Breathing for Life

“The length of your life is measured in the number of your breaths. Before you are born, providence puts a boundary around your life span by allotting you a certain number of breaths. When you run out of your allotted number of breaths, you die.” -At the Eleventh Hour: The Biography of Swami Rama by Rajmani Tigunait

One of the CCY teachers talked about this concept in one of the classes I took, and it’s an idea that I haven’t been able to shake.

Not that I believe this is true, if only by virtue of the fact that most of the healthiest and best things in life shorten our breath. Running is supposed to make us healthier, right? And I know I’ve never been able to find pranayama while running. Maybe some of our marathoner friends can, but not me. Just the idea of running stresses me out.

But still, I like the idea of breaths equaling life. Even if my deep breaths aren’t actually lengthening my life, they certainly give me more energy in difficult vinyasas, which feels like I’m gaining a longer life anyways.

Do you practice deep breathing when you’re not doing yoga? Are there times when you know you should? It might just add a couple minutes to your life.