To perform the three-part breath, sit the in the comfortable cross-legged position or in a chair (or lie on your back), and close your eyes. If you’re sitting, make sure your spine is straight and erect. Relax your body and face. Start by observing your natural breathing pattern. Allow any distracting thoughts to drift away. Without judgment or attachment, invite them to come back later. Bring your attention back to the breath, allowing your focus to remain on the breathing.
Inhale through your nose, filling the belly with your breath as if it’s a balloon; exhale, expelling all breath from your belly through your nose, pulling in the stomach to make sure it’s empty of air. Watch that your breathing is smooth and relaxed, without any strain. Repeat several times, and then move on to the next step of this breath practice.
Perform the next inhale like the one before, but when the belly is full of air, breathe in a little more so the air enters the lower chest. Your rib cage should expand. Exhale from the chest first, and then exhale from the belly. Repeat this several times before transitioning to the third and final type of breath in this pranayama (breath control practice).
Inhale into the belly, then the lower chest, and then the upper chest so it expands and lifts your collarbones. Exhale through the nose, from the upper chest first, then the lower chest, and then the belly. Continue this for about ten breaths.
Return to your own native, natural breath and continue for a full minute before leaving this practice. Notice how you feel. Your breath is portable! You can use this type of focused, measured breathing anytime. It will add health, vitality, and ease to your life, and it can soothe you in trying situations, bringing patience and well-being to every moment. With time, this can become your conventional breathing pattern.
What Is Yoga?
There are many definitions of yoga, all of which depend on the context of what is being presented, especially in Hindu scriptures. There are schools, lineages, and unique practices. There are myriad interpretations of the original writings, with different areas of emphasis. For some, the term yoga refers exclusively to the physical practice, but for others the devotional aspects are of equal importance. I am going to keep it simple here and let the more in-depth explanations come later as we delve into our yoga practice.
Essentially, yoga is a philosophy that includes a system of physical postures, mindful breathing, and meditation intended to unify and balance the body, mind, and spirit in order to bring enlightenment, or an understanding of our true nature. In contemporary Western terms, it would lead to the understanding that we are not our ego but our soul, or higher self.
The Bhagavad Gita says, “Do thy work in the peace of Yoga and, free from selfish desires, be not moved in success or in failure. Yoga is evenness of mind—a peace that is ever the same.”1 Or, as Tav Sparks eloquently puts it in his book The Wide Open Door, “[Yoga] is the name used in India for the transformation of consciousness. Basically, yoga refers to the yoking, joining together, or union of the individual self with the Divine self, or Higher Power.”2
The term Higher Power as used in recovery is often seen as synonymous with a God of monotheistic religions. That definition works for some and alienates others. The concept of a single God can be incorporated into the practice of yoga. The underlying concept is that we all have a divine aspect within ourselves, within the illusions created by the ego-self. The journey is to remove these illusions to find the true, genuine, authentic self. To generalize, while Western religions search for an external source or authority to aid one in the search for the divine, Eastern religions look inward.
In discovering yoga and its philosophy, I found new ways of expanding this inner journey. I required some tools and methods to penetrate and dissolve the shell of ego, fear, insecurity, and denial that obscured my true nature. Yoga has a broad palette to choose from to help discover one’s true self, to reveal the selflessness, compassion, trust, and care in one’s core. To achieve this unveiling, there are yogas of devotion, duty, self-study, and physical practices for well-being. These can be incorporated into your life whether you believe in a monotheistic God or you are an adherent of an Eastern religion and are seeking alignment with the divinity within you. Your Higher Power can remain of your own choosing as you expand your tool kit to include additional practices to enhance your journey.
I will introduce several types and styles of yoga that are helpful in expanding recovery work. We are most used to hearing about the physical practice of yoga—the postures or asanas. Particularly in the last few decades, many new applications of hatha yoga have been designed, developed, and popularized in the West. There are systems and there are schools, and the majority of these focus on the poses; the philosophy is not usually a critical component in the studio or gym.
These styles are all variations of hatha yoga, and are developed, redesigned, or focused for a specialized approach to working with the body. The classical forms of yoga reach back to more basic poses performed in a style that focuses on integrating body, mind, and spirit. In that the true purpose of all hatha yoga is to unite body, mind, and spirit, to bring union to the entire true nature of a person it is helpful to be less focused on developing the body beautiful. My approach relies on the classical forms and poses and uses them in the furtherance of the original purpose—to “yoke” or bring together all aspects of ourselves—in the search for balance and peace for those in recovery. It is important to remember the seminal purpose of the hatha yoga practice: to bring oneself into balance in order to find union with the true inner core of one’s being. It is to prepare the body to be comfortable to sit in meditation. (See appendix I for a list of some more popular styles and lineages of practice.)
Types of Yoga
The major types of yoga include mantra yoga, bhakti yoga, jnana yoga, karma yoga, and raja yoga. Hatha yoga is a part of raja yoga.
Mantra Yoga
Mantra (mahn-truh) yoga uses sound or phrases as a meditation tool. The focus on a sound or phrase can bring the mind to stillness. It is also the yoga of sound and sound repetition. A specific word or phrase, often designed or assigned to a student by a teacher, is repeated in the mind both during meditation and throughout the day. It is not only the meaning of the words, but the actual sounds of the syllables that are believed to have power. The sounds and vibrations of the words, spoken silently or out loud, are likely to bring about powerful transformation: unity with the divine. Negative self-talk can poison our self-image and growth. Replacing this toxic mind-noise with a mantra can be very beneficial for those in recovery.
Words said to us as children, offhand comments tossed out in an unthinking manner by a relative or family friend, can reverberate their untruths in our minds throughout our life. Addicts can often perpetuate these “mantras” with our own pejorative phrases: “You are too (fat, stupid, lazy),” “You are not worth (saving, good health, escaping abuse or danger, having love, receiving compassion),” and so on. Repeating these phrases over and over can become a script, a self-fulfilling prophecy for our lives. Replacing these toxic repetitions with healthful mantras is the key to “right thinking.”
I used to refer to myself as “stupid” constantly. I would drop a pencil, and I was stupid; I would be late for an appointment, and I was stupid; I made a wrong turn while driving, and I was stupid. How foolish and harmful! I changed it to “silly,” from Winnie the Pooh, many years ago, and that has made a tremendous difference over time. It allowed me to refer to myself in kindness, with the hope that I would learn and grow, but with an understanding that this is how I am NOW. Working on the deeper habits of negative self-talk came from this revelation, and I have been able to change many other habits of thinking, resulting in a positive change in my outlook and an increase in self-acceptance.
What would you say if I told you this practice of mantra yoga is used in the rooms of recovery? It’s true: we use slogans and prayers in our daily lives to get us through difficult times and alter our reactions to situations; yoga made a science of it thousands of years ago.
Bhakti