In several sutras, Patanjali discusses breathing. Like everything else in his sutras, he provides just brief, tantalizing notes about it.

Throughout history, thousands of sages have taught breathing in tens of thousands of ways to millions of followers, listeners, and readers. Breathing methods have been highlighted from ancient times in many cultures. And the reasons for such breathing are many, as well, from spiritual practices to healing and from preparing for mental tests to getting ready for physical combat.

In India, breath and breathing are called prana. Chinese medical texts call breath chi; in Japan, ki. Indigenous Americans have many names for it: a few are hah oh (Tewa), oenikika (Cree), and orenda (Iroquois). The Hebrew language calls it ruah or ruach’. Greeks call it pneuma or, earlier, psyche. And in many ancient languages, the meanings of “breath” and “spirit” intermix or overlap.

How, precisely, should one breathe for meditation and health? Here are some modern, scientific recommendations to complement Patanjali’s “breath sutras.”

Using a Mantra (Sutras 1.27-1.29)

A mantra is a repeated word or phrase you use to help regulate your breath and focus your attention in meditation or prayer. Two examples are om and, in the West, “Hail, Mary, Mother of God.”

Many mantras have a humming part, as do the two examples above. Humming may be especially useful, say scientists. They have known for some time that nitric oxide is created when you breathe through your nose. The American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine reported in 2002 that nitric oxide levels in your blood increase up to fifteen-fold by humming compared to normal breathing. What does nitric oxide do? It relaxes blood vessels, allowing more blood to circulate so that your blood is better oxygenated. This, in turn, improves lung and heart functions. Nitric oxide, which also happens to be the main ingredient in Viagra, is mildly antibacterial and antiviral.

In addition, whether you are humming or not, when you repeat a mantra, you use what scientists call “vocalizing” and “subvocalizing.” The former means you are talking aloud; the latter, that you are using your inner voice to think the words firmly and strongly, doing so silently but as if talking within you. In both experiences, you use your vocal cords, also called your larynx. It is about two inches long and is formed of two muscles or cords (folds of skin) that vibrate when you talk, and also when you verbalize thoughts in your head. These cords relax when you are breathing silently–neither vocalizing nor subvocalizing.

However, when you make any kind of noise, your vocal cords vibrate. They rattle rapidly. When you hum, they create the sound of the hum.

If you use your vocal cords out loud without taking a breath, you run out of breath and the sound stops. Therefore, for meditation, it is helpful to choose a mantra that aids deeper breathing. Whether you hum a long, drawn-out ending of your mantra, or whether you say it shortly, you should take a deep breath between each vocalizing or subvocalizing of your mantra. If your mantra is to be most successful, usually it will have a relaxation of your vocal cords at its end, and a deep breath to reconstitute the air and energy for saying it again. According to traditional yoga meditation, that pause after each repetition is a space that allows your consciousness to fall ever further into a deep mental and physical silence.

You can observe your own voice box relaxing and opening. It feels like two curtains, folds, or small muscles relaxing in your throat. You even may put your fingertips on it gently as you speak. The movement of the cords feels like a slight spreading and then closing up of the two sides. Both vocalizing and subvocalizing–talking and internal verbal thinking–create such movement. If you can maintain a complete silencing or relaxation of the voice box, you may even clear your mind of most or all of its constant internal flow of verbal thoughts.

Thus using a mantra–or learning more directly to relax your throat muscles–becomes yet another way of clearing your mind. You can start clearing it of verbal thoughts. If you also learn to relax your nearby muscles in your jaw, mouth, and forehead, you can quiet other types of thoughts: images, mixed verbal-and-visual thinking, and even, to some extent, memories. If you work your way downward to your chest muscles, diaphragm, and stomach successfully, you can clear many emotional and feeling-related disturbances, as well–as Patanjali discusses in the next sutras.

The Science of Breathing (Sutras 1.31 and 1.34)

Science began confirming in the twentieth century how important proper breathing is. James Nestor says in his deeply researched book Breath that four factors in particular are extremely important for maintaining physical health through good breathing. Failing these, you are likely to develop significant illnesses (or may already have them) and age much faster. The three greatest problems that science confirms, he says, and how to counter them are:

(1) Avoid breathing through your mouth: almost always breathe in through your nose.

(2) Use less shallow breathing: fully inhale and exhale deeply to increase lung capacity.

(3) Try to avoid rapid breathing: breathe long and slow.

(4) Breathe less often: learn to take fewer breaths per minute (see below).

