Love the breath, experience divine joy with every breath you take.
Spiritual joy is our natural state. However, many religions refer to deeply uplifting experiences as “supernatural.” They are not really “super” but normal. It’s just that most of us spend our time in a subnatural, less than blissful state.
Finding our way back to spiritual joy doesn’t have to be complicated. Combining elements of key spiritual techniques produces a wonderfully simple and effective practice to help “get in the habit” of living in spiritual joy.
Consider these:
1. Love God. This is the greatest commandment and ultimately the most practical and effective spiritual technique for communing with God in spiritual joy. However, many times when we try to improve ourselves, complexity sets in and the greatest commandment, or call to action, is overlooked.
2. I appreciate. Every spiritual and religious tradition emphasizes gratitude. Contemporary research has documented the positive effects of gratitude.
3. Breathe. Deep breathing is a mainstay of many meditation techniques. Much research has shown the positive physical and emotional effects of deep diaphragmatic breathing.
4. Repetition of mantras. Mentally repeating a name of God calms the mind and helps prevent it from being distracted by random thoughts.
The breath of love is a technique that combines all of this.
Start by sitting (or standing) up straight, push your chest out slightly, this helps energize the heart area. Inhale deeply, but don’t force yourself. As you inhale, feel the energy of love enter your chest or heart area. As you exhale, mentally say “God” or some other word that is spiritually significant to you. As you exhale, feel that you and God love each other during an intense moment just at the end of the exhalation.
Love God with deep gratitude for love. We can practice gratitude in many ways and for many things. But the greatest thing is the love of God, so practice gratitude for it. Or if it’s easier at first, remember some feeling of love you felt for someone and thank God for that love.
While this practice can be done at any time, it’s good to spend at least 10 minutes a day where all you do is practice. Sitting in a living room, in a park, in a car are good places. While walking is an excellent time to practice. In addition to a dedicated 10 minute time, practicing while commuting, shopping, standing in line are all great additional times to practice.
With long-term sincere practice, loving God and feeling spiritual joy can become habitual in your breathing. In fact, feeling spiritual upliftment and joy may be just a few breaths away.