Mindfulness Meditation: Breath & Body {part 2 of 6}
Listen: “Just Breathe” by Eddie Vedder
Many expressions of Western Christianity suffer from a disembodied spirituality, opting instead for intellectual debates centered around doctrinal purity. It’s most evident in the hundreds of Protestant denominations across the globe which have sprung up since the Reformation. Western Christianity features a spirituality that largely exists as an intellectual pursuit of “pure” doctrinal statements about everything from the nature of God, the Trinity, the two natures of Christ, the number of sacraments or ordinances, the correct mode of baptism, the meaning of the Lord’s Supper, the second coming of Christ, and the list goes on, all of which have resulted in wars, divisions, and Christians fighting Christians (not to mention all the hatred towards other faith traditions). Apart from conversion and Pentecostal experiences, Western Christianity features many forms of doctrinal intellectual masturbation.
It’s a disembodied spirituality which occurs largely in the mind. Certainly, we are to love God with our mind, but also with our bodies and our whole being. We need a renaissance of embodied spirituality. Thank God we have the contemplative, mystical, and mindfulness meditation traditions to help us with this much needed course correction.
In his book Soulful Spirituality, David Benner describes a dialogue he had with a Taoist professor from Zhejang University named Zhang Xin Zhang concerning the importance of breath as the meeting of body, spirit, and soul. After hearing Zhang describe his meditation practice, Benner was struck by how important paying attention to his breath was in his practice.
Zhang: Am I not right that Christian’s understand their origins to lie in the infusion of divine breath into the dust of the earth? (Genesis 2:7)
Benner: Yes
Zhang: Am I not right that you understand each breath to be a gift from God?
Benner: Yes
Zhang: Am I not right that you understand that the Spirit of God is with you, moment by moment, breath by breath?
Benner: Yes
Zhang: Then how do you fail to see the immense spiritual value in attending to those moment-by-moment expressions of the presence of God?
Breath as an anchor to the body. Most humans regularly disassociate themselves from their bodies and get lost in thought—ruminating on past hurts and regrets, rehearsing future fears, and numbing emotional pain.
Breath is always with us and focusing on breath can help us connect with our bodies and pay attention to the present moment. Breath is a doorway to embodied spirituality which can foster awareness, help heal trauma, increase focus, lower blood pressure, reduce stress, and nurture gratitude.
Try sitting with a comfortable posture for five to fifteen minutes and focus on your breath. Notice how easy it is to lose focus on your breath and get lost in thoughts. Simply notice this and gently bring your thoughts back to your breath.
Ways to deepen breath practice. Start your meditation by taking three or four deep breaths. Then try some of the following ways to play with your breath and deepen your focus.
• Take deep breaths and hold your breath for thirty seconds or more, then exhale.
• Alternate breathing between your nose and mouth. Notice the feel of the breath entering and leaving your nose and mouth.
• Notice your breath on the back of your throat.
• Feel your breath above the lips.
• Expand your lungs and belly as you inhale, then collapse your lungs and belly.
• Focus on the space between your breaths.
• Focus on the beginning, middle, and end of your breath.
• Quiet your attention with your breath.
Some people may struggle with focus on breath. That’s ok. We always want to bring a kind, curious, non-judgmental attitude towards our meditation practice. Our inner critic will want to tell us we are doing it wrong. Be kind to yourself as you practice breath work.
Alternative anchors for the body. If breath is challenging, you might try some other ways to anchor yourself into your body.
• Do a full body scan. As you sit, scan your body from your head to your feet or from your feet to your head. Feel your feet contacting the ground. Wiggle your toes. Scan up your legs to your sit bones contacting your chair or the earth beneath you. Continue up your body to your stomach, chest, shoulders, neck, face, and head.
• Notice feelings in your body such as pain, warmth, cold, hot spots, tingling, tightness, tension, and pleasure.
• Use your five senses to feel your way into your body and notice your surroundings. What do you smell? What sounds are you hearing? What can you see? Gently touch, tap, stretch, or massage different parts of your body. Hold your hand to your chest and give yourself a hug.
The consequences of disassociating. Most humans have experienced pain and trauma to various degrees. We become skilled at numbing, avoiding, suppressing, and disassociating from emotional and physical pain. According to Brené Brown, “We cannot selectively numb emotion. If we numb the dark, we numb the light. If we take the edge off pain and discomfort, we are, by default, taking the edge off joy, love, belonging, and the other emotions that give meaning to our lives.”
By disassociating, we exacerbate our issues in the following ways:
1. We increase emotional fatigue and exhaustion by trying to suppress our emotions indefinitely, like holding a beach ball under water.
2. We increase our anxiety.
3. We develop unhealthy escape mechanisms.
4. We cut ourselves off from the wisdom of our body. For a classic treatment of the importance of the body in healing trauma, read The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel Van Der Kolk.
Mindfulness meditation is an embodied spiritual practice with numerous benefits for mind, body, and spirit. For those in recovery (which is most people to one degree or another), it is an essential component of step eleven: “sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God.” As Eddie Vedder sings: “Stay with me. Let’s just breathe.”
Shalom
©realfredherron, 2024