            Thich Nhat Hanh, a highly respected author, mystic, and Vietnamese Zen Buddhist, says in a section titled “Taking hold of one’s breath”:

You should know how to breathe to maintain mindfulness [close attention], as breathing is a natural and extremely effective tool which can prevent dispersion.... Whenever your mind becomes scattered, use your breath to take hold of it again. Breathe in lightly a fairly long breath, conscious of the fact that you are breathing a deep breath. Now breath out all the breath in your lungs, remaining conscious the whole time of the exhalation.... In a Buddhist monastery, everyone learns to use breath as a tool to stop mental dispersion and to build up concentration.

Rick Hanson and Richard Mendius offer several science- and tradition-based suggestions in Buddha’s Brain:

(1) “Inhale as much as you can....” Deep breathing “stimulates the PNS” (parasympathetic nervous system), which will “lower stress...and improve your long-term health,” making “calming, soothing, healing ripples spread through your body, brain, and mind.... When you’re relaxed, it’s hard to feel stressed (Benson 2000)” and you also may “reduced the cellular damage of chronic stress (Dusek et al. 2008).”

(2) “[E]xhale slowly while relaxing. A big inhalation really expands your lungs, requiring a big exhalation.

(3) Be aware of your body as you practice your deep breathing. “Parasympathetic fibers are spread throughout your lips; thus touching your lips stimulates the PNS.... Be attentive to physical sensations.... For example, notice the sensations of breathing, the cool air...and warm air,...the chest and belly rising and falling....”

(4) “The HeartMath Institute...has developed numerous techniques,” one of which is to breathe so “that your inhalation and exhalation are the same duration; for example, count one, two three, four in your mind while inhaling, and one, two, three, four while exhaling.”

Science and Breathing while Meditating

            Nestor says in Breath that the ideal for meditation (and much of living) should be 5-6 breaths per minute, or once every 10-12 seconds.

The average American, says Nestor, takes 18 breaths per minute (80). “Normal” shallow breathing has a range of 12-20 breaths per minute (85). Scientifically, the ideal for meditating (and much of living), he says, should be 5.5 breaths per minute: a 5.5 second inhale, and a 5.5 second exhale–one breathing cycle per every 11 seconds (83, 104). According to scientific measurements, not only does this create a better, healthier, and more stable use of oxygen and carbon dioxide in your body, but also it mimics the mantras or verbal prayers of several traditional religions. Says Nestor,

When Buddhist monks chant...Om Mani Padme Hum, each spoken phrase lasts six seconds, with six seconds to inhale before the chant starts again. The traditional chant of Om...used in Jainism and other traditions [including Patanjali’s yoga] takes six seconds to sing, with a pause of about six seconds to inhale. The sa ta na ma chant...in Kundalini yoga also takes six seconds to vocalize, followed by six seconds to inhale.... Japanese, African, Hawaiian, Native American, Buddhist, Taoist, Christian–these cultures and religions all had somehow developed the same...breathing patterns (82).

He then describes how researchers in 2001 in Italy measured physical reactions of two dozen subjects who recited a Buddhist mantra and also a Latin version of the Roman Catholic “Ave Maria” rosary. The researchers didn’t quantify the amount of time each should be said. Even so, “the average number of breaths for each cycle was ‘almost exactly’ identical,...5.5 breaths a minute.” “Even more stunning,” he says, was that the subjects’ “blood flow to the brain increased” and their “heart, circulation, and nervous system [were] coordinated to peak efficiency.” This coordination ended when they stopped the chanting (82-83). Similar experiments elsewhere, which he describes, showed parallel results.

Another system he mentions is that of Swami Rama, who surprised and impressed American scientists, when he visited them starting in the 1970s, with his breathing abilities. The Swami said, according to Nestor, that practicing a breathing pattern of twice as long exhaling as inhaling, if extended eventually to a ten-second inhale and a twenty-second exhale, used for a time each day, will give you a body with no toxins in it with no disease (191).

Nestor adds a final note regarding animals in nature. He says, “Mammals with the lowest resting heart rates live the longest” and “breathe the slowest.... This is as true for baboons and bison as it is for blue whales and us” (104).

Patanjali’s Breathing System (Sutras 2.49-53)

            In Sutras 2.49-53, Patanjali recommends a way of breathing in meditation and what it will create for your inner experiences. By the time Patanjali was writing, the use of breath for meditation already had a long history from earlier Hindu scriptures. As a result, Patanjali likely was summarizing the best advice from the scriptures and meditation practices of his time.

