Learning to breathe

We arrived at our ashram just in time for lunch, a meal of rice, naan, yellow lentils, and curried cauliflower served on stainless steel plates. We ate off low wooden tables seated on the floor on orange carpets. (Orange, it turns out is an important color in India. It is the color worn by Hindu priests and ashram "swamis," who are people who have studied yoga for at least 12 years and taken vows to renounce worldly things and serve others.) Lunch, like all meals at the ashram, was supposed to be eaten in silence, though our chatty group of 22 people didn't manage that too well!

After lunch we were taught breathing exercises to aid with digestion. Being American, we were told, and fully entrenched in the habit of chest breathing instead of diaphragmatic breathing, we were more likely to have digestive difficulties and stomach problems. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening, cross-legged on the floor, listening to instruction on the basics of meditation, doing exercises for diaphragmatic breathing and watching a movie about Swami Rama. Dinner was virtually identical to lunch. Then it was time for evening prayers, and we collapsed into bed by 9:30, so exhausted that we didn't even care that the beds were simply wooden boards covered by quilted pads.

The wake-up bell rang at 4:15 the next morning for the morning chanting followed by Hatha yoga joint and gland exercises. It was an hour and a half of seemingly simple movements - like rolling our eyes, circling our wrists and massaging our faces - that had a surprisingly powerful effect on our bodies. After that we did breathing exercises, meditation (guided or self practice) and finally - 4 hours after waking up - it was time for breakfast.

The faculty who led our classes were people from all over the world who live, study and teach at the ashram, some of them initiates, dressed all in white, some of them swamis, clothed from socks to hat in orange. We learned about the science of breath, which is an immense and fascinating subject, made even more amazing by the fact that breathing is something we take entirely for granted. We spend most of our lives oblivious to the way we breathe and yet the way we breathe informs the way we live our lives! For example, we notice the way our breathing changes based on emotional stimuli (I.e. We gasp in fear, breathe raggedly when crying, tense our lungs and shorten our breath in anger). But it works the other way too: Changing our breathing can change our emotions. Not to mention the purely physical importance of breath to oxygenate every organ in the body and remove gaseous wastes... It's just fascinating! (For anyone who wants to learn more, I highly recommend reading "The Science of Breath" by Swami Rama.)

Our Inner Connections group has done a lot of yoga, focusing largely on the physical component (the asanas), so some of the Hatha yoga exercises we did twice a day at the ashram was familiar to us. Other experiences were brand new.

The ashram is the world headquarters for the Association of Himalayan Yoga Meditation Societies International (AHYMSIN) which is a non-profit founded by Swami Veda, whose "activities include: teaching the science of yoga, carrying out research and publication in the field of yoga and related branches of knowledge and performing acts of charity for the benefit of humanity." (For more info visit www.ahymsin.org) We toured the lab and got to try out machines that measure and teach biofeedback for breathing, heart rate and relaxation. We saw demonstrations of machines that record brain activity during meditation and tried out computer programs designed to make a game out of controlling heart rate and positive emotions. (To learn more, go to http://www.themeditationcenter.org/)

To see pictures from our trip, please visit the Inner Connections Yoga Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Castle-Rock-CO/Inner-Connections-Yoga/294275506729

About Inner Connections Yoga
Inner Connections Yoga, in Castle Rock, Colorado since 2002, is a place where the ancient traditions of Hatha yoga are brought into the experience of our modern lives. John and Jeanne Adams, the studio owners, help their clients to unite the interconnecting aspects of body, breath and spirit, and also connect yoga enthusiasts in a supportive, friendly community. Every year, Inner Connections leads a group yoga trip to an international location. Past trips have included Brazil, Fiji, Honduras and Costa Rica. For more information, please visit www.InnerConnectionsYoga.com.