Breathing exercises, good or bad?

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whatsthetruth

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I’ve recently found myself under a high level of stress as I have moved out of my parents house and am now living by myself and going to college full time. It was an adjustment moving from a small town to a large city. The first week I was somewhat stressed and couldn’t find a decent foundation to make good use of my days. Recently I have fallen back into “meditation”; the way I see it is as a breathing exercise. All I do is exhale all the air from my lungs and inhale air through my nostrils and compress the air. I say my prayers and for a guided meditation from the Lord before I do this and afterwards giving thanks for this life and our many blessings, and that the Lord may work through me to help other people through the meditation. I will repeat this from anywhere from 30mins-to an hour, twice a day. So yes, I do spend time doing this. My days have become much better and I find myself waking early and my mind being able to focus and compartmentalize my day where I am not stressed.

My concern is I don’t want to this to be some kind of “buddah” meditation or religion. My knowledge of said religion is not extensive. The way I see it is the Lord has given us this air of life and nostrils to breath with and I invite the Holy Spirit in with every breath. Is this practice okay or against our religion?
 
Breathing exercises are fine.

I delivered 3 babies using nothing but breathing exercises!!
 
As far as I know, the Church is very okay with Lamaze classes, and they use breathing exercises.

I wouldn’t worry about it. The use of controlled breathing to regulate stress is scientifically established, and is used in everything from law enforcement training (to lower the effects of an adrenaline dump so your hands are steady enough to use a firearm or radio) to pain management in medicine This is because breathing is one of the few physical functions that is both reflexive (that is, you can breathe without thinking about it, and can’t not breathe) and also voluntary (you can control the rate of breathing, which brings about physical changes within the body and body chemistry as you regulate the oxygen and carbon dioxide interchange). Thus, breathing serves as a sort of bridge between the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems of the body, and can help you get the fight-or-flight response under control, whether it’s the effects of a quick adrenaline release (like a near-accident), or the more common slow, steady trickle of adrenaline from the stresses of day-to-day life.

Although breathing exercises are included in many spiritual systems (Yoga, martial arts, Sufism, etc.) outside of Christianity, breathing incorporated into Christian prayer and meditation has a long tradition. Our brothers in the Eastern Orthodox churches have a method of prayerful meditation which is focused on controlled breathing and prayerful meditation called Hesychasm. In many ancient cultures, the breath was believed to be linked to the soul (the Greeks used the same word for breath and spirit, pneuma, and the Hebrew language does the same, ruach). In the Bible, God’s breath is associated with very important occasions: God breathes life into the first man, in Ezekial’s vision of the dry bones, presaging the Second Coming, God says He will breathe life into them, and the risen Jesus breathes upon the apostles when he confers the Holy Spirit onto them, creating the Church.

So, in my opinion, no trouble with your practice from a Catholic perspective. I sometimes practice breathing as slowly out as I can (to a slow 10-count) and in as slowly as I can (also to a 10-count) to slow down my thoughts before prayer.
 
Catholic90 said:
Breathing exercises are fine.

I delivered 3 babies using nothing but breathing exercises!!
Click to expand...
😃

With regard to the OP, there are numerous posts regarding similar issues (notably Yoga) in the “Ask an Apologist” section.

IMHO, breathing exercises are fine and healthy. They will only have religious significance if you associate religious significance to them. Some people do, simply because it is part of their culture.

I’m a martial artist that incorporates various breathing exercises in my practice, and I seemed to have turned out perfectly fine.😃
 
Thanks everyone for your answers, they are very good!:tiphat:
 
Based on your description, you should be fine. I’ve never known anyone who suffered any health problems from meditation or focusing on the breath as you described.

However, I am well experienced in regards to other advanced breath work such as pranayam and other types of yoga or kriya. These are NOT something to be done all the time or by everyone. These can push a lot of energy through the body and it can cause chaos for some people in their bodies. This is not to say they are good or bad, it just means they are not right for everyone. One friend described yogic breathing practices as “good medicine, but not food.” That is exactly how my body felt when I did them. Good at first, but then too much of a good thing made me experience adverse affects, so I quit and felt better after I stopped.

Bottom line: don’t overdo it and you should be fine. Listen to your body.
 
There’s nothing wrong with breathing “meditation” exercises as long as your focus is on the Lord. When you begin breathing exercises that focus on other false deities or inner enlightenment than you’re straying.

I wish you the best of luck in college!
 
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