            The word for such breathing is “pranayama,” which has become so common a word in English that it no longer italicized as a foreign language: pranayama classes are everywhere. The original Hindu word, prāṇayāma, is composed of two words. Prāṇa means “energy”; āyāma means “restraint,” “control,” or regulation.” Patanjali says that pranayama has three movements:

inhalation

exhalation

retention/holding/pause

Patanjali also says that there are many versions of how long or short each of these three steps takes, and each version has a different effect. (This is well illustrated by the literally hundreds of ways breathing is taught in twenty-first century yoga classes.) B.K.S. Iyengar, a follower of Patanjali, translator of his Yoga Sutras, and a world-renowned yoga posture and breathing expert, says that the retention step can occur after inhaling, or after exhaling.

Some scholars, translators, and experts, argue that Patanjali’s Sutra 2.51 states the ultimate goal of breathing exercises is the ability to suspend your breath as long as you want, even to infinity. However, Iyengar and others say this is, at best, a fantasy, as no one can stop breathing indefinitely without dying, and that Patanjali’ intent is to encourage either “automatic” proper breathing (Iyengar, 2.51) or a technique of breathing very, very slowly (such as just one breath per minute or less) to induce deeper meditative states (Feuerstein, 251).

Some breathing experts also say that the pause between breaths, wherever this stop of several seconds may be, is a doorway. They say it reveals or leads to the inner Self or to some other spiritual awareness.
 

Breathing for Sleep or Alertness

            If you need to fall asleep, you may want to try the Wim Hof Method. Wim Hof spent many years learning yogic and other breathing techniques that he has demonstrated by immersing himself in ice water for almost an hour without ill effect, or regularly running on snow and ice barefoot, again without ill effect. He teaches his methods throughout the world.

            To fall asleep faster, he recommends that you breathe deeply, then exhale quickly. Do this as many times as you want: for some, ten such breathes is enough; others might need forty or more. Note: do not do this in any situation where you might drown (like in a bathtub or swimming pool) or fall and hit your head, and do not try it when you are driving or operating machinery. Occasionally, especially when people are not used to this type of breathing, individuals have been known to pass out. However, tried in a safe physical space (such as sitting on a bed, couch, or the floor when you first try it), it is generally considered very safe.

            For alertness, do the opposite. Breath in quickly and deeply, then let it out slowly. After thirty or forty such breaths, breath in and hold your breath to a count of five or ten, and then let it out slowly. Then repeat. Note: the same precautions as above should be taken, as people sometimes pass out from such breathing. Also, do not overdo this kind of breathing at first, until you know how it affects you, as it hyperactivates parts of your body systems. The best policy is to use it just enough to regain alertness, not more.
 

Breathing with Patanjali and Nestor

Here are three examples of combining Nestor’s and Patanjali’s breathing systems. They are similar to the number of breaths per minute that Nestor suggests. However, they add a pause as Patanjali suggests.

You may want to use a clock or watch that counts seconds. Try counting out loud or in your head with the timer so that you eventually can know the number of seconds with your eyes closed. Some people learn to do this by saying or thinking, “one thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand three,” etc. (After one thousand twelve, most people revert to saying the simple number, “thirteen, fourteen,” etc.)

Note: The pauses shown below are placed after exhaling. However, if you prefer, you can place them after inhaling. 
 

            You may vary how long you complete each part of a cycle: e.g., in the first method above, you might want, instead, to inhale for three seconds, exhale for two seconds, and pause for four seconds. Do what is comfortable for you.

You may need to try a method for at least five or ten minutes to see what its effects are, or even experiment with it several times. The goal is to reach more inner peace and greater physical comfort. You may also find that different breathing patterns work for different activities: e.g., one method for calming yourself; another for exercise, to stay alert, or to wake up; and yet another to fall asleep.

            If your goal is to learn to take longer, deeper breaths, then start with what is comfortable and gradually, as your lung capacity slowly expands, develop slightly longer breaths each week or month. Many people eventually can reach the point, during meditation, at which they comfortably take just two or three breaths per minute. The result is deeper relaxation of mind and body. With long practice, a breath per minute can be realized.

            What if, as you breathe, you start falling asleep? If you want to sleep, that’s fine. If you do not want to sleep, but rather meditate or even just be calmer and more alert, then try a different breathing pattern or, perhaps, a different position (such as standing up or even walking).

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Most recent revision: 3 Oct. 2021