Breathing, Yoga and Astrology

Please kindly get an overview of central interconnections  

Just as we inhale and exhale - whether fast, slow, powerful, gentle, balanced, uneven, deep, short, flowing, choppy - so are our thoughts and feelings: unbalanced thoughts and unbalanced feelings are caused by an unbalanced and hectic inhalation and exhalation, while a peaceful and calm inhalation and exhalation leads to peaceful and calm thoughts and feelings. It is this intimate interaction between breathing and mind that yogis have long been emphasizing. In meditations they have experienced and observed that the naturally changing and restless mind can be put on a leash and controlled if we only breathe in and out consciously, calmly and evenly. A yogi brought this fact to the point by the following statement:

"Breath control is self-control.
Breath mastery is Self mastery.
In the breathless state there is no death."
                                                                                              Swami Hariharananda Giri

The breath is the smallest common denominator of all life, without inhalation and exhalation we do not survive twenty minutes (generously estimated). Without breath, body and mind cannot survive for long and the life energy leaves us. This shows how essential inhaling and exhaling is for our life. The life energy in the breath - that which makes us alive and energizes us - is also called "prana" in yoga philosophy. Prana is the subtle life force that enlivens the body and mind through the process of inhaling and exhaling and makes us alive and vital in the first place. Only thanks to this vital energy in our breath can we perform all our daily tasks. Let us be grateful for every breath we are allowed to breathe.

Usually we do not have this prana under control, and it does with us as it pleases. This is why yogis pay so much attention to their breath and practice "pranayama", i.e. they try to gain "yama" or control over their prana. In doing so, the breath is not compulsively controlled, but consciously perceived and observed in its natural flow of inhalation and exhalation. The frequency of breathing is thus reduced all by itself, as conscious breathing supplies the body with a lot of oxygen and enough life energy flows into all parts of the body. Prana is then vibrating in all parts of the body; the thoughts stop thinking because the attention is focused on the breathing, and the emotions settle down and peace arises. In this way the yogi gains more control over his organism and his Self, the actual "charioteer" within, who directs all the actions of the intellect, mind and the five senses. More control over the life force thus helps to bring about more control over the Self.

With increasing practice, the life energy is concentrated in the spine, where the energy centers or "chakras" are located. The senses are drawn inward, away from the sense objects of the outer world. This is also called "Pratyahara" in Yoga philosophy. The inhalation and exhalation becomes slower and finer, as there is already an abundance of prana everywhere in the body. The organism is calmed and hardly needs any further life energy for maintenance. The life energy vibrates inside, and the phases between inhalation and exhalation, in which the organism naturally has no need to continue the breathing process, become longer and longer: for example, an inhalation of six seconds is naturally followed by a pause of ten seconds followed by an exhalation of, say, ten seconds. It is these natural pauses that lead to more concentration - this is also called "dharana" in yoga philosophy - and bring the yogi into a flow of meditation - also called "dhyana" in yoga philosophy. Increasing mastery over the breath brings about mastery over the Self.

Finally, the pauses between inhalation and exhalation are so long that no more inhalation and exhalation takes place: the respiratory function and the heartbeat are so calmed that they stop completely. The breathless and pulseless state - also called "Samadhi" in Yoga philosophy - occurs. In this state of breathlessness and pulselessness, death is supposed to be overcome. The transient world of names and forms is transcended and yoga arises, the union with the One we have always been. This is the involution of life, back to the origin.

Realized persons who reach this state have found their Self and God again. They do not see themselves as the originators of their actions; they act in accordance with what wants to act through them. Since they are unswervingly in harmony with their unchanging Self and God, they are also not attached to the results of their actions, but free from any expectation of results. Whether an action brings a supposedly good or bad result, there is no room for this kind of personal wishful thinking in the presence of a deep connection to Self and God. Thus, no new karma is created by fulfilled or unfulfilled desires leaving behind traces in the memory - so-called samskaras - ones the result of an action is achieved, traces which sooner or later urge for activation in the form of further actions. As all existing samskaras have become neutralized by pranayama, concentration, meditation and samadhi, the effects of past actions can no longer influence the consciousness. Such realized persons have - through intensive practice - completely (re)gained control over their Self and their life force. They are thus free from any binding influences.

As long as we have not yet achieved mastery over the breath and the life force, the (more or less) uncontrolled life force in us consistently exerts its influence on us. It does with us as it pleases. Sometimes it puts us in an optimistic state of consciousness, in which a certain thought appears and causes us to take action with an outcome that is considered as positive; then comes a difficult phase, in which the life force takes hold of us in a way that leads to obstacles and problems; then again the life force appears in and around us in a different way - in short: the ups and downs of daily life, what we do and what and how we think and feel is influenced by the subtle effects of the life force on our consciousness.

In so doing, the fact that we may proudly believe that we are already above all influence and autonomous creators and originators of our actions and the events in our lives is part of the cosmic game.

Speaking very personally, the question arises: What does this life force within me want for me individually? In which directions do the energies draw me? What shapes my consciousness today and in the future? Where the life force is pulling you in this lifetime - in which areas of life and in which experiences and states of consciousness - and what kind of plan your higher Self, your Soul, is pursuing for you this life, astrology can make a contribution to this.

(Vedic) Astrology works precisely because i) our outer life with all the sensations and experiences we have is actually created through the six energy centers in the spine - from the root center, lumbar center, navel center, heart center, neck center to the soul center between the eyebrows - so this outer manifestation is therefore a result of the energy centers in the spine, and because ii) the twelve signs of the zodiac, in which the planets are located at the time of birth, depending on the individual samskara and karmic patterns, form the front and back of these six chakras, so that each chakra is associated with two signs of the zodiac (including the planets and houses located within them), which exert an astrological influence on the corresponding chakra and thus on the energy patterns that lead us to experience a certain consciousness and to live out certain thoughts and actions.

So we carry our very individual astrological imprint in the energy patterns of the six chakras in our spine, and this is exactly the astral reason why (Vedic) astrology works.

This is the connection between breathing, yoga and astrology in a nutshell.

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Best, Christian

***
„You are not this house of flesh and bone
That sleeps, decays and dies
You are immortal consciousness
Lord of the earth and the skies.“