of respiration.

  To put it awkwardly (but accurately), we “breathe the lungs.” Unlike other inner processes, such as pumping blood and moving food through the body, breathing results from contractions of skeletal muscle, muscle contractions that can be brought to conscious awareness. And since breathing is often less than optimal, it is important to recognize the signs of healthy breathing and learn to improve the quality of the breath. How we accomplish breathing—our choice of the muscles we use to move the lungs and our ability to use these muscles skillfully—makes all the difference.

  Breathing in Daily Life

  Breathing can easily be brought to conscious awareness. For the most part, however, it is a background to other activities: its ceaseless flow remains on the perimeters of consciousness. A noxious smell, something entering the windpipe by mistake, or a thick cloud of dust forces us to pay momentary attention to it, but when problems are resolved, the breath recedes into the background once again. We do not notice that it is embedded in every thought and movement.

  While it is convenient that we don’t have to monitor the breath constantly, this can have unintended consequences. Frequently—and often from an early age—poor breathing habits, misalignments in body posture, and muscle imbalances undermine the breath’s effectiveness. Low energy levels, shortness of breath, anxiety, stress, and poor concentration are just some of the resulting symptoms.

  These conditions can be reversed, and this is one of the aims of both hatha yoga and yoga meditation. Through training, the breath can be made strong, healthy, and relaxed. As a result, you will enjoy a higher level of well-being.

  Control of Breathing

  The normal tempo of the breath is slow. On average, the heart beats seventy times in a minute, while we breathe just sixteen times. Yet these sixteen breaths mean that the lungs expand and contract over 20,000 times per day, consuming about thirty-five pounds of air—six times the weight of our daily intake of food and liquids.

  The rate of breathing varies throughout the day. After vigorous exercise, it may increase to well over thirty breaths per minute, and during meditation it may slow to eight or fewer. Throughout this fluctuation, its rhythmic pulsing maintains the integrity of body and mind.

  Internal processes such as breathing, circulation, and digestion normally function unconsciously. Each is self-regulated, operating under the influence of the autonomic nervous system. As we have seen, however, breathing is unique in that it is carried out with skeletal muscles that can be brought to conscious awareness. For example, if you wish to breathe out quickly, inhale more deeply, or briefly hold your breath—you can at will.

  And because breathing is the only autonomic function that can be accessed in this way, it plays an enormously important role in the self-regulation techniques of yoga, for it is through the apparently fragile (but ultimately strong) thread of breath that entrance is gained to the inner dimensions of the psyche where balance, peace, and stability can prevail in the face of tension and stress.

  Stress and the Autonomic Nervous System

  Stress creates an imbalanced and overloaded nervous system. During stressful times, our thoughts reflect the fear and uncertainty we encounter in daily life, and in one way or another they conclude, I can’t handle this. The mind and nervous system react with heightened arousal, followed by fatigue, and ultimately illness as the stress wears on. Then, if attempts to resolve the tension are not successful, the smooth integration of the nervous system begins to break down. Body cues such as hunger are not recognized and sporadic or nervous eating ensues; movement is clumsy; there are changes in body temperature; our attention vacillates. We trace these and many other changes to “our nerves.”

  The breath is a barometer for the nervous system; as nerves become imbalanced, breathing changes as well, becoming shallow, tense, jerky, and marked by notable sighs and pauses. This in turn is registered by the mind, and an internal feedback loop is established. Changes in breathing create internal distress, which sustains poor breathing, which sustains distress. . . . Thus stress takes on a life of its own; it exists apart from the stressor that originally triggered the reaction.

  Relaxed diaphragmatic breathing—yogic breathing—is a powerful aid to restoring nervous system coordination and harmony. Inner tensions soften as the breath returns to its natural rhythm, and the loss of control that often accompanies stress is diminished. Most important, each relaxed breath calms the mind and enables us to recover strength and the will to go forward.

  Breathing and Emotions

  The condition of the nervous system, the state of emotional life, and the quality of breathing are closely related. Events that take place in the outer environment as well as in the mind are all registered in the breath. For example, if a car directly ahead of yours were to stop suddenly, you might very well gasp sharply as you
slam on the brakes. And, during an intense workweek, even the thought of a weekend off brings a sigh of relief. We breathe in sharply when we are startled, sigh when we are sad (or in love), and laugh by distinctively starting and stopping the exhalation. When an emotion is painful we may shut down our feelings by restricting the breath; when an emotion is pleasant we breathe slow and easy. All these changes in the pattern of breathing momentarily amplify our reactions.

  When agitated breathing is prolonged, it creates an unsettled and defensive outlook on life. Relaxed breathing, on the other hand, calms the nervous system. When the breath is habitually deep and smooth, reactions to life events do not create marked disturbances in our emotional life. This is why relaxed breathing has been used to good effect in the treatment of cardiovascular disease, panic/anxiety, migraine headaches, hypertension, and asthma. And most important, from the point of view of mental health, the relationship between breathing and emotion is a two-way street: relaxed breathing can calm even highly agitated emotions during periods of distress; it helps maintain a cheerful contentment when life is going well.