Calm Breath, Calm Mind

A Guide to the Healing Power of Breath

Geshe YongDong Losar, Bernadette Wyton

• Publisher: Wisdom Publications
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9781614297802
• eBook ISBN: 9781614298014
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Buddhism

Discover ancient Tibetan breath practices for calming your mind and improving your health in this plain-English guide.

Over millennia, many Eastern traditions have developed practices that use the powerful healing energy of breath to treat physical, emotional, and mental problems. In Chinese, this energy is called chi; in Sanskrit it is called prana; and in Tibetan it is called lung. 

Lung is life-giving energy that moves through our bodies. A lack or imbalance of lung can create illnesses of body and mind or cause emotional struggles such as confusion, anger, and sadness. In this book, Geshe YongDong Losar, a scholar and monk in the ancient Bön tradition of Tibet, guides us through time-tested practices to help balance our lung. His deep knowledge—garnered through years of study and practice—renders the practices simple and achievable, creating a clear path for us toward greater calmness, strength, and clarity.

“Over and over I have personally witnessed, both in myself and in my students, the breath’s clear potential to heal and deeply transform lives. I truly believe that in the future such practices will play an important role as a medicine for preventing and treating physical, emotional, and mental maladies. I am glad that Geshe YongDong is making these practices widely available, and I’m sure that by doing so, he is bringing benefit to countless lives.”
—from the foreword by Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche

PART I

The Essence of Breath

1: Breath of Life

When I fully connect to the breath, I am the breath.

Breath is me.

We embrace each other and become one.

THE TIBETAN WORD LUNG

OVER MILLENNIA, many Eastern traditions have developed practices that use the powerful healing energy of breath to treat physical, emotional, and mental problems. In Chinese, this energy is called chi, in Indian Sanskrit it is called prana, and in Tibetan it is called lung.

For clarity, the Tibetan word lung will remain italicized throughout this book. It is pronounced “loong” and is not to be confused with the English word for the physical organ of breathing, the lung.

Lung is a difficult word to translate into English. Terms such as “breath,” “wind,” “air,” “energy,” and “life force” are used interchangeably for lung, but none of them contain its full meaning.

To explain, consider that white horses are horses, but horses are not necessarily white. They can also be black, brown, pinto, and palomino. In the same way, breath is lung, but lung is not necessarily breath.

One way to understand lung is to think of it as the essence of breath. Lung and breath are not separate, which is why the words are often used for each other.

Another way to understand lung is to think of it as the movement of energy. In the Tibetan language, lung literally means “wind” or “air.” Wind is always moving and has a natural energy to blow away and purify. For example, it dilutes and blows away smoke, smells, and other forms of air pollution. It also purifies, like a fresh breeze passing through old clothes hung out on a line.

In addition to the outer form of lung — wind energy — there is the inner form, which is known as “inner air.” This refers to the movement of energy within our body. Inner air has the energy to purify inner pollution, which is experienced as physical, mental, and emotional disturbances.

Lung is life-giving energy and a lack of it results in a lack of energy for body and mind. For example, when someone dies, their heart is still there but it has no lung energy. It is lung that drives our beating heart, not the heart itself.

As we become aware of breath and lung through practice, we become aware of everything around us, making it possible to experience our true nature.

INDIVIDUAL AND UNIVERSAL BREATH

There are two types of breath: individual and universal.

From the day we are born until we die, every breath we take is individual breath. Your breath is individual breath, and my breath is individual breath.

According to the creation story from the Bön tantric tradition, the great god Trigyal Khugpa⁴ created the universe by blowing his breath out into the emptiness of space, imparting life to the entire universe. When you inhale, this general breath becomes your individual breath. As soon as you exhale, that breath is no longer your own. It merges back into universal breath.

We are all connected to each other through individual and universal breath. The atoms and molecules we breathe have been recycled again and again through many plants and beings over many centuries. We are on the same earth breathing the same air that came and went from the lungs of Buddha, Jesus, and Mahatma Gandhi. This fact alone is a great focus for meditation.

Please remember how precious the breath of life is for every living thing. When you look at someone, try to remember that they, like you, are alive because they are breathing. When you see a flower, a tree, a river, or even the ocean, be aware that they also have life because they are breathing. This beautiful planet is a living, breathing miracle.

IT’S ALL IN THE BALANCE

Whether in the collective life of the world or in an individual’s life, it is very important that lung energy be balanced. Collective imbalances can lead to natural disasters, and individual imbalances can lead to physical and emotional turmoil.

When lung is imbalanced, your energy is negative. This is known as samsaric lung. As it moves within you, it creates disturbances, blockages, and obstacles for your body, mind, and spirit. This may result in the suffering of physical and mental illnesses. It can also lead to emotional struggles expressed as confusion, anger, depression, attachment, and agitation.

For example, anger arises as an expression of imbalanced inner lung energy. Tibetans call an angry person lung ling, which literally means “arise lung” — the arising of inner wind or air. As anger rises, lung also pushes blood into the upper body. Mental function becomes abnormal, clarity decreases, and perceptions of what another says and does become distorted by the pollution of one’s own mind.

When lung energy is balanced, it is less likely that anger will surface. Challenging speech and actions do not easily disturb someone whose inner space of lung is open and balanced.

When lung is balanced, it is positive, and your energy is positive. This is known as nirvanic lung. It is uplifting, like the wind whisking a piece of paper off the ground. As it moves within you, it supports your inner organs and your general health. It helps your mind to be clear and positive, which st...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Foreword
• Preface to the Second Edition
• Introduction: Trust the Guide, Commit to the Path
• Part I. The Essence of Breath
• Part II. The Healing Power of Breath
• Part III. Breath and Meditation
• Part IV. Breath and Visualization
• Part V. Breath and Movement
• Part VI. Breath and Sound
• Conclusion
• Appendix 1. The Tibetan Bön Tradition
• Appendix 2. Bön Cosmology
• Notes
• About the Author
• Copyright