One of our most powerful tools as yoga practitioners is our breath. Not every yogi realizes this fact initially, but as the journey progresses and yoga practice deepens, we learn that pranayama, or control of the breath, is its own limb in yogic philosophy. Why? Why is the breath so powerful?
From a biological standpoint, we need to breathe to live. The oxygen we inhale is used by our bodies to ignite and power our metabolic processes. Without the breath, life ceases in approximately 3 to 10 minutes, depending on the person and the circumstances. The breath is a biological imperative.
In yoga, we learn to use the breath to bring heat into our practice or to release excess heat. We may use a variety of breath practices to help regulate the nervous system, calm the body and mind, or bring energy into our practice. We may use breath to enter a meditative state. The breath is a powerful tool in coping with stress, anxiety, and even anger.
Christian yogis can use breath prayers throughout our asana practice and off the mat. These short but powerful mantras can be repeated to bring meaning and connection with God into our movements. A breath prayer can be a short prayer, an affirmation based on God’s promises, a bit of scripture, or even simply God’s Name. Breathing in Je…, Breathing out …sus, for example.
Scripture tells us that there is power in the name of God, and that God hears us when we call on His Name. Holy Spirit knows our needs before we can even utter them, so simply calling out the name of God is a powerful way to connect with our Creator. There could be more to this than you imagine. Ready to go deeper? My husband, Brian, will continue.
I’m a word nerd. I love languages, writing, word games, and, much to my wife’s chagrin, bad puns. I also love studying the Bible. And because God inspired the Old Testament in Hebrew, I have had a lot of fun over the years delving into that beautiful, ancient language. To enrich my Hebrew studies, I have oftentimes darkened the doors of a Jewish synagogue or two. Here’s why:
Observant Jews read the Bible in Hebrew. Though most American Jews speak English daily in the synagogue, they usually read the Word of God out loud in Hebrew. I asked a rabbi about this once, and he said plainly, “God gave the sacred text to us in Hebrew, so Hebrew is the language in which we read it.” Simple enough.
And so, on certain Sabbath mornings, I will drive to the nearest synagogue, don a yarmulka, sit, and get excited for my next free lesson in Hebrew. Services last two and a half hours unless it is a high holy day. In that case, four hours! The congregants read aloud, read a lot, and read fast. I follow along. More truthfully, I try to follow along while a firehose blast of holy Scriptures and Hebrew syllables spray me hard and fast. In fact, observant Jews read so much of the Bible that faithful weekly attenders at an Orthodox synagogue will hear a huge portion of the prophetic books and the entire Torah before the year is up. Indeed, every word of the Torah – that’s Genesis through Deuteronomy – is spoken out loud in a synagogue over the course of a year. That is, every word except one.
There is one Hebrew word that Jews will not read aloud. It is four letters long, occurs 5,321 times in the Old Testament, and is among the most sacred of Hebrew words, for it is the very name of God.
But if the word is so significant, why wouldn’t Jews utter it? To answer this, we need look no further than the big ten; specifically, commandment #3.
“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.” (Exodus 20:7 NIV)
The thinking goes something like this: if we never speak the sacred name at all, there is no way we can take it in vain, thereby safeguarding everyone in our congregation from breaking the third commandment. Hence, if you pop in on a synagogue service sometime, like I do, you will hear much Hebrew. But you will never hear a Jew pronounce the holy name of God in Hebrew. Rather, when that special word is next in the text, the reader will skip it, substitute the word ‘Adonai’, meaning ‘Lord’, and seamlessly continue reading.
Virginia Norman & Brian Norman
Virginia is the creator of Holystic Yoga. Her passion is integrating breath, movement, mindfulness, and devotion into an on and off-the-mat yoga practice. She is also a talented knit artist and Owner/Designer at NONCONFORMKNITS.
Brian Norman holds an M.Div. from Grand Rapids Theological Seminary. He is a husband, father, teacher, author, public speaker, and founder of Early Earth Educators, an apologetics ministry dedicated to demonstrating how the Bible and science agree. He and Virginia are frequent guest speakers at churches, demonstrating how sacred Scripture and science are in harmony.