Breath, the Foundational Practice

Last updated on: January 24, 2020 at 10:47 am by Aine Llewellyn

Breath, the Foundational Practice 2020-01-24T10:47:14-07:00 Aine Llewellyn

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Breath is the foundation for many religious and magical practices. We settle our breathing when we sit before our altar. We deepen and change our breathing to enter into altered states. Breath is the beginning and the end.

So, how do we develop breathing as part of our religious practice?

Too Much At Once

Just like New Years resolutions, we tend to stack our plate too high when we begin devotion and magic. This can be seen in how often we recommend beginners to meditate or engage in contemplative practice for long periods of time. Long here doesn’t mean actually long, like an hour or more, but relatively short periods of time, like ten to twenty minutes.

Even such seemingly short times can actually be quite large chunks depending on one’s circumstance. People with children or those working long hours may not feel able to fit a half-hour practice into their day. A ten minute practice might seem small, but when there are a dozen other things you have to do, a dozen other tasks you’re juggling? A budding spiritual practice might fall to the wayside because you just don’t have enough time.

It doesn’t help that when we’re beginning (and even well into our practices), contemplative and meditative exercises often feel futile. If we’re trying to clear our head, we find ourselves cycling through our thoughts. We may find ourselves focused on everything else we could be doing at that moment. Even during guided meditations we may find ourselves simply too distracted by life and its troubles to focus. Much less if we’re trying to traverse the otherworlds!

Photo by Pavel Lozovikov on Unsplash

Smallest Moments

One thing that really changed my practice was taking time to focus on my breath for just a minute or two. This wasn’t limited to my time in front of my altar. It was a practice I adopted into the entirety of my life.

Simply notice your breath. You don’t need to change it – though you will inevitably end up breathing differently through the act of taking note. Focus on your breath for a few moments. Let yourself reconnect with your body. Let momentary anger, frustration, and distress melt away in the face of breathing. You may find yourself sinking into your feet and centering your body, naturally. Return to whatever you were doing, more grounded than before.

Building such a small practice into your life helps with more intentional practices later on. Nowadays I am better at feeling when the distractions and concerns of the day have fallen away and I am ready for focused devotion, because I’ve built up my breathing and focusing enough to feel the shifts inside myself. Integrating a short breathing exercise throughout the day means that when you have time for a bigger activity or ritual you have more experience under your belt.

I naturally began to extend these mini-practices. A few moments becomes a minute. It eventually became natural enough to sit down for longer periods of time to contemplate, pray, or meditate.

A Place to Return

It is natural for our religious or magical practice to wax and wane. This normal shifting is why I think some form of daily practice is important, whether it be a daily Tarot draw, offerings to the Gods, or contemplation. We can adjust how long we spend on these practices, but they should stay with us, a constant buoy through the troubled waters of our lives.

Whenever I go to give offerings, after I’ve lit the candles and incense, I sit and just breathe. My mind turns and focuses upon the Gods with each breath. The ease with which I can do this has been built up over years. And it does take a long time to build up that ease. As competent as I am in preparing myself for such devotions, I am much less competent with preparing to manipulate energy for circle castings. Being able to deepen and focus the breath underpins both practices, though. A small, gentle, daily integration of paying attention to our breathing – noting it and, if needed, calming – can ripple throughout the rest of our devotions.

(Though the site is no longer active, I am participating in the ‘Pagan Blog Project’. The PBP encouraged writers to write throughout the year, focusing on prompts based on the letters of the alphabet. For the ‘B’ prompt, I chose ‘breath’.)

Previous Post

January 22, 2020

Authenticity and Rituals

Next Post

February 7, 2020 Pop Culture and Paganism

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 July 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz